How to run in terminal mode without X window?

[MellowTigger]

I need to install a more recent Nvidia driver that doesn't show in my update manager. I've downloaded the driver, but I need to run it without X windows. I've seen webpages that mention CTL-ALT-F1 (through Fn) that switches between different "workspaces" where you might have X windows or just a plain terminal interface. This shortcut does nothing for me in Linux Mint 17.1 with Cinnamon.

So how do I get to a terminal-only interface, not a terminal window within X?

[xenopeek]

Hold the left shift key down while booting your system, which should display the GRUB boot menu. Select to boot into recovery mode. In the menu shown, choose to drop to the root shell prompt. Provide the password of the root user (unless you changed root's password, it is the password you gave during installation of Linux Mint). You now have a shell without X windows.

[MellowTigger]

Holding down the left shift key did nothing. My keyboard buttons work fine when I use them within an application like gedit.

I see the following line at /boot/efi/EFI/ubuntu/grub.cfg
set prefix=($root)'/boot/grub'

The file at /boot/grub/grub.cfg warns against editing the file. Is there some other way I can ensure an option for a terminal boot? I'm tech savvy but new to Linux. My google-fu is weak, but I'm willing to do more research if pointers to useful phrases are offered. What I find on my own are variants upon variants of outdated information for various distributions.

p.s. Now I'm slightly confused. I have /dev/sda2 parition where /boot/efi is mounted with "boot" flag. I also have /dev/sda1 partition with unknown filesystem and "bios_grub" flag.

[MellowTigger]

In pursuit of a workaround, I think I'm halfway there.

• I downloaded grub-customizer, and I was able to turn on the grub menu so I see it during bootup.
• I copied the menuentry text from /boot/grub/grub.cfg for my standard Linux Mint boot into the bottom of the file at /etc/grub.d/40_custom. I modified 3 lines:
  from the old menu title to a new one,
  from "gfxmode $linux_gfx_mod" to "gfxmode text",
  and the linux line from "quiet splash $vt_handoff" to "quiet splash text $vt_handoff"
• I ran "sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg"

I reboot and get the menu item, but I don't get any working interface. I think I'm close to bypassing the usual X window system. Anyone have hints for how to finish the job? Or get the ALT-CTL-Fn keys working as they're apparently supposed to, so I don't have to use grub to get this video driver installed?

[niowluka]

Boot to Cinnamon as usual, open terminal emulator and type:

Code: Select all

sudo stop mdm