View 4 works with RDP but doesn't with PCoIP, black screen and dropped connection

Question

I have View 4 up and running, and all generally appears to have gone well. The problem I'm running into is if I choose the RDP protocol, the desktop pops up and runs fine. If, however, I choose the PCoIP protocol, I get a black screen and then 10-15 seconds later, the connection drops.

One of the suggestions I've found was to double check the video memory on the DVM, which I did. It was originally 29.61 or something like that, so I changed it to 32. That didn't help, so I tried 64. That didn't help either.

On the DVM, in the pcoip_server_pre_2010_* files, I see the following lines:

01/10/10 19:48:54 server main: Opening mailboxes
01/10/10 19:48:54 server main: ViewAgent did not give us a preferred connection address.
01/10/10 19:48:54 server main: tera_pcoip_init
01/10/10 19:49:26 server main: exiting
01/10/10 19:49:28 server main: detaching inputdevtap
01/10/10 19:49:28 server main: closing the connection
01/10/10 19:49:28 server main: was connected - calling connection_closed
01/10/10 19:49:28 server main: closing mailboxes
01/10/10 19:49:28 server main: cleaning up reply ack wait
01/10/10 19:49:28 server main: freeing argument copy
01/10/10 19:49:28 server main: done

On the DVM, in the pcoip_server_* files, I see the following:

01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_SYS :Ready to connect with client
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: cb_server_ready_to_connect called.
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_SCHAN :scnet_server_open: Listening for client on 192.168.90.225:50002
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: InputDevTap setup
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:1 RC:-500 SERVER :InputDevTap_Attach() failed (result=1002)
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: registering session callbacks
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: waiting for server to be ready
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: sending ready message
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: Starting message loop
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: MBX_SESSION_TAG = 'bc3512c6f4c1f248bd6a71faef6f104c'
01/10/2010, 19:48:55> LVL:2 RC: 0 RTOS :tera_query_performance_frequency(): initializing - frequency = 3.579545MHz
01/10/2010, 19:48:56> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_PCOIP_DATA :Tx thread info: bw limit = 0, plateau = 0.0, avg tx = 0.0, avg rx = 0.0 (KBytes/s)
01/10/2010, 19:48:56> LVL:1 RC: 0 VGMAC :Stat frms: R=000000/000000/000000 T=000000/000000/000000 (A/I/O) 0.00% lost
01/10/2010, 19:49:26> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: MBX_SHUTDOWN
01/10/2010, 19:49:26> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: exiting
01/10/2010, 19:49:26> LVL:0 RC: 0 SERVER :server main: tearing down the blob and waiting
01/10/2010, 19:49:26> LVL:0 RC: 0 MGMT_SESS :Tearing down the session
01/10/2010, 19:49:26> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_VCHAN :>>> app_reset: Session has been dropped. Forcing all channels to close!
01/10/2010, 19:49:26> LVL:2 RC:-503 MGMT_VCHAN :>>> Failed to close channel because session is not connected!
01/10/2010, 19:49:26> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_VCHAN :VChanPluginExit: Closing plugin 'VMware_Server'.
01/10/2010, 19:49:28> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_VCHAN :VChanPluginExit: Plugin 'VMware_Server' is closed.
01/10/2010, 19:49:28> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_VCHAN :VChanPluginExit: Closing plugin 'mksvchanserver'.
01/10/2010, 19:49:28> LVL:2 RC:-503 MGMT_VCHAN :>>> Failed to close channel because session is not connected!
01/10/2010, 19:49:28> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_VCHAN :>>> Connect callback 0 has been un-registered (mksvchan).
01/10/2010, 19:49:28> LVL:2 RC: 0 MGMT_VCHAN :VChanPluginExit: Plugin 'mksvchanserver' is closed.
01/10/2010, 19:49:28> LVL:1 RC: 1 MGMT_VCHAN :=> Successfully exited all the VChan plugins

In the pcoip_agent_* files, I see the following:

01/10/10 19:46:58 pcoip_agent_get_codec_info
01/10/10 19:46:58 **** System Info
01/10/10 19:46:58 Windows XP Service Pack 3 (5.1 build 2600)
01/10/10 19:46:58 1 processors detected
01/10/10 19:46:58 Intel or AMD 32 bit
01/10/10 19:46:58 Intel Pentium
01/10/10 19:46:58 XMM instructions present
01/10/10 19:46:58 SSE instructions present
01/10/10 19:46:58 SSE2 instructions present
01/10/10 19:46:58 PAE enabled
01/10/10 19:46:58 NX present
01/10/10 19:46:58 ****
01/10/10 19:46:58 pcoip_agent_register
01/10/10 19:46:58 pcoip_agent_register: intf version is 0102
01/10/10 19:46:58 pcoip_agent_register: int length is 40
01/10/10 19:46:58 pcoip_agent_connect_req
01/10/10 19:46:58 Client address is 0.0.0.0:50002
01/10/10 19:46:58 Agent GUID=2a04baac6f46f14ea4dabf0110ee2c36
01/10/10 19:46:58 codec = 2.
01/10/10 19:46:58 Launching pcoip_server_win32
01/10/10 19:46:58 VMWare's launcher code worked.
01/10/10 19:46:59 Waiting for ready message.
01/10/10 19:47:03 Got ready message.
01/10/10 19:47:03 Creating server's mailbox.
01/10/10 19:47:03 Sending session tag.
01/10/10 19:47:03 Adding session to list.
01/10/10 19:47:03 Sending connection response ok.
01/10/10 19:47:03 pcoip_agent_connect_req (end): connection_response, 0
01/10/10 19:47:03 pcoip_agent_disconnect
01/10/10 19:47:03 tera_agent_disconnect
01/10/10 19:47:03 tera_agent_disconnect: connection_closed 2
01/10/10 19:48:51 pcoip_agent_connect_req
01/10/10 19:48:51 Client address is 0.0.0.0:50002
01/10/10 19:48:51 Agent GUID=bc3512c6f4c1f248bd6a71faef6f104c
01/10/10 19:48:51 codec = 2.
01/10/10 19:48:51 Launching pcoip_server_win32
01/10/10 19:48:51 VMWare's launcher code worked.
01/10/10 19:48:52 Waiting for ready message.
01/10/10 19:48:55 Got ready message.
01/10/10 19:48:55 Creating server's mailbox.
01/10/10 19:48:55 Sending session tag.
01/10/10 19:48:55 Adding session to list.
01/10/10 19:48:55 Sending connection response ok.
01/10/10 19:48:55 pcoip_agent_connect_req (end): connection_response, 0
01/10/10 19:49:26 pcoip_agent_disconnect
01/10/10 19:49:26 tera_agent_disconnect
01/10/10 19:49:26 tera_agent_disconnect: connection_closed 2

Any ideas on why PCoIP doesn't work?

Solution 1

I'm having the same exact issue. Tried with security server installed and without - same exact result: selecting RDP works fine while with PCoIP it opens the window (when in window mode, black screen when fullscreen) and after about 15 seconds it just exits. I tried on 2 different 2003 R2 servers with the same result. I restarted client VMs, reinstalled the agent, checked the video memory but no change in result. I haven't tried connecting from inside the network though. I read someone has the same issue and can connect from inside but not from outside so it may be a NAT/redir problem - but why would it work fine with encapsulated RDP? If I find the culprit I'll post my results. BTW I'm using View 4 with the latest updates on the ESX 4 server.

---UPDATE---

Ok, I can't believe this but it's not an issue, PCoIP IS SIMPLY IS NOT SUPPORTED THROUGH EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS. Incredible! You have to read the fine print:

"View clients that use PCoIP can connect to View security servers, but PCoIP sessions with the desktop ignore the security server. PCoIP uses UDP for streaming audio and video. Security servers support only TCP."

Link to VMWare VIEWManager release notes

Read that? PCoIP sessions with the desktop IGNORE the security server! So only RDP works through the tunnel...

I was hoping I misread something, but no, it's true, VMView does NOT support PCoIP through tunneled/external/untrusted connections. Shucks!

Well I tested it through a VPN connection and of course it works fine. So it's Tunneled RDP through the view portal or PCoIP through a VPN connection for outside users for now. Remember that the view client started from the view portal defaults to RDP - you don't get a choice (tsk tsk).

Solution 2

My guess is that you have a legal notice/disclaimer that is displaying before the login page is displayed.

The vmware KB article, Connection errors and blank screen when connecting to a View desktop using PCoIP, mentions how to remove this:

If the Group Policy has a disclaimer and you are connecting through PCoIP, you may see a blank screen. To workaround this issue, connect through remote desktop protocol (RDP) and disable the disclaimer:

• Click Start > Run, then type regedit and click OK.
• Locate the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon, remove these keys:
  • LegalNoticeCaption
  • LegalNoticeText

Source:[http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1016753][1]