How do I get the consoles available? ctrl+alt+f1 and so on........

Hi freejack. The text consoles are automatically available in most versions of Linux. When you first start your system, you are taken to the GUI login screen. This is also located on "virtual console 7", which you will be able to get back to with ctrl+alt+f7 (press ctrl and alt keys together, then press the f7 key).

To get to the first console, simply press ctrl+alt+f1. You can do that from f1 through f6.

Is that what you are trying to do?

Jon

SimplyMEPIS Value CD: $17.95
Amount saved not buying Windows Vista Ultimate: $399
Experience gained learning Mepis and helping others: Priceless

It's not working, that is why I was asking. I know in a couple distros that it had to be enabled. I have done ctrl+alt+F1-F6 and it just stays on F7.

1) Is Mepis actually INSTALLED on your computer or are you running from the Live CD?
2) Is Mepis installed on the computer or did you install it into a "virtual machine" such as VMware?

I am writing this from a Dell Inspiron B130 laptop, and I swap back and forth to the different virtual, and real, consoles often.

Here's a "gotcha" though. When you are in KDE (which is on ctrl+alt+f7), press ctrl+alt+f1 to go to the first text console. If it doesn't switch, do it again. I have noticed a feature/bug in the latest KDE on my system that the first key press is ignored, but the second one works. Let me know if that works for you.

Another question. Upon booting your computer, are you being taken into the GUI login screen (the one used by KDE)?

Jon

SimplyMEPIS Value CD: $17.95
Amount saved not buying Windows Vista Ultimate: $399
Experience gained learning Mepis and helping others: Priceless

It is installed and on the laptop. not in any virtual machine.When it boots up to goes to kdm for the login. I have pressed the keys numerous times and do not get any consoles. This is really frustrating.

Most frustrating!

I just tested on my system to confirm some things. First, start something up in KDE; anything. Perhaps a simple konsole. Next, press and hold the ctrl and alt keys. With the ctrl and alt down, then press the f2 key, then release all of them. If your system is like mine, KDE will "blink", but you will not be switched. Press and hold ctrl and alt, and press f2 again. You SHOULD switch to tty2 at this point where you can log in.

Log in as you. Then, try to switch back to KDE by pressing and holding ctrl and alt, then press f7.

Let me know what happens.

Jon

SimplyMEPIS Value CD: $17.95
Amount saved not buying Windows Vista Ultimate: $399
Experience gained learning Mepis and helping others: Priceless

My wild guess is that probably it doesn't detect your laptop F keys right.
--
Check out Mepis wiki: www.mepis.org/docs

Did the ctrl+alt f2 and nothing, did it again and still nothing not even a screen blink. It's detecting the F keys I did the ctrl f2 and got desktop 2, did alt f2 and got the run command window. Is there a setting in KDE for keys that could be hindering this?

freejack, that's no good

I just logged into one of my boxes to confirm the keypresses that you used. ctrl+f1 does go to a different desktop, and alt+f2 is the RUN command. So your F keys seem to be detected properly.

On a stock install of Mepis, KDE does not change which keys are allowed/disallowed that are different from what we've been describing.

Can you post your /etc/inittab file here? That file controls what processes are allowed to start from the various consoles. This is the important part from /etc/inittab on one of my systems:

# Run gettys in standard runlevels
1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty1
2:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty2
3:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty3
4:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4
5:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5
6:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty6

Also, please post the contents of /etc/kde3/kdm/Xservers. I can't recall if that same file is used with Mepis 6 and I don't have my Mepis 6 box running at the moment. These results are from a 3.3.1-1 box:

# less Xservers
# Xservers - local X-server list
#
# This file should contain an entry to start the server on the
# local display; if you have more than one display (not screen),
# you can add entries to the list (one per line).
# If you also have some X terminals connected which do not support XDMCP,
# you can add them here as well; you will want to leave those terminals
# on and connected to the network, else kdm will have a tougher time
# managing them. Each X terminal line should look like:
#       XTerminalName:0 foreign
#

:0 local@tty1         /usr/X11R6/bin/X -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp

:1 local@tty2 reserve /usr/X11R6/bin/X -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp :1

:2 local@tty3 reserve /usr/X11R6/bin/X -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp :2

:3 local@tty4 reserve /usr/X11R6/bin/X -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp :3

:4 local@tty5 reserve /usr/X11R6/bin/X -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp :4

### Don't change these two lines; they are hints for genkdmconf. ###

### Version 1.99 ###

That file controls how many virtual desktops can be created from F7 up to F11 (usually). But I seem to recall that that file is no longer used with SM 6.0, so you may not have it.

Jon

SimplyMEPIS Value CD: $17.95

Amount saved not buying Windows Vista Ultimate: $399

Experience gained learning Mepis and helping others: Priceless