Release Synergy-thread for support/modifications/proposals


lomaxx

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This isn't really a new beta-release, but I didn't know where else to put this. This subforum seemed to fit best.


After all the Synergy-PND could use some improvements, I guess. So maybe it's not that wrong in here.


I will start with some hints on how to implement synergy in a moment.
 
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While thinking about writing howtos, I noticed that I haven't got a real concept about how to make Synergy-usage more userfriendly yet. I might even rewrite the menus that i use in the PND. I'll have to get this straight first in my mind. For now I want to point you to neelix-modifications/improvements. He came up with a pnd that implements quicksynergy. See here for a description and a download-link.


I thought about improving the zenity-window in such a way that it makes quicksynergy redundant. Also i dislike the fact very much, that the pnd stays mounted while synergy is running in the background. I would prefer to find a way to without it. We'll see what i come up with.
 
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it needs to stay mounted because the application is still running, but its not much of an issue really.
 
beeing able to remove the SD cards while having synergy running would be a nice thing. So it would be nice if there was another way lomaxx.


With the current HF6 synergy doen't run anymore because it can't find the config file in the home directory anymore. do you know where if have to put my cfg now?
 
the synergy appdata folder now :)

beeing able to remove the SD cards while having synergy running would be a nice thing. So it would be nice if there was another way lomaxx.
the only way this is going to happen is if you install the PND to the OS (nand or sdcard if your bootfing from that). that way you can remove the sd card without worrying about breaking synergy
 
With the current HF6 synergy doen't run anymore because it can't find the config file in the home directory anymore. do you know where if have to put my cfg now?

Into the appdata-folder of synergy, because with the new HF the HOME-directory-variable is automatically changed to that directory. That is: <path_to_sd-card_where_the_pnd_is_on>/pandora/appdata/synergy


For example on my system the location is: /media/trans8/pandora/appdata/synergy/.synergy.conf


My personal, favorite way of running synergy is indeed to install it. You can install it in two ways:


- from the angstrom-repository: Just open a terminal and run



Code:
sudo opkg install synergy



- OR copy over the two needed binary-files to the right directory. For this you need to start the synergy-pnd, leave the menu open and open a terminal. There you need to type in the following:





Code:
sudo su



Type in your userpassword. Then:





Code:
cp /mnt/utmp/synergy/synergyc /usr/bin/

cp /mnt/utmp/synergy/synergys /usr/bin/

exit



"exit" will bring you back to the user-right-level in the terminal. Note that synergy-cfg-file has to be in your real home-directory at ~/synergy.conf for the installed synergy-binaries, because you are not using the PND-system anymore and the HOME-variable will not be changed when you run them. Once you copied over the files you can close the menu of the PND-synergy, which should unmount the PND once again.



Now you should be able to run any of the two commands no matter in which directory you are. For example you could try to run the synergy-client by entering:





Code:
synergyc <host>



where "<host>" is either the ip (something like 192.168.1.34) or the hostname of the computer that is running the synergy-server. Using the hostname will only be available if you either are running a local DNS-server for your home-network where you configured it, or if you entered the hostname-configuration in the file "/etc/hosts" on you Pandora-system.

In order to edit the hosts-file:





Code:
sudo su

mousepad /etc/hosts



The mousepad-editor should show up showing the content of /etc/hosts. There you have to enter the ip and the hostname you want to use at the bottom. Something like:





Code:
192.168.1.34 homepc



Save the file and exit. And from now on you should be able to access the computer with the ip "192.168.1.34" by using the name "homepc". Of course this is again just an example and needs to be replaced with the ip and hostname that suits your network/taste.



If you want to build yourself a menu-entry or an icon on the desktop that runs "synergyc <host>" you just need to build yourself a desktop-file like described in the end of this thread. For a icon on the desktop you could also right-click on an empty place on your desktop, chosse "Create launcher" and fill out the fields. I recommend to use the full path in "command", e.g. "/usr/bin/synergyc <host>".



One issue that might confuse linux-newbies, is the fact that synergyc and synergys run invisble in the background. If you ever want to check if it's already running, then open a terminal an type





Code:
ps -u <username>



where <username> is the name of the user that you are currently logged in as.

If you want to close (kill) synergyc or synergys, the either carefully search the PID of synergyc/synergys from the output of the ps-command above (be sure not to choose the PID of a different program) and type





Code:
kill <PID>



or just use for example:





Code:
killall synergyc


which would kill all running synergyc-programms.


So much for now. This is also partially explained in the advanced guide of the PND. Ah, one last thing: The quicksynergy-programm of the PND that is linked here does show an icon in the system-tray while running. The drawback is that AFAIK quicksynergy does not offer a way to directly start with a prespecified host. Maybe I'm wrong there. I didn't look much into this yet.
 
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So much for now. This is also partially explained in the advanced guide of the PND. Ah, one last thing: The quicksynergy-programm of the PND that is linked here does show an icon in the system-tray while running. The drawback is that AFAIK quicksynergy does not offer a way to directly start with a prespecified host. Maybe I'm wrong there. I didn't look much into this yet.

Host can be specified in the quicksynergy config file. There is actually a bug in my run script in that PND which prevents quicksynergy from reusing its saved settings because it replaces the config file each time it is run, but if you drop this corrected version into the appdata folder, then it will always remember the last details you used it with. I never got around to repackaging the PND with the corrected script.


Incidentally, if you don't want to put it in the home folder, the synergy config file can be stored anywhere, you just need to specify the file to use with the -c parameter when calling synergys.


- Neelix
 
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you do know you can put pnds on the nand and they will show up in the menu right? and an appdata folder will also be created on the nand too.

sounds much easier to me
 
@Neelix: Nice to see you here. :) A quick question about quicksynergy: You said you can specify the host, but can you also launch it in such a way that it directly connects and starts up minimized in the systray? Would be the optimum.


@milkshake: Just copying over the pnd to nand wouldn't be enough (in relation to what i explained above). You would still need to setup a pnd_run.sh-command-line that directly runs "synergyc <ip>" and put that line in either a desktop-file or launcher or assign it to a shortkey. So it's not really easier as far as i can see. Also the installed version should launch a bit faster as nothing needs to be mounted. But that probably isn't noticeable. I just prefer to mount as few PNDs as needed at the same time. As usual Linux offers many ways to do things. Sometimes it's just a matter of habit, which one you choose.
 
Good question. I'll have to look into the config file options for it to be sure, but from what I can see, It would appear the answer is no. As this isn't functionality I have needed before I hadn't really thought about it.


I seem to have lost the copy of the source that I built it from, but based on what I see here it doesn't seem to do anything more with the command line parameters than pass them on to gtk_init.


It's licensed as GPLv2 so I'm tempted to try implementing that myself... would need to set up a cross compiling environment first (I built it on the pandora itself which I don't currently have)


- Neelix
 
Take your time. I can also add you as synergy-pnd-maintainer on the repo, if you want to (and have a repo-account). We should just coordinate updates throughout this thread in order not to get confused. If i will modify the menu-structure/documentation, then I'll use your pnd an let you know before uploading.
 
Sounds like a good plan, coordinating our efforts through this thread is a good idea. :)


If we can share maintainer rights then you are welcome to add me. My repo username is Neelix.


- Neelix
 
During the last few years Synergy became a pay product, so I had to search for old PC versions online, and luckily the 1.5.0 that I found still works with this PND, cool !! :D
 
I didn't found info about this on the official site, it is good that the open source code is still maintained
 
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