Question

VNC Gray Screen Ubuntu 14.04

Posted May 3, 2014 155.6k views
Hi, I have been trying to follow some tutorials to get the VNC server running. All that the result currently is that I get a gray screen. This seems to be in line with what other users are experiencing as I read through some fora. Has a solution for this been created already? Would be great to see if there is an update for this. Also, don't really know if it has to do with the new Ubuntu! Niels
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siskens
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siskens
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3 comments
  • abrahamdsl November 15, 2015
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    In my case, all of my storage are full. Deleting files to have vacant space plus restarting the service fixed it.

  • selvakr May 6, 2017
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    Open xstartup file.

    $ nano ~/.vnc/xstartup

    Add the following line.

    !/bin/sh

    def
    export XKLXMODMAPDISABLE=1
    unset SESSIONMANAGER
    unset DBUS    SESSIONBUSADDRESS

    gnome-panel &
    gnome-settings-daemon &
    metacity &
    nautilus &
    gnome-terminal &

    Save and close it. After that install GNOM

    $ apt-get install ubuntu-gnome-desktop -y

    Once finished, restart the droplet.

    Now, it should work. I had the same issue and solved now.

  • LarsMoerch December 9, 2018
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    Works !!!
    TNX

    Just one error in the lines: not !/bin/sh but # !/bin/sh

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11 answers
machupicchu October 12, 2014

This seems to be a common problem with Ubuntu 14.04 and gnome.

The following tutorial solved the issue for me: Ubuntu VNC Grey Screen

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tope_lourenco May 3, 2014
Hello,

Have you tried this tutorial already?
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/how-to-setup-vnc-for-ubuntu-12

I am using ubuntu 14.04 and that was the tutorial that solved me the gray screen problem.
How To Setup VNC For Ubuntu 12
by Bulat Khamitov
VNC will allow you to connect to your server remotely, as well as be able to use your keyboard, mouse, and monitor to interface with that server. Get it setup on your Ubuntu 12 cloud server.
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siskens May 3, 2014
Yeah, still gray screen
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actiom May 3, 2014
too
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siskens May 4, 2014
I think somehow this is a problem with Ubuntu even though we cannot exclude this is an issue with Digital Oceans images. Let's post a Service Request.
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info658731 May 10, 2014
sudo apt-get install dconf-tools

finally: dconf > desktop > gnome > remote-access > enabled - uncheck !!!

issue fixed.
Remote Desktop sharing working after reboot !!!
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info658731 May 10, 2014
Or: dconf-editor > disable REQUIRE ENCRYPTION
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ra2233 May 24, 2014
I'm trying to get a VNC on Ubuntu 14.04 on EC2 display the Unity desktop.
Should the dconf commands are gnome specific of could they work for Unity?
Those commands seems to be for a GUI desktop. How can I apply those to a vncserver session when my only access to my EC2 is via PuTTY SSH sesshin?

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kamaln7 May 24, 2014
@ra2233: Unity is a shell for the GNOME desktop environment, so the dconf commands should work on Unity.
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rhaddad November 12, 2014

Hi,

I’m also getting a gray screen when I login to VNC. I’m using Ubuntu 14.04. Has anyone solved this? The fixes listed here don’t work.

Thanks,
Robert

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johnhuang December 24, 2015

@machupicchu how to find ~/.vnc/xstartup file

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