Re: [tlug] Computer fails to boot

["David Bernat" <dbernat@example.com>]

"Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com> wrote:

>Alternatively, stop trying to "fix" the machine, and start trying to
>understand it.  Read the man pages for ls, chmod, mount, and so on.
>Use "ls -l" and "mount" to explore the state of the machine before and
>after everything you do to try to change it.  (Better yet, do that and
>post transcripts here.)  Read the output of dmesg to see if the kernel
>has anything interesting to say.

All this would be fine if the machine weren't one I use to make a living.

I am pretty much out of luxury time to devote to anything other than
getting the machine back into working order by this afternoon. Three
days of ineffective attempts to get back to where I was on Sunday
afternoon mean that intellectual pursuits have to be delayed until later.

How can I make changes that stick through a reboot of the machine?

Is it possible to change /bin/sh so that it points to another shell than
dash? Which file do I edit to make those changes?

I haven't been able to make any other progress than copying files over
to an external hard disk if events force a complete install of irritated
inchworm. But two folders refuse me the right to copy==.mozilla and
mozilla-thunderbird. Can I unlock these two folders and then copy them
to the external drive?