[PLUG] Autostarting GUI app on headless machine (Ubuntu) - Solved

["Eric H. Johnson" <ejohnson@camalytics.com>]

Hi all,

I had asked a while back about how to auto-start a GUI application on a
headless Ubuntu machine (10.04 and later) when there was no monitor
attached. I received a number of good suggestions, however here are the two
easiest solutions I have found. If anyone has found an easier one, I am all
ears.

Software solution:

Assumes: Ubuntu 10.04 or later and Grub2

>From a terminal session, enter:
sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Find "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX" and make the line read:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nomodeset"

Save the file and run:
sudo update-grub

Then create an xorg.conf file in /etc/X11:
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

And have it read:

 Section "Device"
 Identifier "VNC Device"
 Driver "vesa"
 EndSection

 Section "Screen"
 Identifier "VNC Screen"
 Device "VNC Device"
 Monitor "VNC Monitor"
 SubSection "Display"
 Modes "1024x768"
 EndSubSection
 EndSection

 Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "VNC Monitor"
 HorizSync 30-70
 VertRefresh 50-75
 EndSection

Reboot and you are done.


Hardware Solution:

Hardware
1 soldering iron and electrical solder
1 Small vice grip (recommended)
1 solder type 15 pin female VGA connector.
3 75 ohm (+/-20%) resistors (Smaller the better as fars a wattage rating)

Connect one resistor to each of the following pairs of pins: 
1-6
2-7
3-8

This will simulate the load of a generic monitor.


Regards,
Eric

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug