Re: How to boot without GUI

[Rick Thomas <rbthomas@pobox.com>]

On May 27, 2015, at 1:15 AM, Bret Busby <bret.busby@gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> How do I boot into a text only session, without the GUI being loaded,
> if that is possible, so that I can be able to perform this awkward
> installation?

Two ways that I can think of…
First way:

# as root do the following:
    mv /etc/X11/default-display-manager  /etc/X11/default-display-manager.SAVE
    echo “/bin/false” >  /etc/X11/default-display-manager 
    reboot
# System will come up in text mode.  Do what you need to do,  Then, as root do
    mv  /etc/X11/default-display-manager.SAVE  /etc/X11/default-display-manager 
    reboot
# System will come up in full graphics mode (assuming the new driver is OK!)


Second way:

    boot with kernel command line parameter “text”.
    You can do this by interrupting the grub bootloader at the menu stage by
    hitting a key before it times out.
    Then navigate to the screen where you can edit the kernel command line.
    It will be the line that starts with “linux” and ends with “quiet”.
    Add “text” at the end.  Then boot.  The system will come up in text mode.
    This is a one-time thing, so the next time you reboot, it will come up
    in graphics mode.

I’m sorry I can’t provide an exact step-by step for the second way.  I don’t have
an x86 system I can diddle with right now.  When I need to do this, I just follow
the instructions (usually at the bottom of the screen) and be careful not to do
anything that looks permanent.  It’s pretty straightforward, and if you mess up,
just reboot and you’re back to zero.


Hope this helps!
Rick