Thread Subject: Problem to run MATLAB remotely on a Mac

Hi,
I am trying to run MATLAB remotely on a MacPro with MacOSX 10.6.7 installed from another Mac with MacOSX 10.6.7 installed. What basically happens is that I can log on the machine using ssh -X, I run matlab from the terminal, then I see the Matlab splash screen, but the graphical modes does not work and then MATLAB runs only through command line. I could figure out that the Xserver is certainly working (xclock and xeyes works fine). I can also plot simple graphs and see windows popping up. I gathered from the Internet (see e.g. http://lists.apple.com/archives/x11-users/2007/Jul/msg00084.html) that one issue is that MATLAB is using java to display graphical elements, and not the X server (which is working fine). The plot I see are done using the X server.

I have tried to force starting matlab in graphical mode using -desktop and -display Xdisplay options, though nothing changed, it simply starts in command line mode.

Does anybody have an idea on how to solve this ? I really need to do what I describe, i.e. log on the machine where MATLAB is, running it remotely and having the graphical tools on the external machine . MATLAB is working perfectly well on the machine where it is installed in graphical mode when I use it directly, but VNC or Apple Remote Desktop are not possible options.
Best
PF

Hi Paul,

Why is Apple Remote Desktop (vnc: using "Connect to Server" on 10.6.7)
not a possible option? It has exceptional performance going Mac-to-Mac,
even over slow or remote networks. I use it when I need to work from
home (which qualifies it as both slow and remote), and the performance
is phenomenal.

Regards,

Brian

Paul wrote:
> Hi,
> I am trying to run MATLAB remotely on a MacPro with MacOSX 10.6.7
> installed from another Mac with MacOSX 10.6.7 installed. What basically
> happens is that I can log on the machine using ssh -X, I run matlab from
> the terminal, then I see the Matlab splash screen, but the graphical
> modes does not work and then MATLAB runs only through command line. I
> could figure out that the Xserver is certainly working (xclock and xeyes
> works fine). I can also plot simple graphs and see windows popping up. I
> gathered from the Internet (see e.g.
> http://lists.apple.com/archives/x11-users/2007/Jul/msg00084.html) that
> one issue is that MATLAB is using java to display graphical elements,
> and not the X server (which is working fine). The plot I see are done
> using the X server.
> I have tried to force starting matlab in graphical mode using -desktop
> and -display Xdisplay options, though nothing changed, it simply starts
> in command line mode.
>
> Does anybody have an idea on how to solve this ? I really need to do
> what I describe, i.e. log on the machine where MATLAB is, running it
> remotely and having the graphical tools on the external machine . MATLAB
> is working perfectly well on the machine where it is installed in
> graphical mode when I use it directly, but VNC or Apple Remote Desktop
> are not possible options.
> Best
> PF

Hi Brian
the reason why this is not an option is that I need another person (one of my student) to log on my machine to do his calculation instead of doing it on his own MATLAB on his machine, for performance issue. I do not want to share screen with my students ;)
Paul

Brian Arnold <Brian.Arnold@mathworks.com> wrote in message <4DA33E19.6050209@mathworks.com>...
> Hi Paul,
>
> Why is Apple Remote Desktop (vnc: using "Connect to Server" on 10.6.7)
> not a possible option? It has exceptional performance going Mac-to-Mac,
> even over slow or remote networks. I use it when I need to work from
> home (which qualifies it as both slow and remote), and the performance
> is phenomenal.
>
> Regards,
>
> Brian
>
> Paul wrote:
> > Hi,
> > I am trying to run MATLAB remotely on a MacPro with MacOSX 10.6.7
> > installed from another Mac with MacOSX 10.6.7 installed. What basically
> > happens is that I can log on the machine using ssh -X, I run matlab from
> > the terminal, then I see the Matlab splash screen, but the graphical
> > modes does not work and then MATLAB runs only through command line. I
> > could figure out that the Xserver is certainly working (xclock and xeyes
> > works fine). I can also plot simple graphs and see windows popping up. I
> > gathered from the Internet (see e.g.
> > http://lists.apple.com/archives/x11-users/2007/Jul/msg00084.html) that
> > one issue is that MATLAB is using java to display graphical elements,
> > and not the X server (which is working fine). The plot I see are done
> > using the X server.
> > I have tried to force starting matlab in graphical mode using -desktop
> > and -display Xdisplay options, though nothing changed, it simply starts
> > in command line mode.
> >
> > Does anybody have an idea on how to solve this ? I really need to do
> > what I describe, i.e. log on the machine where MATLAB is, running it
> > remotely and having the graphical tools on the external machine . MATLAB
> > is working perfectly well on the machine where it is installed in
> > graphical mode when I use it directly, but VNC or Apple Remote Desktop
> > are not possible options.
> > Best
> > PF

Hi Paul,

I have been having the same problem trying to set this up. I have been trying to use a workaround where I compile a stand-alone application of the GUI/script that I want to run, but I cannot visualize the new window.

If I ssh -X onto the primary lab computer and run "matlab -nojvm", I can run "figure" or my own scripts and visualize the guis on my own screen. The problem with this is that it seems to violate some of the required Java permissions and causes a Java dump and Matlab crash after running a script 2-3 times. Doing "matlab -nodesktop", however, does not forward the figures to my own machine.

Any thoughts?

-Ivan

"Paul" wrote in message <invg7o$dhs$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Hi Brian
> the reason why this is not an option is that I need another person (one of my student) to log on my machine to do his calculation instead of doing it on his own MATLAB on his machine, for performance issue. I do not want to share screen with my students ;)
> Paul
>
> Brian Arnold <Brian.Arnold@mathworks.com> wrote in message <4DA33E19.6050209@mathworks.com>...
> > Hi Paul,
> >
> > Why is Apple Remote Desktop (vnc: using "Connect to Server" on 10.6.7)
> > not a possible option? It has exceptional performance going Mac-to-Mac,
> > even over slow or remote networks. I use it when I need to work from
> > home (which qualifies it as both slow and remote), and the performance
> > is phenomenal.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Brian
> >
> > Paul wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > > I am trying to run MATLAB remotely on a MacPro with MacOSX 10.6.7
> > > installed from another Mac with MacOSX 10.6.7 installed. What basically
> > > happens is that I can log on the machine using ssh -X, I run matlab from
> > > the terminal, then I see the Matlab splash screen, but the graphical
> > > modes does not work and then MATLAB runs only through command line. I
> > > could figure out that the Xserver is certainly working (xclock and xeyes
> > > works fine). I can also plot simple graphs and see windows popping up. I
> > > gathered from the Internet (see e.g.
> > > http://lists.apple.com/archives/x11-users/2007/Jul/msg00084.html) that
> > > one issue is that MATLAB is using java to display graphical elements,
> > > and not the X server (which is working fine). The plot I see are done
> > > using the X server.
> > > I have tried to force starting matlab in graphical mode using -desktop
> > > and -display Xdisplay options, though nothing changed, it simply starts
> > > in command line mode.
> > >
> > > Does anybody have an idea on how to solve this ? I really need to do
> > > what I describe, i.e. log on the machine where MATLAB is, running it
> > > remotely and having the graphical tools on the external machine . MATLAB
> > > is working perfectly well on the machine where it is installed in
> > > graphical mode when I use it directly, but VNC or Apple Remote Desktop
> > > are not possible options.
> > > Best
> > > PF

Anybody found a solution to this? I am also trying to use MATLAB remotely (2009b, and 2010b) connecting from an OSX Snow Leopard laptop to an OSX Snow Leopard desktop.

X11 forwarding is enabled, I get the MATLAB splash screen, xeyes etc all work just fine. Yet, I can only use MATLAB in the terminal command window. Plots display in x11, though I did receive this message when I started matlab with the -nojvm flag and made a plot:

Warning: This functionality is no longer supported under the -nojvm startup
option. For more information, see "Changes to -nojvm Startup Option" in the
MATLAB Release Notes. To view the release note in your system browser, run
web('http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/rn/bropbi9-1.html#brubkzc-1',
'-browser')
> In gcf at 33
  In newplot at 62

But the plot displayed just fine...

I've been lightly looking into this for a little while, as I used to do it often from a mac to a linux machine, however I have yet to find a working solution for the current version of matlab, and OSX.

While some users advocate using matlab remotely via vnc, in my experience, ssh is much faster, and it also avoids dealing with varying screen sizes.

Any help/guidance would be appreciated. Seems like this should be possible, but so far doesn't seem to be.

Thanks,

Erica
 
"Ivan " <ivan.grub@berkeley.edu> wrote in message <ioge1s$i6n$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Hi Paul,
>
> I have been having the same problem trying to set this up. I have been trying to use a workaround where I compile a stand-alone application of the GUI/script that I want to run, but I cannot visualize the new window.
>
> If I ssh -X onto the primary lab computer and run "matlab -nojvm", I can run "figure" or my own scripts and visualize the guis on my own screen. The problem with this is that it seems to violate some of the required Java permissions and causes a Java dump and Matlab crash after running a script 2-3 times. Doing "matlab -nodesktop", however, does not forward the figures to my own machine.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> -Ivan
>
> "Paul" wrote in message <invg7o$dhs$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> > Hi Brian
> > the reason why this is not an option is that I need another person (one of my student) to log on my machine to do his calculation instead of doing it on his own MATLAB on his machine, for performance issue. I do not want to share screen with my students ;)
> > Paul
> >
> > Brian Arnold <Brian.Arnold@mathworks.com> wrote in message <4DA33E19.6050209@mathworks.com>...
> > > Hi Paul,
> > >
> > > Why is Apple Remote Desktop (vnc: using "Connect to Server" on 10.6.7)
> > > not a possible option? It has exceptional performance going Mac-to-Mac,
> > > even over slow or remote networks. I use it when I need to work from
> > > home (which qualifies it as both slow and remote), and the performance
> > > is phenomenal.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Brian
> > >
> > > Paul wrote:
> > > > Hi,
> > > > I am trying to run MATLAB remotely on a MacPro with MacOSX 10.6.7
> > > > installed from another Mac with MacOSX 10.6.7 installed. What basically
> > > > happens is that I can log on the machine using ssh -X, I run matlab from
> > > > the terminal, then I see the Matlab splash screen, but the graphical
> > > > modes does not work and then MATLAB runs only through command line. I
> > > > could figure out that the Xserver is certainly working (xclock and xeyes
> > > > works fine). I can also plot simple graphs and see windows popping up. I
> > > > gathered from the Internet (see e.g.
> > > > http://lists.apple.com/archives/x11-users/2007/Jul/msg00084.html) that
> > > > one issue is that MATLAB is using java to display graphical elements,
> > > > and not the X server (which is working fine). The plot I see are done
> > > > using the X server.
> > > > I have tried to force starting matlab in graphical mode using -desktop
> > > > and -display Xdisplay options, though nothing changed, it simply starts
> > > > in command line mode.
> > > >
> > > > Does anybody have an idea on how to solve this ? I really need to do
> > > > what I describe, i.e. log on the machine where MATLAB is, running it
> > > > remotely and having the graphical tools on the external machine . MATLAB
> > > > is working perfectly well on the machine where it is installed in
> > > > graphical mode when I use it directly, but VNC or Apple Remote Desktop
> > > > are not possible options.
> > > > Best
> > > > PF