Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

wish there was a way to hook my MBP monitor up to macpro

F

FSBW21086

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
82
0
I think it is possibly through hardware to connect the two together. I think the software just doesn't exist.

I am currently hooked up to 23 inch ACD. It would be nice to have some extra screen real estate for itunes, adium, mail, misc. without having to buy another monitor. Im sure this is going to be impossible in todays world... but it shouldnt be!

Unless of course the DVI port on MBP is only for output (as well as the MP port) even then software should exist to add a 'virtual space' on another monitor similar to how screen sharing works in leopard. (even if the screen was alittle pixelated) I think this would be a nice feature and useful. Anyone with me at all on this or is it just late and tired...?
 
DVI port is outbound graphics data (GPU output), so it won't work as an input for the screen. :(
 
Unfortunately, the DVI port is output only. I can't think of any way to run video from your MP to your MBP at anything higher than S-Video quality (via an Elgato/Pinnacle/etc. USB capture card), and if you do find hardware to input DVI signals for your Mac, I'd be surprised if it were cheaper than just buying a 17" LCD monitor anyway.
 
Ummm.. I know you could use Teleport that would allow you to use your MP mouse and keyboard simultaiously with your MBP as a virtual KVM. so if you have your mail, adium, iTunes etc. all sync together (or stream iTunes) then you could just run those apps on the MBP while you do other work on your MP. Check out some of the youtube videos showing how it works.
 
zachsilvey said:
you could use the built in screen sharing application or set up a vnc server on the macpro and a client on the macbook
Click to expand...

That would only let him see the same screen on both displays, somewhat negating having two screens. In short, ScreenRecycler is just that: a VNC server that opens a second "virtual" screen to which the client machine connects to. The host machine cannot see the virtual screen, so it appears as if the client machine (which can be Mac, Windows, Linux, etc) appears to simply be an extension of the host (if run in full screen mode).

Synergy, and derivative products thereof, are another entity entirely. I believe Teleport is derived from Synergy. I don't have experience with either, but it seems like a pretty nifty product, especially running across multiple platforms.

Since the OP is running two Apple computers, I'd say give Teleport a try, especially since it's free.
 
thanks guys ill give this a try! If it doesnt work i may just have to buy a 30 inch ACD!
 
ab2650 said:
That would only let him see the same screen on both displays, somewhat negating having two screens. In short, ScreenRecycler is just that: a VNC server that opens a second "virtual" screen to which the client machine connects to. The host machine cannot see the virtual screen, so it appears as if the client machine (which can be Mac, Windows, Linux, etc) appears to simply be an extension of the host (if run in full screen mode).
Click to expand...

Is it possible to use this on a MBP that already has an external monitor?

i.e. Is there any GFX limit on how many "monitors" I can control with my machine?

Very tempting to set up a 'nix home server and connect a few displays to it and control it from my MBP.
 
Aea said:
Is it possible to use this on a MBP that already has an external monitor?

i.e. Is there any GFX limit on how many "monitors" I can control with my machine?

Very tempting to set up a 'nix home server and connect a few displays to it and control it from my MBP.
Click to expand...

technically doing it this was isnt adding any extra monitors.. its just a piece of software to control the mouse of the other computer. so im guessing that you can have unlimited monitors being controlled.
 
DoFoT9 said:
technically doing it this was isnt adding any extra monitors.. its just a piece of software to control the mouse of the other computer. so im guessing that you can have unlimited monitors being controlled.
Click to expand...

How is Screen Recycler not creating any addition screens? I thought it would convince my computer to think it had an additional screen and pipe that view on that over toward another machine?
 
Aea said:
How is Screen Recycler not creating any addition screens? I thought it would convince my computer to think it had an additional screen and pipe that view on that over toward another machine?
Click to expand...

its just taking a simple screen shot every so many milliseconds and sending it to another screen..there is no adding of monitors anywhere

if you have ever used apples remote desktop you can do the exact same thing. very handy if you need to send your screen to another computer for some random reason
 
DoFoT9 said:
its just taking a simple screen shot every so many milliseconds and sending it to another screen..there is no adding of monitors anywhere

if you have ever used apples remote desktop you can do the exact same thing. very handy if you need to send your screen to another computer for some random reason
Click to expand...

But that would be bloody pointless, I think it does a lot more then that. Their site clearly shows an "extended" display instead of a mirror.

I.E. It tricks your computer into thinking it has another screen, the utility takes what's being rendered for that virtual screen and sends that (probably using some sort of nifty algorithm for speed) to another monitor.
 
Aea said:
But that would be bloody pointless, I think it does a lot more then that. Their site clearly shows an "extended" display instead of a mirror.

I.E. It tricks your computer into thinking it has another screen, the utility takes what's being rendered for that virtual screen and sends that (probably using some sort of nifty algorithm for speed) to another monitor.
Click to expand...

this is why you go for the "teleport" suggestion!(because its free)

it uses extra software that "tricks" the computer into thinking that it has control of an extended screen, but in reality all it is doing is remoting into it and controlling the keyboard/mouse.
 
screenrecycle is amazing!

photo.jpg

photo1.jpg


Perfect for having my "constantely open apps on the laptop while I get work done on the ACD. Finally I can have textmate on one screen and cssedit on the other! ive been dying the last few days I know why apple now created spaces. I still prefer multiple monitors to spaces anyday. The refresh rate doesn't bother me with the type of programs im using it with.

I just wish this was something the automatically opened and was hidden in the dock, but appeared in the menu bar. This way the only work you would have to do it boot up the VNC client on the other computer. Either way Im happy.
 
Aea said:
I.E. It tricks your computer into thinking it has another screen, the utility takes what's being rendered for that virtual screen and sends that (probably using some sort of nifty algorithm for speed) to another monitor.
Click to expand...

From my understanding of the technology (I've used VNC in various *NIXs for nearly 8 years now) that's exactly what they're doing.

DoFoT9 said:
this is why you go for the "teleport" suggestion!(because its free)

it uses extra software that "tricks" the computer into thinking that it has control of an extended screen, but in reality all it is doing is remoting into it and controlling the keyboard/mouse.
Click to expand...

Teleport is based off Synergy, a very cool product. It's really less "remote control" and more of a "console unifier." Plus some nifty abilities to sync clipboards, copy files between machines, etc.

Basically the whole thing can be boiled down to one major difference...
Screen Recycler acts as one machine with multiple screens (The host machine does not contribute anything other than it's screen; no files, no drives, etc.)
Teleport is using two macs with one keyboard and mouse. (The host machine becomes part of a synergistic collective, sharing their files and resources.)
 
ab2650 said:
Teleport is based off Synergy, a very cool product. It's really less "remote control" and more of a "console unifier." Plus some nifty abilities to sync clipboards, copy files between machines, etc.

Basically the whole thing can be boiled down to one major difference...
Screen Recycler acts as one machine with multiple screens (The host machine does not contribute anything other than it's screen; no files, no drives, etc.)
Teleport is using two macs with one keyboard and mouse. (The host machine becomes part of a synergistic collective, sharing their files and resources.)
Click to expand...

thats what i meant haha, just u explained it better. i was referring to the 'remote desktop' style as controlling the mouse/keyboard/clipboard contents.

so what your saying is that Screen Recycler uses the "second monitor" as a dumb terminal type computer??

if so, does screen recycler enable me to move windows across (like having a monitor directly connected to the computer) to the other "virtual" monitor so that i have extra space? and teleport only lets you have control of the screen/keyboard/etc.. right?
 
DoFoT9 said:
thats what i meant haha, just u explained it better. i was referring to the 'remote desktop' style as controlling the mouse/keyboard/clipboard contents.

so what your saying is that Screen Recycler uses the "second monitor" as a dumb terminal type computer??

if so, does screen recycler enable me to move windows across (like having a monitor directly connected to the computer) to the other "virtual" monitor so that i have extra space? and teleport only lets you have control of the screen/keyboard/etc.. right?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm saying. Screen Recycler will let you do that. It's one "computer" on two "displays". A cool thing here is you can use someone else's computer as a client display and not change any software or settings they have on it. And they can be running any operating system that has a VNC client for it (like every OS).

Teleport will actually do a little bit more than just give you keyboard/mouse control. There is support for synchronizing clipboards and drag and drop file transfer. Synergy lets you do that in a mixed operating system environment, (OS X/Win/Linux) which was pretty cool before VMware and Parallels.
 
had to pay $25. You can use the demo version and just keep hitting "continue trial" every 25 minutes or so but it got annoying and $25 seemed worth it for more real estate!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back