RPI 3 with UM 16.04 does not boot without a monitor

Support & Help Requests Raspberry Pi
#1

Hello,
As in the topic, RPI wont boot if the monitor is not attached. I can check the LAN and RPI does not get an DHCP IP in this case (I have ssh and tightvnc installed, but obviously they do not work in this case)
Otherwise, with the monitor attached, RPI boots to desktop (login is disabled).
Unbutu is upgrades are up to date.
I need to be able to boot headless, can you help me solve this problem?
Thanks

#2

Please take a look at the grub configuration on your machine and change as needed. I assume that you’ll be booting this thing remotely and that it will be running without a monitor. What I’ve done is this:

Open /etc/default/grub as root and do the following edits:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="" omitted quiet splash between the quotes
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="text" added text here between quotes

and then also:

Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)

GRUB_TERMINAL=console uncommented by deleting #

Save and then run sudo update-grub and reboot. This should let mate boot. Test by booting and then by sshing into your machine.

Edit: As dandnsmith comments, no grub with Rpi setups. My advice was off base.

1 Like
#3

@mdooley
Please look at the context of the post!
With an RPi there will be no Grub co configure - the machine boots from an SD card (or, possiby, USB stick), without the usual manoeuvres

#4

Sorry about that. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable will chime in.

Edit: see - https://askubuntu.com/questions/886722/headless-ubuntu-mate-raspberry-pi-3-install

#5

OK - so now I’ve duplicated the original problem, using a freshly loaded SD card.
I then used some of the configuration steps I’ve previously taken to get over screen problems (and others), and have a booted and running headless UBMate 16.04.02 on RPi3.
You need to modify /boot/config.txt like this (not all steps are needed):

sdtv_mode=2 sdtv_aspect=2 hdmi_force_hotplug=1 hdmi_drive=2 hdmi_force_edid_audio=1
I suggest you read config.txt for hints as to what these do before you implement the changes.
HTH
Derek

#6

Thanks for all the answers. I was not aware that raspi-config works on ubuntu-mate, I was really sure I read somewhere it works on raspbian only (I know its just an interface to /boot/config.txt but still)

#7

I don’t know that raspi-config works either.
I was just suggesting editing the file

#8

Hello vane, yes raspi-config works with the Pi version of Ubuntu Mate. I would suggest that you use raspi-config to make Ubuntu Mate boot to the command line. That should solve your problem and will in no way interfere with the ssh or tightvnc sessions. It will make your Pi “headless”. :slight_smile: