Take Control of Screen Sharing in Snow Leopard

Don't buy this ebook! Seriously... you want the Lion edition, even if you are still using Snow Leopard.

This book has been replaced by Take Control of Screen Sharing in Lion. The new edition still has plenty of Snow Leopard details, and it has more current info about Skype, MobileMe, iCloud, and iOS apps.

More Info
Contents & Intro
What’s New
FAQ
Blog

Read Me First
Introduction
Quick Start to Screen Sharing
Learn the Basics of Screen Sharing
Share Screens via iChat
Prepare to Share
Share via Bonjour
Share via Back to My Mac
Share via a Direct Connection
Share via Skype
Share with iPhone Apps
Get Backward Compatibility with VNC
Troubleshooting
App. A: Other Remote Access Solutions
App. B: Configure Your Router or Gateway

Read Me First

This book will help you master sharing a remote computer’s screen from Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (and 10.5 Leopard) and teach you how to get a reliable connection with the greatest versatility. It also explains the use of an iPhone or iPod touch for remote access. It was written by Glenn Fleishman, tech edited by Dan Frakes, edited by Tonya Engst, and published by TidBITS Publishing Inc.

Introduction

Nearly 20 years ago, working from my desktop computer, I accessed a system that was in a server room but which had no monitor attached. It was magical. I could work with the server just as if I were directly connected with a keyboard and mouse, using its programs and manipulating objects on its desktop—via a 2,400 bps modem!

That sense of wonder still pervades me when I use screen sharing today. Instead of using a 10 Mbps (fast!) local Ethernet network or dial-up software to make the connection, I use broadband feeds over the Internet to reach computers across town or 3,000 miles away.

Screen sharing gives you access to applications and data stored on another computer, even though your keyboard and mouse aren’t connected to that computer. It lets you see a remote computer screen in real time, and it may also allow you to control the remote computer.

Apple extended screen sharing from something you had to install or figure out how to use in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and earlier versions of Mac OS X to being part of the system, available on tap, in 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard.

In Leopard and Snow Leopard, screen sharing comes in several forms, and in this book I explain how to use each of them. In some cases, you must have an account and a password on each machine you want to access remotely. However, one particular method—Screen Sharing over iChat—requires just a buddy who gives you permission, at the time of access, to view or control his or her screen.

I also cover VNC, a technology that’s built into many different programs for many versions of Mac OS X and other platforms, and which is the basis of much of Apple’s screen-sharing functionality. I also explain how to use screen sharing via Skype.

Quick Start to Screen Sharing

To learn how to set up your Macintosh, iPhone, or iPod touch to view or control the screen of another computer, you’ll benefit from reading Learn the Basics of Screen Sharing carefully, in order to best match your situation to your needs. After that, focus on the material that describes the type—or types—of screen sharing that you want to do. However, if you have specific questions, each section also stands on its own.

I first discuss what you can do and what software you can use. I then explain how to establish your first connection, covering a variety of options. After all that, I provide ideas for handling situations where your Internet connection needs special configuration in order to use screen sharing.

Learn background info to configure like a pro:

Discover the many Uses of Screen Sharing.
Determine the screen-sharing technique that best matches your situation in Options for Screen Sharing and get details and reassurance Security behind Screen Sharing.

For iChat:

Set up ad hoc screen sharing with Share via iChat. You can share media or give a presentation with Use iChat Theater.

For other forms of built-in Mac OS X screen sharing:

Get started with the directions for how to Turn On Screen Sharing.
Get a handle on the basics of how to Use the Screen Sharing Application.
Make a screen-sharing connection: read Share via Bonjour, Share via Back to My Mac, or Share via a Direct Connection.

For third-party and other ways to share a screen:

Use Skype to share your screen with another Skype user, allowing remote viewing but not control, all for free. See Share via Skype.
Turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a remote-control appliance using one of several software packages. See Share with iPhone Apps.
Learn the ins and outs of VNC, connection software that works with many versions of Mac OS X, Windows, and most other operating systems. See Get Backward Compatibility with VNC.
Use third-party screen-sharing utilities other than Skype to obtain a larger set of options for remote interactions, including file transfer, or to reach otherwise unreachable computers. See Appendix A: Other Remote Access Solutions.

Solve problems:

For screen sharing with iChat or Back to My Mac, first set up your router to enable remote access. See Appendix B: Configure Your Router or Gateway.
If problems persist, look for solutions in:

iChat Connection Problems
Bonjour, Direct, and VNC Connection Problems
Back to My Mac Connection Problems

Solve problems that come up if a Firewall Blocks Access or that relate to waking a sleeping computer (see Solving Sleep).

What's New in This Edition

This Snow Leopard edition has several significant changes beyond updating text to reflect new names and updating images to show new interface displays. The major changes are:

Options for Screen Sharing is revised and reorganized to make it easier for you to match your situation to your best screen sharing option.
iChat Theater lets you push live video of you to a remote party or audience alongside documents, including photos via iPhoto, presentations via Keynote, PDFs, and other formats. Apple substantially enhanced iChat Theater in Snow Leopard, and I’ve revised the topic Use iChat Theater to discuss new and changed aspects of this increasingly useful feature.
Skype’s new Screen Sharing (added in mid-2009) is thoroughly discussed as a terrific alternative for remote screen sharing, where one party lets another see (but not control) a screen. The service is free, as is Skype’s software. See Share via Skype.
I’ve added a new section on remotely controlling computers using apps on an iPod touch or iPhone. This can be invaluable when you’re away from a desktop or laptop computer and need to get information residing on that computer or make a repair. I cover Jaadu VNC and LogMeIn Ignition. See Share with iPhone Apps .
In Mac OS X 10.5.5, Apple disabled the ability to reveal hidden options in the Screen Sharing program, including those for color fidelity and a Bonjour network browser. Mac OS X 10.6 kept those hidden features disabled. Thus, I removed details about using Terminal to enable those features.
In Snow Leopard, Apple added a new Wake on Demand feature, which—if you have the right hardware—makes it easy to wake up a sleeping Mac for remote access. See Enable Wake on Demand in Snow Leopard for details.
Get Backward Compatibility with VNC is significantly updated. I removed the topic covering the Chicken of the VNC client, because Chicken of the VNC hasn’t been updated in years and lacks crucial security options. However, JollysFastVNC has risen in its place—both even have oceanic metaphors—so I added details about it. Also, I made some changes because advanced VNC information had become less useful to readers, who now have several easier options to achieve the same results.
Apple’s ever-evolving .Mac service is now called MobileMe. This new edition is updated with respect to MobileMe, and it notes some finicky details regarding .Mac accounts versus MobileMe accounts.

Leopard and Snow Leopard: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is largely similar to its 10.5 Leopard predecessor, but includes many improved screen sharing-related features. Because Snow Leopard is an inexpensive update and most Leopard users are likely to switch, I’ve reworked this book to indicate which features are new in Snow Leopard and assume that most readers will spend most of their time with Snow Leopard. That said, I indicate wherever possible when features work in both Leopard and Snow Leopard, and provide information about 10.4 Tiger where appropriate, too.

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Table of Contents

Read Me First

Introduction

Quick Start to Screen Sharing

Learn background info to configure like a pro:

For iChat:

For other forms of built-in Mac OS X screen sharing:

For third-party and other ways to share a screen:

Solve problems:

What's New in This Edition

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