Some time ago I started making plans to create a home server and asked for some general advice (https://forums.opensuse.org/showthre…ce-for-my-SOHO). Well, I’m now getting round to doing it and falling into the inevitable problems, so I’m seeking advice. I’ve already asked for help with Samba.
My second problem relates to remote management of the server. I’m currently using TeamViewer to log into the server and do what I need to in the GUI. This may not be the long-term solution, but it’s a quick and easy start. However, I’m experiencing a problem which I suspect may be common to whatever approach I ultimately take.
When I connect via TeamViewer, I only get the desktop if a monitor is plugged in (it doesn’t need to be powered up, but it does need the VGA cable to be plugged in). If I attempt to connect without the monitor plugged in it fails to return an image for the desktop (though a connection is successfully made). To me, it appears that no monitor = no image being created = no image for TeamViewer to obtain.
My fear is that this will occur no matter what tool I use to connect, and I need to find some solution (e.g. fake EDID, virtual desktop, etc.). Searching for solutions has not put me on what I think is the right path.
Some time ago I started making plans to create a home server and asked
for some general advice
(‘https://forums.opensuse.org/showthre...ce-for-my-SOHO’
(http://tinyurl.com/my3gq6z)). Well, I’m now getting round to doing it
and falling into the inevitable problems, so I’m seeking advice. I’ve
already asked for help with Samba.
My second problem relates to remote management of the server. I’m
currently using TeamViewer to log into the server and do what I need to
in the GUI. This may not be the long-term solution, but it’s a quick and
easy start. However, I’m experiencing a problem which I suspect may be
common to whatever approach I ultimately take.
When I connect via TeamViewer, I only get the desktop if a monitor is
plugged in (it doesn’t need to be powered up, but it does need the VGA
cable to be plugged in). If I attempt to connect without the monitor
plugged in it fails to return an image for the desktop (though a
connection is successfully made). To me, it appears that no monitor = no
image being created = no image for TeamViewer to obtain.
My fear is that this will occur no matter what tool I use to connect,
and I need to find some solution (e.g. fake EDID, virtual desktop,
etc.). Searching for solutions has not put me on what I think is the
right path.
Suggestions?
Thanks
Stuart
Hi
I use the old version (3.5) of NX from nomachine, systems run with no
graphical desktop enabled by default, nx takes care of that on
connection.
So what applications are you specifically needing to run needing a GUI,
ssh using the local X server on the system your connecting from should
suffice? If you need YaST, look at the webyast package. Else most
things can be done via ssh and the command line.
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-7-desktop
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There’s nothing in particular that I’m looking to use a GUI for - it’s just preference. I dabble in lots of different technologies and find working with visual interfaces easier to remember, only using more ‘raw’ methods for topics that I get more heavily into.
Even if I do go down the ssh / command line route later on, I’d still like to solve this problem.
malcolmlewis;2633389 Wrote:
> Hi
> I use the old version (3.5) of NX from nomachine, systems run with no
> graphical desktop enabled by default, nx takes care of that on
> connection.
>
> So what applications are you specifically needing to run needing a
> GUI, ssh using the local X server on the system your connecting from
> should suffice? If you need YaST, look at the webyast package. Else
> most things can be done via ssh and the command line.
There’s nothing in particular that I’m looking to use a GUI for - it’s
just preference. I dabble in lots of different technologies and find
working with visual interfaces easier to remember, only using more ‘raw’
methods for topics that I get more heavily into.
Even if I do go down the ssh / command line route later on, I’d still
like to solve this problem.
Thanks
Stuart
Hi
Then I would suggest NX from nomachine then.
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-7-desktop
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!
I had a whirl with NX and fully expected to get the same result. To my (pleasant) surprise, I was able to connect to the session without the need to be connected to a monitor. I’d still be curious to know why TeamViewer behaves differently though, so I may ask there.
One issue I am having with NX though is to do with the firewall. I can connect to myself (for funny, freaky effects!), and I can connect to Windows machines, but I cannot connect FROM Windows machines. I’m pretty confident that this is a firewall issue (because it works if I turn off the firewall), but I’m not sure how to identify which port I need to open.
Which version of NX, 3.5 or the newer version 4.x? If it’s 4.x then I think it’s during the creation of the connection it tells you which port, 4000 maybe? Then in YaST firewall under allowed services, check the dropdown to see if the nx server exists, else used the advanced option button to enter the port numbers.
I went for the latest version (i.e. 4.x). I added 4000 TCP and 4300 UDP to the firewall via the advance option (nxserver doesn’t appear as an option in the drop down for some reason, despite being a running service), as indicated by yourself here:
My short-term solution to the issue was to add nomodeset to the grub boot options (which allows it to connect, but only at 640x480 resolution) and then add the following to ‘/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf’:
# Added to try and get better screen resolution (1024x786)
Section "Device"
Identifier "Default.Device"
Driver "vesa"
EndSection
Nothing more to see here. Thanks for your input malcolmlewis.
You need to accept whatever GRUB loads. If you load the vesa driver, I’ve been seeing higher resolutions, at least 800x600 if not bigger. AFAIK you’ll be forced to 640x480 only if you load the vga driver.
You may try running your own xserver configuration (eg maybe busybox?). Is a bit outside my personal experience for remote connections but would be logical (may also require configuring tty).
But, I guess my Q might be why you might give up already on an installed desktop.
In fact, if I were to guess you might only need to designate a specific tty or screen… The default is likely the non-existent monitor and your remote connection uses a different tty (hey, I’m only guessing!). Also, there may be a setting somewhere that disables monitor detection… Actually, oddly I’ve run into that in one of my VMware Guests.
My virtual Guest experience even raises another possible option for you… Install virtualization on your HostOS (which can be without monitor, without Desktop). Install some kind of virtualization on it and your Home Server in a Guest. You can then connect to it graphically if you wish any way you want because the Guest(and the Host) won’t care if a real physical monitor exists.