I just installed Debian successfully (I think), but it takes me to the command line by default. How can I set up the GUI? And by the way, I don't suppose I can change that setting from inside a different distro? By that, I have in mind using a liveCD to, if needed, change settings for some distro on my HD.

find /etc/inittab file and read it, you will know. By the way a suggestion, also find yourself a debian book or something alike. it will answer most of your questions and save your time.

Change the default run level in your /etc/inittab to 5 (I think for debian).

I don't know if debian used init 5 for starting in the GUI, however, it should be documented in the contents of the
/etc/inittab file.
Edit the line:id:5:initdefault:
So it matches the runlevel for "Full multiuser with network and xdm"

You may also be able to do the same thing in a configuration program, but you'll need to read the your user guide to find it. ( I don't have your distro )

As I have recently found, runlevels 2-5 are the same in Debian. Chaninging the default runlevel does not work. What has to be done is this:

make sure you have /etc/rc2.d/S99gdm, this is the startup script where S99 is ¨start process number 99, the gnome desktop manager¨.
This took some trial and error for me, and the help of this forum to figure out. Debian does not handle the runlevels in the same way that other distros do (at least as far as the desktop is concerned.)

I personally like booting into a command line and using ¨startx¨

Hope this helps

Bob

To boot your system into graphical mode on Debian and Ubuntu do
Replace gdm with the login manager you use.

To redazz...thanks for explaining the exact command. I missed that, I was going in the back door.

Thanks

Bob

Actually run lvl 3 is console and run lvl 5 is the GUI.

If you installed a desktop like KDE or Gnome it should load when you login. I am lazy and just set mine to autologin. No one but myself and my wife that wouldn't touch a pc if she had to have physical access so I figure autologin as use is ok.

Prozac, I think that Linux books are generally useless, because Linux distributions evolve far too rapidly for the speed of publishing to keep up with. I have read that when Knoppix was brand new, the designers were releasing updates several times a day! The Internet, where Linux effectively lives, is the only medium that transmits new information rapidly enough to help anyone.

newbiesforever,
I didn't asked you to go buy a book from your bookstore. pretty much every linux distribution comes up with a distro book which are pretty much standard and updated according to the distro evolvement. you can download it for free from each distro home site.

you above response pretty much confirms to your name. if you are gonna ignore the books and find them useless to give them a few minutes read then i predict you're always gonna be a newbie forever.

i also suggest u give a read to the following post if you don't feel lazy already:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=449446

Read generic books that are not too distro focused. If you then need information about a specific distro and your book does not cover it, then read the distros documentation. Distro specific docs are usually available online and somewhere on the installation disc or installed on the system. Many distros publish their own books which are usually available for free download, so take a look at the Debian site and see if there are any.

By the way Knoppix and Mepis do certain things differently to Debian, so just because something works in a certain way in Knoppix or Mepis does not mean it will be the same as Debian (and vice versa). If I remember correctly Mepis uses the same runlevels as Redhat, Mandriva, Suse et al but Debian does not.

When I started in Linux a few years back I mostly used the internet as my tutor. Last year I decided it was time to get some foundation to my knowledge, so I've read the O'Reilly book "Running Linux", a book on Unix (Unix and Linux have strong historical ties!) and I just started reading on C++, in a book written by Bjarne Stroustrup who wrote C++ in the first place I don't pretend to know all now, but I definitely do know more then before...

If you don't want to spend money on a book written on paper, try the Linux Documentation Project stuffed with Howto's and other interesting tutorials. Wisdom only comes to those who are willing to invest in it...

My

Regards, Dutch Master

Prozac, because I aspire to be a civilized and harmless individual, I apologize for misunderstanding your advice. I thought by "book," you meant a printed book. I will even acknowledge that I'm probably wrong to discount Linux books. Now that I've apologized, I will also say this: your snobbish and rude behavior is not a credit to the Linux community. The polite and helpful posts by Redazzz and Dutch Master provide a nice contrast.

Oh, and I deliberately selected "newbiesforever" to stick my tongue out at rude LQ regulars. I have actually made at least 200 posts between three different IDs, of which this is the third; with both of the two others, I had also been quasi-flamed, so I changed IDs in order to (a)shake off anyone I might have offended (which would explain their rudeness), and (b)see if the same thing would happen to new "personas."

i apologize too. but sometimes the best way to make somebody come inside the line is to force him to think again.

this is again a wrong approach. how do i don't think you are not playing games here? It will ultimately work against you than for you. you better stick to one ID and make yourself count by working progressively. That way regular LQers will know you have been doing your homework and will make a change in their opinion towards you if you honestly show you are not the image they have been percieving. One more thing nobody here (new members included) are flamed for asking questions- if they get flamed thats because they have been lazily being stupid or are offending too many others unneccessarily. take the heed and try to be like a mature person-after all its a small world and we are destined to meet again. but you got keep your friends and make sure you don't burn bridges while going out or else you yourself won't have a way to come in.