Disable gdm at start-up (Karmic Koala 9.10)

[komputes]

I had a hard time because I was following guides that were not tested on 9.10. In fact you don't need to mess with GDM's configuration as GRUB2 is the easiest way to get this done. Here are the steps:

1 - Edit the GRUB2 configuration defaults

$ sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

2 - Change the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash text"

3 - Save and close the grub file

4 - Update grub so that the changes are propagated to grub's configuration file (to all current and future kernels)

$ sudo update-grub

That it! Simple right?

If you ever need to log into gnome, use the startx command. If you want GDM to start use the sudo gdm start command.

Hope this helps people from wasting hours of trying to disable GDM on 9.10 using older guides that suggest editing gdm.conf, moving gdm.conf, using update-rc.d, rcconf or sysv-rc-conf - none of those worked for me. This was the cleanest/best way I found of doing this.

Cheers!

[savanna]

A better method.

Check your current runlevel:

% runlevel
N 2

Edit /etc/init/gdm.conf, and change:

stop on runlevel [016]

to:

stop on runlevel [0216]

Better to manipulate the runlevels correctly, as in the long-term other services will probably start to use Upstart


http://soniahamilton.wordpress.com/

[argos3016]

I did that , but now i haven't sound.

[argos3016]

For people that the sound doesn't work:
-Put start-pulseaudio-x11 in the .xinitrc.

That's all!!

[not_a_phd]

A better method.

Check your current runlevel:

% runlevel
N 2

Edit /etc/init/gdm.conf, and change:

stop on runlevel [016]

to:

stop on runlevel [0216]

Better to manipulate the runlevels correctly, as in the long-term other services will probably start to use Upstart

I did a variation on this theme, by setting my default runlevel to 3, and stopping the GDM on runlevel [0136]. This was a pain in the rear. The suggested modifications to the grub defaults look like a simpler method. I don't understand why that technique is not as good as changing the Upstart configuration files. Will the linux kernel not always accept command line options?

[Yanno]

I had a hard time because I was following guides that were not tested on 9.10. In fact you don't need to mess with GDM's configuration as GRUB2 is the easiest way to get this done. Here are the steps:

1 - Edit the GRUB2 configuration defaults

$ sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

2 - Change the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash text"

3 - Save and close the grub file

4 - Update grub so that the changes are propagated to grub's configuration file (to all current and future kernels)

$ sudo update-grub

That it! Simple right?

If you ever need to log into gnome, use the startx command. If you want GDM to start use the sudo gdm start command.

Hope this helps people from wasting hours of trying to disable GDM on 9.10 using older guides that suggest editing gdm.conf, moving gdm.conf, using update-rc.d, rcconf or sysv-rc-conf - none of those worked for me. This was the cleanest/best way I found of doing this.

Cheers!

I'd appreciate it.But I've still got a problem now in Karmic.I installed both kdm and gdm,after typing "startx" in the command line,I've only to login into Gnome,how could I login kde?Thx!

[afrodeity]

I can't seem to get GDM to reinstall properly. I somehow borked it, and the only manager that is working is KDM. The new Grub2 setup is very confusing, how does one go about installing GDM?

[mfdc1969]

I am also looking for a way to boot my old desktop (now being used as a server) into a lower runlevel. If I use this method:

Check your current runlevel:

% runlevel
N 2

Edit /etc/init/gdm.conf, and change:

stop on runlevel [016]

to:

stop on runlevel [0216]

With the lower runlevel I assume I will be able to use ssh and my NFS will still mount but how will I start up X and Gnome should I need to?

[asmoore82]

With the lower runlevel I assume I will be able to use ssh and my NFS will still mount but how will I start up X and Gnome should I need to?

to get into Gnome as the current console user:

startx

to start the gdm service manually to get a GUI login screen:

sudo start gdm

[mfdc1969]

Thank you for the info - it works like a charm! When I typed in the command to start the GDM it replied:

$ sudo start gdm
[sudo] password for michael: 
gdm start/running, process 1731

Now, after I have used Gnome is there a command that will shutdown the X server and Gnome and return to the lower runlevel?

I'm not sure but will one of these work:

sudo killall X
sudo kill -9 1731
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

I have been using Ubuntu for 5 years now and I'm confident in my limited CLI abilities but I would still like the ability to use Gnome on occasion.