MagicMirror 2 only works with DISPLAY=:0 npm start command

mihirjain

Hello,
I have installed raspbian jessie on my rpi2. I followed the howchoo.com website tutorial to do everything since I am a noob EXCEPT the part where magic mirror is to be installed. I followed the automatic method of Magicmirror’s github page.
Then I put it in kiosk mode and did the last bits (more on that below) as per the howchoo site. End result? rpi boots and starts a web page with only the index visible. If I run the command DISPLAY=:0 npm start then it works.

About the last bits after installing the MagicMirror in the automatic way: This is what I did:

Turn Chromium into a kiosk

Now we’ll configure Chromium to run in kiosk mode.

Open the autostart config file in the Nano editor.

Config file for Jessie:

sudo nano ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart

Disable the screensaver
For both Wheezy and Jessie, comment out the following line using a hash symbol (#):

# @xscreensaver -no-splash

Launch Chromium on startup in kiosk mode
For Wheezy, add the following lines to the bottom of the file:

@xset s off
@xset -dpms
@xset s noblank
@unclutter -idle 1
/usr/bin/chromium --kiosk --ignore-certificate-errors --disable-restore-session-state "http://localhost"

For Jessie, add the following lines to the bottom of the file:

@xset s off
@xset -dpms
@xset s noblank
@unclutter -idle 1
@chromium-browser --incognito --kiosk http://localhost/

To exit, press CTRL-X, type Y and press enter.

Next, we need to modify the Pi’s BIOS settings for a little extra awesomeness.

Open BIOS config:

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Use portrait monitor orientation
Add the following line to rate the display 90 degrees:

display_rotate=1

To rotate in the other direction (270 degrees), use the following line instead:

display_rotate=3

Enable HDMI hotplugging
Uncomment the following line:

hdmi_force_hotplug=1

Save and exit. Finally, reboot your Pi once more:

sudo reboot

Please help.

thanks,
Mir

Note from admin: Please use Markdown on code and shell snippets!

Wilco89

@mihirjain that tut is outdated, beter install Version 2.
It is beter to start with Clean install of Jessy.

Walk through the readme and wiki!

https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror

KirAsh4

Or follow the extensive step by step tutorial here: https://forum.magicmirror.builders/topic/236/complete-setup-tutorial

mihirjain

@Wilco89 Thanks for the reply, though I didnt use the howchoo method for installation. I followed the github MagicMirror2 site method with the command

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MichMich/MagicMirror/master/installers/raspberry.sh | bash

mihirjain

@KirAsh4
Thanks for the reply, I used the same command to install mm2 as per your detailed tutorial. Though some commands after installed mm2 were different so shall retry the whole thing.

Thanks,
Mihir