BBO via VNC

[TrialBid]

Another effective way to run BBO if you primarily use a Mac or non-Windows OS is to use some version of VNC. Quoting from http://realvnc.com, authors of the original version, "VNC (Virtual Network Computing) software makes it possible to view and fully-interact with one computer from any other computer or mobile device anywhere on the Internet. VNC software is cross-platform, allowing remote control between different types of computer. For ultimate simplicity, there is even a Java viewer, so that any desktop can be controlled remotely from within a browser without having to install software."

 

If you don't have access to a separate Windows machine and/or the thought of networking them intimidates you, read no further.

 

Still here? Good! To use VNC to play on BBO, start by getting VNC software for both your machines. There are several versions available. Google "download vnc" will get you lots of places to start. Using realvnc.com software may not be the best choice if you don't want to spend any money. They have a free version but it's very limited because they sell their more feature rich versions.

 

I use TightVNC myself, http://www.tightvnc.com/download.html

 

Mac users see this note at http://tightvnc.org/faq.html#macosx

 

On your Windows machine you'll need to install the Windows version of VNC server. In the installation, be sure you specify that you want the server to run as a system service, so you won't have to worry about starting it yourself. To forestall any questions, the Windows machine is also where you'll download and install BBO software as well if you haven't already.

 

Install at least the VNC viewer software on the other machine. Sometimes the viewer and server are packaged separately, sometimes together.

 

Starting the viewer may be as simple as double clicking on the icon for the file vncviewer and entering the IP address of your Windows machine. However, that gets you the default options and may not be optimal. I usually open a console window and invoke it something like this:

vncviewer -encodings hextile -quality 1 -compresslevel 2 192.168.1.106

 

The only thing usage problem if had using BBO with VNC is that in play, if you claim, the claim box sometimes doesn't display on the remote machine. A workaround: do not claim while you have any tricks to lose. After clicking claim, when the focus leaves the BBO window (the BBO title bar goes from colored to gray), hit enter and the invisible claim box will close and submit your claim for all the tricks.

 

A java-based VNC viewer that may work on any machine that has Sun Java is available but I haven't used it at all. If anyone tries it, will you please add your experiences to this topic?

[Gerardo]

It works fine, provided you have an available Windows PC around, but usually you can't at all, or just try to avoid that.

[TrialBid]

It works fine, provided you have an available Windows PC around, but usually you can't at all, or just try to avoid that.

Actually, as I pointed out already, it doesn't always work fine. Some problems arise using VNC. for BBO. My initial post on the subject was fairly long already, so I didn't try to offer a full catalog of options and their effects, but I'd be glad to offer suggestions if anyone is having specific difficulties.

 

As for the available Windows PC, I know it is not a solution for everyone but I said that already.

 

Many people have a Windoze box gathering dust. BBO works acceptably on some relatively decrepit hardware. and only requires Win95 or later, afaik. And if the choice is avoiding Windows or playing on BBO, I've made my choice. And VNC lets me play on my preferred machine in my preferred room of the house wihtout having to find room for a second box there.

 

Yes, I'd like to be running it on Linux--under wine, or better, natively, but that is another thread.