Need Help Going 100% Silent Boot

AlphaBetaPie

I have researched the many command line tweaks you can do to remove everything from the boot sequences of retropie, as well as making all the other misc on screen messages quiet. But there is one that is still nagging me that I can't figure out. It's the one that comes right after the rainbow square (which I've disabled), that read reads:

"Rasbain GNU/Linux 9 retropie tty1
Retropie login: ~
Last Login: ~
Linux retropie 4.14.98-v7+ #1200 SMP Tue Feb 12 20:27:48 GMT 2019 armv71

The programs included with the Debain GNU/Linux system are free software;
The distribution terms for each project are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debain GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law."

I've already added the typical "splash quiet plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles logo.nologo vt.global_cursor_default=0" to try and turn it off, but it's not working. What's the trick? I'm sure I'm missing a line somewhere. Thanks!

mitu

@AlphaBetaPie There are some instructions in the Docs - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/FAQ/#how-do-i-hide-the-boot-text.
I see you already edited the boot command line, look at the other instruction on how to suppress the login prompt and the 'motd' message.

AlphaBetaPie

Yup, thanks. Was still missing several lines. A real pain in the ass too lol. Is there a good mouse/keyboard option for RetroPie that I can easily copy and paste these commands next time? I'm sure I'd have to install a 3rd party option onto my Pie to do it.

mitu

Easiest option to run commands on your Pi is through SSH - no need for keyboards, just a network connection.

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Need Help Going 100% Silent Boot:

Easiest option to run commands on your Pi is through SSH - no need for keyboards, just a network connection.

I totally agree. The #1 method I prefer (and what I started out doing) was to find the files and just use FlashFXP to drag them to my desktop. Then I'd easily edit them in 2-minutes in my HTML program. The problem was copying them back. I was never really able to figure out how to conquer the permissions problem that occurs. I researched it to death (and posted some threads here), but never really wrapped my head around how/why I can't get the root to do whatever the F#$% it's supposed to do to let me upload the changes back. I'm open to suggestions though.

mitu

If it's just configuration, you wouldn't need special permission to upload back the files - the configs are owned by the pi user.
What files are you editing that require root permissions ?

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Need Help Going 100% Silent Boot:

If it's just configuration, you wouldn't need special permission to upload back the files - the configs are owned by the pi user.
What files are you editing that require root permissions ?

It's happened various times over the last few weeks. One off the top of my head was the file that determines the sort order of the consoles on the main screen. But there are several others. I have followed the steps of enabling the root profile and setting the password, but beyond that, instructions tend to get vague on what I'm doing wrong. Super frustrating I can't just do this from my desktop. Oh well I guess.

mitu

@AlphaBetaPie said in Need Help Going 100% Silent Boot:

One off the top of my head was the file that determines the sort order of the consoles on the main screen

You can copy that file to /home/pi/.emulationstation (or \\retropie\configs\all\emulationstation if you're using file shares) and then you can edit it as pi user. See here for details and caveats.

If you enable the root account for SSH, all you have to do is to login as root user from your SFTP/SCP client, but I don't encourage this practice, it's too easy to break something when running as root.

ClassicGMR

Question - this posting is almost 2 years old and I assume it is based on the old kernel. Will these instructions still work with the current Buster builds or are they outdated?

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/FAQ/#how-do-i-hide-the-boot-text

Clyde

@classicgmr The best way to find that out would be to test it. Did you? 😉

ClassicGMR

@clyde I thought about doing just that but I have exactly enough SD cards right now to run the Pi setups I own so I don't have a spare to test on.

So I agree - the best way is to test it, yes, but the easiest thing to do is ask if anyone has already done it. Avoids the whole "re-inventing(re-testing?) the wheel" thing. I figure if I don't hear from anyone in the next few days I'll attempt it on my next day off and report back. :)