Question: On Solaris, Java Advanced Imaging complains about lack of access to an X server... ???

Answer: Java Advanced Imaging versions previous to JAI 1.1.1 used the AWT toolkit to load GIF and JPEG files. This problem is a manifestation of a JDK bug in which creation of the AWT Toolkit class results in an attempt to open the X display. To work around this problem in Java Advanced Imaging versions prior to 1.1.1, either make an X display available to the Java runtime using the DISPLAY environment variable (no windows will appear on the display), or consider running a dummy X server that will satisfy the AWT, such as the Xvfb utility included with the X11R6.4 distribution.

In the JAI 1.1.1 version, the GIF and JPEG decoders were improved to no longer have a dependency on the X server.
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this tip is based on SUN's FAQ's

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