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Using Flame/Smoke on a remote computer

What you'll need

• X11vnc installed on the Linux system (http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/).

You can find a build for RHEL 4 64-bit here: http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/x11vnc/x11vnc-0.9.2-1.el4.rf.x86_64.rpm.

To install, type rpm -ivh x11vnc-0.9.2-1.el4.rf.x86_64.rpm in a shell.

• UltraVNC (http://www.uvnc.com/)installed on the client PC (or try your favorite VNC client on other platforms).

• The startvnc script (attached)

 

Starting the script

1. Navigate to the script folder and type ./startvnc

2. You will be prompted with a number of questions:

Choose a resolution to work at :
From the list, type the number that you choose. Full res is 1920 x 1200 (bigger than HD), 2/3 res is 1280 x 800 and 1/2 res is 960 x 600. A smaller resolution improves performance.
At this point, the script will also tell you the name of the VNC server (ex: The VNC server address is macedonia:0)

Do you want to start Smoke/Flame?
Choose y if you want to start smoke or flame. Keep in mind that if you want to control the application remotely, you need to start it from within the shell. This is not necessary for just viewing.

If you answered yes, it will ask you two other questions:

Do you want to remotely control the application?
This will enable you to use the mouse and keyboard on another system.

What software do you want to start? (type smoke, flame or other)
Type in the name of the program that you want to start. The script will always run the application from the most recently installed version.

If you want to force it to load a particular version, type its full name as it appears in /usr/discreet (ex: smoke_2007.SP3). The name of the selected version will appear on the next line.

The script will then start the VNC server, and a few seconds later, it will start the systems application.


Accessing the application remotely
1. Start UltraVNC viewer on the client PC.
2. Type in the name of the VNC server and :0 at the end to connect (ex: macedonia:0 or 172.16.128.209:0 ). The :0 is the number of the VNC session.
3. Click Connect. If remote control was enabled, you can use the software straight from the VNC client window!

 

Q&A

Do I need to be a user in particular to use startvnc?
You don't need to be root or any login in particular. startvnc will source the appropriate environment variables.

Can I start the script from a remote system?
Yes. You can remotely launch the script on your windows laptop by using puTTY (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html).

Just type the IP or name of the system you want to access and choose the ssh option for Linux. Click open. Login as root. Use as you would any other shell...

The VNC server won’t connect or doesn’t respect the settings I chose!
You may already have another VNC session running. Check the latest VNC server in the VNC messages in the shell. Multiple VNC sessions will be numbered :1, :2 and so on. Do a ps -ef | grep vnc if you're not sure. Kill any x11vnc processes that aren't necessary. x11vnc –remote will allow you to tweak the settings for the server without restarting it.

The pointer doesn’t work in Smoke/Flame!
Make sure to start Smoke/Flame from within the script, as the script sets the proper environment variables for remote control to work.

The remote connection is slow!
Use a fast network connection between the VNC server and client. Wireless may be a little slow. Keep in mind that a smaller VNC window will broadcast faster.

The Alt key doesn’t work!
This seems to be a general issue with VNC. Apparently this key is not broadcast in the VNC protocol.

If you find a solution, let me know.

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