@lolkthxbai and also check /var/log/auth.log on the remote system (via terminal / keyboard of course if you can't connect)

If by "Arcade Mode" you mean EmulationStation then:
Pressing F4 will exit EmulationStation and drop you to the Terminal. Or you could use the ES main menu by pressing "Start" and selecting "Quit" and then "Quit EmulationStation".

If you bought a custom premade image then I have no idea what software you're using and only the original seller can help you,

On a PC (Ubuntu & forks, Debian, etc.), EmulationStation should be started from a desktop environment, not from a terminal.

@mitu Thanks a lot for your help.

@BuZz

I tried to remove it but it causes retroarch to crash. Here's the log: https://pastebin.com/dFx4K74J

Let me know if you need me to do more testing !

Thanks for your time.

@dankcushions Thanks for the response! Unfortunate but understandable.

What's the content of the file you deleted (es_input.cfg) ?

Aha!

So it works, thank you very much for your guidance, Rascas!

So, for future Googlers who may be having this same issue (Missing the PVR's in Kodi on Retropie), here's the full solution:

Install Retropie, then install Kodi via the "Optional Packages" in the configuration menu.

When you're in Retropie, press F4 on your keyboard to open a Terminal window.

Enter the following commands one at a time (to install the "IPTV Simple PVR"):

apt-cache search kodi-pvr

sudo apt-get install kodi-pvr-iptvsimple

Once complete, type "exit" (without the quotation marks) to get back into Retropie.

Scroll to Ports then choose Kodi.

In Kodi, DO NOT go to PVR's. If you do you will see it is blank and will get angry and think what you did in fact did not work.

Instead, go to "Add-Ons" then "My Add-Ons" and view "All" and you will see the IPTV simple client. Go to it and then Enable it as most likely it will be Disabled to begin with.

Voila!

If you know how to use IPTV then go ahead and set it up.

Take Care!

@dbrown1986 said in Running Rpi on a Ubuntu terminal...:

As it stands, I've attempted this but the terminal reports ES cannot start without a graphics driver (even when gnome and Nvidia drivers had been installed but disabled in favor of the terminal).

Yes, the drivers you installed work with X.org.

Ideally, what I'd like to do is to install only a terminal, apt-get only what I need and autoboot into ES on boot.

The RetroPie installation script should already do that - auto-login via the current DM and starting Emulationstation into an X.org session.

Is this feasible?

Not without X.org at the moment.

@Crispy Success. If anything fails then reflash RetroPie and update. It usually works every time. Your welcome. :-)

@JKimRX
Is it a keyboard with a Fn key? Make sure capslock and numlock are off, some of them have a Fn lock ya know. Also retropie uses UK default so it is a good idea to change now to US using raspi-config if you use that layout.

@hostolis
Yes, vnc works, I just tried.

@jtodom04 Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/FAQ/#how-do-i-boot-to-the-desktop-or-kodi

@de_jean125 Something like that, yes. :)

My first guess was that it was for your kid(s), by the way.

You could even let it get nastier … "Stop or I'll hack into your bank account and send all of your money to homes for retired game programmers!"

@meleu @cyperghost The export did the trick. It works now and doesn't break the other menu controls. 😄 Thank you for all the effort and explanations. I learned a lot today, as may others who stumble upon this thread, too.

I edited my opening post to a mere reference to @meleu's solution. 😌

@linuxarcadeguy

Edit: I had something here about killing Joy2key, but after reading your post more carefully, it wouldn't apply. I'm not sure keyboard input can be ignored here. I assume you know that the Runcommand menu can be deactivated altogether.

@chuck_b Yes, whenever you update all installed packages or just ES from the setup script.

I would keep a copy of the new ES binary with the remapped quit key and then, after updating, you can overwrite the ES binary with your modded version, unless, of course, there is a new feature in ES that you desire, in which case, you would need to recompile.

@quicksilver I already knew that, but thanks anyway, I am starting to use that until I get a new keyboard.