telinit 3 Satan?

[IronBunny]

I downloaded the only linux driver for a GeForce 4 4200 that i found on the NVidia site, but when i execute the file in the command prompt, and i get my hopes up, a message box pops up that says I need to shut down x server. I have no idea how to do this. So I looked it up on the internet, and after several results say to typ "telinit 3" in a command prompt as a root user, I tried it. nothing at all happened except i get a message that says bash: telinit: command not found. i then found another another site which said to try init 3...nothing...anyway now im getting unbelievably frustrated with this whole init 3 thing, if anyone can tell me of an alternate way to shut down x server in fedora core 3, I will be your best friend. *desperate* any help with this would be greatly appreciated O_O.

[silentplummet]

ctrl-alt-backspace

[cjcox]

You need to be root. You can just say "init 3" on a Linux box.. pretty much the same thing there.

[IronBunny]

i was root, and i did try init 3...my problem is that supposedly the command doesnt exist supposedly...this is why I am so bloody frustrated its making me crazy!

recap of everything i have tried to shutdown X...as root

telinit 3
init 3

neither works and both i get a bash message that says the command doesnt exist. Do I need to do this in a command box before i log into linux? or is there a "root" user taht i dont know about? because right now i just logon to fedora core 3 and then open a command prompt, type in "su" and then my root password, then this telinit 3 thing doesnt log out of x...it makes no sense at all, so if i need to be logging into linux with a secret root username, let me know. and how to open a prompt in the logon window might be helpful as well...

[Pizbit]

(Assuming Fedora doesn't change things it shouldn't...)
Being a gnome distibution I'm assuming is uses gdm
Try this command in a console as root:
/etc/init.d/gdm stop
And then change stop to start once you've installed the driver:
/etc/init.d/gdm start

[zander]

@IronBunny: did you login as root or `su`? In the latter case, `/sbin/init 3` or `su -` and `init 3` likely work better; else try what Pizbit suggested.

[IronBunny]

i used su....so i should try adding 'su-' as a prefix for those sort of commands when i used su to gain root access?

[zander]

@IronBunny: you can either try `su -` or specify full paths with `su`.

[IronBunny]

ok the '/sbin/init 3' works, kinda...after it goes black and leaves me with a blinking cursor i cannot type anything, nothing shows up on the screen...any ideas why?

[Pizbit]

Ahh, you're doing that command from inside X eh?
ALT+F1 (or you might need to use CTRL+ALT+F1 instead)
And login as root, or normal user then 'su -' to become root.
'init 3' or '/sbin/init 3' depending on how you became root.
Then install the nvidia drivers: sh NVIDIA.blah.run