BOOTING IN RUNLEVEL 3 ( With Grub )


There are occasions you want to boot in non-graphical mode ( in runlevel 3 ) for troubleshooting because the system fails to boot the usual way, X fails to start or some module it fails to load.

Here is how you do it when Grub is your boot loader:

At the grub boot menu press the E key. Next select the distro you want to boot and press the E key again. Now select the line with "kernel /boot/vmlinuz" and hit the E key one more time. Now type a space and the number 3 at the end of that line, so for example from:

to

Finally press the B key and your distro will boot in runlevel 3


NOTE: Runlevel 3 does not work in Ubuntu . . . . use the "rescue mode" you see in the Ubuntu boot menu.

NOTE 2: In recent Mandriva versions Grub has a graphical menu where you can press F2 to edit boot options . . . simply add the number 3 and press the Enter key to boot in runlevel 3.



Bruno



-- Jun 03 2007 --