As of Ubuntu 12.10, the Unity 2D desktop interface ("Ubuntu 2D") no
longer exists. Ordinarily, computers without adequate 3D
acceleration use the llvmpipe software renderer.
Since Unity 2D used to be the easy way to xRDP into an Ubuntu
system, its removal requires the use of a different technique.
Fortunately, there is a solution:
Install xRDP
That page provides a circuitous way to install xRDP, but really
it's as
simple as before. Install xrdp in
the Software Center. Or install from the Terminal by running:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
If it is not found, make sure
Install a Desktop Interface Not Requiring (Real or Simulated) 3D
Acceleration
Grifon's instructions recommend GNOME
Fallback (providing the "GNOME Classic"
session type). Thegnome-session-fallback package
provides it.
sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback
(It's best to run sudo
apt-get update first if you haven't done so
recently.)
Other alternatives include:
Xfce (xubuntu-desktop / sudo
apt-get install xubuntu-desktop)
LXDE (lubuntu-desktop / sudo
apt-get install lubuntu-desktop)
MATE (this
is a bit more involved to install, see these instructions)
Create a ~/.xsession File
Specifying the Desired Interface for xRDP
In the home directory of the user or users who you wish to log in
via xRDP, create a file called .xsession.
You can do this with any text editor, such as Gedit. Once created,
this file won't be visible in file managers except
when View
> Show Hidden Files (or similar) is
enabled. In Nautilus and most other file
managers, Ctrl+H does
this.
The quickest and easiest way to make this file is probably the
Terminal--a single command will create it.
To use GNOME Fallback ("GNOME Classic (no effects)"):
echo gnome-session --session=gnome-fallback > ~/.xsession
Or, to use Xfce ("Xubuntu Session"):
echo xfce4-session > ~/.xsession
Or, to use LXDE ("Lubuntu Desktop"):
echo lxsession -s Lubuntu -e LXDE > ~/.xsession
Configure the Keyboard Layout
If you want an English keyboard layout, you don't need to do
anything for this step.
Otherwise, to configure xRDP to use a different keyboard layout,
see the "Solving the keyboard Layouts problem in the xRDP session"
section of this
post (the rest of that post applies just to
earlier versions of Ubuntu; the post was linked to
from
Now it should work!
Griffon has pointed out that,
unfortunately, in GNOME Fallback, the usual way of logging out does
not work (when connected via xRDP). Instead, log out by running the
command:
gnome-session-quit --logout
You can open a Terminal window (Ctrl+Alt+T)
for this, but you might as well just use the Run dialog
(Alt+F2).
In other desktop environments, logging out might still work, but if
it does not, you can use their approximate equivalents of
the
Acknowledgements
Much of the information here is from that blog
post (though no text is copied).