John Harrison wrote:

> > /etc/rc.conf is not configured.  Multiuser boot aborted.
> 
> This is because you have BtRiscBSD set for multi-user boot but have not
> changed rc.conf to allow this.

Yep, this was where I was stuck, and without a usable editor to fix it.

> By default, a single user boot does not mount all drives, only the root.
> IIRC it used to (under 1.2) but the 1.3 /.profile does not do this.

Aha!

> BTW, if you want a much easier to use editor, try joe instead of vi. It
> generally lives in /usr/local/bin/joe. You need TERM set to something
> sensible though.

> The bootup messages
> for the console imply it should be vt100 but I get much better results
> by using vt220.

OK, that plus the "mount -a" advice was the information I was missing:
how to get an editor working when booting into single user mode.  Many
thanks, I'll try that when I get home.

Incidentally, what happened to the RiscBSD Documentation Project?  The
install.draft file on the CDROM says "Last updated: 26 January 1997"
and is clearly incomplete in several areas.  Can I help in any way
with this in the light of my current experiences as a "virgin" RiscBSD
user?

-- 
Colin Hogben