The problem that prompted my original question was that init had stalled during local package initialization and I couldn't use my console. I thought the problem was with getty not opening the terminals, but when I noticed that it stalled while running the mysql-server.sh script I recalled that I had been trying to upgrade mysql before the machine rebooted itself. Evidently the mangled incomplete installation of mysql-server was the real problem. I ran portupgrade -Rr mysqlserver, this time it completed, the system ran 'init' again and now everything is working.
Thanks to everybody who offered help. I'll try to remember what I learned this time -- what you're looking for is always in the last place you look. -- Roger To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
