VNC-Servre - Must the UBUNTU HDA be non desktop ?

[Strata700]

Having trashed ny fedora HDA for an Ubuntu one I downloaded and installed Ubuntu Desktop.

Does this mean I have to trash this new build and install Ubuntu Server to get VNC running properly.

I ask because having just purchased and installed the one click app it doesn't work sucessfully upon login.

Sorry if this is in wrong part of forum - shud it be in newbies area ? Posted to Ubuntu as now running that OS

[bigfoot65]

VNC should work just fine with Ubuntu Desktop. I have installed it on mine with no issues. Recommend you check the amahi-app-installer.log in /var/log folder for errors.

Also, did you follow the special instructions for log in? They are listed right after you install the app in the dashboard.

[Strata700]

Thanks,

I did say upon login - The login was sucessfull but to a screen full of update requests which I cancelled and then it looks as if the X-server may have crashed because I can login each time with your supplied install instructions password but am presaented with a Grey screen completely blank.

Will reboot, look at log as suggested and come back to you.

Thanks as always for prompt reply

[Strata700]

Well....

I can still get to a terminal screen when I login but its still grey with no screen !

1) I have rebooted the SERVER as it had no display
2) I installed proprietory drivers for my NVIDIA card and that was sucessful
3) I now have the server back and with ostensibly 3d capabilty
4) Looked at the hda servers from hda control panel actually at the machine and VNC server is stopped and wont restart.

beg to ask if your sure it works on Desktop as i saw somewhere a comment about that being uncertain when I looked up the subject previously.

I paste this from the WiKi "These are the instructions for installing vncserver on Ubuntu 12.04 server edition. They may also work on Desktop, but I haven't tested them on it."

Maybe this statement does/doesn't apply to the app ?

Please assist if u can

I am still looking for suggestions please as a way out of this ... thanks

[bigfoot65]

The statement in the wiki does not apply to the web app. I updated the app myself to work with Ubuntu. I tested it on a VM and my own box, both being Desktop versions of Ubuntu. There may be some anomaly that I had not accounted for which is causing you problems.

My next suggestion would be to uninstall the app. Then from command line, do sudo apt-get remove vnc4server to ensure the package is removed. Also check to see that the /home/username/.vnc directory has been removed.

Next check to see that /etc/vncserver and /etc/init.d/vncserver are removed as well. That should be all the pieces. Then recommend you reboot and install again.

Is this Ubuntu install done following the http://doc.amahi.org guidance? Reason I ask is some that did not follow that installed Ubuntu with LAMP options and it caused issues. I am trying to eliminate any outliers so we can get this sorted out.

[Strata700]

Thank you - I will do as suggested and report back.

Regarding your question about installing, the instructions I used were from the "get started" link which led me to http://docs.amahi.org/ubuntu-12.html which I followed for the install. There were no issues with the install.

[bigfoot65]

Ok, good to know you used the appropriate guidance.

[Strata700]

This is where it all gets terribly terribly sad........

let me explain..... When I first tried VNC this afternoon it was sucessful and came up with the hda machine desktop cluttered with windows demanding I update Ubuntu.

You may recall I cancelled these demands - reason being I read somehwere that updates to the core os are not necessarily a good thing.

Upon cancelling the multiple update windows VNC crashed out to a blank screen.

Upon next reboot of the HDA I decide to update the machine because its telling me I need to and approximately 79MBytes (aprrox 130+) updates later its satisfied It is up to date.

I then sucesfully uninstalled VNC as per your instructions.

1) I removed the app from within my control panel - success
2) I went to remove the app as per "sudo apt-get remove vnc4server" and got the message something like 'not installed' -so I assume the uninstall in Amahi did a fine job.
3) I checked for /home/username(yes my own username) for a .vnc directory - There was none - good news again.
4) I checked for /etc/vncserver - result not there- good
5) I reboot the machine and this is where it all goes 'pear shaped'

The machine comes up but it won't accept my username credentials to log in
The machine will also not allow a guest login.

I am guessing all the updates somehow meddled with your amahi machine config as well as logon credentials and why I find myself locked out.

The observations (which I hope are of some use) is that the link from the install instructions that takes you to the ubuntu download site only allows you to SELECT whether you want 32/64 bit os and whether its a server/desktop version of the iso.

This experience (i.e. all the updates) tells me that the ISO presented is way out of date so my final question is - when first installing ubuntu on a bare metal machine - do we fully update ubuntu before installing amahi because the way i did it seems to have wrecked my system ?? (i installed ubuntu from what I now believe is an out of date iso and immediately installed amahi (sucesfully I may add) but final outcome today is lamentable and I don't know if its me , a bug, or something else.


I now think a complete bare metal install is in order. I don't mind but can't decide what my best options are ?

Any further suggestions are welcome and thanks again for your time so far.

[bigfoot65]

You did right by installing Ubuntu without updates followed by Amahi. The updates should have not caused any issues. I have done them myself and all seems to work fine.

Adding updates is a user decision. I myself prefer to have the security updates and often install all of them. If you want to reinstall, then that is fine. I wonder if for some reason you got a bad update from Ubuntu. I have heard of packages getting corrupt, but it rare.

Recommend if you reinstall, do Ubuntu, then Amahi, then updates and see where things are at before installing any apps. If all goes well, then you should be fine. Not sure if this is a bug with Amahi or Ubuntu. The only way to determine is examine all the log files and see if there is anything that stands out.

I have not heard of too many having these issues yet. Hoping it is an isolated incident and we would be happy to help troubleshoot. Consider stopping by the IRC Amahi channel for live help.

[Strata700]

Ok... Will do as you suggest and respond with results - hopefully positive. If not intially sucessful I will even try another iso download , burn it and re-install all over again.

It may be some time before I get back to you - but I will with +ve (hopefully) or -ve news of my efforts.