VNC problems with RPi4 (Solved)

[whroberts]

I've just set up my RPi 4 (4gb version) which worked eventually, using a direct connection to an old monitor. The first attempt just stuck on the initial 4-colour spectrum screen, and refused to go any further. This was using the hdmi socket next to the audio socket. I then tried again using the hdmi socket next to the usb power socket, and it all went fine. Surely this isn't right, is it? Shouldn't both hdmi sockets work the same?

But a far more serious problem...

I'm now trying to use it via VNC from my desktop PC (after enabling via the Config screen), and it's unuseable - the RPi disconnects every 30 seconds or so, and then I have to wait for about a minute for it to reconnect. I've rebooted the RPi a few times, but it makes no difference. I've always used VNC to run my RPi boards; it works flawlessly with the Zero W and the 3B+, but it's absolutely useless with the 4B. This is an absolute deal-breaker for me, if I can't use it via VNC, then it's pointless.

Straight after the initial Raspbian installation and setup, it tried to do an automatic software update, but it then displayed a couple of error messages to the effect that Buster couldn't be updated for 7 days and a few hours or so, and nothing was downloaded/updated.

Any advice, please. Otherwise, this is just £54 down the toilet.

[Andyroo]

Can you ssh into the Pi or does that disconnect as well?

Can you run a ping to the Pi and dies that drop any packets?

What power supply are you using? The 3B+ was power hungry and the 4 shares the same trait...

[nockieboy]

Not that it's much use, but I can confirm that the RPi 4 running Buster works with VNC just fine - I'm using mine in headless mode without any issues at all.

Might be worth you flashing your SD card with a clean installation of Buster, setting the SD card up with SSH enabled and wifi already set up BEFORE you boot the Pi, then boot it and SSH into it.

Once you're in, assuming the connection is stable and you've not got network or - heaven forbid - hardware issues with the Pi 4 itself, run raspi-config to configure the Pi over SSH in the terminal. Enable VNC, then go to Advanced Settings, Display Resolution (or title to that effect) and set a default resolution OTHER than the default one. I set mine to 1920x1080.

Reboot the Pi and - if there's no other issues - you should be able to view the desktop via your VNC client.

That's what I did and my Pi 4 is running fine now over VNC in headless mode - so unless there's a hardware issue with your particular Pi, it WILL be able to run via VNC once you've set it up.

[whroberts]

Thanks to both for your responses.

Last thing yesterday I did apt-get upgrade and dist-upgrade, both of which did lots of stuff. Repeated it again this afternoon, and once again it found some more bits to upgrade. I assume that this is what it should have done on the initial setup, when it failed saying that Buster couldn't be updated for another 7 days!

I then tried PINGing and SSHing, both of which were stable and gave no problems. Tried VNC again, and guess what - it worked with no problems, no dropouts, steady as a rock.

I guess there were some software tweaks that have come up in the last couple of days, but whatever has fixed it, I'm now a happy bunny, and the RPi 4 will be staying in the Pi menagerie on my desk.

[fruitoftheloom]

Thanks to both for your responses.

Last thing yesterday I did apt-get upgrade and dist-upgrade, both of which did lots of stuff. Repeated it again this afternoon, and once again it found some more bits to upgrade. I assume that this is what it should have done on the initial setup, when it failed saying that Buster couldn't be updated for another 7 days!

I then tried PINGing and SSHing, both of which were stable and gave no problems. Tried VNC again, and guess what - it worked with no problems, no dropouts, steady as a rock.

I guess there were some software tweaks that have come up in the last couple of days, but whatever has fixed it, I'm now a happy bunny, and the RPi 4 will be staying in the Pi menagerie on my desk.

I prefer using just APT:

Code: Select all

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade