[Nottingham] Log in to X11 at boot

Mon May 26 15:56:18 UTC 2014

For the record, I've sorted it now. I found this page which explained
exactly what I needed to do:

http://elinux.org/RPi_Debian_Auto_Login

Mike

* on the Mon, May 26, 2014 at 04:36:45PM +0100, Mike Cardwell wrote:
> In /etc/inittab I changed:
> 
> # The default runlevel.
> id:2:initdefault:
> 
> To:
> 
> # The default runlevel.
> id:5:initdefault:
> 
> I then rebooted. I can see that during boot up it enters run level 5. I
> ssh in and run "runlevel" and it tells me it is running at run level 5.
> All I see is a blank screen though after X apparently starts.
> 
> Now, if I ssh in and run "startx" as the pi user, it all works fine and
> I can see the app running on the screen. But this is no different to the
> way it was before when it was running at run level 2, and yet worked
> fine after I ssh'd in and ran startx.
> 
> Before, when I was running at run level 2, the X11 app did work. I just
> don't know how to start it automatically.
> 
> pi at blackpi ~ $ cat ~/.xinitrc 
> /home/pi/x11.pl
> pi at blackpi ~ $ 
> 
> How do I make "x11.pl" run as the "pi" user, without having to ssh in
> first. I'm not convinced this has anything to do with run levels as it
> works fine at run level 2.
> 
> I think you might be confusing my setup with a more standard one where
> things like window managers which are loaded from startup scripts are
> involved. x11.pl is just a simple script which draws some stuff on to
> an x11 display.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Mike
> 
> * on the Mon, May 26, 2014 at 12:59:10PM +0100, Paul wrote:
> > Mike 
> > 
> > Absolutely. You can put what ever you like in rc.local or crontab an it
> > wont get executed unless the kernal has started the run level required
> > for the script to execute.
> > 
> > Its actually much easier to see and understand on a 2.6 kernel than the
> > the later 3 kernels. If you have access to a 2.x kernel you can see what
> > happens by adding a switch to the grub boot line. If you add 1 to the
> > end of the line it will just start and log you is as root with no
> > networking. If you add a 5 it will start xwindows. Have a play and see
> > and you will also get to see the importance of rc.1 ... rc.x
> > directories.
> > 
> > Paul
> >  
> > 
> > On Mon, 2014-05-26 at 12:31 +0100, Mike Cardwell wrote:
> > > Hmm. Are you sure this has something to do with run levels? Just to be
> > > clear, if I ssh in and run "startx" it all works fine. I just want this
> > > to happen automatically at boot... Normally when I want things to happen
> > > automatically at boot, I run them from /etc/rc.local or cron, but this
> > > doesn't work for startx. I don't want to start up gnome or kde or get a
> > > graphical login prompt or anything like that, I just want this simple
> > > single x11 app to run as a particular user, automatically at boot.
> > > 
> > > Mike
> > > 
> > > * on the Mon, May 26, 2014 at 10:44:31AM +0100, Paul wrote:
> > > > Hi 
> > > > 
> > > > Sorry a bit late in replying but the problem is to do with Kernel run
> > > > levels. To start X windows you need runlevel 5 where for text login with
> > > > network you only need runlevel 4. This might help you and explains
> > > > kernel run levels.
> > > > 
> > > > http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/212
> > > > 
> > > > Paul 
> > > > 
> > > > On Sat, 2014-05-24 at 16:50 +0100, Martin wrote:
> > > > > On 24/05/14 09:02, Mike Cardwell wrote:
> > > > > > I purchased a small 2.8" touchscreen for one of my Raspberry Pi's. I
> > > > > > wrote a small X11 app and then added the path to it to my "pi" users
> > > > > > ~/.xinitrc. If I ssh in and run startx, the app begins and displays
> > > > > > on screen. I can't figure out how to get this to happen automatically
> > > > > > at boot though. I've tried adding it to /etc/rc.local, and as a
> > > > > > "@reboot" cron job. I even replicated the act of ssh'ing and and
> > > > > > running "startx" by setting up ssh keys and running "ssh localhost
> > > > > > startx" to cron, to no avail.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I'm sure I'm missing something fundemental about how this is
> > > > > > supposed to work. Any ideas?
> > > > > 
> > > > > Mmmm... Never needed to do that!
> > > > > 
> > > > > You'll need to have some non-root user with the appropriate groups set
> > > > > (video?) to run the startx... su "non-root" needed?
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > Or might you just need the access to the X11 display screen enabling to
> > > > > allow other processes?
> > > > > 
> > > > > For whichever shell has run the startx, issue the command:
> > > > > 
> > > > > xhost +si:localuser:other_user_for_access
> > > > > 
> > > > > to allow "other_user_for_access" to do things to the display screen.
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > Take a look at what the various login display managers do?
> > > > > 
> > > > > And trying to use ssh is going to be awfully confusing for whether
> > > > > things are getting X-forwarded back over ssh!...
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > Good luck?!
> > > > > Others??
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > > Here's the touchscreen in case you're interested:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > https://www.adafruit.com/products/1601
> > > > > 
> > > > > Great fun but also...
> > > > > 
> > > > > Is that better than rooting a cheapie graphics pad for similarly swish
> > > > > fun for similar price and effort?
> > > > > 
> > > > > :-)
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > Cheers,
> > > > > Martin
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Nottingham mailing list
> > > > Nottingham at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > > > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/nottingham
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Nottingham mailing list
> > > Nottingham at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/nottingham
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Nottingham at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/nottingham
> -- 
> Mike Cardwell  https://grepular.com https://emailprivacytester.com
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Mike Cardwell  https://grepular.com https://emailprivacytester.com
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