RetroPie on Ubuntu without Unity

Logof

hi!
I solved this problem as follows: сreated file ~/.xinitrc with the content:
#!/bin/sh
exec emulationstation

Now when the command startx runs automatically ES

damanbaird

@Logof Thanks! that actually helped! Do you know how to disable the mouse cursor when x-starts? i hate seeing the cursor right as everything starts up.

meleu

@damanbaird said in RetroPie on Ubuntu without Unity:

Do you know how to disable the mouse cursor when x-starts?

How are you invoking X?

if it's with startx you can try startx -- -nocursor. If you are invoking startx in a big command (as in that guide about ubuntu kiosk you linked above) the -- -nocursor part comes in the end of the startx command.

damanbaird

@meleu thanks let me try that.

damanbaird

OK, I"m about done with my ubuntu server Retropie image , if anyone is interested i can share a iso or img file from dropbox or other host.... without roms and stuff of course :D.

meleu

@damanbaird I think a small guide or at least the steps you've taken to reach this stage would be more appreciated. We are tinker guys here. :-)

Serj Targarien

I'd appreciate both a guide and the iso for easy installation. Wherever you can provide is fine.

damanbaird

A guide would probably be easier for me since i have slow upload speeds living out in the middle of no-where. Guess ill whip out Libre Office and start typing away

damanbaird

AS it is my Retropie system has several qualities, 1. boots straight to emulationstation. 2. boots without any hint as to the OS the system runs on. 3. pretty much like how it does on Raspberry Pi's.

jasonmcleod

I'm in the same boat, but still just end up at the desktop when I add the .xinitrc bit.
I would love to see your setup instructions, and/or grab an iso!

Thanks!

damanbaird

I"m still here and still working on a few quirks, got busy busy doing other things though, I'm hoping to be done here soon so i can start building my Arcade cabinet :D

damanbaird

ok this is what i have going on so far ...Running Ubuntu server 16.04,
1.sudo apt-get install openssh
2.sudo apt-get install xorg openbox pulseaudio --no-install-recommends
3.retropie as for the norm...make sure to go into settings and set to start on login
4.sudo apt-get install xinit
5.(nano ~/.xinitrc) and add
#!/bin/sh
exec emulationstation
6.(sudo nano /etc/default/grub) and (GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash")
7.sudo update-grub
8.( sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/getty.target.wants/getty@tty1.service) and edit (ExecStart=/sbin/agetty --noclear --autologin <username> %I $TERM)
9.(nano ~/.bash_profile) and add ( pgrep 'tmux|startx' || startx) w/o the () of course.
F.Y.I this is my little write up so ill be editing as i go, but as of right now it pretty much boots into emulationstation the way i want it too, besides how often am i going to see the machine booting up really I"m going to build a full size cabinet and throw it in the corner somewhere. Hope this helps a little, sadly i could only get this to work in a virtual machine, i dont know what i did that was different. virtual machine i get straight into emulationstation on a real machine i stare at a blank screen.

damanbaird

i just wish i could get a splash screen to show up instead of all the booting c**p!

damanbaird

@damanbaird nvrmind to myself

esmith13

Posted in your other thread on this subject. I have been unsuccessfully trying to accomplish this myself with either the Minimal CD or the server CD. I would prefer using the minimal CD to keep it as lean as possible but I have no idea what all the dependencies would be for Retropie/ES/Retroarch. I would love to help and/or be helped with this. I want to tinker too!!!! :-)

damanbaird

@esmith13 HA! i responded to you over on the other thread too, i have actually gotten farther by taking a full "Linux Mint w/MATE desktop" and stripping it back to barebones.

damanbaird

This post is deleted!

damanbaird

@assault this... this is what is killing me right now

esmith13

BACK FROM THE DEAD!!!!! :-)

So, not exactly what was wanted, but the closest I have gotten to completing this project involved the following steps:

Clean install of Lubuntu 17.10 with user account named 'pi' (to make compatible with gamelists from a rpi install)
Install RetroPie setup script and do a basic install of retropie
Customise RetroPie per my liking (including autostart ES, samba shares, retropie-manager, etc.), pair my 8bitdo SN30 controllers
Set LXDE desktop wallpaper to solid black, hide all desktop icons (like trash), change mouse cursor to "dark theme" for black mouse pointer, auto hide panel bar (zero pixel visibility), set terminal color to black with no transparency
Set user account to auto-login
edit sudoers file to set nopasswd for pi user (updates, restart, shutdown, etc. won't prompt for password)
Edit the factory 'lubuntu-logo' plymouth theme with RetroPie logo (could do new custom theme, for simplicity I just replaced lubuntu logo with RP logo)

Basically I have a system that powers on to a RetroPie logo boot, displays one text line for a split second then goes to a black screen for 2 seconds and then goes directly into emulationstation. I can update, restart and shutdown Retropie (and the entire PC) without needing a keyboard or using LXDE at all. Since LXDE is very lightweight (and the PC is decent so I can run emu's for N64/DC/PSP/PS2), I can't imagine I'm losing any real horsepower by having it run in the background behind ES.

movisman

@esmith13

Hi there,

Thanks for this post - some useful tweaks there. Did you install the 64-bit version of Lubuntu 17.10?

I have done something similar because I wanted to try Dreamcast, Gamecube emulation on an x86 install, but as I am a Linux novice and wanted to get used to the OS, I started out with Linux Mint. To be fair everything works pretty well so far and i've done some similar boot tweaks, albeit they not quite as slick as yours.

I may consider switching over to Lubuntu if there is an obvious benefit. It is clearly much more lightweight. Is there anything to be aware of before doing this, or any tips you can share?

Also, I didn't set up my user as 'pi', but haven't noticed any issues with this yet. What are the issues you experience with gamelists if you don't have this user configured?

Thanks!