Opening multiple Chromium browsers (not tabs) on start up & Kiosk-esque requirement.

[cedd]

Hi Everyone!

2 questions - first one about launching 3 separate browser instances via a Raspberry pi autostart, the second about a kiosk-like view, but not full screen;

Brief description of my setup first;
I have 3 Arduinos, all with ethernet shields. They're reading a number of serial inputs, then hosting the readings in an html page on a LAN. This works nicely. Each Arduino has an ip address. I can view each arduino's page. 

I have a pi which i'm wanting to configure as a display screen for these three html pages - showing all 3 pages simultaneously one above the other. I've managed (through a lot of forum searching - i'm a pi noob but am ok with Arduino) to get the pi configured with the screen as portrait (so the 3 browsers can display one below the other), with a physical power button, with sleep/screensaver etc turned off. 

Question 1;
I've managed to get the pi to launch the browser on startup, with a fixed size and in a fixed position on screen by placing the following in nano /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart;

Code: Select all

@chromium-browser --disable-infobars --window-position=0,0 --window-size=900,600 2.2.2.31 #ip address#

This works, however i'd hoped that by doing the following i'd just get 3 instances of the browser one above the other;

Code: Select all

@chromium-browser --disable-infobars --window-position=0,0 --window-size=900,600 2.2.2.31 #ip address#
@chromium-browser --disable-infobars --window-position=0,700 --window-size=900,600 2.2.2.32 #ip address#
@chromium-browser --disable-infobars --window-position=0,1400 --window-size=900,600 2.2.2.33 #ip address#

Instead I get one instance of the browser with 3 tabs open, positioned in the location set by the last of the 3 lines. This isn't what I want! I want to be able to see all 3 pages at once, hence the need for 3 instances of the browser. I know I can click on the tab and drag it out of the browser window to make a new instance, but the aim is for this screen to be a pure display - no mouse or keyboard attached. 

Does anybody have a clue how to make this work?

Question 2;

I'd also really like these browsers to appear without any kind of tool or address bar - a bit like a popup. I'm aware of kiosk mode, but as I have 3 separate browsers running I clearly can't allow them to be full screen. I've tried putting the kiosk mode command in followed by the window position and window size, hoping they'd overrule it, but they don't. Is there a solution or do I just have to accept the menu bars will be there?

[jlm]

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