Remote Desktop From Windows to Raspberry Pi

by DIY Brothers

16K636

Intro: Remote Desktop From Windows to Raspberry Pi

Instead of connecting your Raspberry Pi to a large TV monitor why not use Windows Remote Desktop Protocol to access your Raspberry Pi computer?

In this ible I'll show you how to use the windows remote desktop protocol to access your Raspberry Pi computer.

STEP 1: What You'll Need

Nothing special is required for this ible, but you must have theese:

  1. Raspberry Pi model (A, A+, B, B+, Bv2)
  2. Internet Connection
  3. Power supply for the Pi
  4. SD card with Raspbian OS
  5. Lan cable or WIFI dongle
  6. Putty or another program that allow you connect to the Pi throug SSH (it's preferable use SSH)

STEP 2: Install Xrdp

When the Pi is on you can access to the CLI using Putty. Now you can proceed to perform this command:
sudo apt-get install xrdp

When the installations process it's over you have to stop xrdp and then restart it. You can do this using these commands:
sudo service xrdp stop
sudo service xrdp restart
Jump to the next step, we are close to the end ;D

STEP 3: Connect to the Pi

Now you can connect to the Pi using the remote desktop connection. If you don't remember your IP address or you want simply check it you can do this by executing the command ifconfig.
Now open the remote desktop connection program and write your IP address where it's written "computer" and press on Connect.
Insert your username (usually pi) and your password and then press ok.
If all went well you should be connected remotely to the desktop of the Raspberry Pi.
The ible it's ended, I hope you'll find useful if you don't want every time connect a lot of cables to the Pi.
Please if you liked, comment and let me know what do you think about it.

From Gabriele, Napoli Cià :D at the next time!

5 Comments

BR549joe 2 years ago

Putty used to have Xterminal (a wrapper for Cygwin's Xterminal). With that you don't need to install anything on the PI (It after all has X-11). From a local Linux machine (my Debian PC) or another local Pi, I use Xephyr (apt-get install xserver-xephyr). NOTHING to install on the remote Pi (I generally purge realvnc). I can even configure the remote Pi to boot headless through raspi-config, and still have a full local image of a remote 'desktop'.
Locally run the Xephyr (or Putty) x-server application. On local Debian or Pi, I run:
$ Xephyr -ac -screen 1728x972 -br -host-cursor -reset -terminate :3.0 &
$ xterm -display :3.0 &
This starts up a local X-11 server (Xephyr) on port :3.0, with an xterm in it. Then in the xterm terminal display, I run (with appropriate IP):
$ ssh -XfC pi@123.123.123.123 exec startlxde
or
$ ssh -XfC pi@145.136.47.9 exec startlxde-pi
This launches the remote PI's desktop normally, as an X-client, but rather than displaying (serving) it on the remote Pi's X-server/hardware (which may be disabled), the Local machine uses it's hardware and CPU to run the X-server and render the image of the desktop, at local resolution, freeing the tiny remote Pi from doing all the work (Pi's Xserver redering on Pi's hardware, then vnc capturing that and sending it to the local machine, and locally rendering that yet again for you to see).
I use startlxde (the X-client) on the remote (and all my Pis), because unlike startlxde-pi, I get multiple desktop work-spaces without duplicate hardware and monitors and such, even within the remote display. This feature has been in most flavors of Linux for -Decades- now, but the kind folk at Raspberry have disabled this in their startlxde-pi.
You can use this procedure for remote access to most any Linux/Unix machine (even a cloud one) as long as you know the commands to start the desktop you prefer (like startlxde).

Blade_Blaze 8 years ago

Can this also be done with a Windows 7 computer not a pi

medossa 8 years ago

Thanks. Good Instructable.