[tlug] Runlevel 3 blues

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Raedwolf Summoner writes:

 > Running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Gnome window manager. Installed NVIDIA 
 > driver, which worked fine for about a week. Suddenly Ubuntu started 
 > booting into low graphics mode, complaining about the NVIDIA driver.
 > 
 > Reinstalled NVIDIA driver. Worked fine for several weeks. Now I'm back
 > booting into low graphics mode.
 > 
 > Only, this time I can't get into runlevel 3 to reinstall the driver. I hit
 > <Ctrl><Alt><F1> then do the same commands as I did before:
 > Usually, "sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop" worked before,

That doesn't actually change the runlevel, and it sounds like Ubuntu's
scripts are broken now anyway.

 > but I guess the "upgrades" via Ubuntu have stopped this.

(1) First, shut down any user level stuff that might have unsaved
    files etc., just like if you were going to reboot.
(2) sudo /sbin/telinit 3

 > I have been repeatedly doing the same thing over and over for the
 > last few days trying to get different results. Do I need a shrink?

No.  "Just put the hammer down."

 > Is there any way out of this mess without switching to a different
 > distro?

Surely.  But you've come back to this well enough times that I'm
wondering about whether you should switch distros (or more likely,
just pull the plug on automatic updates, and manually install only
those labelled "security").

 > Could I switch to a different window manager, install
 > NVIDIA, then go back to Gnome and have it work?

Probably not, from the symptoms you describe -- you have to shut down
the X server.

 > (And, before you ask, yes I have tried using Ubuntu's own software
 > installer to install the driver, and no it doesn't work.)

If it has a command line mode, try telinit'ing to level 3 or level S
(the latter will definitely kill X and put you in a shell on console,
as well as closing any apps you have open, so do your normal "about to
reboot" dance first).

If none of the above works, start a reboot, when it gets to the grub
prompt, stop there and add "S" to your default command line, then let
the reboot continue.  This will put you in single-user mode and you
should be able to reinstall the driver at that point using aptitude or
dpkg.

Sorry I can't help you with the grub boot prompt if Ubuntu hides that.