My question was:
        I was greeted today by a dead Alpha 3000/600 workstation when I arrived
        to work this morning. (The screen was blank, pressing a key didn't
        bring up the password dialog, and I couldn't telnet into the system from
        other systems).  The system is running Digital Unix 4.0.
        When I rebooted the system the boot process hung with the following message:
        INIT: Command is respawing too rapidly.  Check for possible errors.
        id: cons "/usr/sbin/getty console console vt100"
The answer is:
        There is a switch on the back of the DEC 3000/600 which controls
        whether the system boots up with a graphics console or a ASCII
        terminal connected to the serial port of the system.  Somehow
        (...how could it be? :) ) the switch must have been hit into a
        position between the two and it was driving poor getty nuts.
        I firmly placed the switch in 'graphics console' mode and my
        problem went away.
        Sometimes, RTFM does work!  I found this answer myself in the
        hardware manual.
To the folks who replied: Thanks much for the effort!  I appreciated it.
ray
-- 
Ray Lauff : ray_at_thunder.ocis.temple.edu : (215) 204-5678 : Temple University
Received on Mon Aug 26 1996 - 17:13:08 NZST