Newbie question;

I've got a Fedora Core 6 machine that I'm wanting to run headless over VNC. When I boot the machine and log in over VNC it's not seeing some of it's hardware (like the CR-ROM and soundcard). However, if I log into the machine itself (drag a keyboard over to it), then go back to my VNC session, the hardware is available. I really don't want to have to drag the keyboard over to the machine everytime it boots up so what can I do to get the machine to recognize the hardware when I login just over VNC.

Thanks

what do you mean "the hardware" VNC has nothign to do with hardware access at all, it doesn't do things like provide network access to the client cdrom drive or such lke which remote desktop does, but on that vnc server, /dev/cdrom or whatever will always be just as available as if you were locally there.

To be more specific, if I just log in over VNC, neither the CD-ROM or the soundcard work, and if I try to use them, they don't work, or are even recognized, as though they weren't even in the machine.

Is there a way I need to set up the VNC server so that when I log in all of the hardware get initialized as it does when I actually log into the machine? I understand VNC has nothing to do with the hardware, but there is a disconnect that I don't understand.

again, vnc has absolutely nothing at all to do with hardware. it does nothign at all with hardware initialisation. if you connect to a remote system with vnc and play an mp3 or something, then it will use the soundcard on the remote machine and play remotely just as if you were playing it inforont of the remote machine.

Are you logging in with the same account, locally & through VNC? The only thing I can think is that you might be logging in locally as root, and remotely as some restricted account *shrugs* unlikely but that is all I think of, weird problem.

RedHatCat - I am loggin in as the same user both locally and over VNC, and not as root on either. Maybe what a better question to ask is, what is running when I log in locally to init the hardware that's not getting run when I log in over VNC? I guess if I have to manually run something, or write something to run, that will be much better than having to login locally to the machine.

acid_kewpie - You're the reason I really don't like discussion forums. If you don't have something constructive or helpful to add, please don't add anything. Again, I am aware that VNC has nothing to do with hardware. That's not part of my question. Also, I am not able to play an mp3 over VNC like I can locally (until I login locally). That is the problem. So, I don't understand why you're telling me I'm not having a problem when I am and that is the whole reason I need help.

The reason acid_kewpie told you you don't have a problem is that you don't have a problem. Think about it for a minute. If you are sitting at the remote machine and start playing an mp3, it works, because everything, soundcard, CD, mp3, everything is local. Now move to your client machine and play the same mp3. It is playing, just on the remote machine. If you get up and physically move to the VNC server, you could hear the song merrily playing away. That is VNC working the way it was designed.

Now if that isn't your problem, maybe you need to back up and make a better run at stating what you are trying to do.

dude, i am *NOT* being unhelpful, you are just asking illegitimate questions. go read the RFC for vnc, assuming there is one. the vnc protocol has NOTHING to do with hardware save for possibly some GL extensions. absolutely NOTHING. sorry if that's not the answer you want, but you're clearly asking the wrong questions. you've not even defined what hardware your talking about, local or remote, sound card or cdrom, and try as i might, you seem totally unwilling to supply required information that we need to guess what your question is supposed to be. you mightn't understand your problem, but if you tell us enough to not have to get out our crystal balls, then maybe we can tell you what questions to ask in the first place.

@ nolson43,
How are you starting the vnc server on the remote (headless) FC6 machine?
I start mine like this (the next line goes in /etc/rc.local):
su - tredegar -c "cd /home/tredegar/ && vncserver :1 -geometry 1024x768 -depth 24"

Note that I am starting the vncserver as my username

Then I can login to my remote desktop with
vncviewer remotehost:1

And all is good, except sounds play on the remote machine, but I do not care. There is some way to network sound over vnc, but I do not need this.

I think you might want to look into nfs. You can then play mp3 locally that are stored remotely. I THINK this can also be done this way with the cd/dvd drive.

tredegar - I tried your suggestion, but it didn't work. Thanks for trying to help.

Well, I guess I'm not being articulate enough since it seems there are a few people out there who would love to help me if I could only state what my problem is. So, I'm going to try again in hopes that I can convey exactly what my problem is and then hopefully the Linux gurus can help me out.

1 - I start my Linux, Fedora Core 6 machine
2 - I then go to a different machine on the same network
3 - I open my VNC client, input my server name, and then my password
4 - Using VNC to view my Linux machine, I startup RhythmBox
5 - I press 'Play', but Rhythmbox fails saying there is no sound card recognized on the machine
6 - I then go to the Linux machine
7 - I log in as the same user (not root)
8 - I go back to the other machine, the one running the VNC client
9 - I press 'Play' within RhythmBox
10 - My music plays and all is well

Now, I really don't want to have to log into the Linux box every time it gets restarted. So, what I'm looking for is a solution to the problem of;

How can I start my Linux machine, not log into it directly, but using a VNC client, play my music?

right, progress....

so what's the missing link here? what desktop are you using under VNC? I would take a guess at a lightweight one like fluxbox or xfce? if so i would assume that rhythmbox is not able to use gstreamer to pass audio through from the gnome environment it expects to be in. i'm not that p on rhythmbox or gstreamer, but there is apparently a rhythmbox alsa plugin which would remove the need for all the gstreamer backend services being started (which don't start till gnome logs in i assume). alternatively just try a different client, even if just for a test of access remotely. somethign simple like mplayer won't use any of ther fluffy gnome stuff, so should be very clear how it's doing what it's doing.