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Support for connecting to a headless endpoint (windows computer without a monitor plugged in).

joelcrburgess

6 years ago
updated 9 months ago
Pending Review

Currently there is no support for connecting to a headless endpoint (windows computer without a monitor plugged in). This is a big problem, as we are in the middle of moving from Bomgar to Control and now we realize that we can't support many of our client's servers or even Win10 computers who are headless. Even though the client has no monitor connected, we should still be able to see the Explorer GUI, other remote support apps certainly can do this. This is a HUGE feature-lack.

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Zanthexter

3 years ago

Quote from Ike

This issue just popped up on 2 exact builds...

MSI B550 motherboards with AMD 5600G cpu

If no monitor is plugged into the board, screen connect control just shows the screen, but nothing is clickable at all.

8-8-22

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MZBFNM3

Kludgey, but they work.

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CloudThomas

3 years ago

Quote from Zanthexter

ConnectWise hasn't invested any effort into improving ScreenConnect since they've bought it. Well, that customers want anyway. They've spent money pushing their subscription and looking for ways to upcharge.

You're going to have to switch products if you want a working remote support solution. This issue has long since been addressed by TeamViewer, Splashtop, and others. (Splasthop has a "virtual monitor" driver, etc.)

I still keep my ScreenConnect server running as a backup method to connect. But I gave up and switched away. I just saw no reason to keep paying for maintenance when they were refusing to maintain the damn thing anymore.

Once Connectwise buys anything the product lacks any useful development and basically dies a slow death.

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Josh Jacklin

3 years ago

Connectwise, any news on when this is going to be fixed? This has been an issue for a considerably long time now, even longer than this post!

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Dave73

3 years ago

It's been over 4 years since the thread was started - safe to assume they don't give a **** ...

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Sean White Team Member

3 years ago

Support for headless machines is outlined in this article:
Connect to a headless Windows machine - ConnectWise

Generally if there is a video card output we will be able to capture the screen, in some cases where video is outputting a dummy plug may be needed.

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jhardwick

3 years ago

@swhite, this doesn't solve the problem if the monitor / TV is simply turned off. There is a similar feature request going for a virtual display adapter (the way LogMeIn does it).. that would solve this issue as well that has had no active comment from CW.

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Josh Jacklin

3 years ago

The screen is displayed correctly and presents me with the lock screen but is unresponsive in my case. Sending Ctrl Alt + Del doesn't progress any further.

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Zanthexter

3 years ago

Quote from Sean White

Why would you think that is acceptable?

Especially given the problem happens when people close laptop lids.

And your competitors have solved it with "virtual" video cards?

Complete BS telling people to plug in hardware adapters to do remote END USER support. Ignores that the problem is real or significant. Dismisses our concerns.

Which is why I stopped renewing my self hosted maintenance. Doesn't seem worth paying for when there's no customer focused development being done. Why pay for a product that isn't meeting our needs when solid alternatives exist?

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Zanthexter

3 years ago

Quote from Josh Jacklin

The screen is displayed correctly and presents me with the lock screen but is unresponsive in my case. Sending Ctrl Alt + Del doesn't progress any further.

It's not displaying correctly when it doesn't show video updates.

You might want to try entering your credentials blindly, disconnecting, reconnecting, and seeing if you see the desktop. But you'll be stuck there. Good luck trying to use the start menu or Windows settings.

This is an old thread. They are not going to fix this. They don't see it as a problem worth spending money to resolve. They've been focused on finding ways to charge more since ConnectWise bought ScreenConnect.

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