Can't export emacs display on ssh

Question

local_machine:$> ssh myself@external_machine_ip_address -p specific_port -X
external_machine:$> echo $DISPLAY
localhost:10.0
external_machine:$> emacs
Warning: Cannot convert string "-*-courier-medium-r-*-*-*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-*" to type FontStruct
Warning: Cannot convert string "-*-helvetica-medium-r-*--*-120-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1" to type FontStruct

I do see the emacs window, but I can't see any of the characters. What could be the error ?

Answer 1

Looks like the font you're trying to use isn't available on your machine. You probably chose it because it was available on external_machine_ip_address. It could be because the displays have different resolutions; try using -*-courier-medium-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-* instead. The tool xfontsel can be helpful to find an existing font.

Answer 2

Just a quick workaround, not a complete solution

First see what fonts is available in your computer

$>xlsfonts
-arabic-newspaper-medium-r-normal--0-0-100-100-p-0-iso10646-1
-arabic-newspaper-medium-r-normal--32-246-100-100-p-137-iso10646ourChoosen-1
-ascender-droid-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
....

Choose one of them then

$>emacs -font "yourChooenFont"

In my machine the font "9x15" looks quite neat, i.e.

$>emacs -font "9x15"