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Curious problem with PortableApps.exe when using VNC ...

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March 19, 2010 - 3:17pm
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softfoot
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Curious problem with PortableApps.exe when using VNC ...

I have a number of machines under my bench, but (for reasons of space) normally only one screen, keyboard, and mouse on the main system ... then I VNC into the machine I want to maintain.

I needed to run a tool from my trusty PortableApps USB stick, so I plugged the stick into the machine of interest, then VNC'ed into it.

Click on the icon in the task bar - it didnt "pop-up"! Consistently!

Plug a "real" screen into that machine and click on the icon via VNC and it is visible on the real screen but not on the VNC session.

It would appear that the PortableApps application is invisible if viewing the system via VNC. The apps themselves are OK ... it's just the pop-up menu.

It did occur to me that it may be because I suppress "WALLPAPER" when connecting via VNC - but turning that off made no difference.

A forum search didnt reveal anything relevant. Running XP Pro + SP3 -- PortableApps v2.0 Beta 4

Any ideas??

TIA
Dave

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March 19, 2010 - 3:20pm
John T. Haller
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Which VNC?

I used to use VNC and remember it working. VNC type and version? OS? Using the occasionally-wonky VNC display driver?

I long since ditched it for Remote Desktop Connection as Win7 to Win7 is insanely fast comparatively (and it works fine over RDC currently).

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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March 19, 2010 - 3:27pm
(Reply to #2)
softfoot
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Ultra VNC - XP Pro + SP3 Cant

Ultra VNC - XP Pro + SP3

Cant run RDC into some machines - it breaks the way some of my software packages work by making hibernation unreliable Sad

The Win7 implementation of RDC is much better.

Dave

Rgds,
Dave

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March 19, 2010 - 3:33pm
(Reply to #3)
John T. Haller
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Server?

Are you using Ultra VNC on both the client and server? What version? Are you using the software display driver on the server? Have tried another client (like TightVNC) to determine if it is a client or server issue?

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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March 20, 2010 - 4:22am
(Reply to #4)
softfoot
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>> Are you using Ultra VNC on

>> Are you using Ultra VNC on both the client and server?

Yes - never had a similar problem with any app before.

>> What version?

1.0.5.6 (I'll try 1.0.8.2 tomorrow - but I strongly suspect it's the app and not VNC)

>> Are you using the software display driver on the server?

Tried with and without - made no difference to the problem.

>> Have tried another client (like TightVNC) to determine if it is a client or server issue?

Yes - made no difference Sad

Dave

Rgds,
Dave

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March 20, 2010 - 10:05am
(Reply to #5)
John T. Haller
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Nothing Unique

There's nothing really 'unique' about the menu as Windows sees it, so there's no way it can purposely hide from VNC. More likely, it's a bug in VNC that we just happen to be finding. Specifically, I'd wager it's a bug in UltraVNC Server.

It's a standard Delphi 2005 app with a standard form with no borders. It used to fade in/out but a number of people used it over VNC and RDP and fading things over that makes things REALLY slow, so we default the fade to disabled for now (the functionality is still there if people want to enable it). On 2000/XP/Vista we simply show/hide the form. On Windows 7, we minimize and maximize it when the taskbar is on (by default) or show/hide if it is off (user selection). No other special settings or API calls at all. So, really, nothing that could be messing with VNC.

I'd recommend giving TightVNC a try on the server side. And also be sure your video drivers are up to date on both the client and server (I've seen stranger things mess with VNC before, so it couldn't hurt).

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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