HT1549: Mac Basics: File Sharing

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leichco
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: How to setup imac in order to connect remoting from home pc

I have an imac that was just reimaged and upgrated to 10.7X. I lost all my settings for remote sharing and do not recall. in system preferences /sharing/ i did check off file sharing and  remote login and create my self a a user, even though i am an administrator. on my window xp i have software to connect remotely to a scure site and have tight vnc viewer installed.  now before the imac reimage i was able to connect just fine. Now i can connect and get to the imac login window, but the cursor is immoble and cannot type in loginid or password.  in the past i was able to login.  what have i missed in the imac side to get the login to work?  any help is greatly appreciated.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Oct 29, 2012 9:59 AM

by leichco,Solvedanswer
leichco leichco
Level 1 (0 points)
A:

Hi

Setting the computer to never sleep AND using RealVNC, seems to have solved the problem connecting remotely. Thank you for all the information.

Cheers

Posted on Nov 1, 2012 6:17 AM

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leichco

Q: How to setup imac in order to connect remoting from home pc

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  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Oct 29, 2012 1:55 PM in response to leichco
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 29, 2012 1:55 PM in response to leichco

    Guessing.  Perhaps, the Lion VNC server does not like to play with your WIndows VNC client.  It has been known to happen.

     

    Check your Windows VNC client configuration, and make sure it is using 24-bit color.  That is to say, it is not downgrading the colors to save on network bandwidth.  My experience with the Mac OS X VNC server is that it does not like being told to use fewer colors.

     

    You could try a different WIndows VNC client.  UltraVNC, RealVNC, etc...

     

    You could experiment using a different VNC server, such as Vine Server (the server is free for personal use).

    Vine Server (aka OSXvnc)

    <http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11283/vine-server-%26-viewer>

     

    If you do try the Vine Server, you should turn off Mac OS X Screen Sharing (and Remote Management), as the Mac OS X VNC server and the Vine Server VNC server will conflict on trying control port 5900 (the VNC port).  You only want one VNC server controlling port 5900.

     

    You could switch from using a VNC connection method and use TeamViewer.com instead (free for personal use).  It is rather good at connecting across the internet, uses encrypted connections, and there are WIndows and Mac versions.

     

    LogMeIn.com also offers a cross platform screen sharing product (free for personal use).  And since the Windows side uses Direct-X on Windows, it is very responsive.

     

    You could replace your Windows system with a Mac and then both Macs would play nice together :-)

     

    Message was edited by: BobHarris

  • by leichco,

    leichco leichco Oct 31, 2012 10:15 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2012 10:15 AM in response to BobHarris

    Hi

    Thanks for responding. it seems that this behavior is intermittent and only happens when the iMac display goes to screen saver or the machine goes to sleep. i set the sleep to never, but i do want hot corners and the screen saver to work when i am away from my desk. i checked tight vnc and it was not controlling colors so that did not seem to be the issue. its the iMAC lion version 10x. I am going to do as you suggest and try another vnc client. will post how that goes.    cheers

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Oct 31, 2012 10:46 AM in response to leichco
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 31, 2012 10:46 AM in response to leichco

    The Mac going to sleep is difficult to deal with, unless you have a router that provides a "Sleep Proxy" service that will notice the request to connect to port 5900, and send the Wake-on-LAN magic packet to wake the Mac (assuming System Preferences -> Energy Saver -> "Wake for network access" is enabled AND you have a router that provides a "Sleep Proxy" service).

     

    The Apple Airport Extreme (TimeCapsule, Airport Express) router offers a "Sleep Proxy" service.

     

    If you do not have a "Sleep Proxy", and you do not have some other service that can send the Wake-on-LAN magic packet to the iMac, then you cannot allow the iMac to sleep.

     

    The Screen Saver should not interfere, but if you are seeing problems, then something is happening in your situation.

  • by leichco,Solvedanswer

    leichco leichco Nov 1, 2012 6:17 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 1, 2012 6:17 AM in response to BobHarris

    Hi

    Setting the computer to never sleep AND using RealVNC, seems to have solved the problem connecting remotely. Thank you for all the information.

    Cheers