Login directly to terminal instead of GUI

Solution 1:

If you find >console not working, newer OS have disabled it by default.

A quick command line modification of the preference will re-enable it:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist "DisableConsoleAccess" NO

Solution 2:

>console works on OS X 10.7.5 , 10.8 and 10.9

I have just tested >console and was able to log into the console without issues running the above OS X's.

I would say there is something else wrong with your system if you cannot get to the basic console.

I would also check your console logs and activity monitor as specified here.

Solution 3:

Another thing you might want to check is if you can boot in single user mode. Single user mode is triggered by holding cmd-s at startup:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1492

The single-user mode environment is quite a bit different than the standard terminal, because you login as root and a lot of system services are turned off, so it is not equivalent to the >console approach.

Solution 4:

I'm having the same issue and can add the following:

sshed into the machine prior to entering >console at the login window.

Entered >console and hit return at the login window.

On the machine that was connected via ssh I ran sudo tail /var/log/system.log which showed evidence of a SecurityAgent crash.

killed (kill -HUP ) the WindowServer process (via ssh) and immediately got a white block in the top left corner of the screen. I hit Return and was at the login: prompt and was able to authenticate and work in console mode.

Subsequent tests have all been the same so in order to access >console it looks as if you need a second machine and ssh access.