Even in the case your system requires fixing in order to work again, there is usually still a way to reach a usable mode in order to acquire system information and logs. By usable, we mean a system in which you can at least access files and input commands, and not necessarily a graphical desktop: [HowTo] Use the terminal / TTY
You have various options:
- Booting normally
- Accessing TTY with Ctrl+Alt+F2
- Booting without login manager
At the Grub menu, make your selection and hit E to edit the kernel boot line. If the Grub is hidden, tap Esc or Shift on boot to make it appear.
I’m not sure if I should Edit the post, or just write this comment, or both.
To make it clear that users are using systemd, I think the above line should be changed to:
Append runlevel 3 to the kernel boot line, which corresponds to the systemd target multi-user.target, or append systemd.unit=multi-user.target to the kernel boot line.
Considering such boot modification is (usually) needed for otherwise unbootable systems, i’d rather put suggestions involving less typing, so that it is less error-prone.
The association with systemd target is relevant though, i’ll add a link for documentation sake.
I’d suggest changing Ctrl+Alt+F2 to Ctrl+Alt+F3 as, at least on the systems I own or manage, TTY1 is used for the GUI and I’m also presented with a GUI login screen on TTY2.
It’s not just Wayland. I’m on X11 KDE Plasma and that now uses TTY2 (TTY1 just shows boot messages). This is something that has changed recently, I’ve seen other people mention it, but I don’t know why or exactly when.
It’s a [HowTo] that is linked to near the top of the sticky [HowTo] Find system information that gets posted many times a day to new users. Might be a good idea if it was up-to-date and correct.
If the Grub is hidden, tap Esc or Shift on boot to make it appear.
