You might remember that, by default, you had six virtual consoles that supported command line login sessions. It's not obvious but, when you start an X session, that X session runs on virtual console seven. If, at any time, you want to switch from X back to one of those earlier virtual consoles, just use the key sequence Ctrl+Alt+Fn, where n is the number of the destination console.
Once you're done with that virtual console, you can always switch back to X with Alt+F7.
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Note that, to move around the command-line virtual consoles, or to move from one of those virtual consoles to your X session, you need type only Alt+Fn. However, because that key sequence is most likely already mapped in an X session, to move from the X session, you need the sequence Ctrl+Alt+Fn. In fact, you can, if you want, use the longer sequence on the regular virtual consoles as well, but it's not strictly necessary. | |
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The above tip also shows you the value of having started X in the background with startx &. If you did that, you can switch back to the console from which you ran that command and continue to work, since the X session is running in the background. Otherwise, while you could still switch to that console, it will be tied up running the X session. | |