198 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
198 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
Synergy
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=======
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synergy: [noun] a mutually advantageous conjunction of distinct elements
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Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between
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multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its
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own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users
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with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its
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own display.
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Redirecting the mouse and keyboard is as simple as moving the mouse
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off the edge of your screen. Synergy also merges the clipboards of
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all the systems into one, allowing cut-and-paste between systems.
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Furthermore, it synchronizes screen savers so they all start and stop
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together and, if screen locking is enabled, only one screen requires
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a password to unlock them all.
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Synergy is open source and released under the GNU Public License (GPL).
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The synergy home page is:
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FIXME
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The synergy project page is:
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FIXME
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Report bugs to:
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synergy@groundhog.pair.com
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Please see the following files for more information:
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AUTHORS -- The list of synergy's authors
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BUGS -- A list of known bugs and limitations
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COPYING -- The license synergy is release under
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INSTALL -- Detailed build and installation instructions
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NEWS -- News about the synergy project
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PORTING -- Porting guide for developers
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System Requirements
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-------------------
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* All operating systems:
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keyboard,
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mouse,
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TCP/IP networking;
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* Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me (the Windows 96 family);
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* Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP (the Windows NT family);
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* Linux:
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X Windows version 11 revision 4 or up with the XTEST extension
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(use `xdpyinfo | grep XTEST' to check for XTEST).
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Installation
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------------
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See INSTALL for detailed build and installation instructions.
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Quick Start
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-----------
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Synergy lets you use one keyboard and mouse across multiple computers.
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To do so it requires that all the computers are connected to each other
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via TCP/IP networking. Most systems come with this installed.
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The first step is to pick which keyboard and mouse you want to share.
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The computer with that keyboard and mouse is called the "primary
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screen" and it runs the synergy server. All of the other computers
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are "secondary screens" and run the synergy client. The Windows NT
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family, starting with NT 4 with service pack 3, is the best choice
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for the primary screen but Linux is good too. (This is based on the
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known bugs; see BUGS for more details.)
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Next you must install the software. You must install the synergy
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server on the primary screen and the synergy client on all the
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secondary screens. If it's easier just install both on all of the
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systems.
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Third, you create a configuration file for the server. Only the
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server requires configuration. Create a text file named
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synergy.conf with the following:
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section: screens
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<screen1>:
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<screen2>:
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end
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section: links
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<screen1>:
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right = <screen2>
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<screen2>:
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left = <screen1>
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end
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Replace each occurrence of `<screen1>' with the host name of the
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primary screen computer and `<screen2>' with the host name of a
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secondary screen computer. In the above example, <screen2> is to
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the right of <screen1> and <screen1> is to the left of <screen2>.
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If necessary you should replace `right' and `left' with `left',
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`right', 'up', or `down'. If you have more than two computers
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you can add those too: add each computer's host name in the
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`screens' section and add the appropriate links.
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Finally, you start the server then all of the clients. Normally
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synergy wants to run "in the background." It detaches from the
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terminal and doesn't have a visible window, effectively
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disappearing from view. Until you're sure your configuration
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works you should start synergy "in the foreground" using the `-f'
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command line option.
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To get a command line on Windows, choose Run... from the Start
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menu. Type `cmd' if you're using the Windows NT family or
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`command' if you're using the Windows 95 family and press enter.
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To start the server, enter the following on the command line:
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synergyd -f --config synergy.conf
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To start a client, enter the following:
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synergy -f <server-host-name>
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where `<server-host-name>' is replaced by the name of the computer
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running the synergy server.
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Both the client and server should immediately report the connection
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or an error. If successful, you should now be able to move the
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mouse off the appropriate edge of your server's screen and have it
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appear on the client's screen. Use the mouse and keyboard normally
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except use the edge of the screens to jump to other screens. You
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can also cut-and-paste across computers. Currently, only text
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transfers between computers. Start the remaining clients.
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Be aware that not all keystrokes can be handled by synergy. In
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particular, ctrl+alt+del is not handled. You cannot use synergy
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to log into a Windows NT family system that requires the user to
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press ctrl+alt+del to log on. You'll need to keep that computer's
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keyboard handy in order to log on.
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Once the configuration is verified, see the instructions in INSTALL
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under `Starting Automatically' for details on running synergy in
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the background and on starting synergy automatically when you start
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your computers.
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Tips and Tricks
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---------------
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* A screen can be its own neighbor. That allows a screen to "wrap".
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For example, if a configuration linked the left and right sides of
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a screen to itself then moving off the left of the screen would put
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the mouse at the right of the screen and vice versa.
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* You cannot switch screens when a key or mouse button is pressed.
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* You cannot switch screens when the scroll lock it toggled on. Use
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this to prevent unintentional switching.
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* Turn off mouse driven virtual desktop switching on X windows. It
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will interfere with synergy. Use keyboard shortcuts instead.
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* Synergy's screen saver synchronization works best with xscreensaver
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under X windows. Synergy works better with xscreensaver if it is
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using of the screen saver extensions. Prior to xscreensaver 4.0
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you can use `-mit-extension', `-sgi-extension', or `-xidle-extension'
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command line options to enable an extension (assuming your server has
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the extension). Starting with 4.0 you must enable the corresponding
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option in your .xscreensaver file.
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* To work around the lack of ctrl+alt+del, you can configure Windows
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2000 and XP to not require ctrl+alt+del to log on using the System
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control panel. If you're the only user of an NT system you might
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want to enable auto-logon. In any case, you should keep each
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computer's keyboard handy, perhaps under the desk or on top of the
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computer itself. If the system supports USB you should also be able
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to attach/detach a keyboard as necessary.
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* Synergy automatically converts newlines in clipboard text (Linux
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expects \n to end each line while Windows expects \r\n).
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* Clients can be started and stopped at any time. When a screen is
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not connected, the mouse will jump over that screen as if the mouse
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had moved all the way across it and jumped to the next screen.
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* A client's keyboard and mouse are fully functional while synergy is
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running. You can use them in case synergy hangs.
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Bug Reports
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-----------
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Synergy is being improved all the time but we can only fix problems
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that we know about. Please let us know of any problems you encounter,
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including confusing or unhelpful documentation. Send reports to:
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synergy@groundhog.pair.com
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