Lubuntu 20.10 & XRDP = Working, but not the right session?

[minime]

Hi all,

I installed Lubuntu 20.10 and then XRDP on top. Then, I followed this tip here to actually get it working at all: Windows 10 to Lubuntu 20 with xRDP NOT working

It is working now, however, the desktop environment looks “wrong”. It’s not the same as when you login directly to the machine. There are a gazillion tips out there that didn’t help and after reinstalling Lubuntu 20.10 for the fifth time, I dare to ask here to ask for help.

Maybe somebody could install XRDP on his/her machine to replicate, please?

Thank you,
minime

[wxl]

RDP is a generally insecure protocol I wouldn’t recommend. If you want a really solid remote desktop solution, NoMachine is better than anything else I’ve used. It’s proprietary, but free.

[minime]

Thank you, but that doesn’t answer my question, though.

Anyone? This must be a simple issue to resolve.

[wxl]

so first, i don’t know if i’d call that link a “tip” so perhaps we should review how you configured everything, including but not limited to how you’re starting x.

also, just to clarify, a screenshot of your “wrong” desktop would be helpful.

[minime]

Thank you, that’s a fair request. I wiped the installation again and started fresh and made no further changes to the system apart from upgrading to the latest version and installing XRDP. The “tip” I have referred to before would fix the issue seen at step 6, I guess it simply allows for multiple connections.

The forum is forcing me to post like that, sorry.

Step-by-step:

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While still logged in on the Host machine you will see this black screen:

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When logged out from the Host machine, it looks a bit different, notice the taskbar and icons.

[minime]

However, as you can see from the screenshot from the Host machine, the XRDP connection is displaying the desktop differently

[wxl]

so tl;dr you don’t have any clue how it’s set up.

Well, given the wallpaper is there, I’m inclined to believe that it’s running as your user, but who knows. If not, then that’s probably root or whichever user’s set up.

Alternately, you’re simply running the wrong session. Log into Lubuntu on its own and you’ll see there is three sessions: Lubuntu, LXQt, and Openbox. That looks a lot like the default LXQt session to me.

Why not just use an actual reasonable protocol that doesn’t risk security and that works without problems?

[minime]

Thank you for your comments.

Well, first, I think I have shown that there is something wrong or unpolished with the distro, right (I did run it as the user)? This exact procedure did work with other distros and I see no reason why this shouldn’t work given that I simply install a supported protocol and package.

The reason why I want to use RDP is irrelevant to the problem we are discussing here. By using something else instead you haven’t fixed the underlying issue of the tool that is actually supported. However, I am happy to explain: RDP is simply an always working, no nonsense, no additional installation needed protocol and tool, that makes it very easy to connect from my Windows machine. Further, I can also connect from my company laptop, where I can’t install further software. In regards to security, I am aware of it and my network is shielded from the outside with a dedicated hardware (IPFire) firewall and the protocol is only inside my network allowed.

As I was using Lubuntu out of the box + XRDP and have shown that it doesn’t behave quite as it should (it’s reproducible as well), I was hoping somebody would pick it up to fix.

[wxl]

Lubuntu was never expressly designed to be used with RDP, no. How many other LXQt distros did you test against? If none, then the issue may not have anything to do with Lubuntu but with its desktop environment, LXQt. Assuming you tested against GNOME or KDE distros which are utterly ubiquituous in the Linux world, then I’m not surprised at your result as most software is designed with those in mind.

Also: how did the author of your “tip” get it to work if something was wrong?

[minime]

Thank you, you provided the information I needed.