Uninstallation and login trouble

[jeremytaffy]

I have a 5.2 system that I cannot log into. I input the user name and password, it begins to login, and then kicks me right back out to the login screen. I have never seen this problem before. I tried logging in under failsafe mode, and this doesnt work either.
It is, however, possible to telnet into the system. I tried to remove a couple of packages that I thought might be a problem and it returns this error:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Pre-deinstall Verification...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Verifying selections...rmitab: 0481-211 Cannot update /etc/<filename>; errno is 28.
done
Verifying requisites...done
Results...

FAILURES
--------
Filesets listed in this section failed pre-deinstall verification
and will not be removed.

Non-Deinstallable Filesets
--------------------------
The following filesets were selected for deinstallation. Deinstallability
checks indicate that they should not be removed from the system.


What the heck is this? How can I get rid of it? This package has no dependencies.

Thanks in advance..
J

 

[haexpert]

Sounds like you have a full filesystem (either / or /home).
Suggest you telnet in and issue a df command and check.

 

[Chapter11]

Rarer, but there might not be any slots for new processes (I've had this happen a couple of times).

It's nasty to deal with though. Boot to maintenance mode, remove every non-OS item from inittab, boot normal, then bring stuff up slowly to see what's pigging on the process table.

 

[admincff]

Be sure that there not a call of a program which does not exist in your .profile