Remote X problem with ubuntu

[Ken Gunderson]

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 11:37:37 +0100
"Paul Chudleigh" <paul.chudleigh at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I've just installed xubuntu 6.06 and I'm trying to access the desktop via X
> from a remote machine.
> 
> The IP address of the xubuntu box is 192.168.0.3
> The IP address of the remote machine is 192.168.0.1
> On the local machine I type
> 
> local:~ $ xhost +
> 
> On the remote machine I type
> 
> remote:~ $ export DISPLAY=192.168.0.3:0.0
> 
> then
> 
> remote:~$ xeyes
> Error: Can't open display: 192.168.0.3:0.0
> 
> I can ping the machine (network is fine). On the local machine I also tried
> a connection
> 
> local:~ $ export DISPLAY=192.168.0.3:0.0
> local:~$ xeyes
> Error: Can't open display: 192.168.0.3:0.0
> 
> But this does not work, I also tried on the loopback interface
> 
> local:~ $ export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0
> local:~$ xeyes
> Error: Can't open display: localhost:0.0
> 
> I read somewhere that by default debian does not listen for X tcp
> connections so I edited
> 
> /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc
> 
> And removed the -nolisten tcp option and restarted but this did not work.
> 
> I also edited
> 
> /etc/xdg/xfce4-session/xfce4-session.rc
> 
> And changed the line that said
> 
> DisableTcp=True
> 
> to
> 
> DisableTcp=False
> 
> Can anyone help me configuring X/XFCE to accept incoming XDMP traffic over
> TCP.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> PS I'm aware of the security implications with opening up X but this is a
> private network with just these two computers attached.
> 

I'm not familiar w/modern Debian's default XServer config but might
guess that you're starting X via XDM, KDM, etc??  You might want to
try bypassing display managers, boot straight to a shell, and then
starting X from the command line, e.g.:

startx -listen_tcp

That way you know for sure that you've told the X-Server to listen for
tcp connections.  Then run something along the lines of 

netstat -na | grep 6000 

to check if your XServer is listening on port 6000.  

Then try connecting to the port from the 2nd machine.  A quick way
to check  is to try telneting to port 6000 on that machine.  

It's been a while since I've done this so my memory is a
bit hazy but here's my $0.02 since nobody else has jumped in.  Hope it
helps some.

 -- 

Best regards,

Ken Gunderson

"The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty 
decreases."  (Thomas Jefferson)