Audio and bluetooth don't work on my Macbook pro 14-1 with Ubuntu 24.04 and 25.10, both with kernel 6.17 (I think). I have tried various fixes but none work. Is it worth continuing?
Installed an external ssd using USB cable. Unable to locate the external ssd in file manager. How is this solved?
I have installed 24.04 LTS on a macbook pro 14-1 ( cirrus logic cs8409). I have applied the various fixes for audio with no success. Particularly those from davidjo. Where can I go from here?
Since a recent update to 24.04, there are lines of text appearing during power up boot and shutdown. They come and go too quickly and are too small for me to read. Is there a log where I can read these messages and get information as to their relevancy? Are these exceptions because the 24.04 updates are buggy? (This whole 24.04 experience so far has been far from optimal and has me wishing I could go back to 22.04.)
I have a cd rom in my disk drive. It mounts fine in Ubuntu desktop GUI, and in terminal I can access it via /media/user/cdrom_name.
I cannot use dd on /media/user/cdrom_name. When I enter:
dd if=/media/ted/PRE_K of=/home/ted/Desktop/test.iso
-- I get
dd: error reading '/media/ted/PRE_K': Is a directory
Entering cd /dev/sr0 results in bash: cd: /dev/sr0: Not a directory
Entering cd /dev/ results in bash: cd: /dev/sr1: Not a directory
Entering sudo mount cdrom /media results in mount: no medium found on /dev/sr0
How do I mount the CD-ROM so I can use the command dd?
When I run the upgrade manager, the following dialog box appears:
After I close the dialog box, a list of upgrades appears, and I can install all upgrades in the list. Is there any way to know what is missing from the upgrades? The listed upgrades are apparently actually being installed. I have also tried to view the content of the URL in Firefox, but it apparently does not exist.
It seems that Aspera Connect does not work with snap-installed browsers tested as of Ubuntu 24.04.
This is notably the case for Ubuntu's default browser, Firefox. And it is also chromium's easiest install method by far.
On the other hand, I managed to use it fine from the exact same version of Firefox downloaded from https://www.firefox.com/en-US/thanks/ and ran as standalone.
Beyond the workaround of just using a non-snap installed browser, is there anything I can do to make it work on snap browsers so I don't have to have many browsers running around?
The break is documented on release notes up to release 4.0.0: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/aspera-connect/4.0?topic=notes-release-aspera-connect-400
ASCN-1971 - Linux browsers installed using Snap cannot launch Connect.
Later releases don't document it anymore, but I doubt it got fixed, it's likely just an oversight.
While writing this I also noticed that Aspera for desktop, downloadable from: https://ibmaspera.com/help/downloads/desktop does work on snap Firefox for the diagnostics page: https://ibmaspera.com/help/diagnostics Furthermore, https://www.ibm.com/products/aspera/downloads says that Aspera Desktop is replacing Aspera Connect:
IBM Aspera for desktop is replacing IBM Aspera Connect
But unfortunately Aspera Desktop seems to require that the server be new enough, and didn't work on the actual server I'm interested in.
Tested on Firefox 149.0, IBM Aspera Connect browser extension 4.1.1.1, IBM Aspera Client 4.2.19.956, Ubuntu 24.04.
When I am using my touchpad to move my cursor on my laptop, sometimes I accidentally touch the touchpad with one or more additional fingers, and weird things happen to my screen. Sometimes I am suddenly on a completely different workspace, sometimes I am suddenly on a completely different web page (in my browser), and sometimes other weird things happen that I did not intend, and I have no idea what I did to cause them. This kind of gesture functionality seems to be aimed at phone users, but I'm on a laptop and do not need or want it.
How can I disable ALL of this weird touchpad gesture functionality? The Settings only seem to give me a few options for choosing between one functionality or another, but not for disabling the functionality entirely.
The title of this post sounds very similar, but is actually only about one specific kind of gesture functionality.
Help, anyone?
Ubuntu 24.04.4 version, 6.17.0-20-generic kernel
When changing language with the shorcut, which was set up in Gnome Tweaks (Left Shift + Left Alt) actually changing the layout, but the value which is diplayed in top bar is incorrect.
For some reason I can't set desired shortcut in (Regular Ubuntu) Settings.
Would appriciate any advice, also would be nice to have country flag instead of just (uk, en), if it could work like a workaround.
My Ubuntu VM, running on TrueNAS, has 32GB RAM assigned, but cannot even unrar a file with nothing else running. System monitor says 97% or RAM is in use before I even run the command. After a minute or so of running I get a system message to say the application has been terminated because it is using too much memory.
Is there any way around this behaviour?
I am experiencing an issue configuring a CAN FD device using a PEAK PCAN-USB FD adapter on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
Working Setup:
On a system running kernel 5.15.0-174-generic, the CAN FD interface works correctly with the following commands:
sudo modprobe peak_usb
sudo ip link set can0 down
sudo ip link set can0 type can \
bitrate 500000 \
sample-point 0.813 \
dbitrate 5000000 \
dsample-point 0.75 \
fd on
sudo ip link set can0 up
I am able to successfully monitor CAN traffic using:
candump can0
Non-Working Setup:
On another PC running Ubuntu 22.04 with the HWE kernel 6.8.0-107-generic, the same configuration does not work. The can0 interface is created and appears to be up, but no CAN frames are received when using candump.
System Information: 6.8.0-107-generic
USB Device Detection:lsusb
I get : Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0c72:0012 PEAK System PCAN-USB FD
CAN Interface Details: Using ip -details link show can0
I get**:**
6: can0: <NOARP,UP,LOWER_UP,ECHO> mtu 72 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 10
link/can
can <FD> state ERROR-PASSIVE (berr-counter tx 0 rx 136) restart-ms 0
bitrate 500000 sample-point 0.812
dbitrate 5000000 dsample-point 0.750
clock 80000000
Driver Information: modinfo peak_usb
I get:
filename: /lib/modules/6.8.0-107-generic/kernel/drivers/net/can/usb/peak_usb/peak_usb.ko
description: CAN driver for PEAK-System USB adapters
license: GPL v2
intree: Y
Observations:
Are there any known compatibility issues between the peak_usb driver and the 6.8 HWE kernel on Ubuntu 22.04?
Has there been any change in CAN FD support or timing requirements in newer kernels?
Would it be recommended to use PEAK’s out-of-tree PCAN drivers instead of the in-tree peak_usb driver?
Are there additional debugging steps or configuration parameters that could help resolve this issue?
Attachments:
I have also attached a screenshot of the ip -details -statistics link show can0 output showing the ERROR-PASSIVE state and zero RX/TX packets.
I’m running Ubuntu 24.04 on a Raspberry Pi 5. A few months had passed since my last update, so I recently executed sudo apt-get upgrade. After all packages were updated and I rebooted the system, I noticed something unusual: one/two new user appeared.
Before the update, there was only one user on the system named “abcadmin”. After the upgrade, there are now two users:
“abc”
“adminabc”
I can log into the “abc” account using my usual password, but I cannot access “adminabc” with that same password.
Additional observations:
When logging into the “abc” account and opening the terminal, the prompt still shows: abcadmin@hostname
In the /home directory, I can still see the original “abcadmin” folder, as well as a new “adminabc” folder
I do not have access permissions to the “adminabc” directory
Questions:
Why were these two “new” users created, or was the original user renamed during the update?
Has anyone experienced similar behavior, or could this be a rare bug?
What would be the recommended next steps?
Is it safe to delete the seemingly new user “adminabc”, or could this cause system instability?
Any insights or similar experiences would be helpful.
EDIT 14.04.2026 9:59 MESZ:
Forgot to mention that it is a Ubuntu Desktop install.
Furthermore if I check for users with id or in /etc/shadow I find my old abcadmin user and a new adminabc user.
The home folder for the new adminabc user was created during the time of the upgrade.
These are my system specs for reference and my current setup.
neofetch
.-/+oossssoo+/-.
`:+ssssssssssssssssss+:` ------------------------
-+ssssssssssssssssssyyssss+- OS: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS x86_64
.ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso. Host: ASUS TUF Gaming F15 FX506HF_FX
/ssssssssssshdmmNNmmyNMMMMhssssss/ Kernel: 6.8.0-107-generic
+ssssssssshmydMMMMMMMNddddyssssssss+ Uptime: 12 mins
/sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhmNMMMNhssssssss/ Packages: 2029 (dpkg), 22 (snap)
.ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss. Shell: bash 5.2.21
+sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+ Resolution: 1920x1080
ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso DE: GNOME 46.0
ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso WM: Mutter
+sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+ WM Theme: Adwaita
.ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss. Theme: Yaru-magenta [GTK2/3]
/sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhdNMMMNhssssssss/ Icons: Yaru-magenta [GTK2/3]
+sssssssssdmydMMMMMMMMddddyssssssss+ Terminal: gnome-terminal
/ssssssssssshdmNNNNmyNMMMMhssssss/ CPU: 11th Gen Intel i5-11260H (12) @
.ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso. GPU: Intel TigerLake-H GT1 [UHD Grap
-+sssssssssssssssssyyyssss+- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050
`:+ssssssssssssssssss+:` Memory: 2396MiB / 15730MiB
.-/+oossssoo+/-.
Sometimes my Ubuntu suddenly freezes while I am browsing, or just using the computer normally. I have dual booted and I'm trying to use Ubuntu as my daily driver, but sometimes I experience random freezes, and I am scared to do mission critical tasks on it. When it freezes the screen is stuck, and the keyboard and mouse are completely unresponsive.
I was on 6.17 kernel and I tried with Nvidia 580 open, 580 proprietary and 570 proprietary, yet I was still experiencing random freezing issues. Later I decided to downgrade the kernel and roll back to 6.8 generic with the nvidia 535 proprietary driver. It's freezing less than before, but I'm still experiencing it.
I have set acpi=force and drmmodeset=1 etc., but I still experience freezing sometimes.
Is there a way in Ubuntu LTS 24 to not show the * 's whilst typing the LUKS crypto password and also not to show any messages regarding successful or unsuccessful password entry in Plymouth.
I want to enter the password but it not reflex any char entry with *'s nor do i want any feedback as to the password entry being successful or not, just boot if the password works or sit there is fails.
thanks
I'm running Ubuntu 24.04 and am trying to edit files on a connected server with gedit and Sublime Text. When I try to save them I get this message:
Could not save the file "/run/user/1000/gvfs/sftp:host= ...
This doesn't happen on my old laptop which runs Ubuntu 22.04 and which is set up in exactly (I think) the same way. Could someone tell me how to fix it?
To answer David DE: I'm logged into the server as root, and am just clicking "save" on gedit or Sublime Text.
To answer steeldriver: The complete error message is: Could not save the file “/run/user/1000/gvfs/sftp:host=serica.ie/var/www/vhosts/serica.ie/httpdocs/temp/test.txt”. Cannot handle “file:” locations in write mode. Please check that you typed the location correctly and try again.
How can I change the font that's used for menus in NetBeans 29 in Ubuntu 24.04? I found these settings:
Fonts and colors:
Click the image to enlarge it.
...but that doesn't change the fonts for menus.
I want to set VScode as the default app for .code-workspace files. When I right-click on it and select Open with Other Application, I do not see the option to set the selected application as default. Why so? Is there a walkaround?
Being visually impaired I have to use a dark themed desktop. The disadvantage of that is loosing open windows in a sea of blackness. There is a kwin plug-in called Rounded-Corners that solves that problem brilliantly as it also provides colourful window borders.
Can anyone please tell me if this Rounded-Corners plug-in is available 'out of the box' in Kubuntu 25.10? I am currently using it in Garuda and it's one of the few things that actually work properly and don't get wiped out after updates.
This is a deal-breaker for me and I would imagine for many others as well, so any help would be very much appreciated. Thanking you in anticipation.
Having issues connecting with ASPERA to NCBI SRA; connection is "timing out". Tried the test connection page that IBM set-up and got the following error. Any suggestions? (Using FF).
Secure Connection Failed
An error occurred during a connection to ibmaspera.com. PR_CONNECT_RESET_ERROR
Error code: PR_CONNECT_RESET_ERROR
The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified.
Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.
Since upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04 my HDMI-connected external monitor does not show up in Settings -> Displays, and I can no longer use my much needed extra screen. My situation is as follows (with hdmi connected):
sudo lshw -c video
gives
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Stoney [Radeon R2/R3/R4/R5 Graphics]
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
...
and
sudo xrandr
gives
Screen 0: minimum 16 x 16, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
None-1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 508mm x 285mm
1920x1080 59.96*+
1440x1080 59.99
1400x1050 59.98
...
and
sudo ubuntu-drivers devices
gives no output at all, and I have run
sudo apt update; sudo apt upgrade
sudo reboot
and Settings -> Displays looks like this:
and the tab Additional Drivers in Software & Updates looks like this:
and the tab Ubuntu Software looks like this:
and System Details looks like this:
I have tried to login via Xorg (via the gear icon at login) but then I get stuck in an infinite login-loop since I cannot login via Xorg. Via Wayland at least I can login.
The "Graphics" part of the output from the command:
inxi -Fxxxrz
looks like this:
What does it mean that "driver: N/A"? Is that the problem?
I cannot find any info about HDMI settings in the BIOS/UEFI settings.
I have searched the internet for days, but cannot find useful info to resolve my predicament. I am however not very computer savvy, so I am humbly asking for help here. What to do?
I got this error in my GStreamer
Missing decoder: MPEG-4 Video (Simple Profile) (video/mpeg, mpegversion=(int)4, systemstream=(boolean)false, profile=(string)simple, level=(string)1, codec_data=(buffer)000001b001000001b58913000001000000012000c48d88002d28045a1463000001b24c61766335382e3133342e313030, width=(int)1280, height=(int)720, framerate=(fraction)5/1, pixel-aspect-ratio=(fraction)1/1, parsed=(boolean)true)
When transferring many or very large files it is annoying to just wait with very little information. I find it comforting to be able to see what is going on, even if I have to wait. That's why I would like to have something similar to what I see in Windows 10, namely:
I know that Dolphin has more details than others, but for the moment I don't use KDE.
Note about the Windows 10 file manager: I have taken that as a benchmark in order to illustrate what would be the expected parameters. In fact Windows Explorer doesn't show all those parameters in all cases, e.g. while copying from an Android phone to the computer: it only shows progress and ETA. (I haven't noticed that kind of limitation in Linux.) Also, the size of file(s) copied vs total size (parameter no 2) is more limited in Windows than in Linux.
These are the last lines I see. There does not seem to be an error message, but after 20 minutes the picture is the same. When I interrupt the update and restart the laptop I receive a kernel panic. Luckily, by booting into a live system and merging the lvm snapshot I am back at a working 18.04 setup.
What could be the problem?
Setting up memtest86+...
Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub'
Generating grub configuration file ...
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 31483: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 31483: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 31483: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 31483: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-40-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.3.0-62-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-62-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.3.0-61-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-61-generic
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 31982: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 31982: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 31982: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 31982: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on lvs invocation. Parent PID 32173: /bin/sh
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32346: grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32346: grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32346: grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32346: grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32346: grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32346: grub-probe
grub-probe: error: unknown filesystem.
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32459: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32459: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32459: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32459: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32459: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
File descriptor 3 (pipe: [366994]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 32459: /usr/sbin/grub-probe
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: unknown filesystem.
Found Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS (18.04) on /dev/mapper/kubuntu--vg-snap
Adding boot menu entry for EFI firmware configuration
done
_
This is on a Slimbook X15, encrypted LVM setup on an NVMe storage device.
I can't get the keyboard shortcuts (or "mnemonics") to be permanently underlined in my Ubuntu 18.04 LTS machine.
Not only did they copy this misfeature from Windows, they actually made it worse! At least in Windows even when it's not disabled, it's instant.
How do I fix this?
Is there a way in Ubuntu to find all the directories in a website?
I have a website, and I want to check the internal links (directories) of that website.
Something like this:
...
The problem with this website is when I enter something like ubuntu.com/cloud, it doesn't show the subdirectories.
After installing a ros package, when I did rosdep check , it has displayed some missing system dependencies that were not taken care of, during apt-get install . So, I installed them using rosdep install. However when I want to remove the ros package ,
sudo apt-get purge ros-*
sudo apt-get purge python-ros*
sudo apt-get autoremove
running the above three commands seem to be removing only the ros dependencies and not the system dependencies. How do I remove the system dependencies as well in this case? Thank you.
PS: I am trying to install only a single ros package on Ubuntu 16.04 ARM.
I had to use Mac for a while (glad I'm back to g'old Ubuntu). It did have one feature I got used to: when I maximised a window it hid all the panels and only showed my app. I know this is essentially a full-screen.
What I am interested in is finding a way to hide all panes in ubuntu when using a keyboard shortcut to maximise a window. I could also be tied to a specific workspace if that is easier. Ideally I would like to have multiple terminal windows open in that full screen mode. I use keyboard shortcuts to place terminal windows where I want them all the time and I'd want to keep that.
I am looking into ideas to
and combine them in a keyboard shortcut
Has anyone succeeded installing open-source mesa driver for RX 480 in Ubuntu 16.04?
According to the Phoronix articles, the free driver should be similar or even better vs amdgpu-pro (binary blob) http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Radeon-RX-480-Drivers
Using default kernel 4.4, the card was working using software render (llvm-pipe). After installing 4.8 or 4.9 kernel from ubuntu-kernel ppa (http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/), i got kernel panic or just blank screen (not responding to anything)
I am also using Oibaf PPA https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archive/ubuntu/graphics-drivers
I did download polaris10_mc.bin and placed it /lib/firmware/amdgpu but it didn't help
https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/307603
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!:
[ 1.746889] [<ffffffffb62c263c>] ? security_prepare_creds+0x3c/0x50
[ 1.746935] [<ffffffffb60a0f67>] ? prepare_creds+0xb7/0xf0
[ 1.746980] [<ffffffffb60a120a>] ? copy_creds+0x2a/0x120
[ 1.747026] [<ffffffffb607d15b>] ? copy_process.part.31+0x30b/0x1b30
[ 1.747071] [<ffffffffb61f1a5d>] ? kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x18d/0x1d0
[ 1.747117] [<ffffffffb62fffcf>] ? apparmor_file_alloc_security+0x1f/0x40
[ 1.747164] [<ffffffffb62c20de>] ? security_file_alloc+0x2e/0x40
[ 1.747209] [<ffffffffb607eb5d>] ? _do_fork+0xed/0x3d0
[ 1.747254] [<ffffffffb6003b99>] ? do_syscall_64+0x59/0x1b0
[ 1.747299] [<ffffffffb67402a5>] ? entry_SYSCALL_64_slow_path+0x25/0x25
[ 1.747345] Code: 08 65 4c 03 05 0f 88 e1 49 49 83 78 10 00 49 8b 38 0f 84 f6
00 00 00 48 85 ff 0f 84 ed 00 00 00 49 63 46 20 4d 8b 06 48 8d 4a 01 <48> 8b 1c
07 48 89 f8 65 49 0f c7 08 0f 94 c0 84 c0 74 bb 49 63
[ 1.749890] RIP [<ffffffffb61f1943>] kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x73/0x1d0
[ 1.749971] RSP <ffff9e9652733d30>
[ 1.750035] ---[ end trace a2d8ff888241998b ]---
[ 1.750179] Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x0000000b
[ 1.750179]
[ 1.750294] Kernel Offset: 0x35000000 from 0xffffffff81000000 (relocation ran
ge: 0xffffffff80000000-0xffffffffbfffffff)
[ 1.750350] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!
exitcode=0x0000000b
[ 1.750350]
_
amdgpu_init failed:
[ 1.248308] Failed to find cpu0 device node
[ 1.422593] amdgpu 0000:01:00.0: Invalid PCI ROM header signature: expecting
0xaa55, got 0xffff
[ 1.422912] mc: Failed to load firmware "amdgpu/polaris10_mc.bin"
[ 1.423016] [drm:gmc_v8_0_sw_init [amdgpu]] ERROR Failed to load mc firmware!
[ 1.423114] [drm:amdgpu_device_init [amdgpu]] ERROR sw_init of IP block
<gmc_v8_0> failed -2
[ 1.423196] amdgpu 0000:01:00.0: amdgpu_init failed
[ 1.423270] amdgpu 0000:01:00.0: Fatal error during GPU init
[ 1.423355] [TTM] Memory type 2 has not been initialized
[ 1.871654] scsi host6: runtime PM trying to activate child device host6 but
parent (2-3:1.0) is not active
_
I want to install xfce4 on my Ubuntu Server 16.04.
The Problem is that the Server stopped working with the Command apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
So i read that i can install xfce4 apt-get install xfce4 manually and start it at booting.
So how can i do that?
I am running Xubuntu 13.10 (monitor attached) with x11vnc 0.9.13-1.1 run with the following options:
x11vnc -gui tray=setpass -rfbport PROMPT -bg -o %HOME/.x11vnc.log.%VNCDISPLAY
I have also enabled after x11vnc was up and running..... shared, forever, ultravnc file transfer, and a password for full permissions (no password for view only)
I am running UltraVNC x64 Viewer 1.0.9.6.2 from my Windows 7 machine and I am able to connect to my Xubuntu just fine but what appears on the screen is a black desktop with nothing on it (no icons, no panels, etc...).
What is strange is that the following 2 things are true when I'm in this state using UltraVNC viewer
When looking at the Xubuntu machine's monitor I can see the mouse moving when I move it within UltraVNC. I can even drag the open windows on my Xubuntu desktop around. When I do this the outline of the window I'm dragging appears in UltraVNC... but only while dragging.
If I click on the "Select Single Window" toolbar button in UltraVNC then click on any open window or anywhere on the desktop that window then shows up in UltraVNC and I can interact with it how you would expect. Clicking on the desktop shows me the desktop, but then if I try and open any application (or any other window) it does NOT show up in UltraVNC (as expected since I'm in single window mode) but it DOES show up on the Xubuntu desktop (again as expected). If I then click on "Select Full Desktop" it goes back to the black screen with the same behavior as before.
I searched this forum and also google but did not find anything that was helpful at all. Hopefully someone can offer some guidance as this has me stumped! I've tried using tightvncserver with the live CD, but I have found that it will sometimes open apps in display :0 if a monitor is connected to display :0 and the vnc viewer is connected to display :1. Also, I would rather have a shared view of display :0 and I know the x11vnc server provides this "out of the box".
Oh and I just tried this from my Ubuntu 12.04 machine using "Remote Desktop Viewer" and the behavior is exactly the same. So it doesn't appear to be an issue with the VNC client.
UPDATE:
So it turns out this seems to be related to the color bit depth set for the vnc server. If I change the bit depth to be anything less than 32 I get full view/control of the desktop. However this has the annoying effect of missing icons in the file manager, desktop, dock, etc... I assume this is because the icons are 32bit color and there aren't any icons of a lesser bit depth for that application/folder/file. In the file manager, this results in EVERY folder icon being missing and a lot of the icons in the settings manager as well. I also have noticed a TON of errors in the vnc log file after xfce starts.
Oh and this was after switching to vnc4server. Apparently this is a known bug in Xubuntu.
Never found a solution for x11vnc but what I ended up going with is vnc4server and using LXDE as the desktop environment in the vnc session. Sadly, I haven't found a way to make vnc4server share display :0 with the physical monitor. However, at least I now have a working vnc desktop since this machine will ultimately be headless in a server room.