i have a SUSE 9.0 box. I am running vncviewer 3.3.7 server on the box. i compiled it from source code. i am running KDE on the box. everything is working fine. i am able to start the server and connect. the problem is when i connect it only gives me the terminal window it doesnt bring up the KDE desktop. i have searched through the other posts and looked for how to solve this but couldnt find anything.

i changed twm& to startkde & but that didnt work either. does anybody know what i need to change in my xstartup script to be able to bring up the KDE desktop through vncviewer?

thanks for any help.

Are you sure you're editing the right xstartup file? It should be in the .vnc directory of the user issuing the vncserver command.

If you are editing the correct file, you might want to post your xstartup.

i started the vncserver as root. the xstartup script is in his .vnc directory. here is my xstartup script:

#!/bin/sh

[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
startkde &

Well, that looks OK. Have you checked the log file (also in .vnc I believe)? You also might want to check the X log file (usually in /var/log).


I won't lecture on the evils of running vncserver as root, but be aware it is a bad idea. As an alternative, you might try running vncserver as a regular user and see if you have the same problem.

your right i shouldnt have been running it as root. i killed that server and started another server with a regular user account. when i connect now i see the kde desktop in the background but the terminal window still shows up in the front. how can i get rid of that?

That's easy. The terminal window you're seeing is xterm

Just delete or comment out that line in your xstartup file.

i commented it out and still same problem......it looks great except for that coming up.

Maybe go minimalist?

#!/bin/sh
startkde &


I'm wondering if there is something in your .Xresources that is starting a terminal.

for some reason it was starting a console window when i started kde on the machine. i created a new user, did what you said and it worked. i am not sure why the other username is starting a console on bootup. thanks for the help