Remote Desktop on Headless PC

[MacCheetah3]

I recently obtained a Windows 10 PC (with an RTX 30 series card if it matters) that I was planning on leaving headless and remote in from my Mac with VNC Viewer. I didn’t want to pay for Win Pro and deal with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop app. Anyway… I came upon an extremely irritating limitation — I think, a money grab is more like it.

Display issues when connecting to VNC Server running on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016/2019

In some circumstances, your Windows 10 (1803 or later)/ Windows Server (2016 or later) remote computer will not display correctly in VNC Viewer. The commonly reported issues are: a black or blank ...

help.realvnc.com

Basically, if you don’t have a physical output source (e.g. monitor, projector) connected to the GPU, VNC exhibits a black/blank screen after logging in to VNC Server and sometimes shows the Desktop briefly after logging into Windows then stops refreshing/updating the video feed.

The PC is already set not to sleep and I tried leaving an HDMI cable attached, although, Windows apparently needs a device reporting back. I refuse to purchase an EDID emulator on principal, plus they’re ~$50 or more from what I saw.

So, does anyone know of a way to have RealVNC function this way or of an alternative RD client (except MS’s) that doesn’t fall prey to this ‘feature’?

P.S. Because I’m in the mood to rant… Of course, Windows won’t activate either. However, I’ll get that sorted out through other channels.

#WindowsWillAlwaysBeGarbage

 

[ssmed]

You used to be able to get a HMDI stub device which you could plug in to simulate an attached monitor. They were not used for this reason, but to allow video acceleration on headless Macs. Perhaps that is an option for you. They were not very expensive.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Thanks.

Those are the EDID emulators — I wasn’t aware of them until recently — that I mentioned.

Amazon.com: edid emulator: Electronics

Online shopping from a great selection at Electronics Store.

www.amazon.com

I do see some for ~$20 USD, but I’m not sure of the quality and whatnot, plus the fact I need to buy something else infuriates me.

I could position the PC so it can connect to a monitor, although, the placement is far from ideal.

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

You can get a Windows Pro key for like $15 online....