Need M2 Screen Sharing Advice

[wbt0927]

I recently bought a Mac Mini M2 in the hope that I could use it as a headless server for the Roon music management system. I spent several days reading articles and searching forums for advice on how to get screen sharing to work. I'm beginning to think that screen sharing is a myth. I was hoping that the Mac Mini would show up in Finder locations on my MackBook Pro (2019- Sonoma 14.3) but it's not happening. The Mac Mimi is connected with ethernet, screen sharing is toggled on but neither Finder nor Screen Sharing can see the Mac Mini. I checked my TP-Link Router and found the Mini is listed as a wired client. I also have a MacBook Air but the situation is the same: no Mini in Finder or the Screen Sharing app. I can't think of anything else to try. Is what I'm trying to do possible? Is there anything else that I can try to get the M2 screen on the MackBook? I would appreciate any advice. Thank you for your time. Bill

 

[HDFan]

Did you try connecting to the mini via vnc://ipaddress?

 

[wbt0927]

I've tried entering vnc://192.168.0.247 (The IP address for the mac mini from the wired client list on my TP- Link router) in the VNC viewer but I get the message: "Invalid endpoint. Port not correctly specified." I'm not at all familiar with Virtual Network Computing and I find it confusing that the VNC guides tell me to download things to the computer I want to control. If I could download to the Mac mini I wouldn't need VNC! The only thing I can see on the Mac mini is a tiny pinpoint of light indicating that it is running. I've never seen the Mac mini desktop so of course I can't download to or change settings on it and how does the Mac Screen Sharing app fit into this? I'm lost, venting and somewhat insane after spending 7 hours trying to resolve this issue. Thank you for the quick response. Bill

 

[chabig]

I think the error is that you didn't put a port number. Try vnc://192.168.0.247:5900

 

[chrfr]

I think the error is that you didn't put a port number. Try vnc://192.168.0.247:5900

A port number isn’t required when connecting to a computer this way. The “vnc://“ automatically sets that up. It seems much more likely that a couple things are wrong with the network and/or Mac mini configuration instead.

 

[chrfr]

I've tried entering vnc://192.168.0.247 (The IP address for the mac mini from the wired client list on my TP- Link router) in the VNC viewer but I get the message: "Invalid endpoint. Port not correctly specified." I'm not at all familiar with Virtual Network Computing and I find it confusing that the VNC guides tell me to download things to the computer I want to control. If I could download to the Mac mini I wouldn't need VNC! The only thing I can see on the Mac mini is a tiny pinpoint of light indicating that it is running. I've never seen the Mac mini desktop so of course I can't download to or change settings on it and how does the Mac Screen Sharing app fit into this? I'm lost, venting and somewhat insane after spending 7 hours trying to resolve this issue. Thank you for the quick response. Bill

Can you connect a display to the Mac mini, at least temporarily while you’re trying to set this all up? What is the IP address of one of the client computers you’re trying to use to connect to the Mac mini? Also, if the mini has gone to sleep, which it will do by default, screen sharing may not be able to connect, so you’d need to change the Energy Saver settings to stop that.

Are you using a 3rd party app to try to do screen sharing? You can use Apple’s built in Screen Sharing app- try opening that by hitting command-space and start typing Screen Sharing, and the app will show up. You can then just open a connection from the file menu. Type only the IP address without the “vnc” part- just 192.168.0.247 in that field.

 

[jackerin]

Edit: saw that Screen sharing had already been mentioned but seconding that. In my experience it works a lot better when connecting Mac-to-Mac.

 

[cjgrif]

I've never seen the Mac mini desktop so of course I can't download to or change settings

You have connected a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the new Mac mini and done the initial setup creating a user account and logging in for the first time, correct?