["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.x.]
On 18 Jul 2004 17:23:32 -0700, Professor Fossil Fuel staggered into the
Black Sun and said:
> Hi all, I am just starting to take my first baby steps into Linux. I
> set up Red Hat 6 from an old book I found. During setup I configured X
> to start at startup. Now I am trying to exit X and get out to the
> shell but I can't figure out how to do it.

You have to stop the X login manager (xdm, kdm, or gdm) from running.
Typically, this is started from init and it automatically respawns when
killed, so Ctrl-Alt-Backspace won't work. Start an xterm or konsole,
"su -" , enter root's password, type "init 3".

Or, press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to switch to virtual terminal 1, where a getty
should be running. Log in as root, then enter "/etc/init.d/xdm stop" to
stop the X login manager. You can also press Ctrl-Alt-F[1-6] at any
time to switch to virtual terminals 1-6, where gettys should be running.

> Also what (script I guess) do I modify so that I start up in the
> shell?

Modify /etc/inittab , init's configuration file. By convention in
Redhat, runlevel 5 starts everything, runlevel 3 starts everything but
X. Find the line that says
id:5:initdefault:
....and change the 5 to a 3. Next time you reboot, X won't start. HTH,

--
Matt G|There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see
Brainbench MVP for Linux Admin / mail: TRAP + SPAN don't belong
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