Using Vine Server 3.0 I get a blank black screen using RealVNC 4.1.2 and a message on a blank screen (something about waiting for initial data – should have written it down) using TightVNC 1.3.9. The blank screen is encountered just after connecting, after typing in the password. I downgraded Vine Server to version 2.2 and I get connections just the way they had been before. [I am seeing a case using Vine Server 2.2 where the connection seems to get started but doesn’t complete.] Has anyone else encountered this blank screen issue? I will have to stick with Vine Server 2.2 until I know Vine Server 3.0+ has a fix for this issue.
P.S.: Below I mentioned a message emitted when running TightVNC but hadn’t noted the text. The text of the message is, “Please wait - intial screen loading.”
VS 3.0 definitely works with RealVNC 4.1.2 but lets investigate a bit what the problem could be.
So important things to aid in the debugging process:
What version of Mac OS X are you running on?
Are you running VS as a System Server or a Desktop Server?
Please use the /Applications/Utilities/Console.app and see if there are any console messages come from Vine Server/OSXvnc-server.
What version of Mac OS X are you running on?
10.4.11
Are you running VS as a System Server or a Desktop Server?
both and connecting to either caused the black screen.
Please use the /Applications/Utilities/Console.app and see if there are any console messages come from Vine Server/OSXvnc-server.
None were generated.
I should also mention that I have another computer with RealVNC 4.1.2 that connects just fine to the same system. I should also mention that pre-Vine Server 3.0 also has the blank screen issue.
I have a movie showing the black screen issue in action with displays :0 and :1. I have tried to post the movie as an attachment but can’t get that to work. I have posted a copy to http://mogwai.dynalias.org/~jbreazeale/blackscreen.avi.
This might be a hint for what’s happening… I’m sitting at home and over my wired network I can use VNC from my Windows/XP-based laptop with RealVNC 4.1.2 to my MacOS X system cited above in another part of my house. All is well. Next, I make a VPN connection to work. I can no longer reach my Mac via my LAN as it’s internal IP address is not going to me to it via my workplace network, so I use the WAN IP address instead. Therefore, I’m getting to my Mac via the Internet from work. The result is the same black screen problem.
I wonder if there might be a firewall setting that could produce the same problem.
Following up my previous posting, I checked my firewall settings for my Windows/XP box that does VNC just fine to my Mac and noticed that the firewall is turned off (the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing service is not running). On the Windows/XP box that has the VNC problem with my Mac I see the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing service is running. I turned off the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing service and tried again and the problem is still happening. Oh well…
Here’s one more piece of the puzzle. I sat in the same room as the target system, the Mac running Vine Server. On the VNC client (RealVNC 4.1.2) I received the black screen as usual. On the VNC client I moved my cursor around and could see my cursor moving on the Mac. On the VNC client I could also click and move windows. The only issue seems to be seeing the Mac’s screen on my VNC client.
Have you tried various color depth settings in the client? It almost sounds like the client isn’t able to interpret the outgoing data.
Also, please make sure that you haven’t somehow triggered the -noupdates flag (which could cause this behavior).
I just tried varying the color depth and it made no difference.
I have no idea of how I could trigger the -noupdates flag, so when I try one way it works and another way it doesn’t, all this is from the client’s point of view.
One more thing… On a few occasions I have seen a small portion, a square, of the server-side screen. Picture a mostly black screen with a block of non-black.
If you would like to try this our for yourself please let me know.
[quote=“JonathanOSX”]Have you tried various color depth settings in the client? It almost sounds like the client isn’t able to interpret the outgoing data.
Also, please make sure that you haven’t somehow triggered the -noupdates flag (which could cause this behavior).[/quote]
So we have one working connection and one connection that isn’t working. Just out of curiosity, try connect from the Mac to itself using VNC (you’ll get this hall of mirrors effect) but it’ll help us narrow down if it’s just your client machine/network/configuration that’s bad (which I’m starting to suspect).
I used Chicken of the VNC version 2.0b4 to connect to localhost display :0 and :1 and got the hall-of-mirrors effect.
Ok, so it seems that the server is working for most connections but something about that specific connection isn’t working – you might see if other networking between those machines is working properly (file sharing, ssh, telnet, etc).
Well… well… well… You seem to be on to something. On the system where VNC works I can FTP to the system and get an initial directory listing. On the system where VNC is coming up with the black screen I am able to use FTP to connect to the system but cannot get an initial directory listing.
I’ll try sicking one of my local IT folks on this and let them figure this out. I’ll let you know what they say/do and then I’ll report back whether their fix affects the black screen issue.
Here’s a sample of the black screen with a non-black block.