Laggy RDP From Ubuntu VM when using XRDP but works flawlessly when using windows VM

Question

In Any Ubuntu Machine , When I follow Microsoft docs on how to setup rdp (using xrdp) the latency of the screen is absurd and working on 3d software has been almost impossible due to high latency , although when you use windows there is almost no latency at all. I had to reduce the screen size even though it didn't reduce the latency much. how can fix this , why rdp works so good in windows and why not in ubuntu?

Answer 1

hi Shahzad Ansari, thanks for dropping this question, its super relevant and i get why u're frustrated )) working with laggy rdp is like trying to run through molasses, especially when u need precision for 3d software. let's break this down and get u a smoother experience., really I dont kidding...

So lets review what we can do for microsoft azure vm (ubuntu) first, xrdp defaults to a less optimized protocol. switch to xorg instead of xvnc for better performance. run these commands to reconfigure xrdp

sudo sed -i 's/use_vnc=1/use_vnc=0/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
sudo systemctl restart xrdp

this forces xrdp to use xorg, which handles graphics way better xrdp configuration docs.

next, check if u're using the right graphics drivers. ubuntu sometimes defaults to basic ones (like it, do u?). install the proper drivers for your vm size (like nvidia if u have gpu acceleration) ubuntu vm drivers.

general recommendations (works everywhere!) aha, now for the universal tricks )) rdp loves bandwidth, so crank up the connection quality. in your rdp client, go to display settings and lower the color depth to 16-bit. sounds small, but it cuts data transfer big time.

check if network latency is the culprit. try pinging your vm from your local machine. if the response time jumps around, u might need a better network path. wired connections beat wifi here, no contest.

windows vms often have "remote fx" or similar optimizations baked in. linux can catch up, but u gotta tweak it. oh, and disable desktop effects in ubuntu, they eat resources for breakfast.

hope this helps shahzad! ps: microsoft keeps improving linux support, so keep an eye on updates. their docs are gold for this stuff.

Best regards,

Alex

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Answer 2

Hi Shahzad Ansari

Thanks for using the Q&A platform.

This experience is expected as XRDP on Ubuntu tends to have higher latency than native RDP on Windows.

Windows uses a highly optimized and proprietary RDP implementation. XRDP is an open-source reimplementation that wraps an X11 session, which adds overhead and reduces efficiency.

To improve performance, you can switch to a lightweight DE such as XFCE or X2Go.

Find Microsoft documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/lab-services/how-to-enable-remote-desktop-linux?utm_source=chatgpt.com#performance

If the response was helpful, please feel free to mark it as “Accepted Answer” and consider giving it an upvote. This helps others in the community as well.Regards,

Obinna.