"Pushing" PC display to Pi running raspbmc

VNC tends to be slow but can do this. RDP (the Linux client is called rdesktop) might also be an option.

Sven

-- "Der wichtigste Aspekt, den Sie vor der Entscheidung für ein Open Source-Betriebssystem bedenken sollten, ist, dass Sie kein Windows-Betriebssystem erhalten." (von

I'm not sure I understand your problem. What's wrong with using TightVNC?

It's normal to use this to send the display from a Pi to another computer so you can control the Pi remotely but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work the other way round.

Another Dave

On Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:07:57 +0100, Another Dave declaimed the following in comp.sys.raspberry-pi:

The problem would be that Windows doesn't come with a native X-window protocol to send its display to another machine. One has to basically reproduce the Windows "remote access" feature.

I've been told VNC is no good because raspbmc doesn't have X11...

deKay

Again - no X11. And I'm not sure how I'd tell the Pi to accept the "push", which needs to be initiated from the PC/Mac with no Pi interaction.

deKay

Or, capture the desktop as a video stream and push that to the Pi. But I've no idea how to do that.

deKay

The tightvnc website advertises both a Windows version and a Java viewer. I'm not familiar with Apple stuff so I don't know if this is relevant.

There's also "tightvnc projector" although since it costs $29 I don't know anything about that either :)

Another Dave

This might be of interest:

Another Dave

That does the opposite of what I'm after :)

deKay

You could run RISC OS on the pi, which does have a vnc server, and set the server to run at startup.

oh, you want to capture a PC screen keyboards and use the PI to control it?

two thoughts.

2/. IIRC there are remote video/keyboard hardware solutions designed to remote boot dead windows servers etc. and the like. They sold rather well :-)

E.g.

Thats the cheapest way - a PCI hard that 'intercepts' the screen and keyboards and has what looks like a sperate ethernet port to not interfere with the main IP address on the PC. And the remote machine needs a browser and if I read the sheet right, java.

I wonder if it allows ctrl-alt-del as well. :-)

Yes, but

deKay

No - just the screen, and I don't want the Pi to control it - just display it.

So not xbmc then. Sigh.

deKay

rdesktop

Which, again, needs X11. Which, again, raspbmc doesn't have. And then I'd still have the problem of initiating it from the PC/Mac.

I appreciate the replies to the question but it seems everyone has been reading a different question or missing the answers already given...

deKay

It sounds to me as though you want a vnc viewer which uses the framebuffer rather than being built on top of X right?

Would directvnc fit the bill?

As for starting it remotely there's something called "listening mode" that some VNC clients have where the connection is initiated from the server end. That's not a facility that directvnc has alas, but you could probably implement similar functionality by having inetd run the appropriate command to connect to the server when it is prodded by the PC.

Maybe I've missed something but ...

VNC server on the PC (or rdesktop or what ever - don't do much with windoze) and a VNC viewer on the RPi again don't know what XBMC comes with but if it is linux based (I think it is) then you can install a vnc viewer I'm sure, that way you get to see the PC screen and (if you want/ need) control i as well.

But as I say I may have missed something from this

Avpx

I think what's confusing everybody (it certainly confused me) is that your original post read as though you were proposing sending video to XBMC as a possible solution to your problem. You didn't say XBMC was a REQUIREMENT. Raspbmc is, as I'm sure you're aware, just a cut-down Debian with XBMC pre-loaded

Another Dave

If you install ManyCam on your Windows system, you can get it to use your windows desktop as the video source for a virtual camera.

You should be able to use that with some webcam broadcasting software ( Not used any myself, but I believe there are a few out there ) to stream the desktop to your xbmc machine.

No idea what resolutions are supported, or if you will get the speed you need, but it's free so give it a go.