What is the command line function to reconnect to a running X server?

Question

I was working on some stuff on my desktop running Ubuntu 11.04. I bumped the button sequence, i forget what it even is now, that throws you back to the terminal. So I log in and hear the music I was working on continue to play, that gives me hope that I haven't lost my work. But I can't figure out what to type to reconnect to the X server. xinit and startx didn't work.

so what do I need to type to reconnect to that running X server?

Answer 1

On Linux, you can switch between virtual terminals by using Alt+Fx (or Ctrl+Alt+Fx if inside an X11 session).

Alt+F7 should work for you. (X11 starts on the first available tty, which is often tty7, as ttys 1-6 are set up by console logins in most Linux distributions.)

If it is not tty7 for some reason, run who or w and look for "Xorg" or "gdm" in the output.