Windows, GPU and Remote Desktop

Message boards : GPUs : Windows, GPU and Remote Desktop
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sirzooro

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Joined: 17 Feb 13
Posts: 13
Poland
Message 73470 - Posted: 20 Oct 2016, 20:28:46 UTC

When I connect to my PC using Remote Desktop, BOINC stops crunching GPU tasks and reports that GPU is not available. I read a bit about this and found that this is limitation of a WDDM drivers, or as someone wrote a "Windows feature". I am OK with this.

Unfortunately GPU stays unavailable until I came to my PC and login locally, what usually happens many hours after I closed my Remote Desktop session - all these hours are lost for GPU tasks. Do you know if there is some software which will restore access to GPU after I close Remote Desktop session? Or maybe there is some hidden Windows option for this?
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Richard Haselgrove
Volunteer tester
Help desk expert

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Joined: 5 Oct 06
Posts: 5077
United Kingdom
Message 73471 - Posted: 20 Oct 2016, 21:03:03 UTC

WDDM drivers (Windows Vista and onwards) run in the logged-on user's security space, and that is destroyed when a different user logs on - eg through remote desktop on desktop computers (computers running Windows Server allow local and remote users to log on at the same time, the last time I tried).

You need to do one of two things:

1) Ensure that the normal logged-in user is logged back in after your remote session finishes. Depending on your security environment, can you use AutoAdminLogon to boot to your local account directly? If so, set it up, and issue a 'restart' instruction when you end the remote session.

2) Switch to a different remote access solution. Many varieties of VNC are available, including for free (I've used http://www.tightvnc.com/), and don't suffer from the same security restrictions as Microsoft's offering: ie, they don't destroy the GPU driver environment.
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Message boards : GPUs : Windows, GPU and Remote Desktop

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