How to bring up a terminal before starting the x-server...

[nuts]

I need to launch a terminal before starting the x-server so I can install a video driver. How do I go about doing this?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-9755.html

[stevea]

Yeah - stop the bootup in grub and edit (the 'e' command) the kernel line so that it reads:
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.xxxx ro root=LABEL=/1 rhgb quiet single

That is add the "single" line to the bootline arguments and the boot (the 'b' command'). You'll end up at a root shell with no X11.. Reboot or do an "init 5" to bring up the X11 gui.

[sideways]

either type 'init 3' while in a current x session, which will get you into a text console, you can then type startx once the driver is installed (and xorg.conf configured), or reboot, hit 'a' at the grub prompt and add '3' to the kernel options, this will also boot into text mode, type gdm or startx once the driver is installed (This method will need to be used to repair things if the xserver won't come up)

[leigh123linux]

I would use init 1

su -
init 1

to get X back

init 5

[bob]

Nuts, since you're installing an Nvidia driver have you tried the kmod-nvidia's from Livna instead? They should work well for you and will automatically update with kernel changes. You can click on the FAQ link above and check out the installation procedure.

[nuts]

Thanks guys; I really appreciate all your help. Slowly but surely I am figuring this OS out. Been an MS guy for so long I am really having a blast exploring the differences in this operating system. So far I am very pleased with it's performance and ease of use.

I installed it on an old computer a friend gave me and for as aged as this machine's hardware is fedora runs very well and has no problem completing my tasks in an efficient manner. I think I am pretty much sold on the open OS concept.

Thanks again for all the help given here and in other threads.

[nuts]

Nuts, since you're installing an Nvidia driver have you tried the kmod-nvidia's from Livna instead? They should work well for you and will automatically update with kernel changes. You can click on the FAQ link above and check out the installation procedure.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. I will look into that for sure!

I wonder if there would be any benefit to upgrading the video driver from the one that is originally included with core6. The one on Nvidia's site is newer but my card is somewhat old. It is an AGP FX5200 256MB...

I would also like to find a way to force the resolution to 1152x864@100hz. I can set that resolution within gnome but at soon as I reboot it reverts back to 1280x1024@85hz.