I propose following solution: 1. add a menu point to grub name "Rescue Mode" 2. boot into an low Runlevel 3. start a dialog-based console program which has following features
- look for and install updates - look at the installation history and remove possible updates (sorted by install time) - show last boot log (parses the syslog for the new syslog start and shows the last lines before it.) - start networking + Show Emergency Information from Ubuntu (lynx without navigation or something like this) + Rescue Support Channel (Text based minimal IRC which just joins just the #ubuntu-rescue channel on freenode) With this even a user which doesn't know anything about the user can get help/information. ps: you can also start that menu if the xserver start fails during booting -- xorg-server 1:1.0.2-0ubuntu10.3 breaks X: "no screens found" https://launchpad.net/bugs/57153 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs