Having launched X, can I shutdown without a mouse?

Question

I've launched into X using startx, but now can't shutdown my pi, as I have no mouse, and I can't seem to access anything with the keyboard alone. What can I do?

Try making a button adapting this tutorial http://www.repairhub.co.uk/content/resources/raspberry-pi-battery-backup — AwesomeUser, Apr 22 '14 at 21:32

score 23 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 19 '12 at 20:01

23

Try pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1.

This will switch you to a different tty. After logging in on this you can run commands as normal

Any F key under 6 will do.

edited Jun 19 '12 at 20:01

Oliver Salzburg

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answered Jun 19 '12 at 19:08

Jivings

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This switched out to the console running X, I could then terminate X with ctrl-c and shutdown the machine. – Tom Medley Jun 20 '12 at 09:41
@TomMedley Glad I could help. – Jivings Jun 20 '12 at 10:02
This is a bit of a sledge hammer solution I think. – Skizz Sep 07 '12 at 09:15
@Skizz It's the only solution that will work in any session. – Jivings Sep 07 '12 at 14:10
I'd be surprised if the system key or alt didn't work, but I haven't tried this. – jfa Jul 10 '15 at 14:41

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 08 '12 at 19:10

6

Why not stop it with sudo /etc/init.d/lightdm stop

answered Sep 08 '12 at 19:10

flomar

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I doubt that that would be possible, unless there was a terminal window open, and currently focused when the mouse was removed. – hifkanotiks Sep 17 '12 at 18:19
If there is no window manager, decorator, etc. it means that startx didn't launch lightdm. Then lightdm status is not set as started/running and thus it can't be stopped with sudo /etc/init.d/lightdm stop – Avio Sep 27 '12 at 20:51

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 19 '16 at 16:16

4

Pressing Ctrl+Esc brings up the 'start' menu (for want of a better word) and then you can use the arrow keys to select 'logout'.

Which is the same as Windows - if you've not got a Windows key then Ctrl+Esc does the same thing (OK, a bit off topic but thought I'd make sure everyone understood I wasn't just thinking it was Windows and that it also works on the default Pi desktop).

edited Dec 19 '16 at 16:16

techraf

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answered Sep 07 '12 at 09:12

Skizz

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However, this is dependant on the display manager, whereas my solution will work in any X session. – Jivings Sep 07 '12 at 14:09

score 4 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 20 '12 at 08:39

4

Try Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.

This will kill the running X server.

edited Jun 20 '12 at 08:39

Jivings

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answered Jun 19 '12 at 20:26

Alex Chamberlain

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This doesn't work by default on recent versions of X. – Jivings Jun 20 '12 at 07:25
I wasn't sure to be honest! – Alex Chamberlain Jun 20 '12 at 08:10
No harm done. It's still useful to know. Some Window Managers re-enable it. – Jivings Jun 20 '12 at 08:38
@Jivings If I remember correctly, raspi-config actually allows to enable it. – Klaus-Dieter Warzecha Feb 07 '14 at 20:36

score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Dec 19 '16 at 15:45

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If sudo /etc/init.d/lightdm stop works, then make bash script in /bin:

$ cd /bin
$ sudo nano stopx

In the new file insert the following code:

#!/bin/bash
sudo /etc/init.d/lightdm stop

save and exit nano, i.e. Ctrl+x and then Enter

Make the file executable:

$ chmod +x stopx

Finally one may use stopx as opposite of startx!

edited Dec 19 '16 at 15:45

techraf

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answered Feb 07 '14 at 19:55

drgrujic

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Having launched X, can I shutdown without a mouse?

5 Answers5