Today my workplace was below par: my dual monitor workstation was defect and i even forgot my Acer notebook. What should i do?
All i had to work with was this pile of retired rackservers that i tend to accumulate. These wheren't up to speed, so i decided to strap them together and make the most out of it. I wanted to use these as a more powerfull (multimonitor) workstation. So i installed the latest Ubuntu
on two of them.
Then i remembered learning about
Synergy years ago.
Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s). - Synergy sourceforge website
Hearing lots of people had trouble setting getting it to work, here is a short (Ubuntu) howto.
- Install QuickSynergy on all systems
Synaptec Packet Manager should work, otherwise try this method: Applications > Add/Remove, now choose "Show: All available applications", and search for QuickSynergy, check it in the list, and click Apply.
- Run QuickSynergy on host
This is the workstation that has the mouse and keyboard connected. Pick the most powerfull machine.
Enter the IP hostname of the client in the directional box of your choice. (Moving through this edge makes your mouse spawn on said computer.)
Click the Execute button.
- Run QuickSynergy on client(s)
Enter the IP address of the host in the Use tab.
Click the Execute button.
- Done
Move the mouse to the edge of the host screen - it should now appear on the client screen!
I still prefer
Compiz on Ubuntu, but this is the next best thing. Especially if you can trow hardware at the problem. Now i MacGyvered myself a decent workplace.
Expect a howto on permanent Synergy setup, so you wont have to reconnect after each reboot. Oh and Synergy works across all mayor platforms. Its terrific! Check their site.
Also, i've given up on my workstations hardware problems. The AGP card used to work fine after kicking the machine once or twice... the last fourty didn't make a difference. Except for the satisfaction.
Update 20091005: Adjusted article; i discovered that entering the clients' hostname (instead of IP) on the host (see 2nd step) is more successful.
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