When I type startx on the ssh, I get a functional desktop on the display with working patchage and terminal, but nothing else, no other guis. terminating desktop returns to an intact Zynthian-UI, but the touch inputs are working on the desktop as well as on the invisible Zynthian-UI at the same time, calling unvoluntary actions from Zynthian-UI, so there needs to be some kind of switch to temporarily disable touch on Zynthian-UI while the desktop is open.
Methinks there is a missing “not” in that statement, so you really mean:
An hdmi monitor is a suitable lowest common denominator because without one you can not find the ip address or name,…
We are not short of rook soup you know. . . .
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Do we need a tunagenes grammar checking plugin (patent pending) for Discourse?
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lol, yeah it leaves a very bad impression
ui in a window in a desktop is more useful than its normal operation actually, I’ll check it out thanks
this, in my mind, is the ideal solution, I would go even further and say it would rock if we could for instance switch between main display and x display for those, so that one could pump the x display out of the second hdmi, that would be very versatile
I think that is what I suggested. They are both X. I think that having two dropdown selections in webconf, one for each of the main GUI and the (engines) desktop would provide a fairly simple to comprehend and flexible way to direct the two graphical displays we create to various locations.
Another consideration would be that the two dropdowns need to interact, i.e. you can’t put them both out of the same video output… or can you? We could work it so that doing so would present the main UI in a window on the desktop.
Of course this isn’t the most flexible solution. What if we want to duplicate screens, e.g. have main UI on both DSI-1 feeding a local touchscreen and HDMI-1 feeding a larger tally screen? I want to avoid a matrix for the user who wants something simple to comprehend. (Well, we want them to have something simple!)
there are some worms in that can, but they’re good worms! 
it wont be long before people want to set up an osc on that
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I can confirm the vnc worked, I’m concerned about performance compared to my earlier version that I’m pretty sure used to start up without vnc, since I could plug a screen into it after boot 
I’ve been digging around the internet and it does appear that there was a change in linux that made it change from config.txt to cmdline.txt options, is it possible that those options are disabled in the kernel setup? I’ve seen vnc knock the system usage up to 60% in certain conditions… maybe if we could make it only turn the gui on and not the second screen, but have the option to enable the second screen to tweak things?
if possible I’d like to find a way to get the hdmi to stay on the way I did, but the old config.txt commands definitely wont work anymore, maybe I should try and buy a hdmi micro cable, cut it and try to make an hdmi dummy or something, or slap a rolled up hdmi cable on a vga converter or something, I feel like this problem might be solved by the greater pi/linux community by this time next year… I like the webgui solution where you can at least configure it, and then when further modes or support become known that will definitely improve whatever work’s been done.
Hi,
recently bought an rPI 5 (4GB) to replace my rPI 4 (4GB) and i have the same issue with the non-functioning HDMI output. While i can connect to the WebUI (enable VNC from there) it doesn’t allow me to enable VNC via the raspi-config (packages missing it seems).
Hi @ledan! Please read through the thread. We know that RPi5 fails to enable HDMI/DSI outputs if there is no display connected at boot and hence Zynthian fails to start. There is a suggestion for a software change that would provide enhanced display control and act as a solution to this problem. I have also asked @jofemodo whether there is a kernel configuration that may be applied to fix the issue.
For anyone coming here with the same issue:
ZYNTHIAN RUNNING ON RASPBERRY PI5 WILL NOT CURRENTLY WORK IF THERE IS NO HDMI OR DSI SCREEN CONNECTED DURING BOOT.
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hi riban and thx.
But in my case i actually “do” have the mini-hdmi connected at boot, but still it does not give video output.
If i remove the sd-card and start it, then i’ll instantly see the rPI boot screen asking me to insert a bootable medium, etc, but with the latest image, there is only blackness on the screen.
@ledan it sounds like you are describing something different. It sounds like you do have a HDMI screen attached (otherwise, how would you see the the boot screen?) Have you tried plugging into the other HDMI port? I am aware of an issue that zynthian only works properly in one of the HDMI ports.
I just now found something interesting on the rpi forum. From what i understand bullseye/bookworm both rely on this KMS driver that is much less forgiving than the previous one when it comes to dealing with EDID data. If the PI cannot figure out this from the monitor then it will default to a black screen.
In that particular case, it would presumingly be possible to “force” a resolution (in cmdline.txt) by appending:
video=HDMI-A-1:1024X760M@60D (or whatever resolution is required).
What speaks for an EDID issue for me is the fact that booting the rPI 5 without sd-card inserted, then going to the diagnostics screen shows me an EDID=none (which could be my cable?? but that same cable works with rPI 4 without issues…). I need to investigate the cable as well.
edit.
got it working now. I used
video=HDMI-A-1:1024X760M@60D
while still connected to my (raspberry original micro->hdmi cable). I’m leaning towards this being an EDID issue and apparently there are ways to “snatch” this information from a rPI4 and then basically force-feed the rPI5 with the same to make it work, but its a hack for sure.
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Yeah everyone please note I tried cmdline.txt extra and it didn’t seem to help the pi5 boot up
This is my temp fix, works with hdmi power and is available in africa
Putting a reply here primarily so I can be notified of updates to this thread. I am struggling with the no-VNC-without-HDMI issue right now. I had everything up and running beautifully, with my iPad controlling UI, then rebooted without monitor attached via HDMI and … nothing. Currently refreshing my card and starting over after some failed attempts to fix it.
Someone commented above that "“I would expect most people testing zynthian to connect a HDMI monitor.” For my part, I tried to go 100% headless from the start. That was a pretty awful and frustrating experience. So I went ahead and connected a monitor, mouse, and keyboard out of necessity.
Thankfully, I then found a lot to like in Zynthian. However, my ultimate use case is to run Zynthian headless and use a touchscreen tablet like my iPad for ALL access and control. If I can’t do that, I’m not really interested anymore, and I’ll probably have to start looking for a different solution.
Stray thought: I’ve seen some online chatter about how this is a relatively common Raspberry Pi issue. It seems there may be a few adjustments that get ordinary Pi users up and running. However, they also seem to rely on raspi-config and editing other files, changes that don’t necessarily play well with Zynthian.
When/if there’s a Zynthian-specific, Zynthian-friendly technical solution for this, I’d like to suggest it be implemented simply with a “headless” display configuration that could be enabled from the Webconf. I’m not a coder, but I hope and assume this would enable non-disruptive, non-destructive, and specific adjustments to be easily made by non-technical users.
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on the pi5, my hack is to use that little bad boy above, and there’s going to be a patch very soom that will let you get it on, we’ve tested a command line workaround in the thread and the ui did start up, so all is not lost, it’s going to happen, and if you can get an hdmi to vga adapter, it will serve as a workaround in the meantime
on the pi4 it seems to not be an issue
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I have a question about this…
what is happening to vst displays when vnc is disabled normally?
do they render to some kind of dummy display?
I am not aware of any command line workaround that works. Please enlighten me.
No VST on zynthian! The LV2 plugins are hosted by jalv or, when VNC is running, they are hosted by jalv.gtk. Jalv is the command line host that does not launch the UI.