Greeting. I am on ubuntu 16.04 LTS. It is an amazon EC2 instance I got grey screen upon installing and starting the vncserver I try many suggestion regarding this issue but still cant get it work.... Thanks for the help
My logfile:
Xvnc Free Edition 4.1.1 - built Feb 25 2015 23:02:21
Copyright (C) 2002-2005 RealVNC Ltd.
See for information on VNC.
Underlying X server release 40300000, The XFree86 Project, Inc
Tue Jul 19 03:03:37 2016 vncext: VNC extension running! vncext: Listening for VNC connections on port 5901 vncext: created VNC server for screen 0
error opening security policy file /etc/X11/xserver/SecurityPolicy
Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/, removing from list!
Tue Jul 19 03:03:44 2016 Connections: accepted: 0.0.0.0::61550 SConnection: Client needs protocol version 3.8 SConnection: Client requests security type VncAuth(2)
Tue Jul 19 03:03:50 2016 VNCSConnST: Server default pixel format depth 16 (16bpp) little-endian rgb565
Tue Jul 19 03:03:51 2016 VNCSConnST: Client pixel format depth 8 (8bpp) colour-mapmy xstartup
#!/bin/sh
# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop: unset SESSION_MANAGER exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
gnome-session &13 Answers
I had the same issue on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (64bit). I updated ~/.vnc/xstartup file to look like below, worked successfully for me.
# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:
# unset SESSION_MANAGER
# exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
x-window-manager &
gnome-panel &
gnome-settings-daemon &
metacity &
nautilus &Reference:
3I had the same issue. To resolve it, I installed:
$ sudo apt-get install gnome-panel gnome-settings-daemon metacity nautilus gnome-terminalThen I added the lines below to ~/.vnc/xstartup:
gnome-panel &
gnome-settings-daemon &
metacity &
nautilus &Not mentioned in any of the answers at the time of writing: it is also worth noting that the xstartup file needs to be executable:
chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup
If not, the grey screen issue continues to occur regardless of the contents of the file.
For anyone experiencing this problem on Xubuntu 16.04 LTS, I got my tightvncserver working by editing ~/.vnc/xstartup to this:
#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
#x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
#x-window-manager &
# Fix to make GNOME work
#export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1
#/etc/X11/Xsession
# fix to make xfce work:
startxfce4 &The first two commented-out lines were already commented out presumably by the packager. I commented out the two lines following "fix to make GNOME work", and added the last two lines, so it can be shortened to just
#!/bin/sh
xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
# fix to make xfce work:
startxfce4 &Again, this applies specifically to Xubuntu, not Ubuntu with Unity or Gnome.
1Just had the a similar problem and found a solution which I have not seen in any articles I read over the past few days trying to sort this out.
In addition to @Waqas answer I had to make sure I own all files in my home folder. Clearly this is about some specific files but I did'nt have time to check this out
sudo chown user:user /home/userJust thought it might help somebody.
My xstartup config file already had following lines which were commented out by default.
# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:
unset SESSION_MANAGER
exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrcun-commenting them fixed the problem and now i can access my desktop via vnc client smoothly. it still launches terminal window at logon but if you exit that then it shows the usual desktop via vnc.
All answers are partial. Hence, I'm writing this answer to help someone.
Step 1: Install Gnome Panel
$ sudo apt-get install gnome-panel gnome-settings-daemon metacity nautilus gnome-terminalStep 2: The xstartup file needs to be executable
chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartupStep 3: Update the ~/.vnc/xstartup file
Take your favorite editor and edit this file. Mine is vim. So I run the following command.vim ~/.vnc/xstartup.
Add the following lines to the file.
gnome-panel &
gnome-settings-daemon &
metacity &
nautilus &Step 4: Restart VNC Server
Kill the vncserver.
vncserver -kill :1Start the vncserver.
vncserver :1Step 5: Check whether it is working
Run nc IP PORT.
Example:nc 104.197.91.140 5901
I had the same issue, but found ~/.vnc/xstartup.bak to have my old config. I just needed to:
cp ~/.vnc/xstartup.bak ~/.vnc/xstartupA general solution is to configure your Autostart settings to include xterm.
In KDE I used "System Settings" → "Startup and Shutdown" → Autostart
From there I click in "Add Program..." and write down xterm to it to the list of autostart programs.
Now the Xterm terminal, would appears in top of the gray background when using VNC. From there you can debug the commands in the .vnc/xstartup script, like startxfce4, or you can try manually the ones required for minimal desktop functionality:
xfwm4 & #window manager
xfce4-panel &
xfdesktop & This is a error caused by the config file which was badly generated on VNC server install.
You just need and only need to update your file with the default one.
vncserver kill :1
nano ~/.vnc/xstartupCopy and paste the entire content to your ~/.vnc/xstartup
# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:
# unset SESSION_MANAGER
# exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
x-window-manager &
gnome-panel &
gnome-settings-daemon &
metacity &
nautilus &Save your file:
CTRL + X
Press (Y)es and (Y)esStart your VNC server
vncserverLog in with your VNC client.
Sometimes, it is not brought by the xstartup file. The default one might be ok. Just try to use another port number (:2, :3, etc.). Works for me:)
I finally got this working from vnc4server by "apt-get install xfce4", and found a working xtartup here (the rest of the tutorial was irrelevant for my needs, e.g. "apt-get install xfce4-*" was unneccessary):
#!/bin/sh
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
startxfce4 &I've more or less concluded getting gnome to work in vnc is a non-starter.
I had the same issue after upgrading from 12.04 via 14.04 to 16.04. The essential tip that helped me was to install gnome-panel. Ref:
sudo apt-get install gnome-panel
