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HOWTO: Control multiple computers with one keyboard and mouse using Synergy
Posted by jizackson,
02 July 2012
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358 views
I have several computers and laptops and I got tired of switching between different mice, touchpads and keyboards to control each of them. I came across a great utility called Synergy that allows you share one mouse & keyboard between multiple computers over your local network. It was pretty easy to install and it runs on Windows, MacOSX, & Linux.
Installation Instructions:
Pretty cool, eh?
Installation Instructions:
- Download the app on all of your computers from the following link: http://synergy-foss.org/download/ (get latest beta version)
- When installing, on the machine that has the mouse and keyboard you wish to use, select "Server". On the other machines, select "Client".
- For Windows Clients, I chose "Desktop" for "Startup Mode". I could not get "Service" startup mode to work.
- My "Server" is a Windows 7 PC and I had to allow the server exe through my windows firewall. If you have other firewall software, you may need to do something similar. To allow Synergy through Windows Firewall, follow these instructions:
Open Control Panel and search for "Windows Firewall"
Click "Allow a program through Windows Firewall"
Click the "Change Settings" button
Click on the "Allow another program" button.
Even if Synergy is listed in the list of programs, don't select it. It's the wrong executable.
Instead, click on the Browse button, and navigate to C:\Program Files\Synergy\ and select synergys.exe. Notice the 'S' on the end of the file name. That stands for Server, which is the executable that accepts incoming connections.
After adding that exe you should now have an entry for synergys.exe in your allowed applications list. Put a check in the "Home/Work (Private)" column next to this entry, and click OK.
- Next, on your client machine, click the "start" button at the bottom right of Synergy window. You will probably see an error 'Server refused client with name "<Client Name>", where <Client Name> is the name of your computer.
- Go back to your server and click the "Configure Server..." button. Under "Screens and links" drag the computer icon at the top right to the grid to where you want it to be located in your layout relative to your server.
- Next, double click on the new icon you just created and change the "Screen Name" to the "<Client Name>" from Step 5. Click OK.
- Go back to the client and try to reconnect and you should be golden.
- You can now drag you mouse cursor on your server past the edge of the screen in the direction where you setup the client layout in Step 6 and take over control of that client!! For example, I have dual monitors on my Windows 7 machine and I set my macbook to be BELOW my windows box and therefore when I drag my mouse to the bottom of my screen on either of my monitors, my mouse and keyboard now control the macbook.
Pretty cool, eh?
