Connecting to Windows very slow without remote monitor on

[docref]

Hi everyone:  I had a Windows 10 machine host that could be connected to with iPad, iPhone, and both Mac and PC laptops. Replaced it with a Windows 11 machine and made sure I updated all NoMachine software to the latest versions.

With the Win 11 machine (as the host), performance is almost ZERO unless the remote monitor is on (regardless of what I use to connect to it). Performance here means that the display takes a while to initially load. Then it won’t track any mouse movement or update display (e.g., if you move from one email message to the next). I played with settings for seemingly ever, but nothing helped.

I then found some other forum posts on this….most notably this one –

NoMachine time lag after remote computer inactivity/lock screen

and this one  –

Slow connection after computer wakes from suspend/hibernate

I had someone remotely turn on the monitor and instantly everything went “back to normal” in terms of my speed and access.  I had them turn off the remote monitor and I instantly went back to almost zero performance.

My understanding from reading the posts is that this was fixed, but I’m still having issues.  Thoughts?  Do I just have to keep the remote monitor on all the time?  Thanks!

[Britgirl]

The recent version didn’t change anything which could affect how NoMachine connects to remote Windows (headless and non).

Try these settings, by adding them one at a time to the node.cfg on the Windows computer you are connecting to.

First add DisplayServerExtraOptions "-displayrequired" and start a session. If that doesn’t improve, add
DisplayServerExtraOptions "-nodxgrab -nodxgigrab"

regardless of what I use to connect to it

So it’s something affecting every remote access tool you choose 🙂 not just NoMachine?
If that GPU doesn’t work normally when monitor is powered off, it’s possible that there is nothing we can do.

[docref]

Thanks, Britgirl.

When I said: “regardless of what I use to connect to it”, you said: “So it’s something affecting every remote access tool you choose 🙂 not just NoMachine?” Sorry for the confusion. What I meant was that when I connect to the remote windows machine, the speed problem doesn’t change regardless of whether I attempt to connect via a PC laptop, a Mac laptop, an iOS tablet, or another PC desktop.  I was trying to say that the device I was using to connect to the remote machine didn’t change performance. The only thing that changed performance was when I had someone turn on the remote monitor.

For your fixes, maybe I’m doing something wrong. I apologize in advance for my ignorance  If I simply add your first suggestion without a “#”, like this to the configuration file…

# Configuration file format version.
#
ConfigFileVersion 4.0
DisplayServerExtraOptions “-displayrequired”

Then I cannot connect to my device.  It connects but continually drops, reconnects, drops, reconnects, etc.  So I’m obviously doing something wrong.  If I put a “#” in front of it, it makes no difference.  I can literally sit here in front of the remote machine on a local network with perfect connectivity.  But the second I turn off the remote monitor, I lose all visualization.

[Britgirl]

I just realised there is a ‘1’ missing in the key I wrote. I apologize for that.

The key should look like this: DisplayServerExtraOptions “-displayrequired 1”

 

 

[docref]

Hi Britgirl:  Listed below is what I did (at least the top of the settings)….per your advice.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t change anything.  I’m testing this by standing next to the remote host with a connection device.  When I connect and the remote monitor is on, I have perfect fluidity.  When I turn the monitor off, I get almost zero responsiveness. As a matter of fact, I would say that I actually get less responsiveness with the new addition of “displayserverextraoptions” than before.

Thoughts?  Thank you!

 

######################################################################
#                                                                    #
#  Copyright (c) 2001, 2022 NoMachine, http://www.nomachine.com.     #
#                                                                    #
#  All rights reserved.                                              #
#                                                                    #
######################################################################

#
# Some configuration keys are used to set specific limits, such as the
# maximum size for the session log. To remove a limitation, set the
# corresponding key to value ‘0’ or ‘Unlimited’.

#
# Configuration file format version.
#
ConfigFileVersion 4.0
DisplayServerExtraOptions “-displayrequired 1”

#
# Specify hostname for the NoMachine node.
#
#NodeName localhost.localdomain

[Britgirl]

You could try attaching a dongle if you don’t want the monitor on, so essentially making it a headless Windows machine.

How to solve black screen problem on Windows headless machines
https://kb.nomachine.com/AR05S01124

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