Fix mpv never starting: drop the PAMName=login hang, tear down old Kodi

The mpv service inherited Kodi's VT-grabbing block (PAMName=login +
StandardInput=tty + TTYPath=/dev/tty1). Opening a "login" PAM session on
tty1 hangs in systemd's pre-exec setup, so mpv was never exec'd at all --
the service sat "running" as systemd-executor with an empty (mpv) cmdline,
no IPC socket, no output.

Two fixes:

1. Simplify the unit. mpv doesn't need a login session or the tty: as the
   sole DRM client on the seat it becomes DRM master implicitly on first
   open, so plain video+render+audio group membership is enough. Removing
   the PAM/tty block lets mpv actually start, initialize the vc4 KMS
   display, and play (verified end-to-end: play/status/next through the
   Flask API, position advancing on screen).

2. install.sh now tears down any leftover Kodi before starting mpv. The
   real trigger this time was an in-place migration: replacing the unit
   files doesn't stop an already-running Kodi, which kept DRM master and
   the tty1 seat and blocked mpv from ever getting the display.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Jean-Michel Tremblay 2026-07-09 19:04:45 -04:00
parent 5972ac2736
commit 799a5d5467
2 changed files with 28 additions and 13 deletions

View file

@ -186,6 +186,20 @@ deploy_current() {
install_units install_units
sudo systemctl enable mediapi-mpv mediapi-app >/dev/null 2>&1 || true sudo systemctl enable mediapi-mpv mediapi-app >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
# Migration cleanup: earlier versions ran Kodi as the player. A still-running
# Kodi keeps the GPU's DRM master and the tty1 seat, which stops mpv from ever
# acquiring the display -- and removing a unit file does NOT stop an already
# running process. So explicitly tear any Kodi down before starting mpv.
if [[ -e /etc/systemd/system/mediapi-kodi.service ]] || pgrep -x kodi.bin >/dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "==> Removing leftover Kodi player ..."
sudo systemctl unmask mediapi-kodi.service 2>/dev/null || true
sudo systemctl disable --now mediapi-kodi.service 2>/dev/null || true
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/mediapi-kodi.service
sudo pkill -9 -x kodi.bin 2>/dev/null || true
sudo pkill -9 -f kodi-standalone 2>/dev/null || true
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
fi
echo "==> Starting services ..." echo "==> Starting services ..."
sudo systemctl restart mediapi-mpv sudo systemctl restart mediapi-mpv
sudo systemctl restart mediapi-app sudo systemctl restart mediapi-app

View file

@ -1,26 +1,27 @@
[Unit] [Unit]
Description=mpv video player (KMS/DRM -- the actual player) Description=mpv video player (KMS/DRM -- the actual player)
# Needs the DRM/HDMI + sound devices present; takes over the console VT. # Needs the DRM/HDMI + sound devices present.
After=local-fs.target systemd-udev-settle.service sound.target After=local-fs.target systemd-udev-settle.service sound.target
Wants=systemd-udev-settle.service Wants=systemd-udev-settle.service
# Keep a login getty off the primary display so nothing else claims tty1.
Conflicts=getty@tty1.service Conflicts=getty@tty1.service
[Service] [Service]
User=${MEDIAPI_USER} User=${MEDIAPI_USER}
# mpv on DRM/KMS needs: video+render (GPU/DRM), input (remotes/keyboard), audio # mpv on KMS/DRM needs: video+render (GPU/DRM), input (remotes/keyboard), audio
# (HDMI/ALSA), tty (own the VT). PAMName=login gives it a real logind session so # (HDMI/ALSA). It becomes DRM master simply as the first/only DRM client on the
# it can take the seat's DRM/input devices. # seat -- no PAM login session and no elevated capabilities required, provided
SupplementaryGroups=video render input audio tty # nothing else is already holding the GPU. (An older Kodi-based deploy DID hold
PAMName=login # it; install.sh tears any leftover Kodi down before starting this.)
TTYPath=/dev/tty1 SupplementaryGroups=video render input audio
StandardInput=tty
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
# Create /run/mediapi (owned by this user) for the IPC socket the app connects to. # Create /run/mediapi (owned by this user) for the IPC socket the app connects to.
RuntimeDirectory=mediapi RuntimeDirectory=mediapi
# --idle keeps mpv running with no file loaded (holds the playlist between StandardInput=null
# clips and after the last one), so the service stays up and the app can always StandardOutput=journal
# reach the socket. Playback is hardware-decoded straight on KMS. StandardError=journal
# --idle keeps mpv running with no file loaded (holds the playlist between clips
# and after the last one), so the service stays up and the app can always reach
# the socket. Playback renders straight on KMS.
ExecStart=/usr/bin/mpv \ ExecStart=/usr/bin/mpv \
--idle=yes \ --idle=yes \
--input-ipc-server=/run/mediapi/mpv.sock \ --input-ipc-server=/run/mediapi/mpv.sock \