how do i boot into init 3 instead of init 5?
 

I need to boot into text mode (to access the terminal)
i messed up my xorg.conf and X won't load properly and just hangs but i have my xorg.conf backed up and can just replace the bad one if i could find a way into the terminal....how do i do this?

It depends on a number of factors such as what distribution of Linux you are using. Most distros have a file in /etc called inittab that contains the default run level. However, since you are not able to boot, you are probably looking for a solution that can be used at boot time.

What boot loader are you using? LILO or GRUB?

I'm using SuSE 10.0/GRUB

Can you just let it hang and do crtl-alt-f2 or f6 just to get to a virtual terminal and login as root then cd to your Xorg.conf Dir and edit the file using a editor like joe or something?
Or if you made a back up file (which is the default of most editors) you can just do the Virtual terminal thing and delete the new Xorg.conf file you made.
"rm -d xorg.conf"
Hope that helped alittle :)

When you boot into grub, select whatever option you use normally to boot. Instead of pressing enter, press e. Find the line that contains the name of your kernel, it should say kernel and then a path and press e again. Insert the word single after root=/dev/whatever and press enter. Then push b to boot. This will boot your installation in what is known as single user mode, with no GUI.

You may have a password on your bootloader. I am not familar with how SuSE works in terms of it's boot loader setup. If this is the case, I believe you will have to press p and enter your password before you can follow the above instructions.

If you find yourself needing single user mode a lot, I believe you can add a new stanza to your boot.conf file with your "single" (my FC4 accepts a "1" here) already edited into the line. Then to go single user, just select it from the menu.