Technical data

Recovering from a System Crash
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Recovering from a System Crash
Your system might have crashed if it fails to boot or respond normally to input devices
such as the keyboard. The most common form of system crash is terminal lockup—a
situation where your system fails to accept any commands from the keyboard.
Sometimes when a system crashes, data may be damaged or lost.
Using the methods described in the following paragraphs, you can fix most problems
that occur when a system crashes. You can prevent additional problems by recovering
your system properly after a crash.
The following list presents a number of ways to recover your system from a crash. The
simplest method, rebooting the system, is presented first. If it fails, go on to the next
method, and so on. Here is an overview of the different crash recovery methods:
• rebooting the system
Rebooting usually fixes problems associated with a simple system crash.
• restoring system software
If you do not find a simple hardware connection problem and you cannot reboot the
system, a system file might be damaged or missing. In this case, you need to copy
system files from the installation tapes to your hard disk. Some site-specific
information might be lost.
• restoring from backup tapes
If restoring system software fails to recover your system fully, you must restore
from backup tapes. Complete and recent backup tapes contain copies of important
files. Some user- and site-specific information might be lost.
Refer to your IRIX Admin: Backup, Security, and Accounting manual for instructions for
each of the recovery methods listed above.