This should be real simple, but I can’t figure it out (never got my head around Upstart ::))
I can start the Bumblebee daemon on my laptop manually by running the following in a terminal:
sudo bumblebeed start
(backgrounding doesn’t seem to work, but I’m sure that’s my syntax error somewhere).
The contents of /etc/init/bumblebeed.conf are:
# Upstart job for Bumblebee daemon
description "Bumblebee supporting NVIDIA Optimus cards"
author "Lekensteyn <[email protected]>"
# XXX: do we need to stop before / after a graphical DE like kdm?
start on (desktop-session-start)
stop on (desktop-shutdown)
# restart in case it crashed for some reason
respawn
script
libopts=
# When the user installs a nvidia package that is unknown,
# ignore the paths in bumblebee.conf and use detected ones
if ! driver=$(grep -Po '^Driver=\K.*' /etc/bumblebee/bumblebee.conf) \
|| [ -z "$driver" ] || [ "$driver" = "nvidia" ]; then
# find LibraryPath setting of nvidia section
libpath=$(awk -F[=:] '/^\[driver-nvidia\]/{d=1}/^LibraryPath=/{if(d){print $2;exit}}' \
/etc/bumblebee/bumblebee.conf) || true
# pick the first available nvidia installation (not necessary
# the latest, e.g. nvidia-current over nvidia-experimental-310)
pkgname=$(ls -1d /usr/lib/nvidia*/libGL.so | cut -d/ -f4 | head -1) || true
# When the default library path does not contain nvidia drivers,
# it is possibly not installed. If no driver is installed (no
# /usr/lib/nvidia-*), assume that the auto-detection will use
# nouveau instead and do not override paths.
if [ ! -e "$libpath/libGL.so" -a -n "$pkgname" ] && \
modprobe -nq "$pkgname"; then
# assume nvidia driver even if nouveau is already loaded
libopts="$libopts --driver nvidia"
libopts="$libopts --driver-module $pkgname"
libopts="$libopts --ldpath /usr/lib/$pkgname:/usr/lib32/$pkgname"
libopts="$libopts --module-path /usr/lib/$pkgname/xorg,/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
fi
fi
# don't use --daemon as Upstart gets confused by that.
exec '/usr/sbin/bumblebeed' --use-syslog $libopts
end script
Way out of my depth here, but how to I get this daemon to run automatically on boot up or login?
I’m lost here … doesn’t bumblebeed start with the desktop as I’d have expected it should ?
Which distro/version/architecture ?
is there a symlink to bumblebeed in any of the rc(n).d directories … such as /etc/rc2.d ?
Sorry for the delay Mark - I’ve no idea why it isn’t starting, this happened after an update (although I didn’t spot it for ages, as I haven’t tried to use it until now). I couldn’t find an obvious log where errors had been written either.
This is running Mint 14 x64, Cinnamon as DE. I didn’t dig through the rc folders as I thought Upstart did away with them? I’ll have a look tonight and post back
Nothing under any of the rcX.d folders, although there is a script under the init.d folder:
#!/bin/sh -e
# upstart-job
#
# Symlink target for initscripts that have been converted to Upstart.
set -e
INITSCRIPT="$(basename "$0")"
JOB="${INITSCRIPT%.sh}"
if [ "$JOB" = "upstart-job" ]; then
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
echo "Usage: upstart-job JOB COMMAND" 1>&2
exit 1
fi
JOB="$1"
INITSCRIPT="$1"
shift
else
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
echo "Usage: $0 COMMAND" 1>&2
exit 1
fi
fi
COMMAND="$1"
shift
if [ -z "$DPKG_MAINTSCRIPT_PACKAGE" ]; then
ECHO=echo
else
ECHO=:
fi
$ECHO "Rather than invoking init scripts through /etc/init.d, use the service(8)"
$ECHO "utility, e.g. service $INITSCRIPT $COMMAND"
# Only check if jobs are disabled if the currently _running_ version of
# Upstart (which may be older than the latest _installed_ version)
# supports such a query.
#
# This check is necessary to handle the scenario when upgrading from a
# release without the 'show-config' command (introduced in
# Upstart for Ubuntu version 0.9.7) since without this check, all
# installed packages with associated Upstart jobs would be considered
# disabled.
#
# Once Upstart can maintain state on re-exec, this change can be
# dropped (since the currently running version of Upstart will always
# match the latest installed version).
UPSTART_VERSION_RUNNING=$(initctl version|awk '{print $3}'|tr -d ')')
if dpkg --compare-versions "$UPSTART_VERSION_RUNNING" ge 0.9.7
then
initctl show-config -e "$JOB"|grep -q '^ start on' || DISABLED=1
fi
case $COMMAND in
status)
$ECHO
$ECHO "Since the script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an"
$ECHO "Upstart job, you may also use the $COMMAND(8) utility, e.g. $COMMAND $JOB"
$COMMAND "$JOB"
;;
start|stop)
$ECHO
$ECHO "Since the script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an"
$ECHO "Upstart job, you may also use the $COMMAND(8) utility, e.g. $COMMAND $JOB"
if status "$JOB" 2>/dev/null | grep -q ' start/'; then
RUNNING=1
fi
if [ -z "$RUNNING" ] && [ "$COMMAND" = "stop" ]; then
exit 0
elif [ -n "$RUNNING" ] && [ "$COMMAND" = "start" ]; then
exit 0
elif [ -n "$DISABLED" ] && [ "$COMMAND" = "start" ]; then
exit 0
fi
$COMMAND "$JOB"
;;
restart)
$ECHO
$ECHO "Since the script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an"
$ECHO "Upstart job, you may also use the stop(8) and then start(8) utilities,"
$ECHO "e.g. stop $JOB ; start $JOB. The restart(8) utility is also available."
if status "$JOB" 2>/dev/null | grep -q ' start/'; then
RUNNING=1
fi
if [ -n "$RUNNING" ] ; then
stop "$JOB"
fi
# If the job is disabled and is not currently running, the job is
# not restarted. However, if the job is disabled but has been forced into the
# running state, we *do* stop and restart it since this is expected behaviour
# for the admin who forced the start.
if [ -n "$DISABLED" ] && [ -z "$RUNNING" ]; then
exit 0
fi
start "$JOB"
;;
reload|force-reload)
$ECHO
$ECHO "Since the script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an"
$ECHO "Upstart job, you may also use the reload(8) utility, e.g. reload $JOB"
reload "$JOB"
;;
*)
$ECHO
$ECHO "The script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an Upstart" 1>&2
$ECHO "job, but $COMMAND is not supported for Upstart jobs." 1>&2
exit 1
esac
That seems to be legacy though…?
I’m reluctant to simply re-install bumblebee via apt, as it does work at the moment, and I’d worry that it would stop working completely! It’s not very stable (bring on the kernel drivers!)
Where did you get bumblebee from ?
at the beginning of /etc/init/bumblebeed.conf from the PPA (ppa:bumblebee/stable) for 13.04 reads:-
# Upstart job for Bumblebee daemon
description “Bumblebee supporting NVIDIA Optimus cards”
author “Lekensteyn [email protected]”
XXX: do we need to stop before / after a graphical DE like kdm?
start on (login-session-start or desktop-session-start)
stop on (desktop-shutdown)
restart in case it crashed for some reason
respawn
[EDIT]
Full /etc/init/bumblebeed.conf attached below
Yeah, mine read that, but I changed it in the hope that it might fix it. I thought, maybe it was supposed to be edited before use? Anyway, it doesn’t work with the default conf file either…
Not sure where I got from (not at my laptop atm), I’d guess the bumblebee repo if it’s not in the default Ubuntu or Mint repos?
How can I execute the “bumblebeed start” command with root privileges on login? I know it’s not the right way to do it, but it saves me a step! Using the “Startup Applications” (Mint application) didn’t work as (I guess) it didn’t have root.
Add it to the autostart list.
or try:
sudo update-rc.d bumblebeed defaults
you can remove that with:
sudo /etc/rc*/*bumblebeed
If that doesn’t work (load and allow shutdown/reboot), try creating your own bash script /etc/init.d/my-bumblebeed-start containing your command, and run:
sudo update-rc.d my-bumblebeed-start 2 3 4 5
you can remove that with:
sudo /etc/rc*/*my-bumblebeed-start
Thanks very much Mark, will have a play tonight if I get time 
No dice with the update-rc.d command - it ran, listed what it had done, but a reboot later and it’s the same story 
I’ll play with the custom script tomorrow, gonna eat dinner now :o
Do I need the sudo in the script? Or do I just need it to read “bumblebeed”? I need to pass it a carriage return after it executes (it “hangs” the terminal; it doesn’t background it). Do I need the shebang (sorry, should know that :-[)
Sorry for the DP, but I believe I’ve found the answer here - https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/issues/337
(actually, I found that ages ago, but only just spotted the link in the bookmarks, doh :-[)
So did replacing
start on (login-session-start or desktop-session-start)
stop on (desktop-shutdown)
with
start on (runlevel [2345])
stop on (runlevel [016])
work then ?
–
Yep, I’m guessing this is Ubuntu/Mint-specific, otherwise the dev would have just made it the default. My next upgrade will be the LTS next year - hopefully it’ll be in Ubuntu’s repo by then, and they can make the change themselves upstream of me. It’s annoying to have to remember the manually update the conf file each time bumblebee gets an upgrade via APT (what am I running here, Slackware? :p)
I’ve installed it in Ubuntu a few times and it always works in there … and it would be all over the web if it didn’t work in Ubuntu so I’m gonna guess it’s Mint specific.
Either way, we now know the cure
Doh, I doubt Mint will pull the package into their repo to maintain the conf file, so I guess I’ll be stuck for the forseeable future…
Ever considered getting your own PPA, downloading the source from the Bumblebee PPA, modifying the conf file, then uploading it to be built as a precompiled package in your PPA … you could then offer it to others.
…in a word, no. I mean I could, but it wouldn’t solve the issue as my PPA would have to compile and hold a new version at the same time as the bumblebee repo.
I guess I could write a script to update the package info, then if there is a new version of bumblebee - install it, then overwrite the config file (or at least, use sed to change the lines affected). Or I guess I could just keep my eyes open for the bumblebee package during an apt-get upgrade, and then run a 1 line sed script to update it. With bash, it should be possible to test for distro name (inxi?), and if it’s Mint, then execute the sed script. I might play with this if I get time, then fire it at the bumblebee devs/maintainers. It seems like the sort of thing that could form part of the package install
Personally I’d have though the Mint devs would either fix why the Ubuntu version doesn’t work in Mint … or maintain their own version, I mean it’d be easy to do.
I suppose it could be scripted, but it wouldn’t be easy … launchpad doesn’t allow you to upload pre-compiled packages … you have to upload the modified source code, launchpad then compiles and builds the .deb package on their servers.
So say you set up a Mint/Bumblebee PPA … every time there was an update to the Ubuntu/Bumblebee PPA, you’d have to download the source, modify it, and reupload it (with an incremented version number/name) for building … not a hard job, few minutes … but it’s more about maintenance/ keeping it up to date(ish)
(doesn’t have to be an instant thing as the old version will keep working until you get round to it.
All pretty easy once you’ve done it once … it’s a pretty good system when you think about it, it makes sure ALL packages have been built against the kernel/Ubuntu version they’re intended for … kinda keeps the maintainer on his toes
–
What were you doing up at 3am?? 
I didn’t mean a script to create a PPA, I was talking about a local script. Pseudocode:
if apt-get version check installed < apt-get version check current repo:
apt-get install bumblebee && sed -i ".;.',;',blah.;;" /etc/init/bumblebeed.conf (to change the text on the relevant lines of bumblebeed.conf)
From a package maintainer view, instead of that if statement, I’d envisage something like:
if inxi | grep "Mint":
post-install......sed -i ".;.',;',blah.;;" /etc/init/bumblebeed.conf
As part of the post-installation/unpacking script (not too sure of how packaging and apt work though)
Trying to figure out how to put music onto my sons music player :o
What is it with Apple … it should be easy to put music onto an iPod touch, instead it’s only easy if you buy the music from them … why the $%^ do people buy these things ??