Linux server does not boot

Our Linux server freezes during the boot process. It gets to the item: "Bringing up interface eth0:", and nothing happens after that (all previous items are completed successfully). It seems that the NIC card is causing the problem (it is built into the motherboard).

The problem started happening after I restarted the server. It froze up while shutting down, so I had to reset it manually. After that, it does not complete the boot process. (It was working fine prior to the first restart).

Is there any way to bypass the process that is causing the server to freeze. If I could get to the command line, maybe I can change some settings or disable the network card.

Can anyone help me? I need to get the server back up as soon as possible.

Thank you,
Kirill

Pass the "single" parameter to the kernel to get into single user mode. Then you can disable the nic.

Which boot loader are you using?
If it is LILO, it works like this:
When during the boot process the screen is cleared after the memory test, press and hold down <shift>. LILO will stop then with a "LILO:" prompt. press <tab> to show the kernel images. If it is called "kernel" for example, type "kernel single" to boot into single user mode.

Many motherboards have jumpers or BIOS settings that you can use to disable the built-in features- you might poke around in the BIOS and read your manual for your motherboard to see if yours does.

Thanks for your suggestions. I will give them a try.

Kirill