Syngery keyboard/mouse sharing software

May 10, 2005 11:53 PM

Synergy is a fantastic little bit of open source software that allows two or more networked computers (Mac, Windows, Linux, or any combination) to share a mouse and keyboard (and clipboard!). It's perfect for the iBook you've got next to your Dell Box, or the Win/Linux duo you've got at work. The mouse cursor simply slides from one screen to the other. Neat! Free!
posted by scarabic (23 comments total)

Disclaimer: no full keyboard or mouse emulation. Certain keystores (ctrl-alt-delete) may not work. Each computer needs to have its own display so it's no substitute for a full KVM.

(FPP posted two feet to the left on a Win2k box, this comment posted two feet to the right on a PowerBook).
posted by scarabic at 11:56 PM on May 10, 2005

Very similar to the non-Free Multiplicity from StarDock, so I hear.
posted by catachresoid at 12:18 AM on May 11, 2005

I see this being very cool for the working-on-many-monitors-at-once set.

Is it possible to use a mouse on both computers without turning off Synergy? Thinking about potential applications here.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 12:34 AM on May 11, 2005

I've done this with win2vnc where the primary machine is a Windows box. I've also done this with x2vnc where the primary machine is running X. x2x is good where all machines concerned are X devices.

I've heard Synergy is a bit slicker, but these old school solutions have worked OK.

How well's Synergy work when one of the machines in question is dual-headed in and of itself, controlling second box with a third head? I had occasional problems with win2vnc in that configuration.
posted by majick at 12:50 AM on May 11, 2005

awesome, must try this out.
posted by dabitch at 1:08 AM on May 11, 2005

majick, here's my 3 machine, 5 monitor synergy setup @ work. *gloat* :)

posted by lhl at 1:16 AM on May 11, 2005

That's cooooooooooool.

Though why would want a desktop image of Times Square? That place is annoying.
posted by Down10 at 1:34 AM on May 11, 2005

This is actually rather good! The one thing that would make it significantly better would be if it handled file transfer (clipboard or dragging) somehow - which would be possible, I guess, but convoluted.

Very handy, anyway - thanks!
posted by cell at 2:49 AM on May 11, 2005

Been using synergy for a couple of years. And it rocks.
posted by robzster1977 at 3:14 AM on May 11, 2005

Though why would want a desktop image of Times Square?

How do you know that's not a live image panorama from 4 video feeds?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:41 AM on May 11, 2005

http://members.chello.nl/~s.ferris/images/Dsc00065.jpg

ner
posted by blag at 5:16 AM on May 11, 2005

Hey, nice frame on that waterfall picture, blag! What is that, oak?
posted by squirrel at 5:53 AM on May 11, 2005

I've been using Synergy for a few years as well, I even bought it. But I use it to manage my iTunes. Ooh, I see, it's a different Synergy.
posted by kika at 6:14 AM on May 11, 2005

:) I hasten to point out that that isn't my setup. It belong to this frustrated pilot.
posted by blag at 6:15 AM on May 11, 2005

And, yes, I probably left a "d" off somewhere...
posted by blag at 6:16 AM on May 11, 2005

majick, I used to use win2vnc as well, but in my tests synergy is more responsive and more reliable.

The only thing synergy is missing is a GUI for OS X. I'm tired of constantly sending commands via terminal to start and restart it.
posted by mathowie at 6:24 AM on May 11, 2005

How well's Synergy work when one of the machines in question is dual-headed in and of itself, controlling second box with a third head? I had occasional problems with win2vnc in that configuration.

Works well! I'm using Synergy to control my FC3 linux box on the right, the Windows XP box in the middle, and the Powerbook w/external display on the left.

It will copy and paste text (on a good day) between all three machines, and images between windows and linux boxen. Sometimes it glitches up, the OS X support isn't as complete as the Windows and Linux, but it's support of dual-heads on my Powerbook makes it totally worth it.
posted by irix at 6:24 AM on May 11, 2005

I've been using Synergy for over a year and have been quite satisfied with it. Always wows anyone who seems me use it.

Another similar product that I highly recommend (although Windows only and not open source) is Maxivista. It will allow you to run the screen on a second or third computer as the extended desktop on the first (as opposed to synergy which simply allows you to move your mouse across different desktops). You can drag your windows from one machine to the next. It's pretty slick in that it mounts the other machine as a virtual videocard and the transmits stuff over the lan, I use it wireless with my notebook to get an extra screen on my desktop and it's very satisfying.
posted by furtive at 6:43 AM on May 11, 2005

Majick,

We've been using Synergy with dual-head displays with great sucess for some time. Yes, it's great software.
posted by MotorNeuron at 3:42 PM on May 11, 2005

too many people don't know about synergy. It's a real shame when I see people with a $100 KVM switch to access multiple computers from one keyboard/mouse and I say.. "Why aren't you using synergy," and I end up breaking it to them they could achieve the same setup, working more efficiently, without hardware.
posted by Jerub at 4:00 PM on May 11, 2005

Of course the advantage of a KVM set-up is usually that there does not need to be multiple monitors.

Maxvista is a pretty cool tool, in fact it was using Maxvista to add my laptop to my desktop setup that led me to spring for the dual monitor system I am running now.
posted by soulhuntre at 8:43 AM on May 12, 2005

According to the FAQ, KVM support is currently in development, as is clipboard/drag & drop "file transfer". I'm actually a recent synergy convert, previously using Win2VNC with scroll wheel support, which, let me assure you, had no shortage of bugs. Synergy, on the other hand, has worked flawlessly, with minimal network overhead. One tip for Win users that took me a couple of days to figure out: Set "Logging Level" to Warning, or else you'll have an incredibly annoying DOS type window sitting in your task bar notifying you each time you switch from boxen to boxen. Setting it correctly leaves synergy in the system tray, where it belongs.
posted by rabble at 3:15 PM on May 12, 2005

Do you suspect foul play, catachresoid?
posted by mleonard at 9:13 AM on May 17, 2005