[FreeNX-kNX] Re: Basic usage question - remote access from a laptop?

[chris at ccburton.com]

Nick Hall <darknovanick at gmail.com> wrote on 22/12/2010 22:11:42:
[SNIP]
> My main computer has a 
> 1920x1080 monitor, and I do most of my work on there, but sometimes 
> I connect to that computer from my laptop over Wifi and do some work
> remotely. The laptop screen is much lower resolution than my main 
> monitor. Previously I've been connecting with VNC and using screen 
> scaling in order to access the computer. That works OK, its just 
> that VNC isn't as responsive as would be ideal, even over Wifi. I 
> read that NX is much more responsive so I was eager to try it.

It probably will be faster then VNC !!

> 
> At first I tried connecting in a similar way as with VNC, where I 
> opened a shadow session and connected it to my main session. I was 
> able to get on OK, but whatever screen scaling the NX client does is
> horrible and the display is unreadable.

NX will compress a VNC session, but it is still a scaled-to-fit VNC
session over NX with all the scaling issues.

> 
> Opening a new Unix-Gnome session from my laptop isn't an option, as 
> I would have to close down all my applications on my main computer 
> and then reopen them in this new desktop.

right 

> 
> Then I read this page: http://openfacts2.berlios.de/wikien/index.
> php/BerliosProject:FreeNX_-_FAQ/Usage_Scenarios which describes a 
> similar usage situation to what I'm trying to accomplish. As I read 
> that, the only way I can figure out how to do it is that instead of 
> launching applications directly on my main computer, I would have to
> open an NX Unix-Gnome session to localhost, then run apps that way. 
> Then from my laptop I could connect to the same session, and it 
> would rearrange the desktop to handle the different resolution and 
> it would be easier to work because nothing is scaled.

Yup.

NX works by having its own server based "X server" ( the client in
normal speak ) running all the time, (to keep the session open whilst
you are disconnected, for example) and then compressing the session
and displaying it remotely on your laptop.

It does not connect to your server based gnome "X server" like VNC
does.

This means that if you ever want to connect to your session via 
FreeNX you have to have the session run via NX all the time,
and if you are working directly on the server you still need the
NX client to connect to the same session !!

> The problem 
> with this, though, is that I'm not going to do 8 hours of work every
> day under the NX session connected to localhost, as its still too 
> slow. Dragging a window around is noticeably slower than with the 
> live system, which seems obvious as there is an additional layer in 
between.

Running locally, it should only be noticably slower if you are running
out of memory or CPU (with the NX client running and caching)

Regarding the server based NX client, you can:-

1/ Set "disable encryption of all traffic" under
        <Configure button><Advanced tab><Network>
2/ Set the connection to LAN under
        <Configure button><General tab>
3/ You can experiment with cache sizes in
        <Configure button><Advanced tab><System>
to see if using extra memory makes a difference or if your
setup works faster without using a cache at all.

> 
> What I really need is the ability to properly connect from my laptop
> to my main computer's native Gnome session.

Then you need VNC and you have to put up with the rescaling
offered by your version of VNC, but try the above suggestions first.

> Am I doing something 
> wrong, or is this impossible? If the scaling worked, I could still 
> get by with a shadow session, as it would presumably be more 
> responsive than VNC, but my monitors aren't the same resolution. Is 
> there a way to get the scaling to work? It seems like one very 
> common application would be to connect from a laptop to a desktop, 
> and it is very common that laptop screens are lower resolution. 
> Thanks for any advice,

Most windows server people I know use citrix on servers, which
works the same way as NX regarding your session (must be citrix)
and
for windows desktop support etc on workstations use tightVNC and
have to put up with the mess if the machines are very different.


> 
> Nick________________________________________________________________

Let us know how it turns out !!
cb
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