vnc server working, just won't start kde/gnome

[mandreko]

i have my vnc server working, and i can connect to it, but i am just unable to get anything but an xterm to open. I tried putting "startkde" or "startx" or "X" or many other thigns in my ~/.vnc/xstartup file, but none work. they normally just give me a blank screen.

Also, does anyone know what port udp or tcp that vnc works over? right now i'm ahving to stop my firewall every time i want in, and then restart it when i'm out. I'd like to add an ipchains rule to it.

[Coral Sea]

Are you lanching the vnc server remotely or locally? Are you launching it as root or non-root?

In a previous install of vnc, I could not launch the server successfully as non-root (I'd get the grey screen that you're talking about). However, that problem went away with my upgrade to Mandy 8 and installing the vnc apps from the installation CDs. Before, I had installed them from the download from AT&T Labs.

Also, if I launch vncserver remotely using SSH, all I get is grey screen. Haven't figured that one out. I vaguely recall that if I launched remotely using telnet, it did work.

So, maybe try launching as root locally and see if that yields better results.

[mandreko]

well, it kinda works even ran as an unprivelaged user. I could get the picture, it wasn't a grey background, but it was 1 colored, a tannish.

Now when i log in, with the "twm" taken out of the xstartup file, and replaced with "startkde" it shows the desktop with a window that says that KDE's loader caused a SIGTERM 11, and crashed.

I'm not sure why though

[Lorithar]

???

Log in as the user you need to be ... and launch from there. There is a user directory .vnc which contains the startup commands ... the default is twm startkde should be installed as root, and I believe that it must be setuid root although I'm not 100% sure. Personally I use blackbox solo and have found that the 'blackbox' command is all I need to get my desktop up with vnc, since it then pulls in the user local .blackboxrc. One point is that you may need to specify the geometry of the vnc screen on the server start command line. On one particular box at work the vncclient application could not connect properly due to (what may have been) geometric differences between the server and the client.

Installing vncserver software should be done as root, but you may need to add the vnc software directory to the users path if you do not install it in /usr/local/bin. There is one caveat in the vncserver install routine about setuid ... it is in the README in the install directory ... and has to do with installing the software as a user and using ports...

[Coral Sea]

In the ~/.vnc/xstartup file (or /root/.vnc/xstartup...depends what user launces vncserver), comment out the terminal window geometry line (second last line) and the twm line (last line). Add a line with startkde in it (no need for the &).

Then, edit your vncserver file (might be in /usr/bin or in a home directory...depends on how you installed it) so that the window size is what you want displayed remotely (e.g., 800x600, 1152x864, etc.) and the color depth is 16 (I find 16 a good balance between true color and reasonable performance).

If you didn't already do it, kill and restart vncserver:

vncserver -kill :1 (or whatever screen number got generated)

vncserver

Try all of this locally first.

If KDE doesn't work, and you have Gnome installed, substitute gnome-exec for startkde.

[bdg1983]

Ensure your system is setup to allow remote connections.

To allow a graphical connection to a remote linux box, the computer you wish to connect to must allow graphical connections from your system. This is done by editing the Xaccess file in /etc/X11/kdm/ to allow the client computer(s) , but uncommenting the line

#*#any host can get a login window

allows all clients to connect

[mandreko]

well, i seem to get kde or gnome started, but then none of the screen refreshes, except what's under my mouse, so i can't see it, or when i use kde, i get a crashed program every time (i believe it's the panel) and it really sucks

[Coral Sea]

What distro are you running and how did you install VNC? If KDE and Gnome run properly on the serving PC, then it sounds like something is botched in your VNC installation.