SUMMARY: Changed hostname and OpenWin stuck at white screen

Keith Salustro (Keith_Salustro@snc-net.com)
Thu, 03 Apr 1997 18:28:45 -0500

My issue was that I changed the hostname of my machine using "uname -S
<newname> in openwindows and then it hung at the wht screen when i tried to
exit it. I didn't know what to kill because there were no "x" processes
still running. I think the general concensus is that if you change the
hostname, reboot the machine. Point taken. There were several methods
suggested to change the hostname, ranging from manually to
Anyway, that's what i ended up doing! I tried Peter Allan's suggestion of
killing ttymon, but it didnt' help. I wish I could have tried more of these
suggestions I got.
>I'd kill the ttymon (Solaris speak for getty).
>I'm unsure about the sac.
>I'd also try to arrange the machine so you are prepared
>to reboot it now and then.
> -- Peter Allan peter.allan@aeat.co.uk

Rasana Atreya's suggestion:
>go to console machine and ls. If you get garbage, go
>to remote machine:
>/usr/openwin/bin/kbd_mode -a > /dev/console; This resets the console.
>> Also, will I be okay if I restart openwindows again without rebooting?
>That I don't know.
>Just make sure that the hostname got changed correctly in:
>/etc/hostname.XXX
>/etc/nodename
>/etc/net/ticlts
>/etc/net/ticots
>/etc/net/ticotsord

Interesting how there were several suggestions and files for changing the
hostname. Sun support says to use sysunconfig, which I wouldn't have wanted
to do.
Other good suggestions and points:
> I think you can't get the console back without recycling. It's a
known bug
> with no work-around except don't start processes in the "console"
window in
> openwindows, because if they're not completely finished when you get
out of
> openwindows they keep the console. Advice from SUN is always use
command > tool when you're using openwindows. .....Robin

>Just running X on your firewall is a security risk. Just having
>it there is a risk too...
>Nope, it looks like the ttymon for the console has respawned.
>Try an 'init q' to re-initialise the init process, but it may be
>necessary to reboot.
>The best way to change hostname is to edit /etc/hosts,
>/etc/nodename and /etc/hostname.le0 and then reboot. There are
>lots of processes that can behave abnormally when the hostname
>is changed under them.
>regards,
>Glenn Satchell glenn@uniq.com.au www.uniq.com.au | Windows:

-- Thanks to Rasana Atreya, Robin Landis, Peter Allan, and Glenn Satchell --
---------------------------------------------------
Keith W. Salustro, Network Security Engineer
Secure Networks Corporation
Main: 800-357-0208
Fax: 617-738-6060
<http://www.snc-net.com>

Direct: 617-875-7672
Keith_Salustro@snc-net.com
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