You should use the nomodeset parameter:
nomodeset
The newest kernels have moved the video mode setting into the kernel. So all the programming of the hardware specific clock rates and registers on the video card happen in the kernel rather than in the X driver when the X server starts.. This makes it possible to have high resolution nice looking splash (boot) screens and flicker free transitions from boot splash to login screen. Unfortunately, on some cards this doesnt work properly and you end up with a black screen. Adding the nomodeset parameter instructs the kernel to not load video drivers and use BIOS modes instead until X is loaded.
This way you can boot safely, and then dish out to X the business of selecting the appropriate drive for your needs. You might even decide to do no programming whatsoever, and see whether the simple command
dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
(this works on Debian and derivatives, which is your case) might do in your case.
EDIT:
it is possible to disable a graphical boot completely. Copy
cp /etc/default/grub /etc/default/grub-orig
The edit /etc/default/grub, comment out this line,
#GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
modify this line to look like
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="text"
then uncomment this line,
GRUB_TERMINAL=console
Save, run
update-grub
when you reboot,if you do not have a broken installation, you will kind yourself in text mode. After reconfiguring X, youmay start the graphical session with
startx