[SOLVED] HDMI Display Problem

[gdmaclew]

I have 4 distros for my RPi 4B...
StellarMate OS, AstroBerry, Raspberry Pi 64-bit Beta and 32-bit NOOBS.
The first 3 I can VNC to after booting them with no problems.
With the NOOBS distro I have to make sure I have an HDMI connection at boot.If I don't, when I VNC to it it displays the following message on a black screen -

Cannot currently show the desktop

Why is that?

 

[OldSurferDude]

Since you mention no debugging strategies, I'll mention some that come to mind.

While in the noobs, in "Raspberry Pi Configuration" reset the resolution of the screen, change "wait for netowrk", Change the desktop background (right click on desktop) Did you try changing any of the VNC settings? Does the VNC connection drop if you pull the HDMI cable?

Have you done a google search on this problem. Did you check the RPi forum?

OSD

 

[gdmaclew]

Thanks for the response.

None of the resolutions solve the problem.
Wait for network doesn't solve the problem.
VNC settings are the same for all 4 distros.
VNC connection does not drop if I pull the HDMI cable.

It's almost as if the RPi needs to know an HDMI connection is available at boot before it will make the Desktop available to VNC. Remember, just in 32-bit NOOBS. If HDMI is connected at boot, desktop is available in VNC. I plan on using it as a remote telescope controller which kind of negates its use if I can't solve this problem.

I started with Google search. Couldn't find anything specific to my problem. That's why I posted here to ask people "in the know".

 

[OldSurferDude]

Just recently I've had problems with NOOBs and I did the slow and painful process of starting with a new micro SD card. There is a new way to load NOOBs, you download a bootloader and put it on the SD card, boot to that and it pulls all of the OS from the web. (as of this date 2020 Aug 12) you end up with the "Buster" OS

Great project, telescope controller! Two axis servo's in real time. You can get a GPS for about $6 from Aliexpress to set your clock and get accurate time and a rough position (+/-30m horizantal, vertical is useless). How will you set the initial position of the 'scope ... point it at the moon? (ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dish )

 

[gdmaclew]

It is a Celestron Nexstar SE8 with an Alt\Az GoTo mount. I do a startup alignment whenever I set up the scope for viewing. It has sever "modes" of alignment, including Skyalign, 2-star align, 1-star align and Planet align. I don't need a GPS. It asks for my location co-ordinates and time/date.

 

[OldSurferDude]

Nice. Good luck with your project!

 

[gdmaclew]

Thank you.
I solved my problem using sudo raspi-config.
I set the resolution to 1920 X 1080 NOT the default 1920 X 1080. Apparently there is a difference.
Works like a charm.
Have a good one.

 

[OldSurferDude]

Great!