All 9.24.1 new setups stuck in view-only mode

[true911]

I started out here by scanning for view-only and read-only posts, but didn’t find anything

I’m running a few different machines mostly using LMDE6 and one Mint 22.2.  I have three separate installs now, which can each see each other on the network and connect successfully, but the remote has no control over the host desktop in each case.  I have checked settings and view-only is definitely not enabled on any of them.

This must be a fluke or the product wouldn’t survive and I’d have seen many many posts about it.  So it’s something consistent about my setups, I can accept that.  But I don’t know where to start.

I know you’ll need logs, please just specify how and where I can get them and I’ll post them all here.  Thanks for your help and understanding.

[Britgirl]

Hi, yes, logs would be useful to see. You can gather those from the server side host by following the instructions here: https://kb.nomachine.com/DT08U00298

You can attach them here or send them to forum[at]nomachine[dot]com. Please use the title of this topic as the subject of your email.

Additionally, we would like to know if adding either of the following 2 options (one at a time) in the node.cfg (/usr/NX/etc/node.cfg) on the Linux server changes anything.

DisplayServerExtraOptions "-eventdelay 0"
 
DisplayAgentExtraOptions "-alteventapi 1"

Please restart the server after adding each option before starting a new connection.

[true911]

OK, I bumped up the log level to Debug, restarted the server, tried a connection from another machine, disconnected, then returned to the server and used the “Take the logs” button to create the attached file.

Attachments:

1. Server-logs-2025-10-07-10.13.04.zip

[true911]

I also tried the two ExtraOptions items in node.cfg and didn’t see any difference.

 

[bucu]

Hi,
we would like to know whether the XTEST extension works properly outside NoMachine. If XTEST isn’t functional, NoMachine may be stuck in view-only mode. To test it, run xdotool key a — if it’s not installed, install it with sudo apt install xdotool. This command should type the letter “a” into the currently active window. Please try it and let us know the results.

Also, check whether the uinput module is available and loaded by running modinfo uinput. If it shows information about the module, it’s installed; if you get “module not found,” try loading it with sudo modprobe uinput.

Finally, please run xinput list and share the output so we can see which input devices are currently recognized by your X server.

[true911]

Sorry in advance, I don’t quite have the code blocks working for me yet.

I’m using two mini PCs, call them remote and host.  I wasn’t sure which you wanted me to work on so I did both.  They were in similar condition.

XTEST/xdotool was not installed on either, so I installed it, and the output was to type the letter “a” at the prompt.  modinfo uinput is working on both.

I’m still making only a view-only connection at this point.

Here is the xinput list output from the remote/HTPC:

┌─[dilbert][HTPC][~]
└─▪  xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer                    	id=2	[master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer              	id=4	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB  Consumer Control 	id=13	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Logitech M325                           	id=15	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Logitech M325                           	id=18	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Logitech M325                           	id=19	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Logitech M325                           	id=20	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                   	id=3	[master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard             	id=5	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                            	id=6	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus                               	id=7	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                            	id=8	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB  System Control   	id=9	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB                   	id=10	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ C-Media Electronics Inc. USB Audio Device	id=11	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Jabra Link 370                          	id=12	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB  Consumer Control 	id=14	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB  Keyboard         	id=16	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Elgato Stream Deck                      	id=17	[slave  keyboard (3)]

and here is the output from xinput list on the host/SERVER:

┌─[dilbert][SERVER][~]
└─▪ xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB Consumer Control id=15 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech M325 id=17 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech M325 id=18 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech M325 id=19 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech M325 id=20 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Sleep Button id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ C-Media Electronics Inc. USB Audio Device id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Jabra Link 370 id=11 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Elgato Stream Deck id=12 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB id=13 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB System Control id=14 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB Keyboard id=16 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ SINO WEALTH Gaming KB Consumer Control id=21 [slave keyboard (3)]

[bucu]

First, let’s clarify the terminology. When we refer to the server side, we mean the machine you are connecting to (not the one running the NoMachine Player, the device you are connecting from). Could you please confirm that you modified the node.cfg file on that machine?

We don’t see anything unusual in the information you provided — XTEST appears to be working correctly, and uinput is detected. However, one thing caught our attention: the Elgato Stream Deck device listed on the server side.

Could you try disconnecting it (or stopping its related service) on the server and then test the NoMachine session again? This will help us rule out any possible interference with input handling.

[true911]

I understand the host/remote concept.  This switches as I move to different machines on my network, but I am referring to two specific machines in this case, the remote is using NM client to connect to the host’s NM server.

When you said Stream I immediately knew what you meant, I run StreamController on my main desktop only to configure my Stream Desk hardware device.  In this case that machine is the remote, not the server, but I disabled it nonetheless.

tl;dr – I am working now across all my machines.  I don’t know what changed, unless it was lan-wide, because I was experiencing the same problem on 5 total machines in both directions, only one of which had StreamController equipped.

For your interest:

I had my first breakthrough where I connected to my same host and was able to control it normally.  Curious, I re-enabled StreamController and was still able to make that connection normally.  Remote and host are the same machines I was referring to earlier  and both are LMDE6.

I decided to try out different host/remote combinations on the LAN – that’s why I installed it in the first place – and I was now able to connect different pairs together that were also not working previously.  I had one machine, SERVER, that continued to respond as read-only using multiple clients on other machines.  I used sudo apt purge, rebooted, and reinstalled it, and now it it working with all the others.  (SERVER is the only machine running Linux Mint 22.2)

I don’t have any reasonable explanation or working theory about how or why this resolved itself.  As mentioned the StreamController app was installed on the remote/client machine, not the host/server, and is running there again successfully without interference.

Thanks for taking the time to look into this and I can only hope I provided enough detail that it might be useful in some way in the future.

 

[Author]

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