[Discuss] FreeNx

[John Blomfield]

Alan W. Irwin wrote:
> On 2007-11-20 16:42-0800 John Blomfield wrote:
>
>> I am still trying to decide how best to proceed with my three boxs, 
>> that is, X-xdm, freeNx or some other but I have a question about the 
>> X-xdm route.  If once you've setup your X headless server and the 
>> network connection to the thin (or fat ) client is broken can you 
>> still plug a keyboard, mouse and monitor into the server and get it 
>> to work, now that you've modified the display manager??
>>
>
> I am virtually positive that FreeNX is simply a network speed booster 
> for X
> so your choices are not x-xdm versus FreeNX.  Instead, they are X-xdm 
> with
> or without FreeNX.  Also, the X server _only_ runs on a computer that is
> headed so "X headless server" above is a misnomer.
>
> I think the gist of your question is whether you can switch easily from
> headless to headed on one of your computers.  The answer is yes.
>
> Attach monitor/keyboard/mouse to your computer which will normally be
> headless. Install an independent Linux distro on that computer (you have
> probably already done so) which entails configuring the X server so 
> you can
> start it locally using startx.  (By default xdm handles both non-local 
> and
> local connections, and you could leave it like that, but I change the one
> line in the xdm configuration so it only manages non-local displays which
> allows you to start the local X server with the startx command.) After 
> that
> you normally would use that computer headless, but if you ever wanted 
> to go
> back to headed (say in an emergency caused by a broken network), then
> connect monitor/keyboard/mouse again, and simply type "startx" to fire up
> the X server on your newly headed computer.
>
One thing I have noticed while using KVM is that if you boot one 
computer while viewing the desktop of the other it will start the X 
server assuming a low resolution VGA monitor.  This is fairly easily 
fixed by restarting the session and X, while actually connected to that 
computer, so that X "sees" the high resolution monitor.  What happens 
when you reboot your server remotely?

John Blomfield


> Alan
> __________________________
> Alan W. Irwin
>
> Astronomical research affiliation with Department of Physics and 
> Astronomy,
> University of Victoria (astrowww.phys.uvic.ca).
>
> Programming affiliations with the FreeEOS equation-of-state 
> implementation
> for stellar interiors (freeeos.sf.net); PLplot scientific plotting 
> software
> package (plplot.org); the libLASi project (unifont.org/lasi); the 
> Loads of
> Linux Links project (loll.sf.net); and the Linux Brochure Project
> (lbproject.sf.net).
> __________________________
>
> Linux-powered Science
> __________________________
>