VNC - anyone know anything about them?

[Jux]

I have 'inherited' my brother's 3 G4s (Mac). There is something called "chicken of hte vnc" on hte one I am using now, and also on his laptop.

His set-up was 2 G4s cabled together in his flat (the other machine was in his studio).

I am trying to make sense of what is on these machines but only have the space to do it one at a time.

I have discovered a VNC is a virtual network, but I don't really understand what that is, or really what it would be used for.

I need a Geek!

VNC is a (relatively) easy way to control another networked computer (but not OS-dependent, so I can control a little G3 iMac from an XP machine, for example - equally, a Mac could control another Mac, or a Windows XP, 98 or other machine). The software copies what's on screen of the "slave" machine onto the "control" machine and keys / mouse movement on the control machine are sent to the slave machine.

Your brother could have had one machine on the desk with keyboard, screen and mouse, and via the ethernet connection, 'remote control' the one in the studio (or vice versa).

If you eventually want to dispose of one or more G4s, I may be interested (my s/h G3 only has blue screen, red and green not working, so can only see it in colour via VNC - which is OK as I mostly use it as a music player / alarm clock with Audion software, so don't actually need to 'control' it much, it just comes on at 7am and plays music for a bit!)

Thank you WebDude. I will almost certainly want, or rather, have to dispose of at least one of them. I have to go through everything that's on them first, as there are people who may have paid for some of the work he's done, and sometime, somebody is going to come and look at them, presumably copy stuff onto ext. hds or flash drives. I'll have to wipe the work off (copyright), but when that's done, I will let you know. (Could be a while though.)

Back to VNC -

Does that mean that the other machines are 'slaved' to a main machine?

There was only one screen, I can see that he wouldn't need more (how do you switch between machines?). However, the studio was quite a distance from his flat - would he have to carry his screen around with him?

Is there any potential domestic use you can think of for having a vnc? I am trying to work out what I can do with these machines, and also what software I need to keep.

He's got a couple of iLoks too. I know they hold passwords and licences, but I've not been able to 'look' at what's on the one that was plugged into his keyboard. (I need his password for his laptop, as I can't get into that at all - I can do something clever with firewire, but feel a bit wary of doing it!)

Sorry, these are stupid questions really. Thanks for your help.

You can fix the password for the laptop by starting up from an installer CD (or any usable Mac OSX startup CD- it doesn't matter which version of Mac OS X it is) and there you will find a function called "Password Utility" if you bypass the installer bit (go into the menus). This won't tell you what his password is, but it will allow you to change it to something else. You can then boot up his computer and use the new password. Having done that you can go into Keychain Utility (in Applications/Utilities) to inspect any other passwords that he had saved.

You can share two computers across one screen with a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch available relatively cheaply from Maplin, etc., though it's not useful for most people, and the VNC thing isn't much use unless you want to do serious telecommuting.

I use VNC in two ways. With computers in more than one room I can click on a shortcut (or a dialog box offering a choice of computers) and instantly what I see is the other computer just as though I were sitting at it. Anything I see and do is actually happening to the other computer.

One of mine doesn't have a keyboard, mouse or screen so this is the only way I control it.

The other use is that because I help maintain a friends computers I can 'take over' their computers too from a distance and can do updates and such much easier than if I had to go to their house each time.

Maybe VNC was used to control the other machine in the studio?

Prism, that's brilliant, thank you.

Onagar, I think he used it in the way you use yours. The 2 in his flat seemed to be cabled together but there was only one kb, mouse and screen (he used his flat as a studio too). He may have done it that way to get more hd or something. He also had about 8 external hard-drives, all cabled up.

I have ideas of letting dd use a computer and then 'popping in' every so often via VNC to check on what she's doing - and stopping her! I'd have to get her a screen though.

Anyone know anything about iLoks?

Tangent this, but my VNC number at work was 69. I used to get all sorts of sarky comments

Jux - cannot answer on iLoks (?) but can see how you might find VNC useful - deep down I feel you ought to make DD aware that you can view the machine, though I guess you could say something like 'if you get stuck, I can take a look from this machine' rather than outright explain that you have 'snooping' ability any time you like (!)

Onagar - perhaps doesn't apply in your case, but for others who are using Windows, I'd heartily recommend LogMeIn (free account) to be able to connect. (1) it doesn't matter if their ISP gives them a new IP address every time they connect, (2) there's no need to make changes to the router setup to allow you to connect to a specific machine, (3) fewer firewall issues, (4) connection uses encrypted connection (not that I'm that worried about someone snooping on traffic, but if you have to help with setting up username/ password then the less that goes 'in the clear' the better).

HHBM - VNC number 69 (sorry for your though - depends on the comments from co-workers really)