XVNC not working on one machine, but others are fine.

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Michael Setzer II

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May 22, 2026, 5:57:37 PMMay 22
to TurboVNC User Discussion/Support
Tried to email to group, but it bounces with group doesn't exist so had to manually go to groups.google.com???

Machine 78 was working fine yesterday, but now the Xvnc isnt loading.
Shows Failed with no details.

Have tried lots of things, but best I've gotten is connection, but just get a black screen.

Can connect to one machine using 5980 But other fails on 5978
Also, can connect to 5 other machines in same room on other ports.
Just the 5978 stopped working. just shows [FAILED]
How can I get more detail. Port 5978 is not showing as open?
Can vnc into the 5980 machine and others. Can ssh into the 5978 
machine, and rebooted 

systemctl status tvncserver.service 
● tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Server
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/rc.d/init.d/tvncserver; generated)
    Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/service.d
             └─10-timeout-abort.conf
     Active: active (exited) since Sat 2026-05-23 06:32:45 ChST; 
19min ago
 Invocation: bbe6bf7fb48e4c45a16571a60e6170e3
       Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
    Process: 919 ExecStart=/etc/rc.d/init.d/tvncserver start 
(code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Mem peak: 4M
        CPU: 37ms

May 23 06:32:35 setzco101.dyndns.org systemd[1]: Starting 
tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Serve>
May 23 06:32:35 setzco101.dyndns.org su[944]: (to msetzerii) root 
on none
May 23 06:32:45 setzco101.dyndns.org tvncserver[919]: Starting 
TurboVNC server: 80:msetzerii [  OK  ]
May 23 06:32:45 setzco101.dyndns.org systemd[1]: Started 
tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Server.

systemctl status tvncserver.service 
● tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Server
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/rc.d/init.d/tvncserver; generated)
    Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/service.d
             └─10-timeout-abort.conf
     Active: active (exited) since Sat 2026-05-23 06:51:30 ChST; 4min 
17s ago
 Invocation: 1e6394030ca846bca283137070ffc504
       Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
    Process: 4616 ExecStart=/etc/rc.d/init.d/tvncserver start 
(code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Mem peak: 3M
        CPU: 72ms

May 23 06:51:30 setzcon.dyndns.org systemd[1]: Starting 
tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Server.>
May 23 06:51:30 setzcon.dyndns.org su[4621]: (to msetzerii) root 
on none
May 23 06:51:30 setzcon.dyndns.org su[4621]: 
pam_unix(su:session): session opened for user msetzerii(uid=1000) 
by (uid=>
May 23 06:51:30 setzcon.dyndns.org su[4621]: 
pam_unix(su:session): session closed for user msetzerii
May 23 06:51:30 setzcon.dyndns.org tvncserver[4616]: Starting 
TurboVNC server: 78:msetzerii [FAILED]
May 23 06:51:30 setzcon.dyndns.org systemd[1]: Started 
tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Server.


On the working machines get like this.
$ ps -ef | grep Xvnc | cut -b53-300
/opt/TurboVNC/bin/Xvnc :80 -desktop TurboVNC: 
setzco101.dyndns.org:80 (msetzerii) -auth 
/home/msetzerii/.Xauthority -geometry 1920x1080 -depth 24 
-rfbauth /home/msetzerii/.vnc/passwd -x509cert 
/home/msetzerii/.vnc/x509_cert.pem -x509key /home/msetz
grep --color=auto Xvnc

On machine 78 get this
$ ps -ef | grep Xvnc
msetzer+    1597    1542  0 07:42 pts/0    00:00:00 grep 
--color=auto Xvnc

So Xvnc not running?
Run a modified script. Had to add "'s or it errored about (

/opt/TurboVNC/bin/Xvnc :78 -desktop "TurboVNC: 
setzcon.dyndns.org:78 (msetzerii)" -auth 
/home/msetzerii/.Xauthority -geometry 1920x1080 -depth 24 
-rfbauth /home/msetzerii/.vnc/passwd -x509cert 
/home/msetzerii/.vnc/x509_cert.pem -x509key 
/home/msetzerii/.vnc/x509_private.pem -rfbport 5978 -fp 
catalogue:/etc/X11/fontpath.d -deferupdate 1 -dridir /usr/lib64/dri 
-registrydir /usr/lib64/xorg


This does get the port open on 5978 but it opens with just a black 
screen??

msetzerii@setzcon:~$ ./port78
TurboVNC Server (Xvnc) 64-bit v3.3 (build 20260206)
Copyright (C) 1999-2026 The VirtualGL Project and many others 
(see README.md)
Visit http://www.TurboVNC.org for more information on 
TurboVNC

23/05/2026 07:42:46 Using security configuration file 
/etc/turbovncserver-security.conf
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'tlsvnc'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'tlsotp'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'tlsplain'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'x509vnc'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'x509otp'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'x509plain'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'vnc'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'otp'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'unixlogin'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Enabled security type 'plain'
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Desktop name 'TurboVNC: 
setzcon.dyndns.org:78 \(msetzerii\)' (setzcon.dyndns.org:78)
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Protocol versions supported: 3.3, 3.7, 3.8, 
3.7t, 3.8t
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Listening for VNC connections on TCP port 
5978
23/05/2026 07:42:46   Interface 0.0.0.0
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Framebuffer: BGRX 8/8/8/8
23/05/2026 07:42:46 New desktop size: 1920 x 1080
23/05/2026 07:42:46 New screen layout:
23/05/2026 07:42:46   0x00000040 (output 0x00000040): 
1920x1080+0+0
23/05/2026 07:42:46 Maximum clipboard transfer size: 1048576 
bytes
23/05/2026 07:42:49 VNC extension running!
The XKEYBOARD keymap compiler (xkbcomp) reports:
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86OK
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86GoTo
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86VendorLogo
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86MediaSelectProgramGuide
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86MediaSelectProgramGuide
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectHome
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86MediaLanguageMenu
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaTitleMenu
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86AudioChannelMode
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectPC
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectTV
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectCable
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectVCR
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86MediaSelectVCRPlus
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86MediaSelectSatellite
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectCD
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectTape
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectRadio
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaSelectTuner
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaPlayer
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86MediaSelectTeletext
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86MediaSelectAuxiliary
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86MediaPlaySlow
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86NumberEntryMode
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym 
XF86RefreshRateToggle
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86Accessibility
> Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86DoNotDisturb
Errors from xkbcomp are not fatal to the X server

So Xvnc not starting corrently after boot, and my script gets it 
running, but connection just gives a black screen.
Machines are 17 timezones away, so only have ssh access to 78 at 
moment? Probable a simple issue. Has worked for many many 
years. 

THanks.


+------------------------------------------------------------+
 Michael D. Setzer II - Computer Science Instructor (Retired)     
 mailto:mi...@guam.net                            
 mailto:mset...@gmail.com
 mailto:mset...@gmx.com
 Guam - Where America's Day Begins                        
 G4L Disk Imaging Project maintainer 
 http://sourceforge.net/projects/g4l/
+------------------------------------------------------------+




Michael Setzer II

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May 22, 2026, 9:08:48 PMMay 22
to TurboVNC User Discussion/Support
Got it working, but totally no clue what fixed it?? Was vnced into the 80 machine from Nevada to Guam 17 timezones.
ssh to the 78 machine, and was comparing everything, reinstalled it, and everything seems to be same on both machines except for the 78 and 80 ports and machne names. 
Rebooted many times, check status, stopped, restarted, started, Xvnc on 80 was just showing failed?
Then rebooted again, and the port 5978 was open and I could now vnc from Nevada to Guam to that machine, like all the others.
no clue.
Sat May 23 10:50:40 AM ChST 2026
root@setzcon:~# systemctl status tvncserver.service 

● tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Server
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/rc.d/init.d/tvncserver; generated)
    Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/service.d
             └─10-timeout-abort.conf
     Active: active (exited) since Sat 2026-05-23 10:49:12 ChST; 17min ago
 Invocation: 719ac1c2d92144669b7fe7499b933380
       Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
   Mem peak: 2.7M
        CPU: 58ms

May 23 10:49:11 setzcon.dyndns.org systemd[1]: Starting tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Server.>
May 23 10:49:11 setzcon.dyndns.org su[1688]: (to msetzerii) root on none
May 23 10:49:11 setzcon.dyndns.org su[1688]: pam_unix(su:session): session opened for user msetzerii(uid=1000) by (uid=>
May 23 10:49:12 setzcon.dyndns.org root[1705]: 78:msetzerii
                                               
                                               Desktop 'TurboVNC: setzcon.dyndns.org:78 (msetzerii)' started on display>
                                               
                                               Starting applications specified in /opt/TurboVNC/bin/xstartup.turbovnc
                                               Log file is /home/msetzerii/.vnc/setzcon.dyndns.org:78.log

May 23 10:49:12 setzcon.dyndns.org tvncserver[1683]: Starting TurboVNC server: 78:msetzerii [  OK  ]
May 23 10:49:12 setzcon.dyndns.org systemd[1]: Started tvncserver.service - LSB: Starts and stops the TurboVNC Server.

DRC

unread,
Jun 3, 2026, 8:32:13 AM (5 days ago) Jun 3
to turbovn...@googlegroups.com

No idea about the e-mail bounces.  Others, including me, are e-mailing the group with no problems.  I checked your subscription settings, and they look normal.  Generally, Google Groups will only say that the group doesn't exist if you mistyped the address, but maybe there are regional restrictions as well.  I was hosting the mailing lists on SourceForge initially, but SF took away some critical admin controls, which prompted the move to Google Groups.  (Other OSS projects did likewise.)  I could host Mailman on my own web server, but I'm hesitant to do that for longevity reasons (i.e. that server will go away if I stop paying for it.)

No idea why Xvnc didn't start, but I should reiterate that the TurboVNC init.d daemon was inherited from TightVNC.  It's antiquated code that I keep around because some people still use it, but init.d support in newer Linux distros is becoming increasingly flaky.  (In some cases, it is non-existent.)  The init.d daemon needs to be ported to systemd, which I will probably tackle in the coming months.

As to the black screen, that was because your script didn't start a window manager, e.g. xfce4-session or mate-session.

DRC
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