Hi Michael,

>OK, now I feel quite foolish. I missed the subtle difference when people
>mentioned fsck -p / being required. Thanks to Nico van Eikema Hommes
><hommes@derioc1.organik.uni-erlangen.de> for explicitly telling me that I
>have to add the trailing slash to my /etc/rc. Please update it in future
>tarballs. Esentially, my whole error was a syntax on how fsck was invoked.
>I invoked it correctly anytime I did it by hand, so I didn't know why it
>was messing up.

No need at all for you to feel foolish! The way fsck is invoked in /etc/rc,
as "fsck -p", is correct: it should not require that a filesystem is given,
but instead read /etc/fstab to determine which filesystems are to be checked=
=2E
Since fsck no longer accepts this correct syntax for preen mode (this change=
d
between the februari and april -current snapshots, does anybody know why?),
changing "/etc/fsck -p" to "/etc/fsck -p /" in /etc/rc is the easiest way to
let the machine boot without operator intervention.

When it comes to updating the tarballs, a repaired fsck would of course be
preferable. Until that gets realized, an interim entry in the FAQ might be
helpful.

Best wishes,

           Nico

--
  Dr. N.J.R. van Eikema Hommes     Computer-Chemie-Centrum
  hommes@ccc.uni-erlangen.de       Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg
  Phone:    +49-(0)9131-856532     Naegelsbachstr. 25
  FAX:      +49-(0)9131-856566     D-91052 Erlangen, Germany