[SOLVED] Howto exit xWindows to run only terminal

[bonesTdog]

~ \>-- cat /etc/inittab
cat: /etc/inittab: No such file or directory

Another odd thing... i installed rcconf which once again seemed pretty straight forward. I disabled both x11-common and mintsystem but again - no change on reboot. I am beginning to think my system is looking at a different set of files somehow. Is that possible? My machine is dual booted with a whole collection of partitions, so is it possible that grub2 is pointing my system to a different set of files somewhere else??

I have become quite intent on figuring this out if for no other reason than it must be possible and I don't want to give up. With all the GURUs on this forum, there has to be something simple that I am missing.

[Jonathan183]

~ \>-- cat /etc/inittab
cat: /etc/inittab: No such file or directory

Another odd thing... i installed rcconf which once again seemed pretty straight forward. I disabled both x11-common and mintsystem but again - no change on reboot. I am beginning to think my system is looking at a different set of files somehow. Is that possible? My machine is dual booted with a whole collection of partitions, so is it possible that grub2 is pointing my system to a different set of files somewhere else?

kernel parameters in grub can over-ride defaults and set runlevel, and can also be used to change if init is actually used example here.

Can you post grub config file contents ...

[bonesTdog]

Yikes! This is seriously long. I am assuming you are looking for grub.cfg. I hope this means something to you! Thanks in advance for looking at it.

/boot/grub \>-- cat grub.cfg
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
  insmod vbe
  insmod vga
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=1024x768
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
  set timeout=-1
else
  set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9
insmod png
if background_image /boot/grub/linuxmint.png ; then
  set color_normal=white/black
  set color_highlight=white/light-gray
else
  set menu_color_normal=white/black
  set menu_color_highlight=white/light-gray
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/06_mint_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Linux Mint 10 64-bit, 2.6.35-22-generic (/dev/sda5)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9 ro  vga=792  quiet splash
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Linux Mint 10 64-bit, 2.6.35-22-generic (/dev/sda5) -- recovery mode' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9
	echo	'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9 ro single  vga=792
	echo	'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9
	linux16	/boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ntfs
	set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bc4af0e74af09f78
	chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda2)" {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ntfs
	set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 605a6bc85a6b9994
	chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda4)" {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ntfs
	set root='(hd0,msdos4)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 78daca7ddaca3762
	chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows Recovery Environment (loader) (on /dev/sdb1)" {
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ntfs
	set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set a2725bd3725baab5
	drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
	chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

[Jonathan183]

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Linux Mint 10 64-bit, 2.6.35-22-generic (/dev/sda5)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
	recordfail
	insmod part_msdos
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=6b3c1db3-68c6-4173-af0f-0c5b45a70cd9 ro  vga=792  quiet splash text
	initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}

No kernel parameters used to force runlevel etc

Ed: I think Mint uses upstart ... add text after splash on kernel line

[bonesTdog]

Searching using your clues above I found the attached article that says to edit the /etc/init/rc-sysinit.conf file. Here is the address: How to change default runlevel of Ubuntu (lucid) ? - Server Fault

Here is my rc-sysinit.conf file. Can I simply insert a number in the blank RUNLEVEL= ? If so, should I use run level 3?

/etc/init \>-- cat rc-sysinit.conf
# rc-sysinit - System V initialisation compatibility
#
# This task runs the old System V-style system initialisation scripts,
# and enters the default runlevel when finished.

description "System V initialisation compatibility"
author "Scott James Remnant <scott@netsplit.com>"

start on filesystem and net-device-up IFACE=lo
stop on runlevel

# Default runlevel, this may be overriden on the kernel command-line
# or by faking an old /etc/inittab entry
env DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL=2

# There can be no previous runlevel here, but there might be old
# information in /var/run/utmp that we pick up, and we don't want
# that.
#
# These override that
env RUNLEVEL=
env PREVLEVEL=

console output
env INIT_VERBOSE

task

script
# Check for default runlevel in /etc/inittab
if [ -r /etc/inittab ]
then
eval "$(sed -nre 's/^[^#][^:]*[0-6sS]):initdefault:.*/DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL="\1";/p' /etc/inittab || true)"
fi

# Check kernel command-line for typical arguments
for ARG in $(cat /proc/cmdline)
do
case "${ARG}" in
-b|emergency)
# Emergency shell
[ -n "${FROM_SINGLE_USER_MODE}" ] || sulogin
;;
[0123456sS])
# Override runlevel
DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL="${ARG}"
;;
-s|single)
# Single user mode
[ -n "${FROM_SINGLE_USER_MODE}" ] || DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL=S
;;
esac
done

# Run the system initialisation scripts
[ -n "${FROM_SINGLE_USER_MODE}" ] || /etc/init.d/rcS

# Switch into the default runlevel
telinit "${DEFAULT_RUNLEVEL}"
end script

[bonesTdog]

Crazy...
I tried all of the below - to no avail. Still full gui interface.
1. Edit rc-sysinit.conf to run level 3. Successfully at level 3, but still gui
2. created a inittab file for the same. Still gui
3. Tried rcconf again now that I know I am on runlevel 3, but no-go.
4. Looked in /etc/rc3.d to see if anything looked obvious to potentially edit, but not-so-much.

I can't seem to find an Ubuntu run level that is automatically text only. Each seems to be customizable but I obviously don't have a clue on how to do that since rcconf doesn't seem to want to do the trick.

[Jonathan183]

text as a kernel line parameter in grub ... see my previous post

[bonesTdog]

Sounds like it makes sense, but not sure how to do that. Can you give me some specific instructions? Once again thanks in advance for all of your help.

[bonesTdog]

After much studying, comparing and scratching my head, I figured out you modified some of the text in the "original post" on post #24 and had already provided the answer. Sorry, I'm not always the sharpest tool in the shed. Once I finally figured out what you did and tried it, it worked swimmingly! Thanks for figuring that out. Look forward to future posts as I try to figure out how to do things simply from terminal.

[Jonathan183]

Sorry - should probably have put in edit text for the post the late change ... anyway glad you are sorted .

Can you mark the thread solved.