On Fri, 15 Feb 2002, Beaker wrote:

> I screwed up an /etc/rc.conf entry (left off a quotation mark on the
> 'ifconfig_rtk0="~" entry) and rebooted and got a syntax error and a request
> for "Enter pathname of shell or RETURN for sh:". I entered 'bin/csh' got a
> "#" prompt, but don't know how to fix rc.conf as I can't seem to run vi. How
> do I get out of this mess?!?

This is basically covered in the INSTALL document ("Post installation
steps").

Also look at http://www.netbsd.org/Documentation/misc/#why-single-user

These two documents will explain how to mount your /etc.

The easiest thing to do in your case is probably:

  mount -u -w /
  mv /etc/rc.conf /etc/rc.conf-bad-20020215 # or whatever
  echo "rc_configured=YES" > /etc/rc.conf

Or mount your /usr too, so you can use vi to fix it.

(Then later fix your /etc/rc.conf.)

I think this question is the number one FAQ I've see over the past couple
years. It should be added to the main
http://www.netbsd.org/Documentation/misc/.

Good luck,

   Jeremy C. Reed
   http://www.reedmedia.net/