single user boot

[K & B Lewin]

I've been having trouble get some ppp0 problems resolved. I was told to 
boot as single user and disable the ppp0 so as to get back to the point 
where I can reset it properly. The problem is the boot stalls following 
an attempt to load the Firewire controller. The last line on the screen 
is "sh-2.05b#".

Can anyone help me get this going again? at this point I would like to 
chuck the thing through the window. I'm interested in tusing linux but 
really am struggling to get information to make it work right.

Kevin
G4 AGP 450