Pretty ingenious workaround. Just a note to skip some of the first 'blind' section (installing openssh server through the desktop environment with no screen visible):
Ctrl+Alt+F1 still works in many distros to switch VTs to a text-mode terminal tty1, and likely also works without logging into the desktop. Ctrl-Alt-F7 to switch back.
From here, you should be able to login blind, then sudo apt install openssh-server (assuming Internet connectivity,) or kill whatever misbehaving process, or even restart the whole DE or computer.
Switching to TTY2 is probably a better idea. I haven't used Linux in a while, but IIRC modern distributions use TTY1 for the graphical session due to some sort of limitation with systemd.
Actually, it dates from a couple of years before systemd existed, and started with the idea of minimizing monitor flicker during the system bootstrap in Fedora. The idea was to make the display not switch between text and graphics modes, as it did when successively switching from graphical splash screen to textual virtual terminal to graphical X display. Starting the X server on the default virtual terminal eliminated the middle part.
By the time that systemd came along, this was already established Fedora behaviour with upstart. The systemd people had to work to replicate existing semantics.
Not a limitation, but the notion that the graphical console should replace the text console on the same TTY.
Kind of makes sense, but very consistency/tradition-breaking. One of those decisions that should have been implemented a while back in order to be elegant.
Not so on my Bunsenlabs installation, which is just plain Debian, systemd included, with a minimalist OpenBox theme. Ctrl+Alt+F1 from the desktop gives me a text login session, and Alt+F7 returns to the desktop. Alt+F(1-6) switches between six text sessions.
There is no mention of what altitude he was at, but it's worth noting that LCDs are often rated to no higher than 10k-12kft, because tiny pockets of air at trapped during manufacturing (at sea level) may expand and cause damage.
That is what Apple used to recommend but the general approach these days is to allow the user to scale however they want as long as it doesn't break your UI, and for accessibility reasons.
Cool work around. Just adding another cool way to get laptops IP without ifconfig.
AVAHI. install avahi daemon (comes pre installed with most distros) and your laptop can be referred with a domain name(generally LAPTOPNAME.local, "local" domain). By using this you won't have to worry about the changing IPs, you always refer to the laptop with that name. Very handy.
Great stuff! For the record: Avahi is an implementation of Zeroconf. Bonjour is another implementation from Apple. Bonjour is built into macOS. Bonjour is available for Windows too, for example it can be downloaded somewhere on apple.com. (Personally I just install Cyberduck on all Windows machines I touch - it's an open-source SFTP/FTP/block-storage client and includes Bonjour for Windows.)
I'm reminded of the section in Cryptonomicon where the protagonist is imprisoned with his laptop and needs to hack with the screen turned off, for security reasons
I haven't reread it since about 2000 so you are now likely to be right. I was sure there's another bit where he's doing things blind, but memory serves me badly! I do recall he needed to make sure anyone reading his screen remotely couldn't read his code. Time to dip in for another look
Huge amount of useful information for anybody with a laptop - screens break anytime, anywhere, and of you are in maker-mode at 0300 you wont be getting it fixed for a day! VNC definitely a great tool to have on and running all the time in case this happens. The other tools very useful to know about.
Thank you :) So pleased you appreciate it, there's a surprising amount of time and energy spent in all that. And yes that was exactly my thought, the hacks could be useful for any number of reasons, not just broken screens in the Himalayas.
Nice hacks. Just wanted to comment that the free version of JuiceSSH is crippled. I forget in what way but I tried it out a while back because I wanted to test out mosh support and ended up deleting it because of the crippling.
Now I'm happily back with ConnectBot (I didn't really need mosh support anyway), although I do see that screen status bar update screen scrolling thing happen from time to time, never worked out why or how to fix it, but it goes away if I start a new session.
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Ctrl+Alt+F1 still works in many distros to switch VTs to a text-mode terminal tty1, and likely also works without logging into the desktop. Ctrl-Alt-F7 to switch back.
From here, you should be able to login blind, then sudo apt install openssh-server (assuming Internet connectivity,) or kill whatever misbehaving process, or even restart the whole DE or computer.
By the time that systemd came along, this was already established Fedora behaviour with upstart. The systemd people had to work to replicate existing semantics.
* http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/BetterStartup
* http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue150#Moving_X_from_VT7...
* https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=614454#c6
* https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=619889#c12
Not a limitation, but the notion that the graphical console should replace the text console on the same TTY.
Kind of makes sense, but very consistency/tradition-breaking. One of those decisions that should have been implemented a while back in order to be elegant.
"Kids these days" don't even know what it is to spend days having to make their X11/Xorg work * coff * coff
http://www.dfrsolutions.com/pdfs/2004_HighAltitude_Hillman-B...
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Now I'm happily back with ConnectBot (I didn't really need mosh support anyway), although I do see that screen status bar update screen scrolling thing happen from time to time, never worked out why or how to fix it, but it goes away if I start a new session.