Comment 23 for bug 652731

I'm having this problem on raring 13.04. x86_64, core-i7.

Specifically:

This machine actually has an nvidia gpu (GT520) and is using nvidia drivers. HOWEVER, on its actual screen, which is a real TV, I'm running XBMC. I'm trying to run the xubuntu desktop in a vncserver completely independently of the real screen, for convenient working on that machine from another one actually equipped with a monitor, keyboard, etc. (I'd actually rather be running unity, but that's such a total failure i don't even know what to start reporting; with this at least, it's usable with one specific thing that's not working that I can report on.)

And while the xubuntu desktop generally seems to be working, again, appearance settings have no effect. xfsettingsd is not running, although it is in the application autostart lists. If I try to invoke it manually (from inside a terminal running on the xubuntu desktop) I get:

(xfsettingsd:14174): xfsettingsd-CRITICAL **: RANDR extension is too old, version 1.1. Display settings won't be applied.
Xlib: extension "XInputExtension" missing on display ":1.0".

(xfsettingsd:14174): xfsettingsd-CRITICAL **: XI is not present.

(xfsettingsd:14174): xfsettingsd-CRITICAL **: Failed to initialize the Xkb extension.

(xfsettingsd:14174): xfsettingsd-CRITICAL **: Failed to initialize the Accessibility extension.

... and afterwards, xfsettingsd is not running.

BTW with respect to the above errors

libxi6 is installed
libxkbfile1 is installed plus various other xkb packages,
These look like stuff you'd want to set up in xorg.conf, but of course, running in a vncserver rather than on the screen, I don't think /etc/X11/xorg.conf should apply (being as it is set up optimally for XBMC-on-a-TV purposes, so not sure where this is supposed to go.

If I log into xubuntu on the actual main screen, it all works as it should; but sadly (or I'd be satisfied now) the appearance settings I set while there are *still* not applied when I start a session in vnc. So presumably even pre-saved, configured appearance settings need xfsettingsd running to be applied. (Yes, checking by logging back into it on the real screen showed the settings had been remembered, and were restored properly there.)

The ~/.vnc/xstartup file btw (comments show remains of past failures with other desktop environments...)

#!/bin/sh

# Uncomment the following two lines for normal desktop:
#unset SESSION_MANAGER
#unset DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
#exec /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
#/usr/bin/gnome-session --session=ubuntu &
#/usr/bin/unity &
#/usr/bin/startlubuntu &
/usr/bin/startxfce4 &
#x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
#x-window-manager &

The last thing I tried was *re*commenting the SESSION_MANAGER and DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS lines near the top; which had been uncommented earlier following the advice of the line above it; but that made no apparent difference.