xrdp blank screen and connection issue

[Butters]

Greetings,

I installed xrdp.
I then went to my Windows 10 PC, started up Remote Desktop, entered the IP address of my MX Linux box, and got the xrdp login screen, defaulting to xorg.

I entered my username and password, and got a blueish/greenish, blank screen. I waited a few minutes, nothing changed, no message on my MX Linux box... so I closed the client.

I researched and read that you must not already be logged in to your Linux box. So I logged out.

Via Remote Desktop, I tried again. This time, it never connected. I never got the login screen. It timed out.

So when I am already logged in to my MX Linux box, my Windows box connects, but I get a blank screen when I login.
When I am not logged in to my MX Linux box, my Windows box cannot connect to my MX Linux box.

I searched for solutions, and found none that helped me. Some were over my head.

My Linux skills are not administrator level, and would appreciate if anyone can help me.


Thank you.

[Danathar]

I experienced the same issue. I'm running the live version of MX21.

Anyway.. I plugged in an ethernet cable to my T420 that I have MX21 AHS on and got the same deal (You can't use wifi because if you log out of a user..at least on the live version wifi gets turned off).

x11rdp and vnc are a bit different in their approach. x11vnc which comes on MX is a mirror of what the screen is on the main display. xrdp is a virtual session, so you HAVE to be logged out in order for it to work. That's the way it works on Ubuntu and Debian. Logging out on MX does not seem to fix it though.

Honestly, I'm not totally sure how x11rdp is set up in detail on Ubuntu and Debian but there is something that is missing on MX that breaks it. If I can figure it out I'll post here and post a bug or something to the devs.

[Butters]

x11rdp and vnc are a bit different in their approach. x11vnc which comes on MX is a mirror of what the screen is on the main display.

Since xrdp is not currently an option for me, I need to try an alternate application.

Have you used x11rdp or vnc with MX Linux? Is x11rdp the same thing as xrdp?
Which one would you recommend, assuming they are worth recommending?

I would prefer one that keeps the server screen locked, as Remote Desktop does. Will x11rdp do that?
I would also prefer to not have to install any 3rd party software on my Windows (client) box. If I have to, and it is open source, then I will.

Honestly, I'm not totally sure how x11rdp is set up in detail on Ubuntu and Debian but there is something that is missing on MX that breaks it. If I can figure it out I'll post here and post a bug or something to the devs.

I look forward to hearing your results.

[Butters]

(You can't use wifi because if you log out of a user..at least on the live version wifi gets turned off).

Perhaps that is my issue, although I am not using a live version.
The live version and the installed version are probably the same, for nearly everything.

There must be a way to configure MX Linux to keep the WiFi enabled, without being logged in?
Do you know how to configure the WiFi for that?

[Danathar]

x11rdp and vnc are a bit different in their approach. x11vnc which comes on MX is a mirror of what the screen is on the main display.

Since xrdp is not currently an option for me, I need to try an alternate application.

Have you used x11rdp or vnc with MX Linux? Is x11rdp the same thing as xrdp?
Which one would you recommend, assuming they are worth recommending?

I would prefer one that keeps the server screen locked, as Remote Desktop does. Will x11rdp do that?
I would also prefer to not have to install any 3rd party software on my Windows (client) box. If I have to, and it is open source, then I will.

Honestly, I'm not totally sure how x11rdp is set up in detail on Ubuntu and Debian but there is something that is missing on MX that breaks it. If I can figure it out I'll post here and post a bug or something to the devs.

I look forward to hearing your results.

Yea, I believe xrdp is the same as x11rdp. There are open source VNC clients for Windows you can use if you are willing to go the VNC route instead of rdp.

I'm thinking of submitting a bug for the xrdp package issue being broken on MX. I don't think it will be very high on their list of things to look into though unless I can figure out what the solution is and put it in the bug ticket.

[texneus]

All this talk about xrdp has got my attention as I have been able to use it successfully ... kinda. In fact it worked better for me* than TIgerVNC so I plan to move to it in the future. What MX version is everyone in this thread using?

*Do note, one of the more annoying characteristics of xrdp that may make you reconsider. It limits several actions (I assume intentionally) and you will get prompts repeatedly to enter a root password (think Windows Account Management level of annoying). Furthermore, reboot/shutdown are not available (but work from a command line). Actually now that I think about this, I vaguely recall the later might be something I did to the user account or xrdp myself...but I'll leave this here for now.


My experience with xrdp to date (using KRDC/freeRDP clients on MX19 KDE):

MX21 KDE - worked fine. I did nothing to set it up or anything unusual (that I know of), it just worked "out of the box" immediately following a fresh MX21 install. The only intentional difference on this machine vs the others (besides the MX version) is autologin is disabled and a second account dedicated to RDP access was setup (there was nothing unusual about the second account, it can be logged into locally as normal).

MX19 KDE - black screen as described above. I have not attempted to troubleshoot as eventually my MX19 target machine will be updated to 21. As this is a 3 year old install I assumed it was just something wonky with some random setting I did a long time ago, or possibly it doesn't like that VNC is also installed. I intended to try again when it I get around to updating it to 21.


NOT MX Linux, but more data points -

I have a Raspberry Pi 3B+ that successfully runs xrdp. Initially on Ubuntu Mate (18.xx?) and, as of now, the latest Raspbian with XFCE4 desktop. Again, in both cases "it just worked". Typically this machine is accessed through a Windows RDP client.

[texneus]

Anyway.. I plugged in an ethernet cable to my T420 that I have MX21 AHS on and got the same deal (You can't use wifi because if you log out of a user..at least on the live version wifi gets turned off).

Fellow T420 owner here! RDP will probably work better over eithernet, but if you want wifi to stay working you can go into network manager, select the connection, open settings for that connection, then locate and check the "Automatically connect to this network when available" and "All users may connect to this network". The exact steps to do that depends on if you are using XFCE or KDE, but the process is the same.

This is the default for a LAN connection, BTW, but not for WiFi. I imagine this is because passwords need to be exposed to all user accounts and to the greeter for this to work.

[Commander]

I had the same problem with xrdp, but after installing xorgxrdp the problem was gone, maybe it will solve your problem also.
And as I remember I also added the user for the rdp-session to the group xrdp, maybe this will enough - just reboot to be sure.