Quake3World

Ok so with my new macbook i made my odd HP laptop a media server cause its pretty powerful still.

My question is. I wanna be able to use RDC to access the HP from my macbook and start movies. I have it tied into my 42" plasma and i and it looks good from itunes to movies, HD content isnt bad either. But flipping the lid each time is getting old. I can log into the HP from my mac with RDC but it just doesnt show what im doing on the HP. I have seen this on servers so i know it can be done.


Anyone got a idea?

You need to be a bit clearer...

So your HP is powered on and you've got itunes open or something. You go to the mac, connect using the RDP client to the HP, and you see... what? a logon screen, a blank desktop without itunes?

Using RDP doesn't let you access the interactive console session. It's like the fast-user switching in XP.

You will be logged on in a background session, just like a Terminal Server client would, and will not interact with what you see on the screen.

If you want to do that, you should just use VNC.

Erm no. Remote desktop on XP pro does let you access the current open session on the PC. Indeed, it only allows for a single session at any 1 time, and if you managed to get it so that you could have 1 session open on the local PC and another session open via RDP, you'd be running as a terminal server. There are hacks available to do this, but it certainly isn't XP's default or intended behaviour.

When you connect via RDP to an XP pro box, what you should see is the local screen locks, and you gain access to the currently running session after entering your login details. When you then log in on the local machine again, it'll terminate the remote connection and you'll carry on at the local workstation.

Its seamless, and I use it in my office all the time. If I'm at another desk for whatever reason I can RDP straight onto my PC and carry on working/access all my tools as if I was sat at my desk.

R00k wrote:Using RDP doesn't let you access the interactive console session. It's like the fast-user switching in XP.

You will be logged on in a background session, just like a Terminal Server client would, and will not interact with what you see on the screen.

If you want to do that, you should just use VNC.

heh. more coffee for you.

On second read I do see what he's saying, because you can't concurrently access a session remotely and locally. But you can access the same session seamlessly, and the bit about logging into a background session isn't right.

still needs more coffee.

Right it only lets you log in one session at a time. If im logged in locally it will boot me when i remote in and vise versa.

Ok thnx then guys. I had a feeling it was server only. Ill just try VNC. Or i have a beta of the home media server, maybe ill try that.

Iccy wrote:Right it only lets you log in one session at a time. If im logged in locally it will boot me when i remote in and vise versa.

Ah of course, I see your problem. If you log in to change something, the video playback will halt.

Rook is correct, VNC is going to be a better option for you.

Its not he who needs more coffee, tis moi.

Iccy wrote:Ok so with my new macbook i made my odd HP laptop a media server cause its pretty powerful still.

My question is. I wanna be able to use RDC to access the HP from my macbook and start movies. I have it tied into my 42" plasma and i and it looks good from itunes to movies, HD content isnt bad either. But flipping the lid each time is getting old. I can log into the HP from my mac with RDC but it just doesnt show what im doing on the HP. I have seen this on servers so i know it can be done.


Anyone got a idea?

This is a windows only tool, so you'll have to use parallels, and its a little pricy. But Dameware (http://www.dameware.com/) would be perfect for this situation.

With RDP, audio and media are streamed back to the person connected. Dameware creates a remote connection and allows current users, audio, media to continue to play as if nobody was connected at all. This tool is used in many helpdesks.

Now that I think about it, if you install XP Media Center or Vista Ultimate with an RF Remote. You can control all your media as it it sent to the TV. Those two OS's were made for this feature.