OK. I'm finally stumped and have been attempting a few things for a few days now.

I'm trying to network 4 different operating systems using VNC (I know...I know....). Wait, it gets worse....(Actually is it considered "networking" in the traditional sense of the word using VNC??)

192.168.0.2= "George"--PC Tower--Win 2000 Pro
192.168.0.3= "Paul"--Mac Powerbook-- OS 10.3.9
192.168.0.4= "Ringo"--PC Tower--Ubuntu 6.06
192.168.0.6= "John"--IBM Thinkpad--Win XP Pro

Those names are weak and a tad gay, I know. But I was at a weak moment and it does make some sense to me, which is always nice.

Anyway, I've loaded vnc onto all of them except Ringo (Ubuntu) as that was already there. I've allowed users to "view" and "control" Ringo's desktop in it's "remote desktop" applet.

Chicken of the VNC is loaded onto "Paul" (Powerbook).

Of course, both windows computers are running VNC too. (I wanna say it's just the "viewer"-version though? Is there a free "server" version for Windows?)

So what I'd like to do, is to share the music folder on each one. I suppose being able to control and/or view all of their desktops would be nice too. Actually, it'd be nice to have the ability to control any one computer with any other computer, respectively.

What's the easiest way to achieve this?

Do you use their ip addresses? Computer names?

I'm stumped.

Muchos gracias.

EDIT: Everyone can ping each other.....AND this is my 500th post. Like a proud geek, I am.

Pure L wrote:Is there a free "server" version for Windows?

I've always been a fan of Real VNC.

That being said, I still think that you're taking the wrong route with this. It seems like a lot of work for some really basic stuff. But, that's just my opinion.

OK. I've accomplished being able to see my current desktop on the Windows 2000 tower from my Powerbook.

That means that, on my powerbook I can see my desktop on the PC. However, I cannot do anything with this connection. I can mouse around but that's about it.

Is there some setting I need to tweak on the Windows machine?

So close.......

EDIT: How do I control the Mac from the pc?

I've only got a minute, so I'll try and post more after this.

I've used RealVNC and TightVNC. I use TightVNC all over the place, but for no real reason over RealVNC. I also use Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection if it's from 2000 to XP or XP to XP. I do have Chicken of the VNC on my Macs but I think I've only used it as a client and not as a server.

There is no free version of Windows Server, that's their bread and butter.

VNC won't really get you the file sharing as far as I know, but you can set windows to share folders with others, and setup samba on Ubuntu to make windows shares on that, and there must be a way to do the same on OS X.

More later.....

Yeah for file sharing you want Samba on Ubuntu. In Windows, right click on the folder you want to share, click properties and muck around in the sharing tab. On the mac, I believe you go through system preferences to share your home directory. I haven't quite figured out how to share something other than the home directory on the mac yet. Lord knows I've tried enough crap. The Mac uses Samba also, but they store the config files in some weirdo Apple format that I haven't bothered to understand enough.

Also on the Mac, you should use OSXVNC for the server portion of the software, and Chicken of the VNC as the client. Apple Remote Desktop is built in, and supposedly uses the same protocol as VNC, but it doesn't work as well. You can download those on versiontracker.com I think.

As for addressing the computers, for a small network where you know the IP addresses off the top of your head, you can probably just use those. If you want, each operating system has a file that associates host names with IP addresses. On Windows it's C:\%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\drivers\etc\lmhosts. On Ubuntu I believe it is /etc/hosts. On the Mac it changes around, but I think in 10.4 it's also /etc/hosts.

I am a Windows/UNIX IT guy and I have an Ubuntu machine and 2 macs at home, so if you have any more questions, let me know! I just rattled this stuff off the top of my head but I can go into more detail if you need it.

Pure L wrote:OK. I've accomplished being able to see my current desktop on the Windows 2000 tower from my Powerbook.

That means that, on my powerbook I can see my desktop on the PC. However, I cannot do anything with this connection. I can mouse around but that's about it.

Is there some setting I need to tweak on the Windows machine?

It's probably some of the VNC server settings on the windows machine. I use TightVNC a lot - if I'm running the server, right click it in the system tray & click properties I see "Input Handling" options - if these are set a certain way you could get the behaviour you describe.... I think...

Your replies are much appreciated, all. Thanks.

So, since my last post I've managed to actually control the PC thru the mac. Pretty cool! I'm realizing that VNC isn't so much file sharing (not at all really) as it is just virtual control. Still pretty handy though.

Although now I'd like to be able to control the Mac thru the PC. I'm on to something though.

Pure L wrote:I'm realizing that VNC isn't so much file sharing (not at all really) as it is just virtual control.

Yup. Now you got it. It's still cool though, huh? At least now you've learned something new.

UltraVNC in the house!

ultra's nice because it has encryption. It's much slower than MS Remote Desktop, but it has a lot more features, like file transfer...

Pure L wrote:Although now I'd like to be able to control the Mac thru the PC. I'm on to something though.

Someone mentioned this software earlier http://www.redstonesoftware.com/osxvnc/. Try that as the vnc server on your Mac. That should work OK.