Add gui console to piAware pi?

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

I have repurposed a Raspberry Pi 3 for piAware.
I already have a dedicated HDMI monitor.
I see the console, and the other screens work as defined on screen, Alt-F2, etc.

I had XFCE running on “normal” Raspbian.

Can I add a GUI console to this HDMI which is currently the downloaded piAware SD image?

2

Note: This method is NOT tested by me. Someone who has tried it (or Flightaware staff) can confirm if it is valid or not.

In image supplied by FlightAware, add the GUI by following command:
sudo apt-get install -y raspberrypi-ui-mods rpi-chromium-mods

2 Likes
3

I found another note suggesting “sudo raspi-config” to select the boot option for GUI.
That fails with a suggestion “Do ‘sudo apt-get install lightdm’ to allow configuration of boot to desktop”
Performed the install of lightdm, 44MB. I had already used sudo raspi-config to extend my file system to the full size of my MicroSD. I forget how big it was initially.
Back to “sudo raspi-config” to select the boot option for GUI.
I selected “need login” but piAware didn’t start properly, so I chose “autologin”
“Reboot now?” Yes.
piAware starts, but the GUI screen is a terminal that doesn’t have focus. Somehow, I got focus, but can’t duplicate it after a reboot. A terminal with no focus isn’t very interesting.
I installed and launched chromium-browser, opened a browser to localhost, and I have my SkyView, although it’s not called that, so I’m almost there, but lightdm might require some learning.

Next: Trying your command line.

4

sudo apt-get install -y raspberrypi-ui-mods rpi-chromium-mods

works for me. I had already done

sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

The boot with autologin from “sudo raspi-config” boot option for GUI, brings up a usable desktop, and allows piAware to start.

I went back to "cli with autologin". That restored the original piaware screen at boot. I can startx from the Alt-F2 command line login, if I want. I can kill the "startx" process from a command line.
1 Like
5

sudo apt-get install -y raspberrypi-ui-mods rpi-chromium-mods
This also worked for me, the script took just over 9 min to run. Thanks #abcd567

1 Like
6

To get the Pi to display the PiAware tracking info, simply ran:
sudo apt-get install -y raspberrypi-ui-mods rpi-chromium-mods
and then followed the method discussed above "The boot with autologin from “sudo raspi-config” boot option for GUI, brings up a usable desktop, and allows piAware to start. Straightforward and it works seamlessly!