Unable to connect to Ubuntu 25.10 via RDP
This issue was really starting to get on my last nerve. I really do love to use Linux and have used Ubuntu for years. I had an old 13″ Intel Mac laptop that I wanted to use as a travel setup, instead of lugging around my 16″ M2 Mac laptop (it’s pretty heavy in my backpack). For work, I RDP into many windows servers so I wanted to be able to leave the old laptop in the other room while not traveling, but still have access to do some work and updates from the comfort of my living room. But for some reason, I could not get RDP to open a session!
I searched for a couple days when I first started setting up the laptop using ZorinOS and was unable to connect. I started to think it was a ZorinOS issue, so I decided to use the latest Ubuntu because I had previously used Ubuntu on it before (just never tried RDP). After installing Ubuntu 25.10 and setting up Remote Desktop, I still was unable to connect! My RDP client let me enter a username and password, but no remote window would appear. I even tried connecting from a Windows computer without luck, so I know it could not be my Mac.
The error message I was getting from a Windows Desktop machine was: Error code 0x904 with extended error code 0x7
I even tried setting up XRDP, thinking that Wayland was causing the issue. I even exported the connection file and changing the entry use redirection server name:i:0 to use :i:1 instead
After searching and searching and reading multiple forums, I finally decided to ask Google’s AI. I walked through all the steps and troubleshooting listed to no avail. Turns out, after reading carefully the very last line of the AI output, there was a single sentence that said to be sure you Log Out of your user on the remote device.
Wait… What? I never even thought of that! When I remote into Windows machines, I basically take over the active session. I never thought that I would need to log out of the session on the remote machine first!
Voila! Now after I enter the RDP username and password, I am presented with the Ubuntu login screen and can work remotely! Yeah! What a relief! Now I am looking forward to setting up this laptop with the features I would need to connect to my office with the Ubuntu machine while I travel.
Moral of the story: Read the full docs! Forget the TLDR;
Solved: I can connect with MacOS Windows App to an Ubuntu 25.10 laptop, by first ensuring that I log out of any active users on the Ubuntu laptop
