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Possible Duplicate:
Can I use my laptop as a second monitor for my desk computer?

My PC's monitor just died and I'm not looking at buying a new monitor anytime soon. So I'm thinking of using my laptop's monitor for it. Both machines are running on Fedora linux.

Edit: Both machines are connected to the same wireless network. PC needs to log in before it can connect to the network if I'm not mistaken.

Update: This is different from Can I use my laptop as a second monitor for my desk computer? , because that question is asking how to use the laptop screen as the secondary display, not as the only display.

Community
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Randell
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3 Answers3

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There are a number of open source software projects that create software that allows you to control multiple computers using just the keyboard and mouse of one of the computers. The best known is probably Synergy:

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

There are some others that people advocate, as well as some forks of Synergy that people prefer to Synergy itself.

Just remoting into the PC using VNC might be enough for your needs, too.

[Edit: SORRY, after thinking a moment I realize Synergy is not at all what you want. Synergy would allow you to control the PC from your laptop's keyboard (which is great) but it would generally be used in dual-monitor situation where your pc also had its own monitor. VNC is solution you want if you want to see the PC"s display on your laptop display. ]

Herbert Sitz
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Linux is easy; just use X forwarding over an SSH connection. From your laptop:

ssh -X otherpc
kicker (this will give you the taskbar if you're running KDE)

or

ssh -X otherpc
gnome-session (this will give you the GNOME desktop if you're running GNOME)

When you run the above commands and launch applications from the window manager's taskbar/menubar, the applications will be displayed locally. In addition, any X application you launch from the ssh -X'd terminal will be displayed locally.

If you were using Windows, you could use MaxiVista's monitor cloning/desktop mirroring feature to do exactly what you want. Unfortunately, it's not free--but since you're using Linux, you don't need it ;)

rob
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1

Short answer: bite the bullet and buy a cheap used monitor in order to log in, then set up remote console.

You can make it easy by going to Goodwill, CraigsList, or some other used merchandise place and find a used CRT monitor. Since people are paying to get rid of them (e.g. $20 recycle fee?), you should be able to get something pretty cheap. It doesn't have to be great, just enough resolution to get you logged into the box so you can fire up the software/network based solutions.

If this is a Windows box, by all means set it up to host remote desktop, setting it to use whatever resolution is comfortable for you. If Windows, Linux or Mac, you should be able to set up vncserver to do the same thing. Either way, you can get an RDC or VNC client to run on your laptop and use the desktop remotely.

Shannon Nelson
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