[mythtv-users] Help: Disable X & Edit X config

[Devan Lippman]

On 4/18/06, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> On Apr 18, 2006, at 9:47 AM, Travis N wrote:
>
> I am new to linux & myth, but at one point successfully had both
> functioning.  In my blind attempts to get the S-video out hooked up to my
> TV, I changed my X config file to force S-video out.  This was successful,
> but the HorizSync setting seems to be set wrong, as the output image seems
> to be smeared across/around the screen horizontally.  Now when I plug my
> monitor into the VGA connection, it will no longer output to the monitor and
> I cannot see what is on the TV in order to log in and modify the config file
> in KDE.
>
> I am guessing that I have to prevent X from booting, and edit this file from
> outside of KDE somehow, but have no idea of how to do it (s-video works
> great until X loads)..  basic step-by-step instructions would be greatly
> appreciated!
>
> Also, if someone could direct me to the appropriate config settings
> (HorizSync) for a run-of-the-mill 27" RCA TV (NTSC), that would also be
> greatly appreciated.
>
>
>
> Hooo Boy. It should be illegal to allow Unix systems to boot directly into a
> graphical environment, or at least it shouldn't be the default behavior as
> it is with a lot of distros.
>
> I don't know how or what distro you installed but here are some options:
>
> If you can log into the machine remotely via ssh you could edit the file.
>
> You could press CTRL-ALT-F2, which should get you into a virtual text
> terminal, and you can edit whatever you want.
>
> Do you want to output just to the TV, or to a TV and a normal computer
> display? If the latter, it depends on what X server and driver you are
> using, nVidia has "TwinView", which is probably what you want. The README
> that comes with the nVidia driver explains how to set this up.
>
> You might also want to be sure that both your display devices are connected
> at boot, again this depends somewhat on your setup.
>
> Also, to prevent booting into a graphical environment, change the line in
> your /etc/inittab file that says "id:<x>:initdefault:" so that <x> is 3 and
> not whatever it is. I don't know how this might interact with whatever
> distro you are using though. Normally you'll just have to type "startx"to
> get into your graphical world.
>
> But it's easy enough to just switch to a terminal after X starts I guess.
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>
>
>
another option would be to specify the runlevel in your bootloader. 
In grub you can edit this on the fly without making changes permenant.
 In the line that selects your kernel image add something like "init
3" if you wanted to go to runlevel 3 (X doesn't start until level 5).

--
Thanks,
Devan Lippman <devan at lippman dot net>