Arch Linux

pepedopolous

Member

Registered: 2012-02-12

Posts: 86

Custom systemd unit fails on boot but can be started manually

Hi folks,

I have an Skylake Intel NUC which I use as a retro gaming system.

I made an override.conf for /etc/getty@tty1.service.d/ which automatically logs my user into tty1.

I've made a custom 'retroarch.target' which has installed a 'retroarch.service' and there is a 'retroarch.conf' entry in the /boot/loader/entries/ directory which boots into the retroarch.target (retroarch should start in KMS/EGL mode).

Before getting the NUC, I made this set up on my laptop and it works perfectly. However, on the NUC the retroarch.service fails on boot. Despite this, I can start either the retroarch.service or /usr/bin/retroarch on the command prompt as soon as the boot has finished.

I'm not sure why it works on the laptop but not the NUC. Perhaps something retroarch depends on is not ready when the retroarch.target starts? However, I'm not sure what this is and I haven't been able to find a way to delay the start of /usr/bin/retroarch in the retroarch.service unit file.

/usr/lib/systemd/system/retroarch.target

[Unit]
Description= Retroarch Target
Requires=multi-user.target
Wants=
Conflicts=rescue.service rescue.target
After=multi-user.target 
AllowIsolate=yes.

/usr/lib/systemd/system/retroarch.service

[Unit]
Description=Retroarch
After=retroarch.target
Requires=retroarch.target

[Service]
User=pepe
ExecStart=/usr/bin/retroarch 

[Install]
WantedBy=retroarch.target 

pepedopolous

Member

Registered: 2012-02-12

Posts: 86

Re: Custom systemd unit fails on boot but can be started manually

On further investigation, I think my problems are due to the i915 driver not being ready for the Skylake graphics chip in the NUC (Intel Iris Pro 580). The problem still happens with kernel 4.6 from Testing.