Linux - (X)Ubuntu - RDP-session crashes with xfreerdp & xrdp

TLDR:

If you RDP into a Linux/Xubuntu/Ubuntu PC and you always need two attempts to 'get in' and then the session constantly crashes,

try adding your RDP user to the 'render' group on the remote machine.

That fixed all problems for me.

 -------------------

I recently set up a new NAS/file-server with Xubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish.

The RDP host was a Seeedstudio reServer with an Intel Tiger Lake Core i3-1125G4 running the standard xrdp installation from the repos.

Whenever I connected to it with xfreerdp it would show a black window for a short time and then the window would vanish.

On the second try it would open a session correctly. But eventually, often when I clicked through some levels of directories in Thunar file manager, the session would crash. And I mean really crash, any commands running in a terminal session on the remote PC would be ended and a new attempt at RDP-ing in would give me a new 'fresh' session.

I searched a lot and tried a lot of things that were recommended, trying the xrdp install script from here

https://c-nergy.be/blog/?p=17994

to get the newest version, added an ~/.xsession file with recommended content and a lot of other things. Nothing helped.

Since I had already an AMD based remote machine running (with Xubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa) without problems for many years I figured I'll look to see if there are any different drivers for the integrated Intel graphics.

I found this page

https://dgpu-docs.intel.com/driver/installation.html#ubuntu-install-steps

where, apart from a new repository with new Mesa and driver files I saw the mention of this

"In order to access GPU capabilities, the active user must be able to access DRM render nodes in /dev/dri."

So I thought I'll try that first before I screw around more with setup and config changes.

Added my RDP user to the 'render' group on the server and started a new xfreerdp session. Tried everything I had done before to make it crash, it didn't.

Has been stable for days now, never crashed.

And I get an RDP login on the first attempt.

So there.

I don't know why it works and I don't care.

I already spent so much time investigating this problem I won't spend any more time on finding out why it works.

Don't buy a Lenovo laptop/notebook - or you might come unhinged...

A few years ago we bought a Lenovo Yoga 730 for my wife to use for college courses.

Had been in regular use for a while but the last couple of years it was only used a few times a month. 

I recently opened it to update Windows and to my surprise the display cracked in the lower right corner. Further investigation showed that the hinge mount had come off the aluminum lid and when trying to open the lid the hinge pushed against the display and cracked it.

Out of warranty I figured I'll open it up myself and see.

I followed this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDOJ6LheqD4

and after disassembly found this:

That's how they glued the hinge mount to the lid. And that was supposed to last ?

I'd call that planned obsolescence...

Below is how the other side looks, so far the glue still holding:

Looking around on the web I found a large amount of people with the same problem. To some this happened while their device was still under warranty. And for some of them Lenovo refused to cover it under warranty claiming they broke it.

So don't buy a Lenovo laptop or notebook.

Or if it's such a great deal don't buy a just-launched model so you can do an internet search to see if that model has similar problems.

 

Rena and Duane Ose - Their mountain from the BBC show "Win the Wilderness: Alaska"

Are you watching the BBC show "Win the Wilderness: Alaska" ?


Want to know where Ose Mountain actually is ?
I did, and could not find any details about its location.

So I did some sleuthing and found that it is here
(64°10'53.2"N 151°25'54.1"W)
(64.181444, -151.431694 )




You can find satellite imagery with better resolution here.


Far, far out there...quite a feat!



Here are some more links:
https://www.montenews.com/news/20200210/duane-and-rena-ose-leave-alaskan-wilderness-life-behind
https://www.srperspective.com/2014/02/staking-his-claim/

His website: https://www.osemountainalaska.com/

And Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/osemountainalaska

Avast Antivirus slowing down Virtualbox Guest VM

Recently moved a VirtualBox Win10 VM to a Windows 10 host.
Originally the VM had been created on a Linux host and ran fine there.
On Windows 10 it was running very slow.
After some debugging, looking for problems with BIOS settings or video card support I found that the Avast Antivirus installed on the Win10 host was interfering with Virtualbox.

Links:

https://www.reddit.com/r/avast/comments/6hrlpv/avast_slowing_down_virtual_machines/

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=162445.0


So, on your Windows host computer in Avast Free Antivirus
[(19.4.2374 (build 19.4.4318.460) in my case]

under Menu > Settings > Troubleshooting

untick/de-select 'Enable hardware-assisted virtualization'

and reboot

Then your VM should run at the correct speed.

Note: There is a warning for that setting saying you might be at increased risk of a virus infection from your VM. Turn off at your own risk. Or use a different Antivirus product.

I have not tried if VMWare or Hyper-V products are affected in the same way.

I just got a Sports Tracker Bluetooth HRM2 heart rate monitor and scanned the manual.
If you need the manual you can find the scan here:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=66A7C4D63C1C4B2B!552&authkey=!AKdVnH9dJQvqr0I&ithint=file%2cpdf


Sports Tracker
SportsTracker
HRM2
Heart Rate Monitor 2

27" HD display/monitor - thoughts

As I mentioned here I bought a new monitor to use as a 2nd display with my current laptop.
Ever since I started working with 2 monitors I can't go back to just one...


Anyway, it's a 27" monitor with a max. resolution of 1920x1080 (Full HD, 1080p).


Had I known/realized how crappy the support in Windows is for adjusting DPI
for large displays (as well as different size displays)
I probably would have bought a 23" 1080p monitor rather than a 27"
or waited/spent a bit more and bought a 27" with higher resolution.

The smallest DPI setting that Windows (8/8.1 and also currently 10) support ist 96dpi.
That is still too large for a 27" display, 80...86 dpi would probably be useful,
but there's no way I could find to force Windows below 96 dpi, not even with registry tweaks.


My Acer laptop has a 15.4" Full HD screen.

Close up (normal laptop working distance) 96dpi are good.
Having it on a stand further away now means I would need ~110dpi to make it easily readable.
The 27" at this dpi setting would probably be good for a legally blind person.
Fonts are huge, I feel I have to turn my head when reading to follow the text.

With some fiddling in Win 8.1 I was able to set the laptop screen to 125% (that's what Windows calls it) and leave the 27" at 100%. (That setup was easier to achieve in Windows 10).
But I feel all Windows does to achieve this is to simulate a smaller resolution on the smaller screen to make things appear larger. Text is a bit blurry, the picture isn't very crisp overall.
 So, in short, if you're going above 23" with your monitor consider spending more for a screen with more than 1920x1080 resolution to make use of all that area in a better way.

I'm dual-booting with Linux now and I think I should be able to tweak Linux to give me what I need...

Access Fritz.Box 'through the backdoor'

Changed some settings for my Fritz.Box at once and wasn't able to access it anymore.

Bit of searching on the web found that one should (always !?)

be able to access it at the IP-address 169.254.1.1

Tried that and it worked :-D

See here:
http://en.avm.de/guide/security/tips-for-additional-security/opening-the-fritzbox-user-interface/

or here in more detail for the Fritz Box 7490:
http://en.avm.de/nc/service/fritzbox/fritzbox-7490/knowledge-base/publication/show/374_Opening-the-FRITZ-Box-user-interface-in-IP-Client-or-wireless-repeater-operating-mode-when-the-IP-address-is-unknown/


Auf Deutsch:

http://avm.de/ratgeber/sicherheit/tipps-fuer-zusaetzliche-sicherheit/benutzeroberflaeche-der-fritzbox-aufrufen/

http://avm.de/nc/service/fritzbox/fritzbox-7490/wissensdatenbank/publication/show/374_Benutzeroberflaeche-im-IP-Client-bzw-WLAN-Repeater-Betrieb-aufrufen-wenn-IP-Adresse-unbekannt/