Hi all, Until documentation or on-screen instructions make this unnecessary, this email serves to document various actions the user can perform while on Devuan's login screen. The login screen is that screen that asks for your username, and then after that, it asks for your password. It typically is either green or purplish. Either way, it consists of a slightly lighter and slightly darker version of its color, has two broadly sweeping curves, and has in large lowercase letters the word "login". It has an input field, and just above the input field, in tiny black letters, is written the string "username".
The most usual way it's used is the user types in his username into the input field, presses the Enter key, after which the tiny "username:" changes to "password:". The user then types his password, hits Enter, and if the username and password were correct, he is logged in. CHANGING WINDOW MANAGER / DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT If the user wants to change the window manager / desktop environment (wmde) he will log into, he presses the F1 key to cycle through all the installed wmde's, and stops when the desired wmde is written on the screen. This functionality has no memory. At every new login, without the F1 key, every user's wmde will be the default wmde, which is the one specified at installation. There is no capacity to remember different wmde's for different users: A user desiring a non-default WMDE simply needs to remember to cycle through wmde's with the F1 key on every login. SPECIAL USERNAMES The login screen has no controls other than the input field. So how do you reboot, halt or go to a console from the login screen? The answer is, you use a special username. For instance, to reboot the computer from the login screen, type in the username "reboot" (without the quotes), then when asked for the password put the root password, and it reboots. If you want to halt, use the username "halt". To go to a console, use "console" without any password. A little console appears, asking you for username and password. When you exit the console via the exit command or Ctrl+d on the console, you go back to the login screen. SteveT Steve Litt July 2016 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques _______________________________________________ Dng mailing list Dng@lists.dyne.org https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng