Fresh Fedora Core 9 install, can't get it to boot

So I recently decided to load a copy of Fedora Core 9 onto my laptop. Well everything went smoothly during the install, but it won't boot all the way. I get all the way to the screen where it says things like:

starting (whatever) .................................................. ......... [ OK ]

(you'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge on the subject, I am very new to linux)

But when it gets to "starting cups" it just hangs up and doesn't do anything. I googled the problem but couldn't find anything. I was wondering if anyone has encountered this problem or knows hot to fix it. Thanks!

[Prometheum]

CUPS is Common UNIX Printing System. I'm sure there's a boot option to get into a minimal shell, where you can disable it starting on boot. That'll get the system online without CUPS printing support, and you can fix it there.

Hey, thanks for the quick reply. The thing is, when I said I was new to this, I meant like.. REALLY new, so I have absolutely no idea how to fix it even if I get into a minimal shell, but not only that, I don't know how to get into a minimal shell in the first place..

If i recall correctly, just press i while at the loading screen.
This will take you to interactive mode, from there just chose to load everything except cups. It might take some error&trial to get only the *good* services to start.

Once you are logged in, open a terminal, then as root ( su - ) use the following configuration utilty to disable cups:
system-config-services

[Prometheum]

When your boot loader comes up (the first thing after the BIOS POST), look for an option like "recovery shell" or something along those lines. I know Ubuntu makes them, and IIRC so does Fedora.

However, you can also use interactive init to stop cups from starting. Look in some of the logs in /var/log (probably it's in syslog) for CUPS related error messages, so you can troubleshoot the problem.

You might also want to check on the Fedora forums and the Fedora wiki for any known bug fixes related to this.

Ugh..Every time I do the interactive mode thing, it hangs up on SSHD too. Now I remember why I took a 3 year break from trying to learn linux; it never worked for me. Anyway I managed to boot by not turning SSHD and CUPS on. Now, how do I go about finding out what is wrong with with those two services? (also Avahi-daemon fails all of the time, is that a big problem?)


Edit: After I set up my account and stuff, it just loaded to a blank blue screen. Brilliant..

[Prometheum]

What hardware is this on?

Also, have you checked on the Fedora forums and wikis for information about this? While Totse is good for somethings, we're not Fedora wizards - but the people on the Fedora forums will be (or at least some). You should always try there if you don't get an answer straight away from totse.

Did you check the system logs for relevant error messages?

Well this is on a Dell Inspiron 5100, and it's the OEM hardware from that. I checked on both the forum (made a post) and the wiki, and so far I got nothing.

I can't get to the system logs to read the error messages because the only thing that loads is a blank screen and my mouse.

[Prometheum]

Hit control-alt-f1 (or f2, f1-6 will work) to get into a tty console, and log in there. Scroll through the log files in /var/log with the command 'less' and see if sshd or CUPS tell you anything.

Did you do anything non-standard in the installation? The only thing I can think of that would be a common thread between all of this is some critical library not being there, or having defective hardware.

When I typed /var/log into the console after logging in I got

-bash: /var/log: is a directory

And I just popped the CD in, chose "delete all current partitions and make default installation" (or something to that effect) and that's it.