Which version of Debian to use

[DarrenO 0]

Which version of Debian are people using for their MMs?
I’m currently still running my MM on Debian 11 as I have an issue with moving building a new MM on Debian 12.

The issue I have is that when I build a new Debian 12 machine (bare metal or virtual) I cannot seem to get the MM to automatically display and Debian only ever displays the Activities Overview.
During the Desktop environment section of the OS installation, I only opt to install the default Desktop environment and unselect the Gnome environment.

What do/have people done to get around this?

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 just install the default display env. MagicMirror is a browser app, and we require whatever the browser requires

debian 12 (bookworm) is the current base for raspi os
new one (trixie) coming soon

[DarrenO 0]

@sdetweil Thanks, so during the OS installation, when I get to the point where I am prompted to select and install software, I should just keep the default selected options of Debian desktop environment and GNOME?

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 are you using the prebuilt raspi os images? i dont see those prompts

https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/

ill have to try the bare debian vm again

[DarrenO 0]

@sdetweil No, using the Debian .iso distro from the debian.org site.
I’m installing on a NUC, not a RasPi.

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 got it

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 I installed the latest debian 12.x on my intel machine, in vmware.
and hit enter when it said gnome

started, added me to sudoers. installed curl, and then ran my install script

and MM came up at end of install

[DarrenO 0]

@sdetweil
I re-installed Debian12 and left the default Desktop Environment selections of Debian and GNOME selected.
Pretty much the vanilla/default install.
Did you have to do anything regarding how, when the Debian is eventually displayed, that MM is shown automatically?
I can’t seem to get MM to show and even though pm2 is enabled and running, I am stuck at the Desktop view where the Activities Overview button is shown in the top-left corner.

If I can’t get around this, the alternative is to run it as a headless installation and just access MM via browser from other computers.

[DarrenO 0]

@sdetweil
I also configured Debian to autologin as a given user account that I created during the installation process so I am not prompted to login after the computer reboots and it just goes straight to the Desktop.

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 i ran my install script, said yes to pm2
MagicMirror came up at the end.

i did not set auto login, but i will change it and reboot
i dont expect problems

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 my mm.sh was broken, fixed now… the UI is running under wayland, not X11
so we need a different command…

I have fixed it, deleted the pm2 app, deleted the MagicMirror folder and then rerun the install script

MM came up
I rebooted
MM came up, NOT in the full screen view but in the reduced desktop view touch it and it goes full screen like the main panel does…

have to look at that

if you used my installer, you can fix the one file by doing

cd ~/MagicMirror/installers
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdetweil/MagicMirror_scripts/refs/heads/master/mm.sh >mm.sh
sudo reboot

mine looks like this after reboot

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 actually to make the terminal window fullscreen you have to relaunch it
in the mm.sh

this didn’t work either

#!/bin/bash
cd ~/MagicMirror

if [ $(ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep -i -e xway -e labwc | wc -l) -ne 0 ]; then 
   gnome-terminal --full-screen -- npm run start:wayland
   sleep 99999999s
else
   DISPLAY=:0 npm start
fi 

#DISPLAY=:0 npm start

be careful, the gnome-terminal execute a command returns after executing, so pm2 thinks the app failed and will restart it… SO you get a loop…
need the sleep

[DarrenO 0]

@sdetweil
not working for me, even after following the steps you have detailed above.
When the computer boots, i still just get to the Desktop view where similar to your last image but MM still never displays.

I’m gonna stick with Debian 11 and on my old/original NUC instead of going to Debian 12 on my new NUC, unless you know where I can download the Debian 11 ISO (no longer available from the debian site) and I can install it on the new NUC.

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 i do not know where the older archives are

[DarrenO 0]

@sdetweil
I’ve decided to stick with Debian12 (v12.11.0) on my NUC and try to work this matter out as I really want to move on from the existing Debian11 NUC.

I have installed the OS with the vanilla settings added SSH Server, leaving the default Desktop Environments of Debian Desktop and GNOME Desktop selected.

After completion, I added the nominated user account to the sudo group and configured it in the DE to auto-login to circumvent being prompted to select a user and enter a password if/when the host is rebooted.
The Desktop loads and displayed as expected and does not show the Desktop Overview, as per your previous screenshot.

I installed MM via your script and updated npm to the latest version as indicated during the MM install process. MM still did not display. I also tried your updated mm.sh script without success.
I am also unable to view MM via a browser from another computer after setting ipWhitelist to [] (commented out the original) and restarting pm2.

Checking the pm2 error logs does indicate something to do with the Wayland platform :

0|MagicMirror  | [229988:0522/141042.895081:ERROR:wayland_connection.cc(199)] Failed to connect to Wayland display: No such file or directory (2)
0|MagicMirror  | [229988:0522/141042.895519:ERROR:ozone_platform_wayland.cc(276)] Failed to initialize Wayland platform
0|MagicMirror  | [229988:0522/141042.895701:ERROR:env.cc(257)] The platform failed to initialize.  Exiting.
0|MagicMirror  | /home/serveradmin/MagicMirror/node_modules/electron/dist/electron exited with signal SIGSEGV

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 also need to set

address:"0.0.0.0",

as it defaults to “localhost”, which means only apps inside this systen can connect.

ok, its still trying to use wayland display

try this before the if in mm.sh

export WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-0

[DarrenO 0]

@sdetweil
I found a way to get MM working on Debian 12 without the use of the Wayland windowing system and steps you provided to get that working.

After initially provisioning the host with the OS, when I was prompted to login, I had to click the Gear icon and select the GNOME on Xorg option, then login as normal.
Once logged in and presented with the Desktop Overview, I enabled the Automatic Login option in Settings > Users.

I then installed the No Overview extension https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/4099/no-overview/ so the GNOME Desktop is displayed instead of the Desktop Overview view after logging in.
This also disables/turns off the Hot Corner and Active Screen Edges options in Settings > Multitasking > General

Installed MM via your script as normal and MM displayed immediately.

Other steps I took to configure the host were to set:
In Settings > Power

• Screen Blank = Never
• Automatic Suspend = Off

In Settings > Multitasking > Workspaces

• Selected Fixed number of workspaces
• Set Number of Workspaces = 1

The Overview view and all other GUI features of the host OS can still be accessed by hitting the Windows key on the keyboard.

Hope this helps others who may come across the same issue as I had if/when they upgrade their MM host to Debian 12 (or higher).

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 back to xorg

I guess the no overview extension also doesn’t work w wayland

[DarrenO 0]

@sdetweil
it could, but to be honest I don’t know, as I installed it after changing to the xorg desktop

[sdetweil]

@DarrenO-0 it also works on wayland compositor
get a short view of the desktop before MM comes up