How does one boot into text mode with grub2 and 12.2? I understand that typing e at the boot prompt gives one options but I can’t read the screen because the light gray type is mostly unreadable.
I was using the nvidia drivers with no problems until I updated my kernel and I couldn’t figure out how to boot without starting the gui. Then I used ctrl>alt>f1 to go into text mode but I was unable to install the drivers because the nouveau driver had already been loaded. I added nomodeset to /etc/default/grub and rebooted but that didn’t help.
How do I boot into text mode so I can install the nvidia drivers?
Is there a way to change the grub2 configure screen so I can read it?
And after done you might even go into YaST / System / Sysconfig Editor / System / Kernel and set NO_KMS_IN_INITRD to Yes and restart your PC. Then if you use the Ctrl-Alt-F1 / log in as root and a init 3 command, you should be able to install that video driver. For more help have a look here:
I have a screen capture in the blog that you can see. Yes, I can see the display. The only time I have had issues is with HDMI TV’s, though I am not sure why that is.
My display doesn’t look anything like the screen capture in your blog. Mine has the openSUSE green background with light gray text that is nearly impossible to read. I was able to get to runlevel 3 following the instructions on your blog, with the help of a magnifying glass. The nvidia drivers are now installed.
And according to /boot/grub2/grub.cfg, nomodeset is set as an option at boot. Doesn’t that mean that I should be able to install the nvidia drivers anytime I’m in text mode/init3? With 12.1 and grub1, I never needed to blacklist the nouveau driver.
And I didn’t need to mess with the NO_KMS setting in YaST either.
Starting with NO_KMS and being in init3, you should be able to install the nVIDIA proprietary drivers. The last step of blacklisting is to prevent having the nouveau driver from being loaded with the nVIDIA driver for no reason. You would think it would not load anyway, but it will and thus the need for the blacklist.
I like being able to just type “3” on the GRUB startup screen to bypass graphics. When I get around to installing openSUSE 12.2, is there any reason why I should not choose GRUB as the bootloader?
Well …, Grub 2 is the wave of the future, designed to work with much larger hard drives, EFI booting GPT partitions and basically all things new in hard drives. Grub 2 is actively being maintained (as opposed to Grub Legacy which is not) and it is the selected default boot manager in openSUSE 12.2. Switching to using Grub Legacy, just like trying to avoid using systemd by using System V is like swimming upstream. You can do it at first, but eventually, you will tire out and start going downstream with the flow.
The points made about grub2 are hard to disagree with but my install of 12.2 with grub1 works fine (I have only used grub1 as I have a odd set up and am not confident enough to try to replicate this with grub2)
And of course we are very happy that Grub legacy is working as you require. And if Grub legacy works fine, you don’t need any of the newer features in Grub 2, for now any way. But, while you can, its useful to learn how the new boot manager works, before you have a PC that only works with the new Grub 2. I can say that dealing with the old Grub legacy has been like dealing with an old friend, but unlike real friends, this is one guy you need to leave in your past. For now though, we know how both work and will be happy to help with either one if you need it.