TITLE
    Mac OS X Server: Server Computer Will Not Start up Past "Starting name server"
Article ID:
Created:
Modified: 		60209
4/7/99
7/11/00
TOPIC

    I just set some IP addresses in Mac OS X Server as a test, and now the server computer is displaying a message that says "Starting name resolver" but it won't start up beyond that. What could be wrong?

DISCUSSION

    Setting the IP address of the built-in Ethernet interface to 0.0.0.0 causes this error. Using this setting on other interfaces such as en1, en2 works OK for testing purposes. However, with this setting, the server computer can't continue to start up. With the "Starting name resolver" message on the screen, do the following steps:

    1. Restart the computer. For computers with an Apple Desktop Bus keyboard, press and hold down simultaneously the Control, Command and Power keys. For computers with a Universal Serial Bus keyboard, shutdown the computer by pressing the Power button, then press the Power button again to start up the computer.

    2. Force the computer to start up in single-user mode by immediately holding down the "S" key.

    3. At the single-user mode prompt "#" type the following commands to perform a root "/" file system check and enable the root "/" write permission for modification:
      # /sbin/fsck -y
      # /sbin/mount -uw /
    4. Using a text editor change the built-in Ethernet interface line of the /etc/iftab file (the interface table) to the valid IP address and netmask number. For example change this:
      en0    inet  0.0.0.0   netmask  0.0.0.0  up
    to something like:
      en0    inet 192.168.100.2  netmask 255.255.255.0  up
    5. Quit the editor program, then type the exit command to continue starting up:
      # exit

Document Information
Product Area: Mac OS System Software
Category: Mac OS X Server
Sub Category: Troubleshooting

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