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Murphy's Law: Freeware Fight! Synergy vs. Input Director

David Murphy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:30:00 -0500

A KVM switch sounds like it has the potential to be a complicated piece of hardware. It's not. Without this most charitable of devices, you wouldn't be able to make use of more than one computer with a single keyboard and mouse. Your desk would be cluttered with input devices of all shapes and sizes, your ambitions of multi-boxing your own 40-man World of Warcraft raid would be dashed, and you wouldn't be able to slack off at your place of business nearly as discretely. After all, the entire point of a KVM switch is that it requires some kind of physical response--like whacking a button on the device--to switch a set of input devices between different desktops connected to the switch.

Why does this matter? Well, I don't have a KVM switch, but I do use a piece of software that's just as good: Synergy. This little open-source app has been my virtual KVM switch of choice for awhile now, but its time is just as quickly fading into the limelight. A new sheriff is in town, and he goes by the name of Input Director. Both programs allow you to control multiple, independent desktops (or laptops) using a single keyboard and mouse sans any "switching over" whatsoever--it's as if you just have a giant, spanned desktop across your systems.

Since Synergy has been at the top of everyone's must-have lists for some time (including Will's!), I thought it might be prudent to walk through the additional benefits and heartwarming fixes that Input Director brings to the party. Throw up the dukes!

Round One: Supported Operating Systems

Winner: Synergy

Admittedly, the antiquated Synergy pulls off a victory in the operating systems department. Both Input Director and Synergy work with versions of Windows as far back as Windows 2000. The latter, however, supports Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME--but that's not exactly why it gets the head-nod in this department, given the very, very few of you likely running any operating system that old. Synergy also functions in Apple's OSX 10.2 or higher... provided you can stomach your sacrilege at the thought of using this non-Windows OS (just reaching out to the site commenters on that one).

Round Two: Ease of use

Winner: Tie

This category is a little tough to work with, as both programs are pretty simple to use. You can set each to autorun once Windows loads up, and each will attempt to make a connection (or establish hosting) for whatever client/server or slave/master setup you've previously configured. It's as easy as that. Once the program verifies that a connection has been made, illustrated by the changed icon in your taskbar, then you'll be able to zip and zoom your mouse across as many screens as you want. Ta-da.

Round Three: Configuration/Features

Winner: Input Director (by a mile)

Synergy

This category's a biggie. Synergy's options are only configurable via the first screen that loads when you launch the program. After you've elected to connect to a server PC or set up your system as the client, that's it--like a racehorse, Synergy is off and running, and you have to quit and reload the program just to configure the options once again.

As for what you can configure, there's the paltry list of connection options like "Screen Name" and "port" -- nothing fancy there. As a host, you use a confusing series of text-based comparisons to establish how the screens of your systems are set up: "0 to 100% of Computer A goes to 0 to 100% of Computer B," for example. You can synchronize screen savers across the connected PCs and set a certain time interval (in milliseconds) of how long the system should wait with your mouse at the edge before switching over to the other screen. You can also assign hotkeys for functions like quick screen-switching and cursor-locking.

It sounds like a lot, but these options make up what one could consider a "lite to standard" package for an application of this type.

Input Director

For starters, Input Director can be reconfigured on-the-fly: You don't have to break your link between PCs to adjust a setting, nor do you have to then reconnect all your systems to see if it works. Synergy has the annoying habit of sometimes giving up, in that quitting and reloading the server PC's application doesn't always mean that the client PCs will reconnect sans error. Input Director goes through momentary losses in connectivity and reconnections flawlessly.

Input Director users can switch a PC between a preconfigured "Master" and "Slave" setup on-the-fly as well. When you're running your system as a Master configuration, adding new computers to your giant, spanned desktop is as easy as typing in their hostname and port and dragging an icon representing the PC to the left or right of an icon of your Master system. That's it. There are no crazy numbers or screen percentages to configure--this simple solution eliminates confusion when setting up your systems.

Not only does Input Director support connected systems' multi-monitor setups, but you can also connect PCs under a 128-bit, 192-bit, or 256-bit AES encryption protocol. As a further measure of security, Slave systems can further specify allowed masters by IP subnet or hostname. A fun option in the settings window will match up the LEDs on your keyboard (Number Lock, Scroll Lock, etc.) to the status of the buttons on the Slave device. You can also set up hotkeys that will block switching over to a new screen--useful if you're working right to the edge of your Master system.

Finally, there's the clipboard. Clipboard sharing is, in theory, enabled in Synergy. You're supposed to be able to copy and paste text from one computer to another, but in practice, I frequently found that this was a one-way path. Text would copy from a server to a client PC without error, but could never quite make it the other way around. In contrast, Input Director's clipboard-sharing feature works near-flawlessly. You still can't do more advanced treatments like copy screenshots from one PC to the other (if only), but I'm rarely lacking the ability to copy a piece of code or funny URL from different linked PCs.

Round Four: Oops

Winner: Input Director

I've been switching between Synergy and Input Director on and off in an effort to determine which one is a more stable choice of applications for screen- and input device-sharing. Synergy works pretty well, but there have definitely been times when either the host or slave device has simply stopped responding. Synergy will try to reconnect, but the resulting link doesn't always work flawlessly.

Input lag is Synergy's dreaded nemesis. Little is more frustrating than having your mouse cursor pause for seconds at a time when you switch between screens, and it happens frequently enough to affect Synergy's overall performance. The only way to restore access when this happens is to wait out the time or, for the impatient, mash ctrl+alt+delete and click cancel. Input Director has yet to lose signal out of the blue or suffer from lag in any fashion when hopping between connected PCs. For that, it takes this round.

Final Score: Input Director (3) Synergy (2)

But, really, for its stability and easy-to-use configurations, the score is more like Input Director (3,000), Synergy (2). Make the switch today. Download Input Director here!

David Murphy (@ Acererak) is a technology journalist and former Maximum PC editor. He writes weekly columns about the wide world of open-source as well as weekly roundups of awesome, freebie software. Befriend him on Twitter, especially if you have an awesome app or game you're dying to recommend!

How To: Control a PC and Mac with One Keyboard and Mouse

Alex Castle — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:00:17 -0500

We at Maximum PC remember a time, long ago, when having a dual-monitor setup was enough to establish some pretty serious nerd cred. These days, however, everyone and their grandma are playing World of Warcraft and checking their email at the same time on their two screens. So what’s a guy got to do to stand out from the pack? Here’s one idea: run two computers in tandem.

Synergy is a free, open source program that allows you two control two or more computers with a single keyboard and mouse. The linked computers behave as though they were simply different monitors in a traditional multi-monitor, single-computer setup. That is to say, if you drag the mouse off the left side of the right monitor, it appears on the left monitor, directing all keystrokes to that box. More impressively, Synergy synchronizes the two computers’ clipboards and even their screensavers.

The most brilliant part of Synergy? It’s a cross-platform application, meaning you can run a Windows PC, a Unix box and a Mac running OS X all at the same time, with one keyboard and one mouse. If that doesn’t impress your nerd friends, you need to get some nerdier friends.

Fortunately, getting Synergy up and running is a snap. We’ll run through the steps involved now.

Time = 15 Min

What You Need

• Synergy
Free, synergy2.sourceforge.net/

1. Install Synergy on Each Computer

First, go to the Synergy website (synergy2.sourceforge.net) and click on the “Latest Release” link on the sidebar. From there, download whichever binary (or source, if you want to compile yourself) is appropriate for each box you’ll be running, and install it.

Each computer you plan to connect should be on the same local network. This shouldn’t be a problem, since you’ll want to use Synergy with computers in close proximity anyway, but if you do get any funny ideas about running it over the internet, be careful; Synergy has no built-in encryption and is therefore a pretty massive security risk over an untrusted network.

2. Configure Synergy on the Server Computer

Before you can proceed, you’ll need to decide which computer you want to be the server. The only important thing about the server-client distinction is that the server is the computer which will have the mouse and keyboard connected. Once you’ve decided, we’ll configure Synergy on that computer.

On a Windows Box

Run the synergy.exe executable. A window should open. When it does, select the “Share this computer’s keyboard and mouse (server)” radial button, as shown below.

Next, click on the button labeled “Configure…” just to the right of the words “Screens & Links.” A new dialogue will pop up. At the top, under the empty list marked “Screens,” click the “+” button. Yet another dialogue will open, labeled “Add Screen.” Here you will input the name of the first screen you want to add, the server. For simplicities sake, I highly recommend that you use your computer’s name for this, as it will streamline the process. You can leave the “Aliases” and other fields untouched. Repeat this process until each computer you wish to connect is present in the “Screens” list.

Next, you’ll need to establish the links between each screen. To do this, we’ll use the dropdown fields at the bottom of the “Screens & Links” window. The three you need to change have a thin red border around them, for easy identification. Fill out the boxes so that they describe a link between two of your screens. For instance, if you’re running two screens side by side, you would fill out the fields so that two completed line reads:

“0 to 100% of the left of RightScreenName goes to 0 to 100% of LeftScreenName,”

where RightScreenName and LeftScreenName are the names of the appropriate screens. Click the “+” button below to confirm the link.

It’s important to note that you must establish the links both ways—just establishing a link from the right of one screen will not automatically establish the corresponding link from the left of the other. Once you’ve established all links, the screen should look something like this:

Press ok to go back to the main menu, and click “Test.” This will start the server without closing the configuration window. Now, you’re ready to start the clients.

On a Mac or Unix Box:

For Unix or Mac OS X, we’ll configure Synergy with the same information, only we’ll do it with a config file, instead of a GUI. Below, we’ve included a screenshot of the config file we used to get a Unix box (“fernando”) and a Windows laptop (“laptop”) connected. If you copy this example, substituting your own computers’ names and relative positions, it should work fine. Save the file as “synergy.conf.”

Once you have the config file saved, it’s time to run the Synergy server application. On Unix, do this by typing the following into the terminal:

synergys -f --config synergy.conf

Substitute the full pathname if synergys isn’t in the PATH.

It works the same on Mac, except that you can drag the synergys and synergy.conf files onto the terminal in lieu of typing the whole pathname.

The -f command line option causes Synergy to run in the foreground, so you can identify any potential problems. Once you know it works, remove the -f to have it run hidden in the background.

3. Run Synergy on the Client Computers

Fortunately, Synergy doesn’t require much in the way of configuration when it’s run as a client. On a Windows computer, simply run the Synergy executable, select the radial marked “Use another computer’s shared keyboard and mouse (client),” and enter the name of the host computer in the field marked “Other computer’s host name.”

Now click “Test” on the client computer, and you’re in business. Synergy will attempt to establish a link to the host and will show you a log of any problems it encounters. Assuming everything runs smoothly, the next time you run Synergy, do so by pressing “Start” instead of “Test” on each computer, and Synergy will tuck itself away in the task bar.

On a Unix box, simply run the following command:

synergyc -f server-host-name

replacing server-host-name with the name of your host computer and using the full pathname if synergyc isn’t in the PATH.

Once again, it’s the same on a Mac, except that you can drag synergyc onto the terminal instead of typing out the pathname.

Now, you should be set up to control all your computers with one mouse and keyboard. You can fine-tune your experience in the options menu, although Synergy is such a simple app that there really isn’t a lot to customize.

IOGEAR Announces USB Laptop KVM Switch

Norman Chan — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0500

IOGEAR, makers of connectivity products that link up USB, video, and networking devices, has just announced their latest KVM Switch. KVM (short for Keyboard, Video, and Mouse) is a hardware and software technology solution that allows you to control multiple computers from one set of peripherals. This new USB Laptop KVM switch connects to any two computers via USB (laptop-to-laptop, PC-to-PC, or laptop-to-PC), so you can control one system from the other as a console. The software embedded in the Switch's firmware adjusts for desktop resolution scaling and also facilitates drag-and-drop file transfers via a shared temporary window. An extra USB 2.0 port on the switch allows for extra device sharing, such as with an external hard drive. No extra power supply is required, and the entire cable stretches a total of nine feet (three feet on one end, six on the other). The USB Laptop KVM Switch goes on sale today for $129.95.

Irvine, CA – August 25, 2008 – Consumers can now easily access another computer using their laptop with IOGEAR’s USB Laptop KVM Switch. The product is the first KVM switch that enables a laptop to replace the traditional keyboard, mouse and monitor on a second computer. The product is on display at RetailVision, August 25-28, 2008, at booth #603.

For on-the-go users, the USB Laptop KVM Switch provides file transfers and convenient switching between a desktop or a secondary laptop. The product simply connects two computers via USB 2.0 ports and enables individuals to manage both computers with the laptop. The product also comes with built-in file transfer utility software that lets consumers drag and drop files or create backup copies between machines.

In addition, the USB Laptop KVM Switch contains an integrated USB 2.0 port to connect devices, such as printers, scanners, external hard drives, digital cameras, speakers, MP3 players and Webcams, which users can access directly from the laptop. Using a laptop as the console eliminates energy- and space-consuming desktop keyboards, monitors and mice. The USB Laptop KVM Switch also features desktop scaling that modifies the desktop computer’s resolution to be compatible with a laptop screen.

“Our USB Laptop KVM Switch provides laptop users a simple space- and device-saving solution compared with traditional KVM switches. It also makes file sharing easy, sparing users from having to set up a network,” said Miranda Su, executive vice
president at IOGEAR. “We strive to develop innovative technologies that address growing consumer needs. The laptop is the preferred device for mobile computing and we make it easier for road warriors to bridge the gap between their on-the-go, home and work lives.”

The USB Laptop KVM Switch is compatible with Windows® 2000, XP and Vista operating systems. The product is available immediately for $129.95 MSRP from all major catalog and online resellers, as well as select retail outlets.