Black window if TB is autostarted in Raspberry Pi OS
Using a Raspberry Pi 4 to automatically send emails while away, and I want to make sure Thunderbird starts if there is a power failure, so that the Send Later add-on will work.
I seem to have the same issue as this user on Debian, only I'm using Raspberry Pi OS on a RPi4.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1401261
Thunderbird starts normally when I start it from either the desktop icon or the command line. But no matter which autostart method I try, it always opens with a black window. I suspect something with the X11 windowing system?
Here are the methods I've tried, all with the same result.
1. Creating a file /home/sgilson99/pi/.config/autostart/startthunderbird.desktop
Which contains the following, basically the same as the desktop icon file thunderbird.desktop:
[Desktop Entry] Encoding=UTF-8 Type=Application Name=startthunderbird.desktop Comment= Exec= thunderbird StartupNotify=false Terminal=false Hidden=false
2. Placing an exact copy of the desktop icon file thunderbird.desktop into the following folder:
/etc/xdg/autostart
3. Adding the last line to the file /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart
@lxpanel --profile LXDE @pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE @xscreensaver -no-splash @thunderbird
(and tried various thunderbird command line options here to specify the user profile) (and tried sleep up to 60 seconds before the last line) (and tried replacing the @thunderbird line with a call to a shell script that starts Thunderbird
So, it appears to be the same issue the above referenced user is having on Debian, so I'm sure they could benefit from a solution.
Super weird!
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks, Scott
Modified by scott180
All Replies (2)
There is a Linux version of Thunderbird on the thunderbird.net web site that should run using the spec set in the system requirements (I do wonder if anyone ever actually reviews them as you can't install 64big Thunderbird on windows 10 in the disk space they say is minimum)
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/102.10.1/system-requirements/
Many distributions and groups release their own builds of Thunderbird which have different requirements. This means it is basically if you get your Thunderbird build from your distribution repository, start with the maintainer with issues like this. Otherwise try the Thunderbird linux release from Thunderbird.net to see if it is different.
However I suggest you try a bash script or one of the other delay options here https://askubuntu.com/questions/206432/how-to-delay-the-start-of-an-application-during-startup-to-reduce-total-booting to do the starting. Linux is sometimes so keen to get your started that the auto start is initializing before the video initializes completely or some such and a delay might be all you need.
Matt,
Thanks for your suggestions.
My Raspberry Pi OS repository gives me the latest version of Thunderbird, so no problem there.
The official Thunderbird page (you linked to) tells me "Your system doesn't meet the <blank> to run Thunderbird" (image attached). Since Raspberry Pi OS isn't full Linux, but a mix of Linux and Windows 10 packages, Mozilla doesn't seem support it fully I guess. Although in every other respect, it works just fine.
I've tried the delay schemes you linked to; they didn't help.
At this point, I'm relying on a large UPS to make sure my Pi stays powered if there is a power outage, which is fine. Outages here tend to be just a second or two, so I should be good.
Oh, and I confirmed that Thunderbird is actually not running properly with the black window, unlike the Linux user with this issue, by setting up a "Send Later" that didn't send unless I opened Thunderbird normally from the desktop icon. So it's not just a windowing issue, somehow it doesn't start up fully.
Thanks! Scott
Modified by scott180