After a year in storage, I'm trying to get a version 11 system back
online. I connected it to power and network, then booted it.
Interestingly, it appeared on my network not at the address it had when
it went into storage, but one given it by my local DHCP server. The
console scrolled, but not to completion, Speakup didn't start, and I
cannot log in from the console. I have a couple applications on that
system, including Asterisk version 20 with its configuration files, but
the system is unusable as it stands. The questions are, repair Debian 11
or or replace with Debian 12, and how do i reclaim those all-important configuration files from Asterisk and other applications? Can I try
mounting the boot drive in WSL on another machine, or possibly inspect
it with a running Debian system booted from the installation medium?


Thanks in advance.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Hi,

On Tue, May 20, 2025 at 06:20:33PM -0400, Steve Matzura wrote:

After a year in storage, I'm trying to get a version 11 system back online.
I connected it to power and network, then booted it. Interestingly, it appeared on my network not at the address it had when it went into storage, but one given it by my local DHCP server

Are you saying that when it went into storage it was not using DHCP but
static networking yet when you booted it later it had changed to DHCP?
That would seem odd to me. If it was also DHCP before then it's not so
odd.

On the other hand if a machine with DHCP doesn't get a lease it often
falls back to link-local IPv4 addresses.

I cannot log in from the console.

Reboot, select rescue mode from the Grub menu and log in that way. See
"Rescue shell" from here:

https://wiki.debian.org/InitramfsDebug

If that seems too complex, boot with a Debian 11 or Debian 11 install
media and select rescue mode instead. It will mount the existing
filesystems and dump you toa shell prompt.

repair Debian 11 or or replace with Debian 12

If I was going to continue using the machine I'd probably get the data
off and then reinstall with a Debian 13 pre-release. It went into
hard freeze days ago and shouldn't see much change before the actual
release of Debian 13. If that seems too bold to you then install Debian
12.

Leaving it as Debian 11 means it will be running oldoldstable in just a
couple of months. Since you're making some effort now, it doesn't seem
worth making work for yourself again so soon.

how do i reclaim those all-important configuration files from Asterisk
and other applications? Can I try mounting the boot drive in WSL on
another machine, or possibly inspect it with a running Debian system
booted from the installation medium?

It doesn't sound so broken that booting to the rescue shell wouldn't
allow you to fix it. If not then yeah, rescue mode from some Debian
install media.

Thanks,
Andy

--
https://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tue, May 20, 2025 at 06:20:33PM -0400, Steve Matzura wrote:

After a year in storage, I'm trying to get a version 11 system back online.
I connected it to power and network, then booted it. Interestingly, it appeared on my network not at the address it had when it went into storage, but one given it by my local DHCP server. The console scrolled, but not to completion, Speakup didn't start, and I cannot log in from the console. I have a couple applications on that system, including Asterisk version 20
with its configuration files, but the system is unusable as it stands. The questions are, repair Debian 11 or or replace with Debian 12, and how do i reclaim those all-important configuration files from Asterisk and other applications? Can I try mounting the boot drive in WSL on another machine,
or possibly inspect it with a running Debian system booted from the installation medium?

One easy thing to check: If it has been off for a year the battery that powers the BIOS clock might have gone flat and the close reset to 1980 or something.

Switch it on, get into the BIOS setup and ensure that the clock is roughly correct. Then reboot.

That will not fix the IP address, but that should not be a problem unless some firewall had rules special to the old IP address.

Thanks in advance.

--
Alain Williams
Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer.
+44 (0) 787 668 0256 https://www.phcomp.co.uk/
Parliament Hill Computers. Registration Information: https://www.phcomp.co.uk/Contact.html
#include <std_disclaimer.h>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On May 20, 2025, Steve Matzura wrote:

After a year in storage, I'm trying to get a version 11 system back online.
I connected it to power and network, then booted it. Interestingly, it appeared on my network not at the address it had when it went into storage, but one given it by my local DHCP server. The console scrolled, but not to completion, Speakup didn't start, and I cannot log in from the console. I have a couple applications on that system, including Asterisk version 20
with its configuration files, but the system is unusable as it stands. The questions are, repair Debian 11 or or replace with Debian 12, and how do i reclaim those all-important configuration files from Asterisk and other applications? Can I try mounting the boot drive in WSL on another machine,
or possibly inspect it with a running Debian system booted from the installation medium?

I don't know about WSL's capabilities. I'd just boot off any distro
live image (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, whatever) and pull off the important
stuff.


--
|_|O|_|
|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Us

Steve Matzura composed on 2025-05-20 18:20 (UTC-0400):

After a year in storage, I'm trying to get a version 11 system back
online. I connected it to power and network, then booted it.
Interestingly, it appeared on my network not at the address it had when
it went into storage, but one given it by my local DHCP server. The
console scrolled, but not to completion,

This is routine on all my Debian installations since long before Bullseye, continuing in Trixie. What seems to be the case is that tty1 is specially handled
by Debian, and it appears the boot messages stop before boot completes. However,
when boot has reached multi-user.target (complete short of running X), switching
to any of tty2-6 provides working shell prompts.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
based on faith, not based on science.

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Hi,

On Tue, May 20, 2025 at 08:42:08PM -0500, Titus Newswanger wrote:

I recall seeing something similar, where I thought boot didn't complete,
then discovered if I tap the 'enter' key, the login prompt appeared. I
wasn't sure what caused that behavior, my guess is there may have been some error messages printed to my terminal, scrolling the login text up off the screen.

systemd runs an agetty process on each tty, but if there is no activity
within a certain time it kills that process which clears the screen and
leaves no visible login: prompt until a key is pressed.

This behaviour can be disabled by overriding the [email protected] with:

[Service]
TTYVTDisallocate=no

That will cause the agetty process per tty to stay around.

Thanks,
Andy

--
https://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 5/20/25 15:20, Steve Matzura wrote:

After a year in storage, I'm trying to get a version 11 system back
online. I connected it to power and network, then booted it.
Interestingly, it appeared on my network not at the address it had when
it went into storage, but one given it by my local DHCP server. The
console scrolled, but not to completion, Speakup didn't start, and I
cannot log in from the console. I have a couple applications on that
system, including Asterisk version 20 with its configuration files, but
the system is unusable as it stands. The questions are, repair Debian 11
or or replace with Debian 12, and how do i reclaim those all-important configuration files from Asterisk and other applications? Can I try
mounting the boot drive in WSL on another machine, or possibly inspect
it with a running Debian system booted from the installation medium?

Thanks in advance.

I suggest:

1, Remove the drive from the computer. Install drive into a working
Debian computer. Take an image (e.g. dd(1) or Clonezilla). Mount
filesystems read-only and backup. Shutdown. Remove old drive.

2. Disconnect the power supply (PSU) from everything in the computer.
Test the PSU with a hardware tester. If the PSU fails, replace it and
repeat. Shutdown.

3. Run the motherboard firmware Setup utility hardware diagnostic, if
your motherboard has such. If your motherboard does not, boot and run memtest86+. If anything fails, fix or replace and repeat. Shutdown.

4. Install a security erased SSD into the computer and connect it to
the first HBA port. Do a fresh install of Debian *11* to minimize risk
of configuration file version changes for OS and for software. Take an
image. Backup all filesystems. Shutdown.

5. Install the old drive into the computer. Mount the old drive
filesystems read-only. Install desired software. Configure software by referring to contents of old filesystems. Shutdown. Remove old drive.
Take an image. Backup all filesystems.


David

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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