wellbeing
April 2nd, 2007, 03:23 PM
Hi,
I'm new to Linux (about 2 days of experience). So far, I've managed to do most things that I need (which has been great - a real sign of how far Linux has improved since my previous attempts at adopting Linux)!! Overall, the experience has been very good.
To be honest, I am trying to do something that I'm not 100% sure if it's possible, or what it's called - which makes it difficult for me to work out where to go next.
Current Ubuntu Installation
================
Version 6.10
Background
=======
I have a server PC set up that is connected to my home theater system. It used to run Windows 2000 - but now runs Ubuntu. I want to continue to use the server PC to perform background tasks (downloads, rss feeds, etc.) - but also to play videos and music.
I used to use UltraVNC to log into the server PC. UltaVNC was established as a server service on the server PC. This meant that I could do away with the keyboard, mouse and screen because I could log a user in over UltraVNC, before any user had logged in.
I had a system set up where I had the video card set up for (dual screens??). This was a feature of the NVidia video card driver. One half of the screen was directed to my projector. The other half of the screen contained my day-to-day things (eg. RSS feeds, etc). This allowed me to log into the server PC while someone was watching movies. The idea was that I could still tinker with the server while others watched their movie uninterrupted.
The system worked quite well, although videos would often lose focus and shrink back to "non-maximised" view, cursors would appear over the movie if I shut down the UltraVNC session, etc.
Objective
======
I think there must be a better way of achieving this. I was thinking something like the following.
1. Setup VNC on Ubuntu
2. Allow VNC to access the server PC on two different ports (eg. 5900 and 5901)
3. The port for 5900 accesses user "A", who is currently watching videos
4. The port for 5901 accesses user "B", who has ftp and RSS feeding pograms running.
The idea would be that user "A" and user "B" could log into the same serverPC at the same time without disturbing each other.
Alternatively, "A" and "B" could be the one user, but different virtual desktops. Alternatively, there could be another way to achieve the same goal.
What have I achieved?
==============
I've read as much as I can find about VNC on these forums.
I've tried most of the instructions, with varying degrees of success.
I can use UltraVNC to access and control my serverPC, after i've logged in on the server PC.
I can log in on three ports, 0, 5900 and 5901.
Each port accesses the same user account and the same desktop
If I am running a movie on the server PC (ie. which shows the movie on the projector) then I can't do anything else with the server PC.
Advice
======
I would appreciate any recommendations for how best to achieve the goal I discussed above.
I would appreciate any references/guidance on how to implement the recommendation.
As I mentioned before, I am still new to Linux, so best not to assume I understand anything that your average Windows User (of 15 years experience) wouldn't know.
Thanks in advance for any advice. I have managed to work around all other issues (eg. samba not being configured, disks not being detected or mounted, mpeg playback), except I have not gotten my Twinhan Visionplus DVB-T working. Mind you, that's for another day.
Sincerely,
WellBeing
I'm new to Linux (about 2 days of experience). So far, I've managed to do most things that I need (which has been great - a real sign of how far Linux has improved since my previous attempts at adopting Linux)!! Overall, the experience has been very good.
To be honest, I am trying to do something that I'm not 100% sure if it's possible, or what it's called - which makes it difficult for me to work out where to go next.
Current Ubuntu Installation
================
Version 6.10
Background
=======
I have a server PC set up that is connected to my home theater system. It used to run Windows 2000 - but now runs Ubuntu. I want to continue to use the server PC to perform background tasks (downloads, rss feeds, etc.) - but also to play videos and music.
I used to use UltraVNC to log into the server PC. UltaVNC was established as a server service on the server PC. This meant that I could do away with the keyboard, mouse and screen because I could log a user in over UltraVNC, before any user had logged in.
I had a system set up where I had the video card set up for (dual screens??). This was a feature of the NVidia video card driver. One half of the screen was directed to my projector. The other half of the screen contained my day-to-day things (eg. RSS feeds, etc). This allowed me to log into the server PC while someone was watching movies. The idea was that I could still tinker with the server while others watched their movie uninterrupted.
The system worked quite well, although videos would often lose focus and shrink back to "non-maximised" view, cursors would appear over the movie if I shut down the UltraVNC session, etc.
Objective
======
I think there must be a better way of achieving this. I was thinking something like the following.
1. Setup VNC on Ubuntu
2. Allow VNC to access the server PC on two different ports (eg. 5900 and 5901)
3. The port for 5900 accesses user "A", who is currently watching videos
4. The port for 5901 accesses user "B", who has ftp and RSS feeding pograms running.
The idea would be that user "A" and user "B" could log into the same serverPC at the same time without disturbing each other.
Alternatively, "A" and "B" could be the one user, but different virtual desktops. Alternatively, there could be another way to achieve the same goal.
What have I achieved?
==============
I've read as much as I can find about VNC on these forums.
I've tried most of the instructions, with varying degrees of success.
I can use UltraVNC to access and control my serverPC, after i've logged in on the server PC.
I can log in on three ports, 0, 5900 and 5901.
Each port accesses the same user account and the same desktop
If I am running a movie on the server PC (ie. which shows the movie on the projector) then I can't do anything else with the server PC.
Advice
======
I would appreciate any recommendations for how best to achieve the goal I discussed above.
I would appreciate any references/guidance on how to implement the recommendation.
As I mentioned before, I am still new to Linux, so best not to assume I understand anything that your average Windows User (of 15 years experience) wouldn't know.
Thanks in advance for any advice. I have managed to work around all other issues (eg. samba not being configured, disks not being detected or mounted, mpeg playback), except I have not gotten my Twinhan Visionplus DVB-T working. Mind you, that's for another day.
Sincerely,
WellBeing