Kiosk Setup - Cannot get X to start when "splash" enabled

Question

I have a mostly working setup using Ubutnu Server 16.04. Until I enable the splash

I have the following set up

$HOME/.xinitrc

if [ -d /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d ]
then
    for f in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/*
    do
        [ -x "$f" ] && . "$f"
    done
    unset f
fi
exec openbox-session

The openbox session uses it's autostart script to start my application

$HOME/.bash_profile

if [ -z "$DISPLAY" ] && [ -n "$XDG_VTNR" ] && [ "$XDG_VTNR" -eq 1 ]; then
  exec startx -- -nocursor
fi

/etc/systemd/system/getty@tty1.service.d/override.conf

[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --autologin kiosk --noclear %I $TERM

I have GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" in /etc/default/grub

The issue I am having is that when the boot is finished, I get put on tty7 (I think...) and my x session never starts. If I use Ctrl+Alt+F1 to go to tty1, then I see a bunch of failed attempts to start X, and after some seconds it tries again and everything starts up fine.

If I remove the "splash" from the grub config and do an update-grub then everything works as expected (minus the desired boot splash of course)

The kiosk user is in both the audio and video groups

I tried following this setup but that still did not work.

Any advice?

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 06 '18 at 18:59

I had the exact same problem for some time, though fortunately I eventually found a solution.

Try doing this:

Open the 10_linux file in the Nano text editor:

sudo nano /etc/grub.d/10_linux

and then look for the line

set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=7

and change the number 7 to 1. That is if you want to use tty1 after bootup. You can of course change the number to whichever tty number you would like to 'handoff' the control to.

After you do that, save the file.

To finish up run

sudo update-grub

and violà! there you go - it should now boot up every time to tty1 (or to whichever tty number you've chosen); even after a 'quiet splash' bootup.

That's what worked for me, hope it solves it for you too.

Good luck!

Kiosk Setup - Cannot get X to start when "splash" enabled

1 Answers1