Change interface method

[mphayesuk]

I am currently using Suse 10 with the graphical interface KDE, what I want to know is how do I swap the GUI for the Text interface so when I boot the box up it does'nt use the GUI. i.e. during installation you get asked the question as to wether you use a GUI or Text based system.

2nd question afer you are using the text based interface what is the command to start the GUI interface/desktop. I think you can just type xwindow at the shell prompt???

Thanks

[geek.de.nz]

First of all: Hi again. Have been off for a while, not answering questions ;-).

2. To start from the bottom up:
You start kde or X in general by typing "startx" or "X" (capitalised) or "/etc/init.d/kdm start" or maybe there is even another way. If you can start X with the init script, that way is preferable, because you can manage user sessions that way.

1. To stop the X server from starting at boot-time, you need to change your init scripts in a distribution-specific way. In Debian, you can install a program called rcconf for that (to make it easier). There must be program for Suse as well. Browse the docs. A good idea, if you're starting with linux is to install a packet manager such as apt-get or yum (in Suse and Fedora/RadHat). If you google for yum, you should find something.

You can always do the linux way and update init-scripts by hand, but this can break things in your distro and I can't quite recall exactly what to do. Also, distros have different directories. But usually, init-scripts should be under /etc/rc.d /etc/init.d and so on. Just have a look and you will find them. I don't have time to look up everything and describe here now. You should google for init-scripts and suse and I'm sure you'll find a lot.

[dishawjp]

mphayesuk,

In SUSE, there is a simple way to get it to boot to text mode. Edit the file

/etc/inittab

and change the "5" in the following line to a "3"

id:5:initdefault:

After the computer boots, just log in and you're good to go. If you later decide you want to start an X session, just type "startx" (without the quotes) and you're all set. To shut down or reboot the computer you will need to use the shutdown command as root. Those commands are:

shutdown -h now
or
shutdown -r now

To restore default behavior (booting directly to the GUI) replace the "3" with a "5" in the initdefault line of your inittab file.

HTH,

Jim

[mphayesuk]

Thanks for your post I will give it a try.