September 15, 2004

How to Launch Apple Remote Desktop on a Powerbook

apple remote desktop UPDATE 10/03/04

These problems have been solved by ARD2

Apple Remote Desktop 2.0 has been getting tons of positive press all over the web. Indeed it’s the slickest VNC you’ll find, with complete OSX control over remote machines and VNC control over PCs. However it’s one buggy heap of code. Aside from ridiculous limitations (such as only being able to a Linux or Winows VNC server set to Display 0), it’s got one killer bug that almost renders it useless on Powerbooks.

I’m surprised such a huge bug made it out of Apple testing. Here’s how to get ARD 2.0 to run on a Powerbook.

ARD2 will crash on any Powerbook that has a combination of Locations and Network ports that adds up to 29 Interfaces. The Apple page regarding this is here. Here’s how you figure out how many Interfaces your Powerbook has

P x L = I

Ports (Ethernet, airport, bluetooth, modem, IR) x Locations (home, work, dialup, etc.) = Interfaces

I found I couldn’t get it to run after reducing my Ports and Locations to a total of 10 Interfaces. This seems like a crazy requirement- the joy of owning a Powerbook is to be mobile, and connect to many different networks over many different ports. This was the first Apple application that would only run if I limited the functionality of how I used my Mac.

When I launched ARD it crashed immediately trying to scan my Powerbook’s Interfaces. Not willing to delete and lose all my locations and network setups, I figured there had to be a way to bypass the initial network scan. Here’s what I did to get Apple Remote Desktop 2.0 to run on a Powerbook without giving up any of my Locations or Ports. My solution has worked for some Powerbook users, and hasn’t for others. Your millage may vary. Attempt at your own risk. I believe the worst thing you can do to your machine is wipe out all your Locations and Ports.

Before you begin, make a backup of: /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

Using your favorite editor (BBedit, Pico, emacs, etc.) open: /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

This XML file contains all of your systems Ports and Locations. Delete everything from the file.

Launch Apple Remote Desktop 2.0. Without any Ports or Locations, the application will launch without a crash. After startup, the ARD main window will be set to network scan. Change the interface from scanning the local network to scanning a network range.

Quit ARD 2.0

Restore your original preferences.plist from the duplicate

Launch ARD 2.0. Everything works fine now, and you can set it again to scan the local network

Worked for me- however your milage may very. Happy VNCing!


3 Comments

"...(such as only being able to VNC a Windows PC on display 0)..."

Windows NT, XP, et. al. are not multi user OS' - as such there is only ever one session running, and in typical 'C' fashion number 1 is referred to as 0.

Dunc

when you setup a VNC server on windows (or linux) you must determine which display to serve on. ARD2.0 can only connect to display 0- a VNC server set to 1 or 2 cannot be connected to.

Setting the display controls the ports that VNC is using:

http://www.cryer.co.uk/brian/misc/port_mappings.htm

As soon as I restored the preferences.plist the Remote Desktop crashes again.

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