retrorig-standalone session

[beaumanvienna]

continued from here.

Could you test your method and see how it works? I will see how the old method fares. I agree this would be nice to have back in.

Sure. Yes, a very nice idea. Especially due to the fact the unity side and top bar sometimes interfere with our fullscreen-programs.

When it comes to qjoypad or antimicro, if these programs only run if they can dock into a top desktop bar, I could add an option "--no-docking" and twek them a bit. I'm always good at deleting functions ;-)

I need to check where the original files /usr/bin/xbmc-standalone and /usr/share/xsessions/XBMC.desktop come from. I suppose from the generic xbmc package. I would then have to add the new files /usr/bin/retrorig-standalone and /usr/share/xsessions/RETRORIG.desktop in there as well.

[mdeguzis]

Ok great, try that, I'll see how the old method works tonight, and we'll go from there. Keep in mind, this will still be an optional setting in the settings menu. I do not want this to be the default in case users want to use their entire desktop.

On Tue, Sep 9, 2014 at 9:52 AM, Jens-Christian notifications@github.com wrote:

continued from here https://github.com/ProfessorKaos64/RetroRig/issues/109.

Could you test your method and see how it works? I will see how the old method fares. I agree this would be nice to have back in.

Sure. Yes, a very nice idea. Especially due to the fact the unity side and top bar sometimes interfere with our fullscreen-programs.

When it comes to qjoypad or antimicro, if these programs only run if they can dock into a top desktop bar, I could add an option "--no-docking" and twek them a bit. I'm always good at deleting functions ;-)

I need to check where the original files /usr/bin/xbmc-standalone and /usr/share/xsessions/XBMC.desktop come from. I suppose from the generic xbmc package. I would then have to add the new files /usr/bin/retrorig-standalone and /usr/share/xsessions/RETRORIG.desktop in there as well.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ProfessorKaos64/RetroRig/issues/116.

Michael DeGuzis Email: mdeguzis@gmail.com Website: http://www.libregeek.org Linked In Resume/Profile http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=124915388&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

[beaumanvienna]

Tried it now. It's true, RetroRig doesn't like it at all. The dual monitor setup was totally messed up. Furthermore, mednafen and xbmc got key pressed events at the same time.

The funny thing is I didn't know how to switch back to the lightdm login. So I linked the xsessions desktop file from RETRORIG to ubuntu.desktop. But no menu bar. I don't know what I did then but next I installed gdm and gnome, because I'm too lazy to install from scratch tonight: http://i.imgur.com/QWKqtk9.jpg :-)

In conclusion, the question still is how we can setup a descent X environment w/o the unity dash and title bar? I can currently think of two possible solutions. Either launch the missing programs manually in retrorig-standalone, or find a lightweight desktop, that lets you disable all menus and stuff, and just rename it to something like RetroRig-Session.

[mdeguzis]

In conclusion, the question still is how we can setup a descent X environment w/o the unity dash and title bar? If we find a lightweight desktop, then we are kind of going in the direction of not supporting other distros and then interfering with a users normal machine. My plan was to always have this system from bootup to shutdown, gamepad controlled, so the decision then should be made, are we to coexist with the users system or not?

If we go the route of say, something like RetroPie, then we would have to either respin a distro, modify and existing one during install, or figure out the XBMC session. If we choose a router like RetroPlayer, and sit on top of the desktop, then that has to be an accepted solution for users as it is now. I don't really see why having Unity pop up is an issue, and you need it for configuring certain things like power management, screen timeout, etc (at least on the surface). Finding a lightweight desktop is a great idea, but in doing so, we the alienate the users who just want to use RetroRig when they want, and do other things at other times on the same machine. If we, like our volunteer tester, just want to turn on the desktop and boot right into things "a la SteamOS", then it shuts out the first group. At one point in time, I wanted to do a simple respin of Ubuntu and just pass around the iso.

Lots of things to discuss. IRC or Skype would be best maybe. Let me know when you want to chat, since this is a large idea/set of changes.

[mdeguzis]

on second thought, yea if we found a desktop that worked, and modified it, (the dot files that contain our modifications), and just make it optional in the settings menu to enable it. Idk.

[beaumanvienna]

on second thought, yea if we found a desktop that worked, and modified it, (the dot files that contain our modifications), and just make it optional in the settings menu to enable it.

:-DDD Funny! (I mean first the long post and then "But, ...actually why not") :-D

OK, but good thinking. Firstly, I agree, RetroRig should run with Unity the way we currently use it, that would be first priority.

Secondly, a standalone session could pose an alternative experience. It could be enabled on the login screen of lightdm. Or is there any need to run retrorig_setup.sh for that? Lightdm is easy to use and easy to understand for everybody. We would then have to make sure that exiting RetroRig leads back to lightdm, or people end up with a broken system like I did. The second option is when you say "gaming night -- nothing else. I want my desktop to be this hyper console called RetroRig." ;-)

It would be nice if the standalone session would be compatible with the Unity settings. Just like my gnome session now is. It would be cool if unity had a CLI switch to disbale the menu and title bar :-D

All in all, a very interesting idea. I think it would amplify the console experience. Also, I currently have the impression that we will always have smaller glitches with the unity top or side bar being visible.

[mdeguzis]

Secondly, a standalone session could pose an alternative experience. It could be enabled on the login screen of lightdm. Or is there any need to run retrorig_setup.sh for that?

We could easily assign a script to one of the "RetroRig Settings" menu options while in XBMC, so users could enable it there too.

Yep, we will have to figure something out. I enabled the option in the settings menu again, but the code is maybe just a starting point. We will have to pass appropriate environmental values I think as well. If you or I choose to use a desktop manager that is lightweight, it has to support all the proper OpenGL options and whatever XBMC needs. The problem is the default xbmc-session I have now is enclosed enough we need to figure out how to break free a bit from that or do something custom. hmmmm. I think the user in the feedback thread wanted to cut out having to have to load or see a desktop, not so much just hide the unity bar. This ought to be interesting :)

Regardless of this option, I want to move the beta into master if other issues are ironed out. This issue / enhancement should be secondary, as users should be able to use the great additions we added regardless of this one, since it will take some work. I wonder how XBMChubuntu does it?

[mdeguzis]

See: http://www.n00bsonubuntu.net/content/how-to-create-a-xbmc-login-session/

Where he notes you should add initialization stuff, could be code to set the correct environment variables and such.

And as you asked above, if you want to revert the session back to normal, change the session back to "ubuntu" in /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-ubuntu.conf

[SeatDefaults]
user-session=ubuntu

I wonder if we started with Ubuntu Server and added the bits in we needed? (no unity :+1: )

[beaumanvienna]

And as you asked above, if you want to revert the session back to normal, change the session back to "ubuntu" in /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-ubuntu.conf

Thanks for tip!

I wonder if we started with Ubuntu Server and added the bits in we needed?

Actually I just installed Ubuntu server yesterday. I needed an old Linux, in this case Lucid Lynx, to get Gens to compile. Pretty minimalist installation! (Side note: debuild for gens runs fine on this system, I'll upload it soon to the PPA)