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While at my console I accidentally hit Ctrl+Alt+F2, which replaced my screens with a text-mode login prompt, as it should. From that shell, I see that /usr/bin/X and my previous shells and processes are still running.

To once again show my X-windows session, that I'd started long ago in the usual way right after booting, what keys should I hit (or what signal should I send, where)?

Camille Goudeseune
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  • It should have been `Ctrl-Alt-F2` that you hit. To return to your main X session, you want `Ctrl-Alt-F7`. If you have somehow configured your system so that `Alt-F2` switches terminals, then I guess `Alt-F7` would switch back. – AFH Aug 26 '19 at 17:57
  • Enter that as an answer, and I'll accept it. How embarrassing... I stopped trying after 5, and 7 worked. – Camille Goudeseune Aug 26 '19 at 19:14

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On Ubuntu 14.04 the default key-stroke to invoke a virtual terminal is CtrlAltFn, where n is the number of the virtual terminal desired.

Also by default, there are is an allocation of six virtual terminals, controlled by the agetty instances. See ps -C agetty - at least, that's the command on 18.04 that I am now using, though the instances don't appear until after each CtrlAltFn. I'm afraid I can't remember how it was handled in 14.04, but it will have been something similar.

The main X session is therefore restored by invoking virtual terminal 7 with CtrlAltF7.

AFH
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