Backstory:
I've been using Kubuntu from 22.04 on my two work machines and it has gone rather well, but since a particular update (not sure which) a couple of months ago, my VNC setup broke. I tried to debug it, but since 24.04 was out, I thought it might be some minor missed compatibility issue, might as well update to 24.04. Come to 24.04, and hence posing in this sub-forum, I'm still struggling with the same issue.
Setup:
Two kubuntu machines,
Primary on 24.04, a recent fresh install
Remote, still on 22.04
Both beefy new machines, 16+ cores and ** Nvidia ** graphics (not sure if this is the culprit in the end, but since it often is).
Using zsh, with oh-my-zsh (again, not sure if this has any relevance)
The Issue:
I install tigervnc-standalone-server on the Primary and start it manually with vncserver command, with a password. Then on the Remote, I install xtigervncviewer and try to connect using the -via ssh tunnel. It logs in correctly with both the ssh and vnc passwords and then I end up on a screen with an "aw snap" sort of display with a note that something went wrong and it cannot recover. The only option I have it to log out. When I checked the logs in the Primary machine, all I get is that that I login
I know this is not just tigervnc, because I've had the same experience with tightvnc. I am not able to find out what the issue is.
Questions:
1, Does someone know how I can debug what's wrong: is there some debug/ logging that would tell exactly where in the stack things go wrong?
2. Is tigervnc actually supposed to work or is this a known issue?
3. Is there a better vnc setup (than KRDB-KRFB) where I don't need to be around the Primary machine to login to an X session, i.e, complete remote graphical session is possible?
Debug Nuggets
At some point, when I was deep into debugging the issue, I found that x-session-manager was being run. I don't know what this is, but I have it installed on both my machine. I ran it standalone from the command line on the Primary machine (when I am on it directly) and I fins that all my windows refresh, as if the compositor crashed or something and then they become unresponsive. A lot of the ui-elements become faulty and the only way to get things back is to reboot from the terminal.
Does anyone know where is this piece defined. What's up with `x-session-manager`? Why do I have it and why does it behave as if it crashed when I start it like so? Any way I can debug this or is this a red-herring?
I've been using Kubuntu from 22.04 on my two work machines and it has gone rather well, but since a particular update (not sure which) a couple of months ago, my VNC setup broke. I tried to debug it, but since 24.04 was out, I thought it might be some minor missed compatibility issue, might as well update to 24.04. Come to 24.04, and hence posing in this sub-forum, I'm still struggling with the same issue.
Setup:
Two kubuntu machines,
Primary on 24.04, a recent fresh install
Remote, still on 22.04
Both beefy new machines, 16+ cores and ** Nvidia ** graphics (not sure if this is the culprit in the end, but since it often is).
Using zsh, with oh-my-zsh (again, not sure if this has any relevance)
The Issue:
I install tigervnc-standalone-server on the Primary and start it manually with vncserver command, with a password. Then on the Remote, I install xtigervncviewer and try to connect using the -via ssh tunnel. It logs in correctly with both the ssh and vnc passwords and then I end up on a screen with an "aw snap" sort of display with a note that something went wrong and it cannot recover. The only option I have it to log out. When I checked the logs in the Primary machine, all I get is that that I login
X connection to :1 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).
Questions:
1, Does someone know how I can debug what's wrong: is there some debug/ logging that would tell exactly where in the stack things go wrong?
2. Is tigervnc actually supposed to work or is this a known issue?
3. Is there a better vnc setup (than KRDB-KRFB) where I don't need to be around the Primary machine to login to an X session, i.e, complete remote graphical session is possible?
Debug Nuggets
At some point, when I was deep into debugging the issue, I found that x-session-manager was being run. I don't know what this is, but I have it installed on both my machine. I ran it standalone from the command line on the Primary machine (when I am on it directly) and I fins that all my windows refresh, as if the compositor crashed or something and then they become unresponsive. A lot of the ui-elements become faulty and the only way to get things back is to reboot from the terminal.
Does anyone know where is this piece defined. What's up with `x-session-manager`? Why do I have it and why does it behave as if it crashed when I start it like so? Any way I can debug this or is this a red-herring?
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