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Luke23ae · 2013-05-05, 23:23

Hi there,

I've set up ubuntu on a pc to use it as a HTPC. I'm dissatisfied with XBMCbuntu because all kinds of stuff doesn't work because they have stripped it down so much.

I'm wondering how to configure ubuntu to boot directly into XBMC, without showing the desktop. XBMCbuntu does it and Raspbmc too, so it seems possible.

Does somebody know how to do it?

Thanks,
Lukas

**negge** · (This post was last modified: 2013-05-06, 00:06 by negge.)

XBMCbuntu does it by changing the "session" that is started by the display manager (the one that handles logging in). I haven't done this personally but I think https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CustomXSession is a good place to start reading. It shouldn't be that difficult.

Raspbmc takes it a step further and starts XBMC directly on the framebuffer instead of starting an X server (which starts the display manager which allows you to log in). You don't want to go down this route, it's way too complicated and you'll gain nothing, I just thought I'd mention it since you mentioned Raspbmc.

digitaltomj · (This post was last modified: 2013-05-06, 00:24 by digitaltomj.)

this is actually a very simply fix on ubuntu (personally i prefer xubuntu which uses a different name for the setting but its extremely similar.)

go to settings, and there will be something with the phrase "startup" in it (on xubuntu its called "session and startup" but i'm positive its worded slightly different in ubuntu) once there you should find a tab that says something like "Application Autostart" from here you can either find xbmc and make sure its enabled to autostart, or you can add it manually.

this is how I have xbmc autostart from boot on my htpc running xubuntu 13.04 64-bit (also worked for xubuntu 12.10)

**negge** · 2013-05-06, 00:35

(2013-05-06, 00:22)digitaltomj Wrote: this is actually a very simply fix on ubuntu (personally i prefer xubuntu which uses a different name for the setting but its extremely similar.)

go to settings, and there will be something with the phrase "startup" in it (on xubuntu its called "session and startup" but i'm positive its worded slightly different in ubuntu) once there you should find a tab that says something like "Application Autostart" from here you can either find xbmc and make sure its enabled to autostart, or you can add it manually.

this is how I have xbmc autostart from boot on my htpc running xubuntu 13.04 64-bit (also worked for xubuntu 12.10)

Naturally that works, but it means the desktop is sitting there in the background which I think is not what he wanted. The way I explained makes XBMC "the desktop" so there's nothing else to start.

digitaltomj · 2013-05-06, 15:37

(2013-05-06, 00:35)negge Wrote: Naturally that works, but it means the desktop is sitting there in the background which I think is not what he wanted. The way I explained makes XBMC "the desktop" so there's nothing else to start.

Not quite sure what the benefit of that is when someone wants a full system OS such as ubuntu...I do this on my htpcs using xubuntu and They are made mostly out of outdated/cannibalized parts...i dont see any problems in performance and if i want to search the web i can just minimized xbmc...perhaps you might need this on a raspberry pi however...also, what if you could make xbmc replace one of the virtual desktops so that if he wanted to get back into ubuntu he could just pres super+right or something.

**negge** · 2013-05-06, 16:23

(2013-05-06, 15:37)digitaltomj Wrote: Not quite sure what the benefit of that is when someone wants a full system OS such as ubuntu...I do this on my htpcs using xubuntu and They are made mostly out of outdated/cannibalized parts...i dont see any problems in performance and if i want to search the web i can just minimized xbmc...perhaps you might need this on a raspberry pi however...also, what if you could make xbmc replace one of the virtual desktops so that if he wanted to get back into ubuntu he could just pres super+right or something.

The main benefit is that you're not running stuff in the background needlessly. It's not a problem on decent machines, but back in the day people could run into problems when using Compiz in the background while running XBMC (or something like that).

**wsnipex** · 2013-05-06, 17:17

step 4 from http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=116996

distracto · 2014-01-11, 18:14

(2013-05-06, 17:17)wsnipex Wrote: step 4 from http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=116996

I did this step thinking that when I exit from XBMC I would get a login screen like i do in XBMCbuntu, however I just get a blinking cursor.

What is the best method to have a similar experience as XBMCbuntu as far as autostarting XBMC?

And how do I now revert back to the default conf file I had? I backed it up to my desktop....

Thanks!

**wsnipex** · 2014-01-11, 18:33

this is exactly how it works, if you exit Xbmc, you'll be brought to the lightdm login screen.
If not, something is wrong. Make sure, that you don't have an xbmc upstart script in /etc/init/

distracto · 2014-01-11, 22:01

Thanks for the reply. How do I check the init the directory for an upstart script? I can't access the Ubuntu environment at all.

It is a brand new install of saucy.

**wsnipex** · 2014-01-11, 22:21

switch to a console or ssh into the box

distracto · 2014-01-11, 22:54

Port 22 won't connect with putty.

This is a little frustrating, I suppose I will just have to reinstall Ubuntu and try to start XBMC a different way.

When I exit XBMC, pressing ctrl - enter won't pop up a terminal window either.

**fritsch** · 2014-01-12, 15:07

CTL ALT F1

log in, do sudo apt-get install ssh

distracto · (This post was last modified: 2014-01-12, 23:05 by distracto.)

Awesome. I can read the directories and I see there are 4 upstart scripts : upstart-file-bridge, upstart-socket-bridge, upstart-udev-bridge, and plymouth-upstart-bridge.

Are any of these the culprits? What would I have to do to from here?

Appreciate all the help, I am not very well versed with command line, but I'm not afraid of it either.

**wsnipex** · 2014-01-13, 09:11

try this:

Code:
cd /etc/init

grep xbmc *

if you don't get any output, you don't have an upstart script for xbmc. If there is output, then move that file away(mv FILENAME ~)
also make sure that you have the lightdm.conf file in that dir.