You can just do ctrl-alt-backspace from gnome and it will kill the Xserver.
* Log in as root.
* Type:
gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf
If you have not already done so, remove "rhgb quiet" from the kernel line in grub.conf. Click the "save" button and then exit gedit. This will disable the "Red Hat Graphical Boot" at boot time which would otherwise interfere with the nVidia installation described below.
* Open Firefox (the "mouse and world" icon on the bottom left). Go to
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d..._1.0-6629.html and download NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1.run. (Select "save to disk".) This should save the file to the /root directory.
* Open the terminal and type:
gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
In the "module" section comment out (put a "#" in front of) load "dri" so that it reads # load "dri". In the "device" section change "nv" to "nvidia".
Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "fbdevhw"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
# Load "dri"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX (generic)"
EndSection
Click the "save" icon and exit gedit.
* With the root terminal still open type:
gedit /etc/rc.local
At the end of the file add the line:
/sbin/modprobe nvidia
Add a carriage return as well if necessary to insure that there is a blank line at the bottom of the file. Click on the "save" icon and exit gedit. Close the terminal.
* Click "Actions" > "Log Out" > "Restart the computer" and click "ok". When Fedora reboots it will try to load the nVidia driver (which has been downloaded but not yet installed). You will see the command line login prompt 3 or 4 times as it continues to try to load the driver and then you will see a text mode screen with the message "...cannot start the x server...". Answer "no" (right arrow and enter) to the question "would you like to view the x server output?". Answer "no" to the question "would you like me to run the x configuration program?". Answer "ok" to "...disable the x server for now...". You will then be presented with a text mode command line login prompt. Log in as root, type "ls" and hit enter. You should see the nVidia driver file that you downloaded previously. Type:
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6629-pkg1.run
Hit enter. You will be presented with a text mode nVidia screen. Left arrow to "accept" and hit enter. Answer "yes" to "download...". Answer "ok" to "no matching kernel...". Answer "ok" to "warning - your kernel was...". Disregard the "rivafb" warning. It won't affect your installation. nVidia will build and install a kernel module for the nVidia driver. When the "...complete" screen appears hit enter on "ok", then type "reboot" and hit enter. You should see the nVidia splash screen when Fedora reboots indicating that the installation was successful. Now if you wish to get rhgb (Red Hat Graphical Boot) working again open a terminal and type:
su -
Hit enter, type your root password and hit enter. Type:
cp -a /dev/nvidia* /etc/udev/devices
Hit enter. Type:
chown root.root /etc/udev/devices/nvidia*
Hit enter. Type:
gedit gedit /etc/rc.local
Remove the "/sbin/modprobe nvidia" line from rc.local, click on the "save" icon, and exit gedit. Type:
gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf
Add "rhgb quiet" back into the kernel line in grub.conf, click on the "save" icon, and exit gedit. Reboot. (If you upgrade your kernel be sure to remove "rhgb quiet" from grub.conf before you reboot into the new kernel. Then you can re-install the nVidia driver per these instructions again for the new kernel.)