How to Autostart Node-RED Dashboard (or Other GUI) on Boot

[jfelgueiras]

Hi,

I have an HDMI touch screen connected to my RevPi.

I'm interested in having the RevPi automatically open a dashboard or GUI on startup, while meeting the following requirements:
1. The GUI should be full screen.
2. The user's interaction via touchscreen should be limited to the GUI itself, i.e. the user may not close or leave the GUI.
3. Nothing other than the GUI should appear on startup, namely the log that normally appears before asking for user credentials

Step 3 is not the most important thing, as the screen has a PWM input for controlling brightness, and it might (have yet to try) allow to me to keep it turned off until the GUI is loaded.

Now, I understand that there are probably a lot of steps involved here.
I'm also not sure if node-RED dashboard is the ideal choice here, but it should meet my needs for now. I may end up going for Tkinter, or another python GUI library. I'm open to suggestions ATM.

I acquired my RevPi only recently and my experience with Raspberry Pi and SBCs in general is a bit limited.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Best regards

[dirk]

Hi jfelgueiras,
interesting idea, maybe Salma's video tutorial can help you here:

The Step 3 requirement is easy implemented - just set the default PWM output in PiCtory to "0". Then this is applied automatically on boot.

[jfelgueiras]

Thank you for the help, Dirk.

The tutorial worked wonderfully. I now have the RevPi automatically open the node-red dashboard on Chromium.

Right now, I have two other issues to solve:

1. Hiding the RevPi loading screen.
This might be solved by dimming the touchscreen to the point where it is completely off until the dashboard is displayed, using the screens PWM input (haven't gotten around testing it yet), but it would be very far from ideal, as it would mislead the user into thinking that the device is not functioning (it takes a while to load).

2. Lowering the startup time.
Is it possible to make the RevPi load faster, by somehow changing some settings or removing features that are unnecessary for my project? If I could get it to load the dashboard (or, at the very least, the desktop) within 10 seconds of turning the RevPi on, it would be really helpful.

[dirk]

Hi jfelgueiras, souds good, so the kiosk mode worked. Let's see how we can solve the next things.
1) I like the idea from this blog - You can use a splash screen video instead of a static image:

• How To Customize the Raspberry Pi Splash Screen

2) Performance issues are always tricky - with cars it is always said that only more cubic can improve cubic

• You can use an alternative hardware, so have a look at the online shop and the data sheets. For example, the RevPi Connect 4 with WLAN, 8GB RAM and 32GB eMMC maybe enhances the loading time

  

  RevPi Connect 4 Online Shop

• Another idea is to simply use a minimal image and install only the components you need. You can view this helpful page from our knowledge base: Revolution Pi Image FAQ