unable to export Linux display to Mac

Question

unable to export Linux display to Mac

I have a Linux system that I am unable to export its display to my Mac mini. I can export it to my G4 PowerBook, but not the mini - I get Unable to Open Display xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:0.0. Firewall is not running and I'm on 10.4.10.
Thoughts?

intel mini, Mac OS X (10.4.10), 17 inch G4 PowerBook

Posted on Jul 26, 2007 4:40 PM

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Answer 1

etresoft

Level 8

46,672 points

Jul 26, 2007 4:49 PM in response to Louis Palladino

Your avatar indicates you know a lot about X. Still, I have to ask the basic questions:

Are you connecting via ssh in an xterm? That should setup all the connections for you. Did you try xhost +? I don't know if you even need that anymore. I used to have to do it years ago.

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Answer 2

Jul 26, 2007 5:32 PM in response to etresoft

i use ssh over either xterm/iTerm/Terminal to the Linux host and export the display that way. I have done xhost + on the mac.
thanks.

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Answer 3

etresoft

Level 8

46,672 points

Jul 26, 2007 6:52 PM in response to Louis Palladino

After you log in, what does the environment variable DISPLAY say? Perhaps you have it hard-coded to the G4's IP.

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Answer 4

Bill Scott

Level 6

11,459 points

Jul 26, 2007 8:27 PM in response to etresoft

Edit the /etc/sshd_config file and put the following at the bottom:

X11Forwarding yes

Then log out of it, and log back in with

ssh -Y name@the.other.computer

The DISPLAY variable will be take care of automatically.

Another thing to try is nomachine which I find much superior to X11 forwarding. You'll have to install the server on your linux machine, and your client on OS X, but it is worth it. (I use the free versions).

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Answer 5

Jul 27, 2007 4:14 AM in response to Bill Scott

thanks for the suggestions.
when I log in, the $DISPLAY variable is blank, like it should be. i use the "export DISPLAY=xxx" command to set it.

i want to forward the display to my Mac - so why would I need to install the "nomachine" xserver on linux?

thanks again.

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Answer 6

Jul 27, 2007 4:47 AM in response to Louis Palladino

One other thing - i'm not trying to forward the display over the SSH tunnel.

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Answer 7

Bill Scott

Level 6

11,459 points

Jul 27, 2007 6:55 AM in response to Louis Palladino

If you forward the display with ssh -Y, the setting of variables is all done for you automatically.

eg:

zsh-% ssh -Y wgscott@my.linux.machine
linux.machine-% echo $DISPLAY
localhost:10.0

If you decide to use "nomachine" you need the server software on the remote linux machine, and client software on your mac. Then you can run the whole windowing environment from the linux machine painlessly. It works a lot like vnc, except for whatever reason is much faster and the rendering quality is much better. It took me about a year to try it from when it was recommended to me, because I scoffed at it. I was wrong.

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Answer 8

Jul 27, 2007 7:26 AM in response to Bill Scott

thanks for the suggestions, but i think i'm starting to stray away from my real issue. i don't mind exporting my display manually, but i like the -Y flag.

the nomachine stuff sounds nice, but i think it is a bit overboard for me since i do need to export displays from my work (300+ *NIX variants), so i think rolling something like that out when standard X forwarding works fine for me is it a bit too much. plus i don't VPN to my work with the linux machine - only my mac - so running the windowing environment from it really isn't possible.

thanks anyway.

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Answer 9

AMartin

Level 1

46 points

Jul 30, 2007 1:52 PM in response to Louis Palladino

ssh -2 -x user@host should work -- if not, try manually setting your DISPLAY variable to 😮.0 before you ssh to the server.

Make sure too that X11Forwarding is set to yes on your mac mini.

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Answer 10

Jul 30, 2007 3:45 PM in response to AMartin

Hi
Thanks for the suggestion but it does not work either. My ssh config is identical on the PowerBook as it is on the Mini. I should probably clarify that I was trying to forward using the standard X protocol - not forwarding back over the SSH tunnel. However, I have found that neither work, which means there is a bigger issue.
Thanks again.

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Answer 11

Jul 30, 2007 5:22 PM in response to Louis Palladino

Somehow this is working now, so thanks for everyone's help! I am not sure exactly what fixed it, but I'm sure it was a combination of checking then re-checking settings from all your suggestions.

Thanks again.
Lou

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