On Tue, Jun 18, 2024 at 22:39:15 -0400, Felix Miata wrote:

David Chmelik composed on 2024-06-19 02:24 (UTC):

How can I disable GUI/X for next boot? I just want to run it when I
decide as startx/startxfce/etc.

# systemctl get-default # reports bootup state
# systemctl set-default graphical.target sets GUI as default state
# systemctl set-default multi-user.target brings system up without GUI running

For a single boot to finish at multi-user, simply append 3 to the end of the (usually wrapped) linu line after striking E key at the default Grub menu selection. If already using multi-user.target default, append 5 to linu line to
get a full GUI boot.

Or if you *never* want to use a graphical display manager for login,
just remove the display manager package, whichever one it is.

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David Chmelik composed on 2024-06-19 02:24 (UTC):

How can I disable GUI/X for next boot? I just want to run it when I
decide as startx/startxfce/etc.

# systemctl get-default # reports bootup state
# systemctl set-default graphical.target sets GUI as default state
# systemctl set-default multi-user.target brings system up without GUI running

For a single boot to finish at multi-user, simply append 3 to the end of the (usually wrapped) linu line after striking E key at the default Grub menu selection. If already using multi-user.target default, append 5 to linu line to get a full GUI boot.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
based on faith, not based on science.

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata

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David Chmelik composed on 2024-06-19 04:39 (UTC):

On Tue, 18 Jun 2024 22:39:15 -0400, Felix Miata wrote:

David Chmelik composed on 2024-06-19 02:24 (UTC):

How can I disable GUI/X for next boot? I just want to run it when I
decide as startx/startxfce/etc.

# systemctl get-default # reports bootup state # systemctl set-default
graphical.target sets GUI as default state # systemctl set-default
multi-user.target brings system up without GUI running

For a single boot to finish at multi-user, simply append 3 to the end of
the (usually wrapped) linu line after striking E key at the default Grub
menu selection. If already using multi-user.target default, append 5 to
linu line to get a full GUI boot.

What about in the case I use SysVInit so don't have systemctl?

One way, rather extreme but effective, would be to find a distribution neither systemd nor Debian based. Many have or had more than Debian's two sustaining runlevels. E.g. Fedora, Mageia and openSUSE and those much like them before systemd existed are where those numbers 3 & 5 came from. Whereas in Debian there
were only 1/S and 2 for sustaining runlevels, for simply single and everything, the others had more granularity:

1/S-single/recovery
2-multiuser with partial networking
3-full multiuser (everything except X)
4-unused
5-full multiuser plus X

Slackware uses 4 instead of 5 but otherwise is the same, and still focused on SysV.

I never did learn any easy way to do as requested in Debian prior to systemd. I didn't use it much then either. For me, systemd has mostly been an advantage over
SysV tradition.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
based on faith, not based on science.

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Wed, Jun 19, 2024 at 04:39:50AM -0000, David Chmelik wrote:

On Tue, 18 Jun 2024 22:39:15 -0400, Felix Miata wrote:

David Chmelik composed on 2024-06-19 02:24 (UTC):

How can I disable GUI/X for next boot? I just want to run it when I
decide as startx/startxfce/etc.

# systemctl get-default [...]

What about in the case I use SysVInit so don't have systemctl?

Then you have an /etc/init.d/xdm (or gdm, or..., depending on your
display manager). And, if you don't feel like managing it manually,
you have update-rc.d, which comes with a manual page.

Cheers
--
t

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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Just remove any login-manager like gdm, kdm, sddm and lightdm.

For testing purposes, you can eaily remove the binaries below /usr/bin/ to somewhere, for example to /root/.

Then reboot and it will not boot into X. Startx will work.

And if this is not what you want, just move the binaries back to /usr/bin/, reboot and X is starting at boot again.

Hope this helps.

Best

Hans

# systemctl get-default # reports bootup state # systemctl set-default >>> graphical.target sets GUI as default state # systemctl set-default
multi-user.target brings system up without GUI running

For a single boot to finish at multi-user, simply append 3 to the end
of the (usually wrapped) linu line after striking E key at the default >>> Grub menu selection. If already using multi-user.target default,
append 5 to linu line to get a full GUI boot.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

David Chmelik composed on 2024-06-19 08:40 (UTC):

On Wed, 19 Jun 2024 01:06:04 -0400, Felix Miata wrote:

Slackware uses 4 instead of 5 but otherwise is the same, and still
focused on SysV.

That's what I wish I could've set in Debian.

Ask in a Devuan forum. By now I would suppose they would have something simple to
correlate to appending a 3. Could it possibly have switched available levels to 0
1 2 3 5 6 by now?

Another thought: depending on what is desired from running the special boot, many
systems' graphics for X will be unable to start if KMS is disabled. One could boot
with nomodeset, i915.modeset=0, radeon.modeset=0, amdgpu.modeset=0, etc. appended
to bootloader's linu line.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
based on faith, not based on science.

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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David Chmelik wrote:

On Wed, 19 Jun 2024 08:47:58 +0200, tomas wrote:

On Wed, Jun 19, 2024 at 04:39:50AM -0000, David Chmelik wrote:

On Tue, 18 Jun 2024 22:39:15 -0400, Felix Miata wrote:

David Chmelik composed on 2024-06-19 02:24 (UTC):

How can I disable GUI/X for next boot? I just want to run it when I
decide as startx/startxfce/etc.

# systemctl get-default [...]

What about in the case I use SysVInit so don't have systemctl?

sudo update-rc.d lightdm disable

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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