Kubuntu Headless Server (VNC) Issue

[Guest]

Hello,

Alright, I've been working on setting up a machine with Kubuntu 12.04 as a web server. Everything has been working great so far but recently I was working getting Kubuntu to boot into X without a monitor (I plan on using VNC from here on out if I would ever need to log in to it) and this is where the problems started...

I was searching online for ways to load up X without a monitor and I found a couple sets that seemed to do the trick. The first mentioned to create an xorg.conf file under /etc/X11 with lines that specify adding a "vesa" driver configuration and the other was to update the /etc/default/grub file to use nomodeset and then run update-grub. This seemed to work and I was able get the KDE to load, but now when I plug in the monitor and log in, no applications will load when I go to run them and I can't access the terminal or shutdown or restart the machine. I was able to use a Kubuntu Live CD to get in to the file system on disk and change the xorg.conf to xorg.conf.old but haven't been able to remove nomodeset in GRUB. Is there a way to get to the CLI before X loads on boot? I tried accessing GRUB by holding SHIFT at boot but the monitor just turns dark and says No Signal. At the login screen, I tried choosing Console Login but the same thing happens to the monitor now. Any suggestions on how to fix this and how to properly set up Kubuntu to load into X without a monitor?

Thanks!

[oshunluvr]

I'm a bit confused on what exactly you're trying to do. You said you're trying to use VNC to access a headless server and then talk about plugging a monitor and keyboard into it - which makes it not a headless server.

Basically, my understanding is you need to have a desktop installed on the server and one of the VNC packages. kfrb for KDE, vino for Gnome, x11vnc or tightvnc for a minimal desktop.

I use a headless server, but I don't use vnc so I don't have a desktop installed on it. It sounds to me like you've borked your video setup somehow.

I can't help you explain why grub won't let you into it's menu. You should be able to edit the grub entries at the boot menu (the changes aren't saved, just used for that one boot) unless you have the grub menu disabled.

My best suggestion at this point is hook up the keyboard and monitor, boot to a liveusb or cd and directly edit grub.cfg removing nomodeset to see if this restores your boot ability. Then, edit default/grub and enable the boot menu in case you do this again. If this doesn't work, I'd re-install and start over.

Either way: don't do anything else until you install and enable ssh so you can get into the server without a desktop to fix things. I use an ssh key so I don't have to enter a password each time and a non-standard port for better security.

I don't know what you're planning to do with this server, but I doubt you need a desktop or vnc to do it. The web pages are usually in /var/www and don't display on your server desktop anyway. I use ssh, webmin, nfs, and fish to access my server.

[sartic]

nope he is right kde/kubuntu doesn't work as headless vnc server!!
i also sometime want to connect monitor so tricks like xorg conf and grub r out of mind.
if kubuntu doesn't detect monitor (in my case crt monitor) it drops to cli with login
from my experience krfb is problem also (i use vino server)

[Guest]

Yeah, I went ahead and did a complete reinstall with slackware instead. I'm using webmin and SSH. Should be good enough for what I need. I appreciate the responses though!