perfSONAR User Q&A and Other Discussion

[Hyojoon Kim <>]

Hi Antoine, 

Yes, I tried all these tricks without any luck. :-( 

Thanks, 
Joon 

> On Jan 8, 2016, at 11:44 AM, Antoine Delvaux 
> <>
>  wrote:
> 
> Hi Joon,
> 
> Did you tried this X11/grub config trick:
> 
> http://www.ghacks.net/2010/11/28/configure-linux-to-boot-without-a-monitor/
> or
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1223504
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Antoine.
> 
>> Le 7 janv. 2016 à 21:57, Hyojoon Kim 
>> <>
>>  a écrit :
>> 
>> Thanks for the pointers! Yes, I think this is the easiest and cheapest way 
>> out of this problem if we are going to use the LIVA box. Even Debian 8 
>> without a desktop environment installed did not boot without a monitor. 
>> 
>> Thank you all!
>> 
>> -Joon
>> 
>>> On Jan 7, 2016, at 4:34 PM, Larry Blunk 
>>> <>
>>>  wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Yep, this looks like it should work --
>>> 
>>> http://acquisitionsyndrome.com/2014/07/headless-ecs-liva/
>>> 
>>> Google "VGA Dummy Plug".  Looks like they can be purchased
>>> for about $10.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 01/07/2016 03:44 PM, Joni Julian wrote:
>>>> While this solution may not apply, it reminds me of a problem I've seen
>>>> before (computer won't boot headless). The solution was to put some
>>>> resistors across the correct pins of a video connector to make the
>>>> computer think that a monitor was connected.
>>>> 
>>>> http://soerennielsen.dk/mod/VGAdummy/index_en.php#1x_en
>>>> 
>>>> https://macminicolo.net/blog/files/build-a-dummy-dongle-for-a-headless-mac-mini.html
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> https://macminicolo.net/blog/files/an-hdmi-adapter-for-a-headless-mac-mini.html
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> No guarantees, but if you have some cables or adapters and resistors
>>>> handy, this could be easy to test.
>>>> 
>>>> HTH!
>>>> - Joni
>>>> 
>>>> On 01/07/2016 03:23 PM, Hyojoon Kim wrote:
>>>>> Michael,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Yes, it seems to be a bit of a mystery. Thanks for the update! I will
>>>>> try a bit more and let the list know if I come up with something.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Joon
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Jan 7, 2016, at 2:36 PM, Michael Johnson 
>>>>>> <>
>>>>>>  wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Joon,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I just checked with the person who set up that Liva (and several
>>>>>> others) and he said he didn't have to do anything in particular as
>>>>>> far as booting goes. But, he has had mixed experiences where some
>>>>>> will boot headlessly, while others won't. Seems a bit mysterious.
>>>>>> He did say that sometimes hooking a keyboard/monitor up, then
>>>>>> booting, and then trying again, it may start working. So, you could
>>>>>> try a few more times and see that gets you anywhere. We're definitely
>>>>>> seeing mixed results on this issue.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> - Michael
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Thu, Jan 07, 2016 at 07:17:33PM +0000, Hyojoon Kim wrote:
>>>>>>> Hello Michael,
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> That would be awesome. Thanks!
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Just FYI, playing with the grub file did not work for me
>>>>>>> (http://superuser.com/questions/746803/how-to-turn-a-desktop-linux-box-headless).
>>>>>>> Maybe there are other tricks that I don’t know.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>> Joon
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Jan 7, 2016, at 2:08 PM, Michael Johnson 
>>>>>>>> <>
>>>>>>>>  wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Hello Joon,
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> For what it's worth, I know people are booting these headless.
>>>>>>>> There's one in my office that will boot without a monitor, but I
>>>>>>>> didn't set it up, so I am not sure if any special steps were taken
>>>>>>>> to make it boot that way. I'll see if I can find anything out.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> - Michael
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Thu, Jan 07, 2016 at 07:02:44PM +0000, Hyojoon Kim wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Hello Michael,
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Ah, I see. Thanks for the heads up! You just saved my time
>>>>>>>>> attempting this.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I was even thinking of trying CentOS, but I just found this review
>>>>>>>>> post about the product on Amazon, which points out the eMMC
>>>>>>>>> storage detection issue with CentOS and Debian (plus about the
>>>>>>>>> booting problem without a monitor)
>>>>>>>>> http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2VPK26HWQCYAA/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00KX93WQW#R2VPK26HWQCYAA
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> We were thinking about deploying these LIVA X boxes around campus
>>>>>>>>> BDFs. However, I think we will have to reconsider this because it
>>>>>>>>> seems that we cannot even reboot the box remotely without a
>>>>>>>>> monitor plugged in all the time.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>> Joon
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> On Jan 7, 2016, at 1:48 PM, Michael Johnson 
>>>>>>>>>> <>
>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Hi Joon,
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> I don't know about the Ubuntu issue in particular, but in my
>>>>>>>>>> experience, Debian 7 didn't recognize the eMMC. You might have a
>>>>>>>>>> different experience, but I wouldn't expect that to work. Hope
>>>>>>>>>> this helps.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>>> Michael
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> On Thu, Jan 07, 2016 at 06:43:22PM +0000, Hyojoon Kim wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> It turns out that latest Ubuntu desktop OSes cannot boot without
>>>>>>>>>>> a monitor plugged in to the machine, so this happens with the
>>>>>>>>>>> LIVA X box as well. Did anyone find a working solution for this?
>>>>>>>>>>> I might just move on to using Debian 7 Wheezy, which I assume
>>>>>>>>>>> will not have this problem, but I just wanted to check if anyone
>>>>>>>>>>> was successful with this matter with Ubuntu before I try Debian 7.
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> FYI,
>>>>>>>>>>> This seems to be a known problem:
>>>>>>>>>>> "Q: Ubuntu can’t boot up without monitor plugged to LIVA MINI PC”
>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_LIVA_FAQ.aspx?DetailID=1593&LanID=0
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> I tried to solve this problem by following links and using all
>>>>>>>>>>> suggestions I can find on the web, including (but not limited to):
>>>>>>>>>>> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1223504
>>>>>>>>>>> http://askubuntu.com/questions/166009/use-ubuntu-graphical-desktop-without-monitor-at-boot
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> However, all methods did not work for me..
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> Using Ubuntu *Server* OS would be one solution, but I had
>>>>>>>>>>> installation problems with that, which I did post about it on
>>>>>>>>>>> this mailing list before. (problem: installation process fails
>>>>>>>>>>> to recognize the eMMC storage space)
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>>>>> Joon
>>> 
>> 
>