New Mac Mini controlled by iMac?

[Grasbak]

If I get a new mac mini - can i 'control' it through my iMac G5?

I would use the mini to cruch video stuff and record eyetv programs to - relieving the G5 of the hard work. I could have the machines on a wired network to stream the programs to the G5...

I was thinking with lepoard you get the remote access in iChat which means I dont need a monitor etc on the mini.

Theory being I can get a Core2Duo machine for £400 rather than shell out more than double on a new iMac....

 

[Vaphoron]

Yes you can! I had this exact same idea about a year ago and picked one up. Download a program called Chicken of the VNC and install it on the iMac. Then go into System Preferences on the Mini and then Sharing. Enable Apple Remote Desktop and then set Access Privileges. Make sure you enter a password. Then open Chicken of the VNC and it should find the Mac Mini on your local network. Enter your password and you should be able to connect to it and control it.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/chickenofthevnc.html

 

[Grasbak]

Great stuff! Might be a good option for me. Also have a 500gb firewire drive which would be better tucked away with the mini!

 

[DoFoT9]

apples own remote desktop works a hell of a lot better then chicken, but you have to pay for that

having that 500gb on the mini is a great idea!! just map to it via the finder and itl be awsome yew network

 

[twoodcc]

great idea i'm gonna start doing this as well. i might even look at Apple's software

 

[cibby]

If you're planning to upgrade your iMac to Leopard, it's supposed to include a way for one mac to control others on your network, as long as they're running 10.4.10 or later. I don't know what the functionality will be like, but I've heard it falls in between Remote Desktop and a VNC client. You'd save $ by waiting.

I use the VNC and it's pretty sweet. The biggest challenge is when using a small screen mac to control a larger one (i.e. my 12" pb to control my 20" imac). I think the Leopard version is going to have a window auto size feature, but don't know for sure.

 

[DoFoT9]

I use the VNC and it's pretty sweet. The biggest challenge is when using a small screen mac to control a larger one (i.e. my 12" pb to control my 20" imac). I think the Leopard version is going to have a window auto size feature, but don't know for sure.

yea i wish apple provided remote desktop for free or something, because it scales down the desktop size which is really really handy compared to any vnc viewer.

the new leopard thingo connects via bonjour i think, gonna be a pretty awsome simple app i think. cant wait until leopard

 

[millap]

Yes you can! I had this exact same idea about a year ago and picked one up. Download a program called Chicken of the VNC and install it on the iMac. Then go into System Preferences on the Mini and then Sharing. Enable Apple Remote Desktop and then set Access Privileges. Make sure you enter a password. Then open Chicken of the VNC and it should find the Mac Mini on your local network. Enter your password and you should be able to connect to it and control it.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/chickenofthevnc.html

I have the exact same setup, with both machines connected together using Gigabit Ethernet, and both machines getting an internet connection using Airport.

I found that using Bonjour, the VNC client always connected using the much slower WiFi connection instead of the direct Ethernet cable, so I had to set up the connection manually. I works really well now - even fast enough to edit EyeTV programs.

 

[twoodcc]

so far my experience is kinda delayed, I guess because I'm using wireless?

 

[Cromulent]

so far my experience is kinda delayed, I guess because I'm using wireless?

No, it is because of the way VNC works.

 

[wPod]

I have a similar set up, except a PB controlling a mac mini, and I use chicken of the VNC. It works great i think. I have my mac mini set up as a 'media server' so all of my music, movies and tv shows are stored on the external hard drive, then i can watch them wherever, though usually on my apple TV. the only thing that would make it better is if there were a program that would delete the advertisements from the eyeTV recorded tv shows.