Synergy Troubleshooting

Problems

  1. Cannot read configuration
  2. Connection forcefully rejected
  3. Connection timed out
  4. Cannot listen for clients
  5. Unknown screen name "XXX"
  6. Server refused client with name "XXX"
    A client with name "XXX" is not in the map
  7. Server already has a connected client with name "XXX"
    A client with name "XXX" is already connected
  8. Server has incompatible version
  9. The cursor goes to secondary screen but won't come back

Solutions

  1. Cannot read configuration

    There's an error in the configuration file. This error is always accompanied by another message describing the problem. Use that message and the configuration documentation to determine the fix.

  2. Connection forcefully rejected

    The client was able to contact the server computer but the server was not listening for clients. Possible reasons are:

  3. Connection timed out

    The most likely reasons for this are:

  4. Cannot listen for clients

    Synergy tried to start listening for clients but the network port is unavailable for some reason. Typical reasons are:

  5. Unknown screen name "XXX"

    This error can be reported when reading the configuration; see cannot read configuration. If the configuration was read successfully and you get this error then it means that the server's screen is not in the configuration. All screens must be listed in the configuration.

    A common reason for this is when you haven't used the system's hostname as its screen name. By default, synergy uses the hostname as the screen name. If you used a different screen name in the configuration then you must tell synergy what that name is. Let's say the hostname is frederick but the configuration defines a screen named fred. Then you must tell the server that its screen name is fred by using the --name fred command line option or setting the screen name in the advanced options dialog to fred.

    Alternatively, you can specify one name as an alias of another. See the configuration documentation for details.

    Another common reason for this is a mismatch between what you think the hostname is and what synergy thinks it is. Typically this is a problem with fully qualified domain names (FQDN). Perhaps you think your system is named fred but synergy thinks it's fred.nowhere.com or fred.local. You can use either solution above to fix this.

  6. Server refused client with name "XXX"
    A client with name "XXX" is not in the map

    The client is using a screen name not in the server's configuration. This is essentially the same problem as Unknown screen name "XXX" and has the same solutions: specify another screen name or add an alias.

  7. Server already has a connected client with name "XXX"
    A client with name "XXX" is already connected

    This happens when:

  8. Server has incompatible version

    You're using different versions of synergy on the client and server. You should use the same version on all systems.

  9. The cursor goes to secondary screen but won't come back

    This is FAQ #17 and is also mentioned in the documentation for using synergy and configuration.