[plug] Grub / Red Hat Issues

[Jonathan Young]

Hi All - Happy New Year!

Currently having a problem with a server that has worked well for the
past 5 years or so.  There has been discussion of upgrading it the next
time a problem should be encountered, but since everyone has been
working so smoothly it has just been left alone apart from hardware
maintenance.

It is a Red Hat installation on a fairly reasonable PC (approx AMD
2.5GHz) that acts as mail server (Qmail), Samba server/PDC and runs a
tape backup (which should hold a complete copy of the server as of last
night) which backs up everything from config to user data.  Without this
PC, the rest of the network are just empty Windows boxes which would not
be missed by anyone.

My client for some unknown reason turned the power off while the server
was busy doing something and corrupted X Windows' graphical logon. 
This appeared to be the only damage and it booted cleanly and continued
working.  I was away from Perth so I could not do much more than warn
them of the dangers of killing a Linux box mid-flight, told them to
manually back up should something have damamged the backup job and I
promised to take a look when I returned this week.

That appeared to be the extent of the damage and was over 2 weeks ago so
I was only moderately concerned.  However, I was in the process of
making an appointment with them this week when they complained that mail
sent in the last 24 hours had not arrived though Outlook claimed to have
sent it.  A test message to my own address confirmed this problem.  It
appeared mail was hitting the server but not leaving.

I logged in via SSH and checked the Qmail services - all OK.  Restarted
them - all OK.  So instead I decided to shut down and watch for errors
on reboot, especially relating to file system damage to see if any new
problems had developed.  Plus I have experienced times where Qmail (on
another server) had refused to send mail, but after a reboot it all came
good.

After issuing "shutdown -r now" via SSH, the PC rebooted and arrived at
a Grub screen/prompt.  Limited commands are available and the obvious
'boot' returns "you must load a kernel before booting".

FIRST QUESTION:

Any Grub gurus out there know what sequence of commands might get things
moving or what the likely problem is?  An onsite visit today is just
about impossible, but if I can get the server even partially started, I
may get some clues or a chance to SSH back in and continue work on the
problem.

SECOND QUESTION:

Besides Leon, who I have already spoken to and confirmed is busy at
present, is there anyone in the field of mobile computer repair who
could help out onsite in Bayswater/Morley with Grub / Red Hat?   Since I
am unfortunately a mere beginner with both.


Meantime my client is basically network-less and will be cursing me even
though they have done this to themselves.  I am looking for assistance,
preferably, onsite and during business hours.

- Jonathan, 0410 455 674.