uhh yeah i installed mandrake 9.0 and then after i installed it it uhh was gay and did this text version of a login screen...then i logged in and it just gave me a command line or some shiit i was like dur...so yeah...anyone have any answers...i know your supposed to do something but i'm total newbie to linux...i have used windows since i was a wheee one and now i'm a windows (Grrr) user...so anyone wanna help me off to the first right good foot to linux eh?

1.Become root by typing: su -
-linux will then prompt you for a password

2. Enter the root password
-now the prompt will look something like this:
[root@localhost root]#

3. type:
cd /etc/

4. type:
vi inittab

5. You should see a text file open up on the screen. Use the arrow keys to navigate to this line (for me that's pushing down arrow 17 times):

id:3:initdefault:

6. Move the cursor over the number 3 using the right arrow. Now press the r key followed by the 5 key.
- if you did it correctly, it should replace the 3 with a 5.

7. Hit shift-colon to type a colon and type wq and press enter

8. Type:
more inittab
- Make sure that the line you edited looks like this now:

id:5:initdefault:

9. reboot your machine
-now when you boot up, it will automagically boot into the GUI (run level5)

If you are ever in the command line (textmode) you can start the GUI using the startx command.


Just in general: Making a post like "Help, this linux crap is acting all gay-assed" isn't really a great way to get help. Try to be as specific as possible in terms of what the problem is and what you are trying to do.

Type "startx" at the command prompt without the quotations buddy. Make sure you are root...

If you just type startx, you will still get a text login prompt every time you reboot.