Headless With X
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This article explains how to have X running while a machine boots headless, i.e., without a monitor. By default this does not happen, because X detects the absence of a monitor and does not start.
First copy the following text:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "vesa" #Choose the driver used for this monitor
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0" #Collapse Monitor and Device section to Screen section
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24 #Choose the depth (16||24)
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768_75.00" #Choose the resolution
EndSubSection
EndSection
into this file, as root:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf
and reboot.
If it works, you're done, X will run fine with or without a screen. If not, you have a video card causing issues. One quick way to handle this is to try different drivers instead of "vesa". A list can be had by running "X -configure" without X running. One ATI video card confirmed to need this, worked well using "ati" instead of "vesa".