how do i switch between the default "graphical" and "virtual console" logging in method?

do you mean when you turn your computer on you want it to boot to the console and not the GUI?

Which distro are you using?

Yes, sometimes I want to boot from text mode, and sometimes I would like to boot from graphics mode.

I would like to know the way of switching in between.

I'm using RedHat Linux 9.

well you can edit the /etc/inittab file with a text editor and change the id:x:initdefault option where -> x <- is the number of your boot option..
5 = graphical mode
3 = text mode
you have to be logged as root to make these changes..

yes, it works. that's exactly what i'm looking for.

by the way, i remember there's a way of switching between virtual consoles by a combination of keyboard shortcuts.

how do i do so?

thanks.

Ctrl+Alt+a number between 1 and 6
Ctrl+Alt+F7 is the gui if the X server is running.

thanks.

I know this is off topic and perhaps relatively a "duh" answer question. But with ctrl+alt+ a number being able to switch to up to 7 prompts, this would mean I can setup 7 different window managers and run them all seperately, this would of course need 7 different users would it not?

You can run an indefinite number of consoles/window managers. Usually limited by the number of F keys though

This is defined in /etc/inittab as well.

No, 1 user logged in per console works. So the same user could be logged in on all 6 different consoles (my systems all have 6 defined by default, not 7) and startx from each (however this is normally a waste of time because of virtual desktops).

To startx on seperate consoles, login, and for the first one it's just:
startx
For the next it's:
startx -- :1
And so on:
startx -- :2

There is a space in there, here's how it would look:
startx[space]--[space]:3



Up to the number of F keys you have, or the number of consoles you have defined, whichever comes first. Something else to try:
startx &

This will startx and drop you back to a console (IIRC, haven't used it for quite a while), very nice if you are in need of another one.

Cool