Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

Chade · 2010-06-15 14:50:26

Basically, what I would like to do is have one Gnome desktop running that is accessed with a normal screen, keyboard and mouse. I'd then like another one running in the background that I can access remotely at any time. Each session is owned by a different user.

Initially I created a VNC server, but I'm quite shallow and would like some 3D/compositing bling on both sessions. As far as I am aware, this is impossible with a vnc session.

My next thought was to try x11vnc. After switching to virtual terminal 8, I logged in as a different user and ran "startx -- :1" and "x11vnc -display :1" That worked perfectly, and I could vnc into that session fine. However, once I swapped back to the normal desktop (VT7), I could no longer view my new X session. The display is only available while it is the active VT on the host.

What I'm really wondering is, is what I'm trying to do impossible? Or is there something else I can do?

Thanks

ngoonee · 2010-06-15 23:30:56

I believe it to be impossible, sorry. Not an expert, but as I understand it only one X server can be running at any one time. You could look into virtualization (KVM and the like).

Wintervenom · 2010-06-16 00:39:05

ngoonee wrote:

I believe it to be impossible.

[Anything is possible] when you put your mind to Google it.

Last edited by Wintervenom (2010-06-16 00:52:04)

ngoonee · 2010-06-16 00:53:24

Hi WinterVenom

Chade wrote:

My next thought was to try x11vnc. After switching to virtual terminal 8, I logged in as a different user and ran "startx -- :1" and "x11vnc -display :1" That worked perfectly, and I could vnc into that session fine. However, once I swapped back to the normal desktop (VT7), I could no longer view my new X session. The display is only available while it is the active VT on the host.

He's trying to do what's stated in those results, but when he swaps back to VT7 the VT8 X Server can no longer be logged into remotely.

Chade · 2010-06-16 01:04:50

Mmm, believe me Wintervenom, I've done quite a bit of hunting. There are a few threads like mine, but none with any answers.

falconindy · 2010-06-16 01:31:17

Why can't you use X11 forwarding on the SSH connection?

ssh -p <port> user@host startx -- :1

Chade · 2010-06-16 01:36:50

I'd like to access it from a windows machine running a VNC client. Would I be able to do that with X11 forwarding?

falconindy · 2010-06-16 02:49:52

Using VNC? No idea. If this is over the Internet and not restricted to a LAN then I'd suggest ditching the VNC idea entirely. Using XMing and PuTTY you can forward X11.

Chade · 2010-06-16 02:58:22

Currently it's just over a LAN, but eventually I'd like to access it over the internet. X11 only forwards windows, doesn't it? What I'd like to do is have a whole separate desktop that my netbook can hook into at any time, and run full screen.

falconindy · 2010-06-16 03:07:10

I doubt you'll ever have the proper bandwidth over the internet to do a full desktop, let along with bling. If you have an X server running on the Windows machine (as XMing provides), there's nothing stopping you from running `startx -- localhost:10.0`.

FreeNX is another option, and usually one that works better on lower bandwidth connections.

Chade · 2010-06-16 03:16:22

Hmm, I might look into FreeNX. Thanks for all of the tips

Wittfella · 2010-06-16 05:06:23

I'm pretty sure compiz/3D/bling doesn't play nice with FreeNX, well not the last time I tried it anyway.

I use vnc, both x11vnc for main desktop and vncserver for a separate session and it works fine with my standalone compiz desktop.

Chade · 2010-06-16 05:10:18

Compiz actually works on a vncserver? I imagine that would be without compositing though?

Wittfella · 2010-06-16 05:51:09

Well I don't have mass amounts of effects going on, but shadows and expo are fine over vnc. I tweak the settings in the vnc client, like compression, jpg quality etc., and its very usable even over the net. The default settings are a bit slow. Its even better if you drop to 8bit colour but then it looks a bit arse.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-06-15 14:50:26

Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#2 2010-06-15 23:30:56

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#3 2010-06-16 00:39:05

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#4 2010-06-16 00:53:24

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#5 2010-06-16 01:04:50

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#6 2010-06-16 01:31:17

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#7 2010-06-16 01:36:50

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#8 2010-06-16 02:49:52

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#9 2010-06-16 02:58:22

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#10 2010-06-16 03:07:10

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#11 2010-06-16 03:16:22

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#12 2010-06-16 05:06:23

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#13 2010-06-16 05:10:18

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

#14 2010-06-16 05:51:09

Re: Are concurrent X and Gnome Sessions possible?

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