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Synergy. It's a keyboard and mouse sharing client/server application that runs on every platform I use. I don't know if better alternatives exist because it ha

Synergy. It's a keyboard and mouse sharing client/server application that runs on every platform I use. I don't know if better alternatives exist because it has just been rock-solid for the last 12 years that I've been using it. I've used it in multi-monitor and machine desktop setups (e.g. an Apple laptop paired with a Windows desktop and linux desktop for enterprisey cubicle development), as well as to let me drive my gaming and media PC from my couch using an Apple laptop. I was a bit bummed that the pricing model went from free-as-in-beer to free-as-in-speech, but couldn't be happier to pay $10 for a lifetime license. I feel it belongs in this thread because even when I've neglected to upgrade various machines, or upgraded OSs on machines with the application installed, it just continues to hum along. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to deal with any problems in any capacity.

dmerrick 10y ago
I just purchased this recently (having used it ages ago) to drive a second computer on my desk. My problem is that once the guest machine goes to sleep, I can't seem to wake it via Synergy. Is this expected behavior? I have WoL enabled, so theoretically I should be able to just move my mouse over to the sleeping monitor to wake it up.
- abeyer 10y ago
  Unless synergy has explicit support for WoL (it didn't last time I used it, but it's been years), it won't just work. You'd need to patch the synergy server to send a WoL magic packet[1] to wake up the client whenever it sends a message that might hit a client that's asleep. (some systems might support something other than the standard magic packet, but I don't know of anything else that works consistently cross platform.) Might also need to look at making sure the client connection comes back up clean and have some delay to make sure it's ready to receive whatever message started the process, and doesn't timeout while waking up. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#Magic_packet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#Magic_packet
  - dmerrick 10y ago
    Darn, that's what I was worried about. I wouldn't have anticipated it, but this is an critical feature for me. Without WoL, I need to have a mouse/keyboard attached to the guest machine, which completely defeats the purpose of using Synergy.
    - abeyer 10y ago
      If you just need to be able to wake it up manually, use something like etherwake to send the wakeup packet. It's not integrated w/ synergy, but is the WoL equivalent of "wiggle the mouse and wake it up."
icholy 10y ago
Eh, maybe it's gotten better since the last time I used it, but I found it to be pretty unreliable.
- chriswarbo 10y ago
  Agreed. I started using it recently, after previously using x2x, and I keep hitting https://github.com/symless/synergy/issues/9 https://github.com/symless/synergy/issues/9 :(
  - pritambaral 10y ago
    Interestingly, I switched from synergy to a self-made ssh+x2x wrapper. Two reasons: 1. Ease of install; and 2. Backwards compatibility (Ubuntu 14.04's synergy just couldn't work with Arch's)
ianamartin 10y ago
I try Synergy every year or so. Depending on how my home setup is. Sometimes I'm wanting a lot of machines, then I want to consolidate. Then I go back to more, etc. I've never found it to be reliable in any configuration. I've bought it at least a couple of times on different accounts. Love the idea, and when it works, it is fantastic. But I can't say that it is reliable at all.

dmerrick 10y ago

I just purchased this recently (having used it ages ago) to drive a second computer on my desk. My problem is that once the guest machine goes to sleep, I can't seem to wake it via Synergy. Is this expected behavior? I have WoL enabled, so theoretically I should be able to just move my mouse over to the sleeping monitor to wake it up.

abeyer 10y ago
Unless synergy has explicit support for WoL (it didn't last time I used it, but it's been years), it won't just work. You'd need to patch the synergy server to send a WoL magic packet[1] to wake up the client whenever it sends a message that might hit a client that's asleep. (some systems might support something other than the standard magic packet, but I don't know of anything else that works consistently cross platform.) Might also need to look at making sure the client connection comes back up clean and have some delay to make sure it's ready to receive whatever message started the process, and doesn't timeout while waking up. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#Magic_packet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN#Magic_packet
- dmerrick 10y ago
  Darn, that's what I was worried about. I wouldn't have anticipated it, but this is an critical feature for me. Without WoL, I need to have a mouse/keyboard attached to the guest machine, which completely defeats the purpose of using Synergy.
  - abeyer 10y ago
    If you just need to be able to wake it up manually, use something like etherwake to send the wakeup packet. It's not integrated w/ synergy, but is the WoL equivalent of "wiggle the mouse and wake it up."

icholy 10y ago

Eh, maybe it's gotten better since the last time I used it, but I found it to be pretty unreliable.

chriswarbo 10y ago
Agreed. I started using it recently, after previously using x2x, and I keep hitting https://github.com/symless/synergy/issues/9 https://github.com/symless/synergy/issues/9 :(
- pritambaral 10y ago
  Interestingly, I switched from synergy to a self-made ssh+x2x wrapper. Two reasons: 1. Ease of install; and 2. Backwards compatibility (Ubuntu 14.04's synergy just couldn't work with Arch's)

ianamartin 10y ago

I try Synergy every year or so. Depending on how my home setup is. Sometimes I'm wanting a lot of machines, then I want to consolidate. Then I go back to more, etc. I've never found it to be reliable in any configuration. I've bought it at least a couple of times on different accounts. Love the idea, and when it works, it is fantastic. But I can't say that it is reliable at all.