VNC connection to an iMac running Lion from Windows - very slow

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VNC connection to an iMac running Lion from Windows - very slow

Before switching from Snow Leopard to Lion I used Vineserver on my Mac to access it using VNC. VIneserver does not work in Lion, so I decided to try the built-in server (screen sharing)

After multiple atttempts and tweeks I managed to connect to the Mac using TightVNC on my windows machine, however, it is a very slow process. After connecting, I get a strange looking gray screen, with 2 fields asking for my userID and password. The response from the Mac is extremely slow, and sometimes it freezes up all together. If and when I get through that first screen, and I finally see my desktop, things speed up a little, but it doesn't come close the speeds I achieved with Vineserver. The new login screen is what makes it almost not usable though. Does anyone have a similar experience - or a solution?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Aug 8, 2011 12:51 PM

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Answer 1

agent_x

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Aug 12, 2011 12:48 PM in response to Hannes Hofer

I've been having the same issue with the VNC login screen with every VNC app I try. Sometimes I get through that initial login where I have to enter my password, but about half the time it just freezes up and I need to close my VNC app and try again. The last time though, I then couldn't even connect to the computer at all until I got to work and restarted the computer itself. Once I get past the intial login screen, thinks are okay. This has been very frustrating.

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Answer 2

Aug 18, 2011 8:19 AM in response to agent_x

I am also having major issues with getting VNC to work - I am using the free realVNC client on Windows 7 connecting to a mac book air running lion with the first service pack.

The initial log on screen paints okay, but I can't enter in my password. I type and the little dots for the password show up very slowly.

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Answer 3

Aug 27, 2011 1:46 PM in response to Hannes Hofer

This issue is caused by a difference in the way Lion handles screen logins.

You must change the way you log in so that the client uses Mac OS X sign, on the Mac OS X user and Mac OS X password and not a VNC password.

On the Lion machine that is acting as the server to remote to, have screen sharing on but untick the two boxes in the Computer Settings area as shown in this screenshot:-

This set up works well with my Lion Mac using Mocha VNC iOS client and gives a very usable response across the internet from my iPhone 4.

Before I made these changes I could barely log in.

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Answer 4

Aug 28, 2011 1:36 PM in response to leefromraynes park

I tried your suggestion, but it did not help. If I unchecked the VNC viewers password option, vnc complains:

No Matching Security Types:

Which windows vnc viewer are you using?

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Answer 5

Aug 29, 2011 6:04 AM in response to caryfromtoronto

I am using Mocha VNC Lite version 3. This is free on the Apple Store. There is also a pay version of the software so note you can use the free one to get it working and use it properly, the full paid version just adds a few nice to haves and allows scrolling in windows using two fingers.

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Answer 6

Hannes Hofer Author

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Aug 29, 2011 6:35 AM in response to caryfromtoronto

The configuraion that leefromaynespark mentions works great with Mocha VNC Lite on the iPhone, but it does not work with TightVNC for windows or any other Windows VNC client that I know of.

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Answer 7

Feb 2, 2012 4:58 AM in response to Hannes Hofer

I have same problem - very, very slow response just for that signon screen - and it's sporadic. I just have to close and retry until I get success. Has anyone solved this problem yet (as there's nothing posted since Aug 29 2011)? Once I am successfully signed on, it's ok.

I am not using an iPhone so leefromaynespark's suggestion is not relevant. I am using VNC Personal Edition for Windows P4.6.3 - from Windows. (I had to use this version to overcome a security issue.)

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Answer 8

Hannes Hofer Author

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Feb 2, 2012 8:40 AM in response to drhoderick

Since this discussion started, a beta version of Vine Server for Lion has been posted. It is somewhat buggy, but it works al lot better than the built-in version. Vine Server 4.0 Beta can be downloaded from http://www.testplant.com/support/downloads/vine/

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Answer 9

Apr 10, 2012 1:37 PM in response to Hannes Hofer

Vine worked well for me, thanks Hannes.

The Lion in-built screen sharing was painfully slow which seemed to be caused by the high resolution & colors of the shared screen. I could not find a way to adjust those setting through the Lion VNC setup.

Vine installed quickly and easily. When connecting using VNC viewer, it allows me to scale down the colors through the connection settings on-the-fly which makes the response time much faster depending on what I need. I am going with Vine for now.

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Answer 10

May 16, 2012 3:00 PM in response to Hannes Hofer

Having just automatically installed the upgrade to Mac OS X 10.7.4 which included a new version of Apple Remote Desktop client (V3.5.3), the problem seems to have been fixed, at last.

Has anyone else seen an improvement?

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