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Experimental VNC (Remote Desktop) Server for the Classic Macintosh
- Thread starter marciot
- Start date
Try the latest release on your Mac Portable. At least that should work. I made major strides in making it run-time configurable so it should work with most systems. I am a bit skeptical about those odd Lisa resolutions. I made the assumption that all systems would be running a resolution that is an integral multiple of the 32-bit 68000 register size, which pretty much holds for latter systems. That said, there is a chance this newer release will run and just crop the screen a bit. Let me know what happens. If it crashes or garbles the screen, I can probably hack the code so it doesn't, although making it support all the pixels would be much harder.
So here is the link to the latest release:
github.com
Releases · marciot/mac-minivnc
A VNC remote desktop server for vintage Macintosh computers, including the Mac Plus. - marciot/mac-minivnc
github.com
Yes, it works on the portable now, and on the Lisa too. Great Job! Both running over LocalTalk. marciot please PM me if you want to try connecting to my Lisa yourself.
I am very impressed! Thanks for sharing that! It looks like it didn't even crop the screen, which totally surprises me. I did not expect LocalTalk to have the performance to make this work, or a Lisa with a slower processor than the Plus to be able to keep up. What kind of refresh rate do you get? It is usable? Does it ever freeze the Lisa? My Mac Plus only goes for about a minute before it locks up. I don't know whether it is an issue with MacTCP, the DaynaPort drivers, or RaSCSI. Having confirmation that it works reliably on another setup would be nice.
Okay, I'll drop you a message. I was thinking it would be pretty amazing to do a YouTube demonstration of this, and your idea of connecting to it remotely is even more enticing. Lets plan something!
cheesestraws
Well-known member
Ooooh. Please let me know how that goes! Glacially slowly, I expect... 
cheesestraws
Well-known member
To clarify, my point wasn't about LocalTalk. AirTalk is a bit slower than wired LocalTalk, and the latency is obviously higher.
@timtiger Glad you liked it! I wish I could figure out the causes of those crashes, but they've been present since I began developing MiniVNC and even a simple test program has the same problem, so I don't know what the issue is. Are you using the RaSCSI?
timtiger
Well-known member
I am using it with Bolles combocard which has built in ethernet. Runs with built-in drivers and OT, no need to install anything else…
@lisa2: Hey Rick, I made a new release of MiniVNC. I think you are the only person who will benefit from this release, as the one thing I fixed was the dead area on the Lisa's screen. Let me know if the problem is corrected for you, thanks!
github.com
Release [March 19th] Support more display resolutions · marciot/mac-minivnc
What's New: This version should correctly support the Apple Lisa display resolutions of 720x364 and 608x431 Standard vs. Bonus Archive: This release is split into two archives. The standard archi...
github.com
Ah, OT. I haven't seen the freezing problem with OT.
Hello Marcio!@lisa2: Hey Rick, I made a new release of MiniVNC. I think you are the only person who will benefit from this release, as the one thing I fixed was the dead area on the Lisa's screen. Let me know if the problem is corrected for you, thanks!
Release [March 19th] Support more display resolutions · marciot/mac-minivnc
What's New: This version should correctly support the Apple Lisa display resolutions of 720x364 and 608x431 Standard vs. Bonus Archive: This release is split into two archives. The standard archi...
Yes, that is working much better now!
Thanks for the update.
Rick
cheesestraws
Well-known member
I will be installing this also, so slightly broader appeal!
Johnnya101
Well-known member
Very cool to see this project finished and working, especially on a Lisa.
Now we just need this to work the other way around, that would be neat. Connect and control a new computer from an old Mac. Im sure that would be significantly harder though.
Now we just need this to work the other way around, that would be neat. Connect and control a new computer from an old Mac. Im sure that would be significantly harder though.
mdeverhart
Well-known member
Works great on my Centris 650, connected from my Ubuntu laptop - a little lag in 256 color mode, but it seems significantly faster than chromi vnc. Great work!
