On Wed, Jul 11, 2001 at 01:36:07AM +0200, Wouter Vijvers wrote:
> Hi,
> I ... wanted to send SIGHUP to
> the init process to get the file reread, but in my hastyness I typed "kill
> 1" instead of "kill -HUP 1". So the machine rebooted into single-user mode
> (SIGTERM has been send) and is now awaiting for my commands. This wouldn't
> be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that it's located 30 km from my
> house. And offcourse I can't connect to it through telnet.

Wouter, 

Hi. I think you already know what I'm about to say.  

A NetBSD i386 kernel can have one of two consoles: a locally attached keyboard & monitor (the usual case), or a serial port.  I take it yours if the first case, a keyboard
plugged into the back of the machine?  

In that case, you're out of luck.  Best is to call him and ask him to press ctrl-D to exit the single-user shell; the machine should come right up.  You could ask him to type
"reboot".  Turning the box off and on will make the file systems unhappy.  

If you were using a serial console with a modem attached to it, we'd have a different story.  

If it makes you feel any better, I know of a large financial house in New York with Sun boxes housed all over, some in remote locations.  They burp occassionally, of course, and
land at what's know as the "OK prompt".  Do they dial up to it and fix it remotely?  No. They get in a car and drive to the machine.  Is that high tech or what?  

Cheers, 

--jkl