How to get to the console when In KDE

kkathman · 03-17-2005, 06:07 PM

I installed Libranet and have encountered a few package problems. One of the issues is that I must reinstall a couple of packages but they must be done at the console and the X-systems must be shut down. Since my system boots into KDE, I'd like to know how to get to a console so I can shut these down and do a package install.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

mcd · 03-17-2005, 06:11 PM

from a terminal (inside KDE) change to root then type:

telinit 3

alternatively, if you want to boot to console and then start X manually (by typing startx), you can set it in your inittab file. look for the line

default runlevel::4::

or something (i forget exactly how it looks), and change it to a 3.

alunduil · 03-17-2005, 06:15 PM

In kde to get to a terminal you can right click the desktop and run command: konsole. Then to boot into CLI you need to change your inittab the line that reads:

# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:4:initdefault:

(since I am running slack it's 4, but if you're running almost anything else it should read 5).

To boot into CLI just change that line to 3 instead of 4, and change it back when you are finished.

Alunduil

p.s. you must be root to edit that file.

kkathman · 03-17-2005, 06:19 PM

OK well I got two different answers here. Which file do I change??

bosewicht · 03-17-2005, 06:29 PM

It's your /etc/inittab. Look for the line that says:

id:4:initdefault:

change to 3 if you want to boot into console and you can type startx from there

kkathman · 03-17-2005, 06:47 PM

Well interestingly enough, the runlevel set in my inittab is 2.

mcd · 03-17-2005, 07:37 PM

Runlevel Description
0 System halt
S Single user mode; from the boot prompt, only with US keyboard
1 Single user mode
2 Local multiuser mode without remote network (e.g., NFS)
3 Full multiuser mode with network
4 Not used
5 Full multiuser mode with network and X display manager — KDM (default), GDM, or XDM
6 System reboot

(from http://www.novell.com/documentation/...l/ch13s02.html)

but i also remember reading somewhere else that runlevel 2 is user defined. if you want to see what's being run at the different levels, you can check out your init scripts. i don't know the red-hat system V layout, but i think you'd look in /etc/rc.2/