How to open terminal then run a program on the terminal simultaneously on startup?

Question

My Pi already logs in automatically (goes to Desktop on startup). I wanted my python program to run automatically when pi boots but I need to use the USB numeric keypad input in my program (that is why I need to run the program through the terminal) and with no monitor connected..

So how do I run terminal on startup, then run my python program sudo python /home/pi/Desktop/final/project.pyautomatically on the terminal?

Answer 1

You need to specify which OS you are using. I am assuming you are using Raspbian OS.

To open terminal automatically on start up, edit /home/user/.xinitrc and add the following line

exec gnome-terminal &

To run any program on starting terminal,(again, you need to specify which shell you are using. I am assuming 'bash' shell. you can know your shell by typing "echo $SHELL" in your terminal)

Bash and Its Start up File Execution Algorithm

Execution order

When bash is invoked as an interactive login shell, or as a non-interactive shell with the --login option, it first reads and executes commands from the file /etc/profile, if that file exists.

After reading that file, it looks for ~/.bash_profile, ~/.bash_login, and ~/.profile, in that order, and reads and executes commands from the first one that exists and is readable. The first 2 files do not exist in my setup, so it runs ~/.profile.

When a login shell exits, bash reads and executes commands from the file ~/.bash_logout, if it exists.

When an interactive shell that is not a login shell is started, bash reads and executes commands from /etc/bash.bashrc and ~/.bashrc, if these files exist.

This may be inhibited by using the --norc option. The --rcfile file option will force bash to read and execute commands from file instead of /etc/bash.bashrc and ~/.bashrc.

        Files run ...      If ...
        1st: /etc/profile  Interactive login shell
        2nd: ~/.profile
        3rd: ~/.bashrc     Interactive non-login shell

Source for Bash start up execution order : http://savage.net.au/Linux/html/bash.files.html

Answer 2

This is for Raspberry Pi where you run your program in a terminal

• Create a "desktop" file (called "runthis.desktop", for example) in /home/pi/.config/autostart
• Copy these lines to the new file ("runthis.desktop"):

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Comment=
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=true
Hidden=false

Name=RootCam

Exec=x-terminal-emulator --working-directory=/home/pi/projects/RootCam -e /home/pi/projects/RootCam/main &

Change "Name" and "Exec" as desired and reboot the Pi. Tell your parents you love them.