after changing the default runlevel from 2 to 3, do i need to reboot the system, or if i reset X, will it then automatically give me the GUI login screen??

debian sarge is my distro running KDE latest vs. from apt-get upgrade.

I think you must reboot

ok thanks kermit.

ok next question along this line. the box i have is my media box and is hooked up to a TV only. no other monitor type. if i have to reset the GUI (kde) it locks the s-vid down, is there a way to prevent this so that when i reset X, it will still keep the s-vid working and get me back to some kind of login screen so i do not have to reboot the box just to get local controll of it again?

no the system is not locked up as i can ssh and controll it remote, in fact that is how i have to reboot it, but i have no way of getting the vid to push back out to the s-vid on my card, at least i just dont know how that is.

Nvidia card.