"Pushing" PC display to Pi running raspbmc

He didn't say no graphics capability at all, he just said without X :p

vnc?

I am using rdesktop on the pi right now to display the screen (or, as a terminal) to a Linux pc. The pi screen displays what is on the pc, I have to use a magic key escape to go back to the pi.

But it is a decade since I dealt extensively with windows.

-- mrr

You probably do this every time you boot a Linux system, in the form of the Tux/whatever graphics that display with the boot loader, before X gets started. Run the console framebuffer image viewer "fbi" for an example of non-X graphics.

Possibly, yes.

If it runs on raspbmc, yes!

OK, that's something to prod at. Thanks.

deKay

That's pretty much it, but until Guesser's post I wasn't aware of a VNC solution that didn't require X (which raspbmc doesn't have) or a way of initiating the connection from the PC rather than the Pi.

deKay

Well, I was hoping the subject of the post made that clear. Raspbmc is a requirement as that's what I'm using.

That I know, but "cut" was X.

deKay

Thanks. I did manage to get VLC to capture the screen and stream it to another PC (also running VLC), but I've no idea how to get raspbmc to "see" the stream I'm sending, or what codecs/formats/settings to use to get to work as well as I can...

deKay

I don't. I don't need a GUI on the Pi, although raspbmc offers one without X, so...

No. I intend to display a Windows (or Mac) display using raspbmc on the Pi as essentially a remote monitor. I don't need it to do anything but display it. I can send video files, pictures, music, etc. to it already - I just want to "send" my desktop in some way too. The Pi can see my desktop as nothing more than a video stream for all I care.

deKay

Indeed. And until i started this thread I wasn't aware raspbmc didn't have X, so it threw up another spanner.

deKay

But it's based on Raspbian which does include X, so adding it again shouldn't be too big a deal.

There are VNC servers for Windows.

Ian

There are even X servers for Windows. :-)

Yes but how many applications are compiled for windows that use X for their display rendering?

I think I've seen precisely two: xterm and xclock ;)

last time I wantted to run a VNC server on a MAC I found that it was a standard OSX compoent, already built in, and just needed to be activated.

Windows Media Encoder can capture the desktop as a stream and broadcast it in a number of different ways:

This solution will not suit you but it may suit somebody as it's what works here:

W7-64 running TightVNC service.

On the other hand, I think the OP needs to be able to encode his desktop display into a video stream that xbmc understands. Googling that isn't encouraging but it does seem to be possible for VLC to stream files for xbmc

It is, yes. This is what I've pursued.

I can get VLC to create a video stream of my desktop, and I can get another computer on my network to play, in VLC, that stream (by opening http://mypcip/stream).

What I can't manage is any way of getting raspbmc to do anything with it. I try putting that URL in a playlist file - nothing happens. Try a link - nothing. Literally nothing.

deKay

I found one site which talked about using VLC to convert a file on the fly for delivery to xbmc as a stream via http. Not quite what you are after but if you can substitute 'desktop' for 'file'...?

Aha! That's exactly what I tried, but without knowing the "XMBC side" bit at the bottom to actually get the Pi playing the stream! Thanks.

deKay