Remote GDM session

[William Park]

Hi, this is for Beaglebone Black and Angstrom (2013-05-27).

I'm trying to login to GDM remotely.  My /etc/gdm/custom.conf is as follows:

    [security]
    DisallowTCP=false
    AllowRoot=true
    AllowRemoteRoot=true
   
    [xdmcp]
    Enable=true
    DisplaysPerHost=2
 
    [daemon]
    AutomaticLoginEnable=false
    AutomaticLogin=
    TimedLoginEnable=false
    TimedLogin=
    TimedLoginDelay=10

I disabled auto login, and enabled TCP and XDMCP.  Normally, you just have to do

    X :1 -query 192.168.7.2

But, all I'm getting is blank screen.  The same config file works for CentOS GDM,
but not Angstrom GDM.  This may be Angstrom specific issue.

Help!
--
William

[William Park]

I finally got remote GDM login woking!  Now, I really don't have to buy those stupid HDMI cables and converters.  On BeagleBone Black,  edit /etc/gdm/custom.conf as follows:

    [security]
    DisallowTCP=false

    [xdmcp]
    Enable=true

    [daemon]
    TimedLoginEnable=true
    TimedLogin=root
    TimedLoginDelay=10

where "daemon" section was already there .  It seems that all the partition mounting is done when root (or any user) logs in through GDM.  So, if you have any USB disk, you have to allow "root" login, which means "root" must have empty password, which it is by default.  Also, it seems that Angstrom remember if remote GDM login was successful or not, and will not try again if previous attempt failed.  So, reboot.

On remote computer, you simply do

    X :1 -query ip.of.beaglebone.black

It's easier if you allow all connections to/from BeagleBone Black.  If you can't, then you must at least allow incoming port 6000+1, where "1" is display number you used on your command.

Honestly, I don't know why it wasn't working before.  I did change to 5V DC adapter and dedicated USB card reader, whereas I was using 1A USB charger and cell phone as microSD reader before.  But, that shouldn't matter.  Anyways, enjoy!
--
William