Confused about HDMI/DisplayPort dummy plugs for remoting into my systems

[Cyber Akuma]

I have several systems I want to remote into, and rather than trying to find some junker monitors to plug into all of them, it's going to be a lot easier to just use a dummy plug.  
 
First thing I noticed was that almost all of them appear to be 4K. I guess that's not a surprise since it's not like they need to actually display it so they can tell the system they are anything, but most of the devices I will be using to remote into them have a 1080p display, and I would rather not have to go through changing the resolution from 4k to 1080p every time I reinstall or reset a system. Do they make ones that identify as a 1080p monitor too? Or maybe ones that have a switch or something on them to switch between 1080p or 4k mode?  
 
Also do I have to worry about cheap/shoddy ones? My first results were all on Amazon, but a lot of these were rather pricy, I also assume many of them are just simply coming straight from China anyway with a markup. Even Adafruit had one for $3.50 that looked just like many of the ones I saw on Amazon and Aliexpress. Since there isn't much to a dummy plug, would these suspiciously cheap $1.00-0.50 ones on Ali be the same thing, or is there such a thing as even a dummy plug being too cheap/problematic and I should avoid the ones on Ali?  
 
I was planning to get a few 1080p and 4K plugs for both HDMI and DisplayPort, any advice on all of this?  

 

Also, I noticed that I could not send any remote mouse or keyboard inputs without one physically plugged into the machine either, is there also such a thing as USB dummy keyboard/mouse plugs?

[OhYou_]

4 minutes ago, Cyber Akuma said:

I have several systems I want to remote into, and rather than trying to find some junker monitors to plug into all of them, it's going to be a lot easier to just use a dummy plug.  
 
First thing I noticed was that almost all of them appear to be 4K. I guess that's not a surprise since it's not like they need to actually display it so they can tell the system they are anything, but most of the devices I will be using to remote into them have a 1080p display, and I would rather not have to go through changing the resolution from 4k to 1080p every time I reinstall or reset a system. Do they make ones that identify as a 1080p monitor too? Or maybe ones that have a switch or something on them to switch between 1080p or 4k mode?  
 
Also do I have to worry about cheap/shoddy ones? My first results were all on Amazon, but a lot of these were rather pricy, I also assume many of them are just simply coming straight from China anyway with a markup. Even Adafruit had one for $3.50 that looked just like many of the ones I saw on Amazon and Aliexpress. Since there isn't much to a dummy plug, would these suspiciously cheap $1.00-0.50 ones on Ali be the same thing, or is there such a thing as even a dummy plug being too cheap/problematic and I should avoid the ones on Ali?  
 
I was planning to get a few 1080p and 4K plugs for both HDMI and DisplayPort, any advice on all of this?

do these systems have a vga port or dvi-i
you can make a dummy plug using one single 75 ohm resistor and just push it into the right pin holes
every os under the sun has some default resolution for vga if it doesnt get an identifier from the monitor and its usually like 1024x768 which will fit on a 1080p monitor

[Cyber Akuma]

4 minutes ago, OhYou_ said:

do these systems have a vga port or dvi-i

Some do, most do not.

[Brando212]

I'm sure I'm probably missing something so I'm going to ask. Why do you need dummy plugs? What remote solution are you using that requires them?

 

I generally do good ol RDP or TeamViewer, and neither needs dummy plugs, even for remote login.

[Cyber Akuma]

Neither TightVNC nor Parsec worked when I didn't have a monitor plugged into the system, they just gave me a blank screen. From my understanding this is how Windows works.  

 

Actually, now that I think about it, they didn't let me send any keyboard or mouse commands without one plugged in either. Is there such a thing as a USB dummy plug that pretends a mouse and keyboard are connected too? Going to update my message to also ask that.

[Brando212]

ah VNC, yeah it definitely has limitations as it's more of a legacy protocol, and more meant for Linux than Windows.

 

If it's an option, I'd recommend trying out enabling native RDP support instead. And if you don't want to open the port on your router, then you could use tailscale for external connections.

 

----

 

And as for Parsec, it's more meant as a sharing experience rather than full/true remote connect, so I can kind of understand the limitation on that one.

[Cyber Akuma]

What is tailscale? RDP would not be an option, I need to be able to use Parsec too, not just VNC or RDP.

[Brando212]

5 minutes ago, Cyber Akuma said:

What is tailscale? RDP would not be an option, I need to be able to use Parsec too, not just VNC or RDP.

tailscale is a VPN adjacent tool; no tricky configuration required, just load and go. super easy to utilize.

 

https://tailscale.com/

 

edit: I have it installed directly on my OpenWRT router so I can easily access my network any time I want from my phone and such. All without having to open/forward any ports that could potentially be attacked.

[Cyber Akuma]

Hmm, this... does not appear like it's intended for consumers? Or is far more than just a remote desktop service. Regardless though, while it might be able to replace VNC, it would not be able to replace Parsec.

[Brando212]

2 minutes ago, Cyber Akuma said:

Hmm, this... does not appear like it's intended for consumers? Or is far more than just a remote desktop service. Regardless though, while it might be able to replace VNC, it would not be able to replace Parsec.

it's free for personal use like many other things. But yeah if you DO need Parsec as well then that rules out it being too helpful. Was worth a shot suggesting to help save you a few $.

[porina]

I have the same problem with VNC and went the HDMI dummy plug route. Assuming Windows, setting the screen resolution only needs to be done once and it is remembered.

 

I can't use RDP since it breaks things that uses GPU. VNC is just like being at the system. I don't have any problem with control even without a physical keyboard or mouse connected. It might be a specific VNC implementation function? I use TightVNC. It also has an auto scale viewer so if the source res is too high it is still usable.

 

I have no idea what dummy plugs I got but they all worked.