tightvncserver crashes when using tightvnc-java

[C Pirnat]

Binary package hint: tightvnc-java

Running ubuntu 8.04.1 amd64 bit. Installed tightvncserver with tightvnc-java. When trying to connect to the tightvncserver via a java browser crashes the vncserver. It leaves the pid file in ~/.vnc and leaves all the temporary files in /tmp. tightvnc-java is unusable at this time. I can recreate the crash every time it never works. I've tried newer versions from tightvnc's webiste with the same problem. The system then becomes unstable and new windows will not open on the local display. You have to log out to fix the issue.

Beharvior persists with versions 1.3.9 of tightvncserver and tightvnc-java. Also does not work in Intrepid.

20/09/08 19:15:11 Xvnc version 3.3.tight1.2.9
20/09/08 19:15:11 Copyright (C) 1999 AT&T Laboratories Cambridge.
20/09/08 19:15:11 Copyright (C) 2000-2002 Constantin Kaplinsky.
20/09/08 19:15:11 All Rights Reserved.
20/09/08 19:15:11 See http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc for information on VNC
20/09/08 19:15:11 See http://www.tightvnc.com for TightVNC-specific information
20/09/08 19:15:11 Desktop name 'X' (xw8200:1)
20/09/08 19:15:11 Protocol version supported 3.3
20/09/08 19:15:11 Listening for VNC connections on TCP port 5901
20/09/08 19:15:11 Listening for HTTP connections on TCP port 5801
20/09/08 19:15:11 URL http://xw8200:5801
Font directory '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/' not found - ignoring
Font directory '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/' not found - ignoring
Font directory '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/' not found - ignoring
Font directory '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/' not found - ignoring
Font directory '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/' not found - ignoring
xrdb: No such file or directory
xrdb: can't open file '/home/histo/.Xresources'
Window manager warning: Log level 32: could not find XKB extension.
20/09/08 19:15:40 Window manager warning: Fatal IO error 11 (Resource temporarily unavailable) on display ':1'.
xterm: fatal IO error 11 (Resource temporarily unavailable) or KillClient on X server ":1.0"

[Jeffrey Schwab (jeffrey-schwab1)]

Similar problem on Jaunty: Whenever an attempt is made to connect from a browser, e.g. to http://localhost:5801, Xtightvncserver immediately crashes. Connections via vncviewer are fine.

[Jeffrey Schwab (jeffrey-schwab1)]

The crash is consistently a seg. fault.

$ Xtightvnc :1 -desktop X -httpd /usr/share/tightvnc-java -auth /home/jeff/.Xauthority -geometry 1024x768 -depth 24 -rfbwait 120000 -rfbauth /home/jeff/.vnc/passwd -rfbport 5901 -fp /usr/share/fonts/X11/misc/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/
Couldn't open RGB_DB '/usr/share/X11/rgb'
28/10/09 09:59:41 Xvnc version TightVNC-1.3.9
28/10/09 09:59:41 Copyright (C) 2000-2007 TightVNC Group
28/10/09 09:59:41 Copyright (C) 1999 AT&T Laboratories Cambridge
28/10/09 09:59:41 All Rights Reserved.
28/10/09 09:59:41 See http://www.tightvnc.com/ for information on TightVNC
28/10/09 09:59:41 Desktop name 'X' (boomer:1)
28/10/09 09:59:41 Protocol versions supported: 3.3, 3.7, 3.8, 3.7t, 3.8t
28/10/09 09:59:41 Listening for VNC connections on TCP port 5901
28/10/09 09:59:41 Listening for HTTP connections on TCP port 5801
28/10/09 09:59:41 URL http://boomer:5801
28/10/09 09:59:50 Segmentation fault

[Jeffrey Schwab (jeffrey-schwab1)]

The work-around I've found is to serve the RealVNC applet; whatever is causing the tightvnc server to crash is apparently specific to tightvnc-java. Unfortunately, there still seems to be some problem with multiple RealVNC viewer connections: When a second RealVNC client connects, the first client's viewer window immediately disappears. Fortunately, clients of different types, e.g. tightvnc vncviewer and a RealVNC applet-based client, can co-exist peacefully.

In case you only need to support a single web-based client (plus your local, native client), the following works for me.

1) Launch a simple web server, to serve the VNC viewer applet; e.g., to use lighttpd on Ubuntu:

    sudo aptitude install lighttpd

2) Download and unpack the free RealVNC viewer. It's GPL, but the download site wants your email address.

    http://www.realvnc.com/products/download.html

3) Find the applet in the RealVNC download. For example:

    find vnc-4_1_3-unixsrc -name vncviewer.jar

4) Copy the applet, RealVNC logo, and index file to the web server's static content directory. The index file is HTML, but has a .vnc extension; to make sure browsers recognize it as HTML, change the extension. Be careful not to overwrite any existing files in the content directory!

    sudo cp vnc-4_1_3-unixsrc/common/javabin/* /var/www
    cd /var/www
    sudo mv index.vnc index.html

5) Start the vncserver.

    vncserver

6) Test by going to http://localhost/ in your favorite web browser. Don't forget that when you send people instructions for connecting, they'll need to enter the full IP address in both the URL, and the X server location. If they enter 2xx.xxx.xxx.xxx in the location bar, they'll need to enter 2xx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1 when prompted for the X server location.

Good luck.