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techone243

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Start X server without an attached monitor

I'm running a Linux Centos 5.5 x64 server with no physical monitor attached and an NVidia graphics card (using the latest linux drivers). I am accessing it through ssh. I have some software that uses the NVIDIA card to perform calculations, but it won't work because the X server is not running. Running startx gives me an error that no display devices have been found. Is there a way to start the x server without a physical monitor attached to the machine? I've had the software work before by plugging in a monitor and then disconnecting it, so it does not need a screen attached to work, but I don't have physical access to this machine at the time.



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farzanj
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Did you try doing

ssh -Y user@host
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techone243

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I don't need to tunnel the X connection over ssh. I just need the X server to start with the nvidia driver without a monitor attached.
I tried using the Xvfb program but I get this error when running the program:

Xlib:  extension "NV-GLX" missing on display "unix:0.0".
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farzanj
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Try :  startx&  i.e. try running the command so that it runs in background and starts the x-windows in background of instead of trying to run it in your current ssh session.
Just tried it on a remote centos5 machine and it worked.