[lug] setting init 3 on KRUD install

[Paul E Condon]

On Fri, Oct 22, 2004 at 11:08:30AM +0000, D. Stimits wrote:
> D. Frye wrote:
> >On Fri, Oct 22, 2004 at 10:10:42AM +0000, D. Stimits wrote:
> >} This seems silly, I should be able to find this in the help docs, but 
> >} cannot. I'm trying to install KRUD/Fedora Core 2on a machine with a 
> >} GeForce2 video card that works great except when it gets to starting the 
> >} X server, then it always exits abnormally. I want to install X, I want 
> >} to probe hardware, but I do not want it to ever try to start X. I can't 
> >} seem to find an option to tell it to not initialize or test X. Is there 
> >} a way in the initial command line to tell it to set the initial runlevel 
> >} to 3, as well as NEVER attempting to start the X server...and still 
> >} allow me to install X? In both text and graphical modes it is not giving 
> >} me this option.
> >} 
> >
> >Sorry if I'm barking up the wrong tree, but you probably want to edit
> >the /etc/inittab file to read like this:
> >
> >	id:3:initdefault:
> >
> >The best guess is that you could just load the system, and then make the
> >change.  If I misunderstood your question, I appologize in advance.
> >
> 
> Unfortunately it isn't that simple. Installation fails the moment it 
> tries to start X11 during install. I have to keep it from even 
> attempting to set up X11, but I want everything in place. So essentially 
> it must remain in runlevel 3 during install and not do any X11 at all, 
> or it dies. It would be nice if the install could also set the intial 
> login runlevel to 3 even with X11 installed, since all graphical mode 
> will do after install is cause catastrophic failure. I could use rescue 
> mode after the install and before first run to mount the filesystem and 
> edit inittab, but this will have no effect on a successful install, 
> it'll never get that far unless I completely remove all X11 packages 
> (and I don't want to go down that very very very long road of installing 
> all X11 stuff later, one package at a time).
> 

I'm sure you have a reason for wanting to install KRUD, but this problem
would simply never happen if you were installing Debian Sarge with the
new network installer.

Debian is lean and mean. The only run levels that are defined by the 
distribution are 0, 1, 2, and 6(restart).

You can have a run level 3 if you want, but never during the initial install.
And to get it involves a bit of work, since it is a pure user implemented
add-on. 

'X-stuff later one package at a time' is also not the way Debian works.

-- 
Paul E Condon           
pecondon at mesanetworks.net