29 April 2012

Error Change Computer Name Windows: Multiple Connections...

When trying to rename a Windows computer you might get the message:

"Multiple connections to a server or shared resource by the same user, using more than one user name, are not allowed. Disconnect all previous connections to the server or shared resource and try again."

This is probably referring to connected network shares. To show network shares in a command window type:
net use

Then to disconnect all network shares type:
net use /delete *

25 April 2012

Mac Time Machine to Windows Network Share

These are my notes based on Adam Pash's original post which didn't quite work as written for me:
An Easier Way to Set Up Time Machine to Back Up to a Networked Windows Computer
The whole process worked fine until the running of the shell script (step three in the original notes). Not being a native Unix user I forgot about assigning run privileges:
  1. Setup a share on your Windows server: Create a folder then right click, select Properties, Share tab and add necessary permissions for your user(s).
  2. Mount the share in Mac OS: Finder, Go, Connect to server then type:
    smb://[server name]/[share name]
    This will mount the folder in Mac at /Volumes/[share name]
  3. Enable Network shares for Time Machine: Type the following into Applications, Utilities, Terminal:
    defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1
  4. Download a shell script available in the original post at: http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2010/11/makeimage.sh
  5. Change to the Downloads directory and make it executable:
    cd Downloads
    chmod +x makeimage.sh
  6. Run it with two parameters: the size of the backup share and the location:
    sudo ./makeimage.sh 200 [location e.g. /Volumes/TimeMachine/]
    Where 200 is the size in GB of the backup and [location... is the mount point of the network share mentioned above.
    When done it should say "Finished! Happy backups!"
  7. Open Time Machine and select the new share
Once again all credit goes to Adam Pash for his post and "sunkid" who wrote the makeimage script.

UPDATE: This does not work on Lion 10.7.3 where you get "The network drive does not support the required AFP features". I have found another page with an idea of how to approach it on Lion but haven't tried it myself:
http://beacon.wharton.upenn.edu/davekonopka/2011/07/connect-os-x-lion-time-machine-to-a-network-drive/

24 April 2012

Android Browser Crashing Fix

I have found increasingly that some pages crash my Dolphin browser on Android. When I switched to the in-built (native) browser it does the same so I think it must be something specific to the pages, although in general they aren't ones with multimedia or anything unusual.

What I did find int he native browser is that you can type about:debug into the url and that adds a Debug item to the Settings menu including "Enable Open GL rendering" which when disabled seemed to help.

Orange Finally Release Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich


Ever since Samsung announced they were rolling out Android 4.0 (Dec 2011 and March 2012) aka Ice Cream Sandwich I have been waiting impatiently for Orange to release it to my Samsung Galaxy SII. I guess they had to re-craft their horrid Orange customisations before allowing us mere mortals to upgrade. Whilst it is possible to "root" the phone I don't wish to as it would invalidate my warrantee. That day finally arrived on Friday thanks to an announcement on their twitter feed.

Sadly despite the phone having an in-built wireless upgrade feature they are releasing it via the Kies interface, which is as I have previously written about, some of the worst software ever written.  If you actually manage to get your phone to connect to your computer via it then you are lucky. I have written before about some techniques that might help. Even on my trusty Mac where I have found it behaves better than the PC, Kies managed to grab and maintain focus throughout the process meaning I could activate other windows but it would feverishly snatch back focus instantly so for example whilst I could click on links in a browser window I couldn't actually type anything.

The Process
Load up Kies and plug in the phone. If it doesn't connect try some of my previously mentioned techniques.
The update took about 20 minutes on my Mac during which time there were two progress windows like below, one after the other:


Then the phone re-boots into Safe Mode and goes through installing the applications:




Mine seemed to go through several re-boots after that, staying in Safe Mode. So many in fact that I was beginning to wonder if I had done the right thing, but eventually it settled down and re booted into normal mode. The applications are all re-installed and it works well.

What's Different?
There are many detailed comparisons on the web and this post is about upgrading not the changes but in general the look and feel is much more "clipped" to my eyes: less shading, more defined lines. I upgraded for two main reasons: development and Chrome Beta on Android. Chrome beta synchronises with the desktop version: I'm bored of looking at something on my phone, returning to my desk and having to email the url to continue reading or visa versa. For the official line on the changes go to android.com: 
http://www.android.com/about/ice-cream-sandwich/


UPDATE: one of my favourite features in the new version is the in built data monitoring with which you can restrict your phones mobile data usage to stay within your data plan, especially necessary when abroad.







22 April 2012

Migrating Macs: Make a clone of your old hard drive


I love upgrading to a new machine but the thought of loosing files in the process makes me feel quite ill so my preferred method is to keep absolutely everything in case I need it or at least until I have time to go through it. The simplest way for me is to create a clone of the system drive and place it on my new system. With a Windows machine you need to do this under a different OS (e.g. from an Ubuntu dual boot) but with a mac you can use a program to do it for you from within OsX.

NB: You will need a destination for the resulting disk image file that is at least as large as the used space on your old drive, and in some cases double the size (e.g. if compressing). The final file will not be this big but the process requires extra space.

The Method
Use a disk cloning application to copy your old system's hard drive entirely to the new system via a direct cable connection (firewire or ethernet). I am using an old OSx 10 machine and a new OsX Lion. Alternatively you could use an external drive or network share.

  1. Connect the two machines together directly: This is arguably best achieved by a Firewire cable but I didn't have a suitable one for both machines so I used a standard ethernet (Cat5) cable. A crossover cable is not necessary for Macs newer than about 2000.
  2. Ensure you have File Sharing enabled on the destination (new) machine: System Preferences, Sharing, tick File Sharing. Ensure your username is listed as allowed. Note the machine name at the top. Check the connection works by browsing to your new machine from the old one in Finder, Network locations.
  3. Install a disk clone application on both machines. I used Carbon Copy Cloner Please note this is not freeware but donation-ware i.e. if you use it and like it then please donate some funds to the developer: it will help him continue to develop the application so when you next migrate his excellent program will still be around.
  4. On the old machine, use the CCC Disk Center (under Window on the menu) to check the size of your hard disk (Volume usage). Then on the new system use the same window to check you have sufficient space: you may need up to twice the used space on the old drive depending on the type of image you'll create.
  5. On the old machine in CCC Cloning Console select Destination: New disk image, then select your destination (new) machine and your user folder, logging in if necessary.  You need to also choose the type e.g. read and write, read only or read only compressed. I chose read only compressed.
  6. Click Clone, and the system will create the image on the other (newer) machine. Mine took about 2.5hrs for 115GB.
  7. To access it you open your user folder then double click the file and it will be mounted on the desktop as a drive.


Mac Digital Camera Import

I have a Mac running Lion 10.7.3 and a Canon IXUS 980 IS, and fully expected them to work well together e.g. for importing photos. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't: the camera does not show up as a disk, or it doesn't appear in the choices to import from. What I did find helped was  to load the Image Capture app from Applications and, with the camera plugged in and on, select the application in the bottom left that you want to use with it:

19 April 2012

Apple ID No Verification Email Received Fix

I recently changed the email on my Apple ID account as part of which it asks you to click on a link in the verification email that was sent... except I never received any email in my (Gmail) account, either in spam or all mail.

The fix for me was to open iTunes then click the account link in the top right hand side. It will ask you to login and then should ask you to verify that you want to use the email address with your account.

15 April 2012

Get Plex Media Center: Stream iPlayer 4oD etc

Plex is an application for Mac and Windows which will allow you to control your computer as if it were a media center via a Ten Foot Interface (nice and big so you can do it from a sofa). It's a good replacement for Front Row especially on Lion when the remote doesn't work anymore.

Plex comes in two parts: Server and Center.

Install the Server first to add your 'local' media i.e. stuff on your computer, then install the Center and it loads as a full screen interface (which can be controlled via the remote on Mac, even on Lion).

Once the server is installed load up the admin interface and add Channel to add the iPlayer plugin (it calls sources channels):


Then select All Categories, TV and BBCi (or 4oD or whatever) to install it. Then go to Plex Client  main menu (Menu key on Mac remote) and select 'Channel Directory':

Then select your chosen plugin and off you go:

Get Plex!

Handy Hints

  • On Mac to toggle full screen mode press Apple F
  • Enable mouse: Preferences, System, Input Devices
  • On a Mac if the remote starts controlling iTunes I found to disable then enable the remote stopped it.

10 April 2012

C# and Mono on a Mac


[UPDATED] Since posting this I've updated it to include using MVC2.

I'm a long time C# developer on Windows but I was interested to see if it's possible to develop on a Mac using Mono. Here are my notes on the setup:

Prerequisites
  1. Mac 32 or 64 bithttp://support.apple.com/kb/HT3696
  2. Java SDK: included in Mac OsX
  3. Monohttp://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html
  4. MonoDevelop (Xamarin studio): http://monodevelop.com/Download
  5. A development IDE: e.g. Mono Develop: http://monodevelop.com/Download
    or Eclipse: http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-ee-developers/indigor 
  6. Check  MD5 checksums:
    1. Open Terminal: Applications, Utilities, Terminal
    2. Type: md5 downloads/eclipse[version and build name].tar.gz
  7. Install XCode (so you can compile mod mono): Either from your install disk or from http://developer.apple.com/xcode/ NB: To download you'll need Lion (10.7+) and to sign up as a developer first.
  8. Install the XCode developer tools: 
    In Terminal: xcode-select --install
    Older versions: Open XCode then go to Preferences, Downloads, and install Command Line Tools.
Make a directory for your Mono projects
I'm going to use /Users/[username]/Mono/
  1. mkdir /Users/[username]/Mono
    Also make a TestMono directory under this directory
    mkdir /Users/[username]/Mono/TestMono
Create a Test Project
  1. Open MonoDevelop and create a new C# Web MVC2 project, I called it TestMono.
    Note: The default location for projects is [user folder]/Projects which I found a bit generic so I changed it to [user folder]/Mono.
  2. Run it to test (Alt, Command key and Enter). It should load http://127.0.0.1:8080/ and show an MVC generated page.

To run Your Application under Apache
For external testing e.g. from your mobile to the Mac you'll need Apache or equivalent:

Open Terminal and Switch to root
  1. Terminal.app
  2. sudo su -
Activate in-built Apache Web server (and Mac firewall)
UPDATE: see separate post
  1. If you are using Mountain Lion+ web sharing has been removed so activate apache via the command line:
    1. Start Apache: /usr/sbin/apachectl start
    If you are using an earlier Mac OS you can use the process below:
    1. Apple, System Preferences
    2. Sharing, tick Web Sharing
  2. Mac Firewall
    Apple, System Preferences, Security, activate Firewall (ensure Web Sharing allowed).
  3. Check it runs: http://localhost
Get Mod mono
The connector between Mono and your web server
  1. Download and compile it. In Terminal:
    • Make directory for the files:
      mkdir ~/modmono
    • Change to that directory:
      cd ~/modmono
    • Make a link to the mono framework command:
      sudo ln -s /Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Commands/pkg-config /usr/bin/pkg-config
    • Download the source:
      curl -O http://download.mono-project.com/sources/mod_mono/mod_mono-3.8.tar.gz
    • Extract it:
      tar xzf mod_mono-3.8.tar.gz
    • Change into that directory:
      cd mod_mono-2.10
    • Run the configure script:
      ./configure --prefix=/usr
    • Make the source:
      make
      sudo make install
    • Copy the conf file to the apache2 folder:
      sudo cp /etc/apache2/mod_mono.conf /etc/apache2/other
  2. Edit /etc/apache2/httpd.conf to tie the two together
    Copy the original:
    cp /etc/apache2/httpd.conf /etc/apache2/httpd.conf.bak

    Insert the reference to mod_mono.conf:
    vi /etc/apache2/httpd.conf"
    Press Shift G to go to the end, i to enter insert mode and paste in the following at the end of the file:
    # mod_mono_configuration                                                
    Include /etc/apache2/mod_mono.conf
    MonoServerPath /Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Versions/Current/bin/mod-mono-server4
    AddHandler mono .aspx .ascx .asax .ashx .config .cs .asmx .axd
    MonoAutoApplication disabled
Add an Apache configuration file for mono
  1. In Terminal:
    1. vi /private/etc/apache2/other/mono.conf
    2. Press i to begin insert then paste (replace [username] with your username:

      AddHandler mono .aspx .ascx .asax .ashx .config .cs .asmx .axd
      MonoAutoApplication disabled

      MonoServerPath /Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Commands/mod-mono-server4

      Alias /testmono "/Users/[username]/Mono/TestMono/"
      <Directory "/Users/[username]/Mono/TestMono/">
          Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
          AllowOverride None
          Order allow,deny
          Allow from all
      </Directory>

      Alias /testmono2 "/Users/[username]/Mono/TestMono2/"<Directory "/Users/[username]/Mono/TestMono2/">
          Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
          AllowOverride None
          Order allow,deny
          Allow from all
      </Directory>

      AddMonoApplications default "/testmono:/Users/[username]/Mono/TestMono/,/testmono2:/Users/[username]/Mono/TestMono2/"
      <Location /testmono>
       SetHandler mono
      </Location>
      <Location /testmono2>
       SetHandler mono
      </Location>
    3. Press Esc, :wq Enter to escape insert mode, save the file (:w) and quit (:q)
  2. Create a test index.aspx
    echo "<center>mod_mono is working:<%=
    System.DateTime.Now.ToString()%></center>" > /Users/[username]/Mono/TestMono/index.aspx
  3. Restart Apache: sudo /usr/sbin/apachectl restart
  4. Test it:http://localhost/testmono/
    http://localhost/mvc2/
Thanks to Michael Buen:
http://www.ienablemuch.com/2010/10/aspnet-on-mac-os-x-snow-leopard-at-one.html
http://www.ienablemuch.com/2010/10/troubleshooting-aspnet-mvc-4-app-in.html

MVC3 with Razor in Xamarin Studio 

  1. Create new MVC3 project
    Notice broken references to System.Web.Helpers and System.Web.Webpages
  2. Add Nuget:
    1. Xamarin Add in Manager
    2. Gallery tab, Repositoy, select Manage Repositories
    3. Add unofficial Nuget Add-in http://mrward.github.com/monodevelop-nuget-addin-repository/4.0/main.mrep
    4. Install the NugetPackage from the new repository: IDE extensions, NuGet
  3. Manage Project Nuget Packages
  4. Add Microsoft ASPNet Web Pages 2

Troubleshooting
  • Apache logs: vi /var/log/apache2/error_log
  • Mac Console: find using the search in top right: this will list all errors so look for those starting org.apache...
  • Lion: after upgrading to Lion I found I had an error in Console:
    org.apache.httpd: httpd: Syntax error on line 499 of /private/etc/apache2/httpd.conf: Syntax error on line 8 of /private/etc/apache2/other/mod_mono.conf: Cannot load /usr/libexec/apache2/mod_mono.so into server: dlopen(/usr/libexec/apache2/mod_mono.so, 10): image not found. This post on stackoverflow.com helped me fix it.

KeePassX on Mac: Opening Two Files Simultaneously

Using KeePassX natively you can only open one file at a time but if you need to have two open at the same time you can create a command file to do it. In Applications/Utilities/Terminal:
  1. Navigate to the directory containing your password file e.g. cd Passwords
  2. Create and edit a .command file to open the file in a new instance of the application:
    vi OpenFile1.command
  3. Press i to start input then type:
    #!/bin/bash
    open -n /Applications/KeePassX.app [path from user folder and file name].kdb &
    Note: -n flag opens a new instance, & kills the Terminal window. To make the window exit you need to select "Close if the shell exited cleanly" from Terminal, Preferences, Settings, Shell tab/button, "When the shell exits".
  4. Save and exit the file by pressing: Esc :wq
  5. Make the script executable: chmod +x OpenFile1.command

09 April 2012

XBox Media Center Extender under Active Directory

We have an XBox in the office which we use to record and stream recordings from TV. The trouble is we also use Active Directory (AD) and Group Policies (GP) to configure users permissions etc. It seems XBox Media Extender requires Remote Desktop and some of our settings were conflicting with this requirement.

The Problem
When you attempt to add an XBox as a media extender you get:

Configuration Error
An error was encounter while configuring your computer for use with this extender.

Leaving aside the fact that this message gives us no indication of what the problem is (thanks Microsoft) I found this article on MS support:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932342 
Which deals with exactly this problem. However, after following that it still didn't connect.

Eventually I realised it needed Remote Desktop permissions and my User Group Policy was allowing RD connections to "Domain Users" and "Domain Admins" but it wasn't allowing it to plain old (local) "Users", and the XBox is added as a plain old User, not an AD user.

The crucial point was to change the policy using (GPEdit.msc) under: Computer Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Security Settings, Local Policies, User Rights:
    • Allow log on through Terminal Services: add the XBox user or group Users
    • Allow log on locally: add the XBox user or group Users (You also have to add (local) administrators).

Active Directory User GPO


These are settings for an Active Directory User GPO (Group Policy Object) including:

Note it is good practice to split group policies into different (logical) objects e.g. one for roaming profiles, one for remote access etc. Here I have kept it all in one object to avoid confusion: they can conflict and then it is hard to know where a setting is. Your requirements may be different. 


Create a User Profile GPO:
Group Policy Management/Domains/[Domain name]; right click and select “Create a GPO in this domain and Link it here”. Call it “User Profiles” or something relevant.
In the GPO: Computer Configuration/Policies/Administrative Templates
  • System: Verbose vs normal status messages enabled
  • User Profile:
    • Add the Administrators security group to roaming user profiles
    • Set Roaming profile path: \\[FileServer]\Users$\%username%\profile
      NB: THIS IS ACTUALLY WHERE ROAMING PROFILES ARE IMPLEMENTED or it can be done in the user object. I like to do it here so it can be over-written on a per-machine basis e.g. disabled on a server.
User Configuration
  • Policies/Windows Settings/Folder Redirection
    • Enable “Basic –redirect everyone’s folder to the same location” for all folders except AppData
    • Set Target folder location as “Create a folder for each user under the root path
    • Set Root Path as: \\[servername].[domain name]\Users$
  • Policies/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Internet Explorer/Internet Control Panel/Security Page. Set Site to Zone Assignment List to file://*.[domain name] to enable browsing within the domain.


User Settings GPO
I also like to setup a few settings to ensure better user experience.
The following are under Computer Configuration, Policies:
  • Remote access on:
  • Under Administrative Templates:
    • Network/Network Connections/Windows Firewall/Domain Profile/Windows Firewall: Allow inbound Remote Desktop Exception. Enter IP restriction e.g. specific IP (192.168.0.10) or "localsubnet"
    • Computer Configuration, Windows Settings, Security Settings, Local Policies, User Rights Assignment, Allow log on through Remote Desktop Services
  • Under Windows Settings, Security Settings, Local Policies, User Rights:
    • Allow log on through Terminal Services: add a group e.g. Domain Users
    • Allow log on locally: add a group e.g. Domain Users (You also have to add (local) administrators).
  • UAC off: Windows Settings, Security Settings, Local Policies, Security Options, User Account Control
    • Behaviour of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode: Enable without Prompting
    • Detect application installations and prompt for elevation: Disabled
    • Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations: Disabled 
    • Run all Administrators in Admin Approval Mode: Disabled
  • Start up sound off: Administrative Templates/System/Logon.


    User Configuration:
    • Policies/Administrative Templates
      • Control Panel/Display/Desktop Themes: Windows Classic (enable but leave theme blank).
      • Desktop/Desktop: Disable Active Desktop (disallows HTML and JPG wallpaper
      • System/User Profile: Limit Profile Size: Max Profile Size set to 30GB (30,000,000). NB this doesn’t actually limit the size but rather just displays a message.
        NB: I have since turned this off as I found the process ‘proquota.exe’ was hogging my system.
      • System/Logon: Run these programs at user logon: I have added a bat file to delete downloads older than 7 days, to avoid them taking up too much space. I created it in \\[Server]\NETLOGON\DeleteDownloads.bat
    • Preferences
      • Windows Settings/Drive Maps: setup any maps you need.
      • Control Panel Settings/Folder Options/General
        Hide extensions for known file types: Disabled
    You can apply update the Group Policy locally by running cmd.exe as administrator and running gpupdate from the machine you wish to update the policies on.

    07 April 2012

    Joining a Mac to an Active Directory

    There are many sources about joining a Mac to an existing Windows Active Directory domain host but I found the Apple documentation lacking in detail (e.g. what actually are “mobile accounts”) and a great deal of ‘noise’ when searching mostly due to people having issues so I just wanted to jot my notes on the subject down here.
    Active Directory Domain Host: Windows Server 20077 SP2
    Client: Mac OSX 10.6.8

    On the Mac
    1. Login as an administrator (the primary user is setup as one by default) then go to Apple, System Preferences, System, Accounts.
    2. Click Login Options on the left at the bottom
    3. On the right hand pane it should say Network Account Server and then either “Join” or a domain name and Edit. If it says edit the proceed to the next step.
      • To Join: Enter the active directory domain controller (I used IP) and a user with sufficient privileges to join a computer to the AD.
    4. Once joined click Edit to enforce ‘mobile accounts’ which are a rough equivalent of roaming profiles in Windows.
      1. Click “Open Directory Utility” and unlock it (click the padlock bottom left).
      2. Double click Active Directory and click the arrow next to Show Advanced Options.
      3. Tick Create mobile account at login and un-tick “Require confirmation…”. This allows the user to login using the same profile when not connected to the AD controller.
      4. Choose the Administrative tab and allow administration by domain admins and enterprise admins.
    5. You should now be able to log out and log back in as an Active Directory User using your username, password and active directory domain.
    Network Shares
    You can access a share by going to Finder, Go, Connect to Server then type in the share name e.g.
    smb://[server name]/Users$/[share name]
    To open the share on each login go to: System Preferences, Users and Groups, select the user account then Login Items on the right hand pane, then click the add sign and select the relevant folder.
    If you need more integration with Active Directory e.g. syncing folders etc it might be easier to use an OSX or Linux server e.g. http://mattfleming.com/node/190

    On the Server
    You should add a DNS entry for the machine if there isn’t one already.

    Resources
    http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/237
    http://training.apple.com/pdf/wp_integrating_active_directory.pdf

    Remote Desktop/VNC To Mac from PC and Visa Versa

    You can use Virtual Network Computing (VNC) or RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) for this purpose. RDP is proprietary Microsoft software and whilst it is arguably faster VNC is more widely supported. Personally I use RDP to connect to the PC and VNC to connect to the Mac.

    Mac from a PC via VNC
    1. On the Mac:
      1. Apple Logo top left: System Preferences
      2. Internet & Wireless, Sharing:
        1. Tick Screen Sharing
        2. Note the IP address: “Other users can access your computer at vnc://192.168.0.3”
        3. Click Computer Settings and select “VNC viewers may control screen with password” then enter a password (this is for VNC only and does not have to be your Mac username password).
        4. Select which users have access
        5. Optionally click the lock at the bottom to prevent accidental changes.
    2. On the PC
      1. Install a VNC client e.g. TightVNC
      2. Run the viewer and enter the IP address noted above (NB no vnc:// prefix or port number suffix).  
      3. It should challenge you for a password (not username). If you get "Server did not offer supported security type!" then you have not ticked “VNC viewers may control screen with password” mentioned above.
      4. (Optional) Create a shortcut: right click and hold down on the Viewer in the Start menu, dragging it onto the desktop then select '”Create Shortcut here”. Right click on the created shortcut and select Properties then change the target: remove everything but the program name (e.g. tightvnc.exe) then add a suffix afterwards of a space followed by the ip address or host (Mac) computer name.
    PC from a Mac via RDP
    In my opinion this is by far the easiest method of connecting to a PC from a Mac.
    1. Install Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac from here
    2. Type the IP or host (computer) name.
    3. If you need to "Press Ctrl Alt Del to log on" the keys are Ctrlm Apple/Cmd and Forward Del. 
    4. You should be challenged for username, password and domain. Enter them and click connect.
    PC from a Mac via VNC
    1. On the PC
      Windows doesn’t have an inbuilt VNC server, relying instead on the MS Remote Desktop functionality, so first you need to install and configure a VNC server to connect to:
      1. Install a VNC Server
        1. Install a VNC server e.g. TightVNC
        2. Start the VNC server as a service. This is slightly different depending on which server you choose but for TightVNC it is:
          1. Start Menu, All Programs, TightVNC, TightVNC Server (Service Mode), Register TightVNC Service
          2. Start Menu, All Programs, TightVNC, TightVNC Server (Service Mode), Start TightVNC Server
        3. Open the VNC Server configuration to set the password for access and the display port number: For TightVNC this is: Start Menu, All Programs, TightVNC, TightVNC Server (Service Mode), TightVNC Service - Control Interface
        4. Open the firewall for your VNC server (just for local connections i.e. not internet):
          1. Click Start and type firewall [return]. This should bring up Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
          2. Select Inbound Rules and look for TightVNC in the list. There should be entries
      2. Find your IP address:
        1. Click start and type cmd [return] A black command line window should appear.
        2. Type: ipconfig [return]
          A whole stream of information should come up about each network connection. Windows has multiple “adapters” so there will be more listed than physically on your machine.
        3. Get the IP: If you are on wireless you are looking for “Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection”, if you are wired then “Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection”. The IP address is the number listed after “IPv4 Address…”
      3. Take a deep breath.
    2. On the Mac
      1. Go to Finder, Go, Connect to server.
      2. Type vnc://192.168.0.3:10 i.e. vnc://[IP address of the PC]:[port number set above] 
      3. i.e. vnc is the protocol, the IP address then a colon, then the port number set in the VNC server configuration.
      4. Type your password set above and you should be able to connect.

    Troubleshooting
    Remote connections can be a pain to troubleshoot because they either work or they don’t, often providing little or no information about why they fail. Some things to check or try are:
    • LAN connection: are both machines connected to the same LAN and have IP addresses: they shoudl be the same except for the last digit e.g. 192.168.1.5 and 192.168.1.6
    • Firewalls: if you are behind an internet firewall on a small known (e.g. home) network  it is OK to temporarily disable your firewall whilst you try and get it working, being sure to turn it back on afterwards.
    • Port number for VNC: Double check the port number of your viewer: when connecting from Mac to PC you need to enter a colon after the IP address and then a port number e.g. 5900 When connecting the other way round you do not.
    • Protocol for VNC: when connecting from Mac to PC you need to enter vnc:// before the IP address, when doing it the other way round you do not.
    • If the screen looks fuzzy it’s probably being reduced in size: increase the window size or select 100% on your viewer.
    • If the connection is slow then check your LAN connection and or hub.

    01 April 2012

    Cloud

    I've got a cloud,
    its not heavy or wet.
    It floats in the ether,
    and acts like my pet.

    I've got a cloud
    and in it I store,
    All the things I want to,
    like photos and more!