Custom Splashscreen in x86 Retropie on Ubuntu 16.04

[abontherun]

Hello, this is my first post here. I did a search all over this site and the Internet to see if there was a solution for this and couldn't find anything. All I could find was editing Plymouth so if this is common knowledge or in the wrong location please delete this I apologize.

The feature to add a custom splash-screen video is not currently built-in to the x86 flavor of Retropie. Also, I had difficulty auto starting Retropie after playing a video first in a bash script. Emulationstation would load after the video but fail to play emulators. This fix is kinda rough but works for me and allowed me to add a custom video to my friend's arcade machine and also allow me to play the emulators. So here is what I did to add my own splash screen video and boot into Retropi on startup. I am using Retropi x86 on Ubuntu 16.04.

First I made a little bash script that looks like this:

#!/bin/bash
#hides the menubar and desktop
gnome-terminal --full-screen --hide-menubar
#Plays video in VLC then exits. Replace quoted part with your video's location.
vlc --play-and-exit --fullscreen "/home/bill/Documents/ChopSueyRPI720.mp4"
#starts Retropie
gnome-terminal --full-screen --hide-menubar -e emulationstation

Create this file in a text editor and save it as yourfilename.sh

Go to the terminal and give it executable privileges by using:

sudo chmod +e yourfilename.sh

Now, go to the search on your Ubuntu sidebar and type/find startup applications icon.

Click the add button and select the location of yourfilename.sh

Restart your computer and you should be good to go.

Maybe put in a custom wallpaper because that could be visible during startup.

When you quit Emulationstation you will see a fullscreen terminal window. Just type "exit" to return to the desktop.

I know this is kinda rough but if anyone has a better way or could improve my script I would be very happy to hear it.

[numlocks]

Thank you so much for this. Not sure why splash screens are not supported on the x86 version out of the box but this helped me a lot.

I did make a few changes, mainly to have the splash screen play, while Emulationstation loaded in the background.

I also had to go into VLC's settings and set it to always be on top. Tools >> Preferences. Select "All" under "Show Settings" (located at the bottom.) Select Video, then check mark "Always on top"

Here is my modified script:

#!/bin/bash
#hides the menubar and desktop
#gnome-terminal --full-screen --hide-menubar

#starts Retropie
gnome-terminal --full-screen --hide-menubar -e emulationstation &

#Plays video in VLC then exits. Replace quoted part with your video's location.
vlc --play-and-exit --fullscreen "/home/username/Documents/splash.mp4"

[numlocks]

Update. So this doesn't really work consistently (the changes I made...) but I'll leave it there for anyone wanting to see if they can fix it. It works some of the time for me but not everytime the system boots up...

[bigbill1013]

Is this under any dev. for x86 version or is this dead topic

[bigbill1013]

@bigbill1013 Can i get some help from abontherun or numlocks if avail to explain i am a noob at x86 and would like to add my own custom splash please ... Also i just want splash at start of retropie . I don't auto start retropie i use my Ubuntu

[MrCoolSpan]

okay i have mode you script a bit
im using ubuntu 19-04 x64
make a folder named splashscreens in $HOME/RetroPie and put all your videos in that folder
put this in you script
chmod 755 you script

this script plays a random video form this folder and load emulation station
the only isuse i have whit this is it show a little splash screen on top of video that emulation station is load-et, but it diapers ;)

 #!/bin/bash
#hides the menubar and desktop
#gnome-terminal --full-screen --hide-menubar
#starts Retropie
gnome-terminal --full-screen --hide-menubar -- emulationstation &


#Plays video in VLC then exits. Replace quoted part with your video's location.
vlc --random --play-and-stop --play-and-exit --fullscreen --video-on-top --no-video-title-show "$HOME/RetroPie/splashscreens"

exit