Ubuntu – How to start Ubuntu in Console mode

16.04bootnvidia

I want to know if there is a way to switch to console mode from the boot menu. I have an NVIDIA 1070 and every time there is an update, the GUI stops working. All I need to do is re-install the drivers; however, to do that I need to be in console mode.

EDIT: I should have added more information to this question but I'll comment on all answers. In short: I've tried text instead of quiet splash I do see booting activity in text mode; however, I don't get a login screen and ctrl + Alt + F1 doesn't help because GDM keeps trying to restart. Previously I managed to kill GDM through multiple tries but is not working since the latest update.

EDIT: After searching for runlevel, I've found How do I change the runlevel on systemd? but I think it required me to have a running system to make changes — please correct me if I'm wrong.

Best Answer

Yes you can. As described here (ubuntuhandbook.org - Boot into text console ubuntu) you need to edit /etc/default/grub to have the next boot end up in text mode. In summary you will set these parameters:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="text"
GRUB_TERMINAL=console

After saving changes you need to run:

sudo update-grub
sudo systemctl enable multi-user.target --force
sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target

Undoing text-mode

To undo sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target simply type 

sudo systemctl enable graphical.target --force
sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
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