VNC on Linux question

d1sc g0lf3r · 10-15-2003, 09:59 PM

Ok I have a VNC server running on a Mandrake Linux 9.0 box and I am attempting to connect to it from a Windows XP machine. I can connect no problem but all that I see is a grey desktop. I went to RealVNC's website and looked around the only thing I could find was this located in the FAQ:

Quote:

Why do I just get a grey desktop in my Unix VNC Server?

You should run the vncserver script to start a VNC server, rather than the Xvnc program directly. vncserver runs Xvnc with appropriate options and starts some X applications to be displayed in the VNC desktop. The applications it tries to start are specified in $HOME/.vnc/xstartup, which can be tailored to your requirements. The default setup is to run the 'twm' window manager and a single 'xterm' window. If these applications fail to run, then you will see a grey 'rootweave' desktop. The most likely reason applications fail to run is that they are not in your path. Any error messages from this startup shoul appear in $HOME/.vnc/host:display#.log. For further information see the vncserver manual page.

I am running it via the vncserver script by typing vncserver at the command prompt. The rest of what it is saying is foreign to me as I am still a Linux newb.

If anyone has a VNC server running on a Linux box and can explain to me in newbie language what I need to do to get mine working properly I would be most appreciative. I will be checking around to see if I can find anymore info that might enlighten me until I check back later

crouse · 10-15-2003, 10:13 PM

The program you need to start a vnc server on mandrake 9.0 is located

K>NETWORKING>RemoteAccess>Virtual Network Connection

Check the "Allow Control of my Machine- Linux Server" button, and type in your password......

The app when started on my machine looks like this:

HTH's......

S.D.Willie · 10-15-2003, 10:37 PM

to be honest if you have the 2 pc's on the LAN at home, then go with crouse's idea which is rfbdrake. i have tried vncserver, tight-vncserver, and rfbdrake from work to home and they are all pretty slow unfortunately even on a lighter window manager like fluxbox. but just to mess around..........id say that way is the easiest way to get it going.

p.s. if you want to see your "current desktop" on linux which would be display 0, you should use vnc from windows and you would have to connect with :

ipaddress:0

in linux you can have multiple displays running so it could be confusing. if you start a vncserver from the command prompt if will automatically run on display 1. so when you actually connect from your windows box you wont see the same display you are currently running on your nix box UNLESS you use rfbdrake. hope i didnt confuse you too much.

SD

nukes · 10-16-2003, 06:01 AM

VNC from work to home normally will be quite slow. Heck it can even be slow over a 10mbps lan. Check the compression you're using. It isn't the best remote control solution (easily beaten by remote X/ssh sessions) but it works. You may also want to consider some form of tunneling as the VNC protocol isn't encrypted. TightVNC is compressed a little, buit not encrypted.
The most likely reason for your grey desktop is the display not being set right. What it sounds like its doing is just starting another X server on :1 instead of attaching to the one already running on :0. This will eat a pile of ram and CPU as well. Try the method crouse suggested. Sounds good to me.

d1sc g0lf3r · 10-16-2003, 07:52 AM

That worked thanks for the posts. Is that a built in VNC server? or is it a different application all together that the VNC client viewer can just connect to?

If I do not need the VNC server software installed on my Linux box now, my next question would be how do I uninstall it?

S.D.Willie · 10-16-2003, 02:42 PM

if you arent familiar with the command line yet then go intio mandrake control center, then software. you can add or remove packages in there. if you wanted to you could probably do a

rpm -e vnc vnc-server

you need to switch to superuser (root) to do this by typing "su" follwed by your root password in a terminal. this command would only remove rpm packages which will be fine in your case.