Xterm and Termial server questions

[zaytsev]

Hi all,

First off, thank you Void Main for the great tip on how to organize a terminal server on Fedora Core. I actually managed to install Fedora Core 3 (my first linux!) on an old P-600 with 2GB drive w/o monitor and stuff and I connect to it from my Windows workstation using Exceed.

Anyway, I have got a question. When I close the connection to the computer all the apps, running in my sessions shut down. Is it possible to change that? I would prefer my apps continue to run and then when I reconnect my session is restored. That's just like Windows Terminal Server behaves. That is really important for me, because I want this computer to be a download server and I want to leave some apps running (like aMule) while I am disconnected. Well, that's not the only reason..

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Another question (sorry if it it easy, but I googled and got an impression that is not possible with builtin xterm and I should use another terminal?): how did you got those nice transparent terminals???

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And the last one. After some time, the text screen in the terminal (usually that happens when MC is running) gets corrupted. I mean I get some random characters at random places. Running a "reset" command restored everything back to normal, but it happens quite frequently and I would really like to find the reason why the screen gets corrupted. Any clues?

Thanks,
Z/

[zaytsev]

That is what am I talking about:

http://zaytsev.net/misc/fedora-corruption.jpg

[Void Main]

The use of the phrase "Terminal Server" was an extremely poor choice of words in my tip. Using XDMCP there is no way to get the behavior you are after (that I am aware of). They only (free) way to be able to disconnect/reconnect to a graphical session that I know of is by using VNC. I personally don't use either method mentioned because I never have a need for running a graphical app that needs to stay running (in fact I rarely have a *need* for running a graphical app at all).

I am not familiar with "amule" and I looked at the image you linked to and I have to say that I have no idea what you are trying to point out to me there. :) Usually services that are meant to be run continuously are non-graphical and can be started from an ssh login and backgrounded or started from a startup script. Maybe someone else here that is familiar with this amule program will have a suggestion. Sorry about the confusion.

[zaytsev]

OK, so it is not possible to achieve this with XDCMP. That's a pity. Anyway, I have found this : http://www.gnome.org/~markmc/blog . As far as I have understood, this guy is trying to emulate Windows Terminal Server behaviour using VNC. In fact, I have tried VNC, but it does not work as I expect too. It closes the session when I disconnect.

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I looked at the image you linked to and I have to say that I have no idea what you are trying to point out to me there.

I am trying to show you the corrupted terminal window. Look at ".automount".. I agree, that's not the best screenshot ever, but I will try to make a more corrupted one.

So what about the 2nd and the 3rd questions?

Thank you,
Z.

[Void Main]

I just tested vncserver and it works fine for me:

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[void@localmachine]$ ssh remotehost
[void@remotehost]$ vncserver

You will require a password to access your desktops.

Password:
Verify:

New 'remotehost:1 (void)' desktop is remotehost:1

Creating default startup script /home/void/.vnc/xstartup
Starting applications specified in /home/void/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /home/void/.vnc/remotehost:1.log

[void@remotehost]$ exit


On local machine:

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[void@localmachine]$ vncviewer remotehost:1
VNC server supports protocol version 3.8 (viewer 3.3)
Password:
VNC authentication succeeded
Desktop name "remotehost:1 (void)"
Connected to VNC server, using protocol version 3.3


If you don't have your vncserver configured to start a window manager one will not be running when you connect. You will have a terminal up though and could start one there. e.g.:

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$ startkde


You should be able to fire up any graphical app you want there and then close the VNC window and reconnect your session from anywhere with no problems. It works for me.

If you want vnc to start your normal desktop (start a window manager automatically) edit your ~/.vnc/xstartup file and uncomment these two lines:

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unset SESSION_MANAGER
exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc


Now you don't have to do the "startkde" step I mentioned before. Don't forget to kill and restart your vncserver instance:

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[void@remotehost]$ vncserver -kill :1
[void@remotehost]$ vncserver


Regarding your screen shot of "mc" I am not sure what the problem is unless it's a problem with mc. This is another app that I do not use but I just installed it to see if I have the problem. I played around with it for a little while and could not get it to do what you are seeing. Are you running Fedora Core 3 with all the latest updates?

The only other question I see that I didn't respond to was the transparent terminals. Most Linux terminals these days can do this. I am currently just using the default gnome-terminal and all you have to do is right-click on it and change the settings. You should find the option for transparency there.

[zaytsev]

Thank you for replying.

Yes, I did exactly the same, first I ssh'ed my host, then started VNC using vncserver. It didn't work as expected. Amazingly, now after I have manually deleted the configuration and run that thing again it worked!

[zyv@fedora ~]$ vncserver

You will require a password to access your desktops.

Password:
Verify:
xauth: (argv):1: bad display name "fedora:1" in "add" command

New 'fedora:1 (zyv)' desktop is fedora:1

Creating default startup script /home/zyv/.vnc/xstartup
Starting applications specified in /home/zyv/.vnc/xstartup
Log file is /home/zyv/.vnc/fedora:1.log

The only concern is that it gives an error message I can't understand But I am afraid that the server will close as soon as I close the ssh session. Is there any way to start VNC server at system startup? I have tried system-config-services -> Add service, but is does not start up Perhpas that can be added manually somewhere?

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That does happen with terminal itself, but very rarely and it often happens with MC. Normally that can bee reproduced if you leave mc's terminal in background for a while. Yes, I am running FC3 with practically all updates, except the kernel. I remember someone complained about this, but I can't remember where and when, and google doesn't help anymore

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The machine is really old and I couldn't get FC3 installed on 2 Gb drive with Gnome, so I only installed Gnome libraries and XFCE. Is there a way to get transparency using standard xterm, or perhaps if gnome-terminal is available in separate RPM getting it installed is a better option?

[zaytsev]

A better screenshot is available: http://zaytsev.net/misc/fedora-corruption-new.jpg

[Void Main]

The only concern is that it gives an error message I can't understand :) But I am afraid that the server will close as soon as I close the ssh session. Is there any way to start VNC server at system startup? I have tried system-config-services -> Add service, but is does not start up :( Perhpas that can be added manually somewhere?

No, you can exit your ssh session and it will continue to run (until you kill it or reboot the system). If it doesn't then something is broken. If you want it to start at system boot you can add something like this to the end of the /etc/rc.d/rc.local script:

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su - yourusername -c vncserver > /tmp/vnc.log 2>&1 &


That does happen with terminal itself, but very rarely and it often happens with MC. Normally that can bee reproduced if you leave mc's terminal in background for a while. Yes, I am running FC3 with practically all updates, except the kernel. I remember someone complained about this, but I can't remember where and when, and google doesn't help anymore :(

Does pressing ^L (CTRL+L) refresh (fix) it? You might also try different TERM/LANG settings:

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$ export TERM=xterm
$ export LANG=C
$ mc


If ^L fixes it when it happens, just press ^L. :) Otherwise I would ask the author(s) of "mc" if they can help.

The machine is really old and I couldn't get FC3 installed on 2 Gb drive with Gnome, so I only installed Gnome libraries and XFCE. Is there a way to get transparency using standard xterm, or perhaps if gnome-terminal is available in separate RPM getting it installed is a better option?

No, xterm can't do it but Eterm can which is what I would suggest under XFCE.

[zaytsev]

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su - yourusername -c vncserver > /tmp/vnc.log 2>&1 &


Thanks a lot, that is what I was looking for!

Does pressing ^L (CTRL+L) refresh (fix) it? You might also try different TERM/LANG settings. If ^L fixes it when it happens, just press ^L. Otherwise I would ask the author(s) of "mc" if they can help.

Yes, CTRL+L fixes it! But indeed, there should be another way... is there a way to do that automatically? My settings are as follows and it seems to me that they are correct. What esle could I try for lang?

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declare -x LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
declare -x TERM="xterm"

No, xterm can't do it but Eterm can which is what I would suggest under XFCE.

I am downloading it now, hopefully it will fix the terminal corruption issue!

Thanks a lot,
Z.