Hi,

In redhat I'm used to being able to set /etc/inittab to run level 3 and reboot into text mode. This doesn't seem to work with Debian. How do I set to reboot into text mode? :-)

Many Thanks,

ab

The runlevels 2-5 are configured identically in Debian with 2 being the default startup, if you install a window display manager like kdm, gdm, xdm .... then it will be started. If you wish it not to start whichever you have installed then you need to in the directory /etc/rc2.d delete the link for it or you can simply uninstall it. Now you will have to use startx to start the desktop of your choice or if you left the window display manager like kdm, gdm, xdm .... installed then /etc/init.d/?dm start replacing the ? with the proper letter for the one you want to start. Alternately you could delete the link in /etc/rc3.d then do the inittab edit and reboot into it like you are used too.

There is another way. Instead of deleting the links, you can also use the tool 'sysv-rc-conf' to configure which daemons start in which runlevel. You can install it with the command 'aptitude install sysv-rc-conf'.

What you can do now is tailor the runlevels in such a way that ?dm (kdm, gdm or xdm) doesn't start in runlevel 2. You can do this with every daemon by the way. So you can tailor the runlevels to your specific needs. That Debian by default configures runlevels 2-5 identically doesn't mean that it has to be done that way. So you can configure runlevel 2 as text and runlevel 3 as graphical for instance.

The default runlevel is indeed set in the inittab file.

Remember, it is Linux, not Windows, you are free to configure the system the way you want to

or u can use bum if you like your configuration gooey

Thanks for great tips!

Cheers,

ab

BTW-

just used sysv-rc-conf. What an adorable and handy little command line app.! ;-)

-aq