Issues with the vnc module

[Glynn Clements]

Jay Mallar wrote:

> I have an off-the-beaten-path question I'm hoping you can help with...
> 
> My system:
> 
> Fedora Core 7
> Xorg v1.3.0 (Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 1.3)
> Linux 2.6.22.4
> 
> I am running VNC by loading the "vnc" module via xorg.conf.  It all 
> works well, with a few issues.
> 
> 1) On my remote machine, the monitor is smaller than the monitor 
> directly attached to the VNC host, so I end up with vertical/horizontal 
> scrollbars.  Usable, but annoying.
> 
> So, I added another Screen stanza in my xorg.conf with the "Modes" set 
> to the display size I want.   
> 
> Here's the relevent info:
> 
> Then, I simply run, from the command line, "startx -- :8 -screen Screen1".
> 
> This starts a new KDE session on display :8 with my specified resolution.
> 
> Now I can connect my remote machine to either :0 or :8 depending on 
> which display I want.  Very cool.
> 
> However - I'd like :8 to be started at bootup, and request login, or at 
> least don't start as "root". 
> 
> How do I go about doing that?

Configure your display manager (xdm/gdm/kdm) accordingly. The details
vary between display managers and often between various distributions,
so either read the documentation or ask in a forum which deals with
your specific distribution.

For a stock XDM setup, the file in question is typically
/etc/X11/xdm/Xservers or /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers.

> 2)  When I connect my vnc client to the vnc server machine, I get a 
> black screen.  For some reason, I have to go to my vnc server machine, 
> and switch to desktop 8 (Alt-Ctrl-F8) and then the screen displays on my 
> vnc client. 
> 
> Shouldn't this happen automatically?  What am I missing?

Both displays could be used simultaneously, but only one can use the
hardware at any given time.

If you want :8 to always be available for remote use, even when :0 is
active, use Xvnc rather than a hardware-based X server.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn at gclements.plus.com>