Black screen

[GabeC]

Hi
I read articles, windows updates didn't help, neither disabling app readiness.
My reproducible scenario is that if I start a full remote desktop, then X out from it (no disconnect or log off) which users WILL do no matter what we tell them, start an individual app like Word from the Parallels RAS client, X out of it, and try to start the RDP session (after logging off and on), I see the screen "welcome" for a split second, and there's the blank page. Windows+R let's me run commands, etc but we can not tell our users to do 'computer stuff'.
Our server is the latest to get, on an up to date windows 2019 datacenter, same issue with VMs and physical desktops running up to date both Windows 10 and 11. We didn't change the default settings on the RAS server. I tested it on a Mac M1 up to date Monterey, and latest Parallels RAS client.
(not entirely sure that disabling app readiness was tested though i'm testing it now but not found of disabling default services, they are there for a reason. is it OK to do it? will it affect any function that we need to be concerned about?)
thanks
Gabe

 

[GabeC]

Additionally, when the black screen happens, and I open a console window on our vsphere, I also get a black screen. The next thing tomorrow I will test, is to install a desktop pc and see if it is a VM issue or the exact same thing happens with a physical desktop.

 

[jpc]

@GabeC
* You mentioned that you tried VMs and physical desktops. If they are not windows servers (or AVD machines), then they will not support multiple sessions per user. Without that, a session can either be a published app session or a published desktop session.
* Is the Windows 2019 server you are using configured with the RDSH role? As mentioned before, to use both types of sessions on the same machine, multiple sessions per user need to be supported. You can check that this is indeed the case by opening both a published desktop and a published app. You should see two sessions on the RDP server.
* I would suggest to check if the session used for the second published desktop launch is the same session as the one used for the published application and if the published app session is actually logged off after a RAS logoff (since, as far as I could understand, you mentioned that you logged off after closing published Word).
* Have you encountered this issue with other clients (e.g. html5 and/or windows client) or only with the macOS client?

 

[GabeC]

thanks. yes i am aware that windows workstations are allowing 1 login per computer/session.
let me explain the scenario better: i log in to the parallels ras client, double click on the rdp session, it opens, then i close that session with the X, for 25 seconds of idle timeout it won't allow me to open an app. after that i open an app, no problem. i close the app, wait another 25 seconds, then i try to open the rdp again, which for a split second shows "welcome" then i get black screen.
after this if i open up the vsphere console (or sit to the actual physical computer) and log in, i get the black screen there as well. to get rid of it i have to reboot my workstation.
thank you for your suggestion, but this is not the problem you're trying to solve, aka i do not try to log in twice to a workstation. you can easily reproduce the problem above by doing the same. perhaps a bug. or a microsoft windows 10-11 issue. i am happy to reproduce the issue with a windows server i'm sure it'll result the same. feels like windows doesn't like to switch between shared apps and full desktops. and/or parallels sends some sort of weird request that messes up windows explorer (the desktop env)

 

[jpc]

From the way you are explaining things, it seems to me that your tests are mostly on single-active-session OSes. In that case, the 25 seconds waiting time is, from my experience, the amount of time that RAS allots a non-RDSH session to become free.

When closing the desktop session via the "X" button, if it is a published desktop, it will be disconnected (not logged off). In the case of of published applications, closing all published applications and tray icons will trigger the configured action on RAS which, by default, is to wait for ~30 seconds and then disconnect the session.

You might encounter the problem you mentioned if the same session for a single-active-session OS is used for both published apps and published desktops. Single-active-session OSes do not allow RAS to create multiple sessions for the same user so the same session will be reused over and over until it is logged off. This is true both for RDP and for console sessions (such as via vSphere). As you have already experienced, a published desktop session can be turned into a published apps session, however the changes are currently irreversible until the session is logged off. I don't know of a way around this, so the next best thing I can suggest would be to file a feature suggestion in the appropriate forum (https://forum.parallels.com/forums/parallels-remote-application-server-feature-suggestions.767/)

As for a server with the RDSH role, I would expect RAS to be able to create two separate sessions and for the console sessions to be different from other RDP sessions (except if using "connect to console" option in RDP). Thus you would possibly end up with 3 different sessions, a console, a published desktop and a published app session.