Can't Start TightVNC Connection in View Only Mode
Using External display with TightVNC and "custom configuration" option, I can't get it to launch the connection in view only mode. Although I can turn on view only once launched, I want it on from the start so I don't interrupt other users while organizing my windows. When using Embedded display with FreeVNC, the view only setting is active, and it does work correctly. But when using External display and TightVNC, this setting is disabled and can't be changed. I tried putting -viewonly=1 in the Arguments setting, but this didn't change anything. If I switch to "config filename" instead of "custom configuration", then I can launch in view only mode. But then if the file is moved or renamed, the connection won't work.
A separate issue, when using Embedded display and FreeVNC, I could not see the remote cursor, no matter what my cursor setting is.
All Comments (4)
Hello
Do you know what the proper CLI argument is for tvnviewer.exe to enable view only mode?
I've tried it on my side with tvnviewer.exe {host}:port -password={password} -viewonly=1 and it doesn't seem to take effect. It is documented in tvnviewer.exe -help but it doesn't work for me. The documentation says that options should be in the form -option=VALUE, but I tried lots of permutations here and couldn't make it work. Obviously if we don't know what exact argument to give TightVNC, this won't work.
Does it work for you from the command line? What invocation do you use?
For the remote cursor with embedded mode; I haven't seen that issue before. Is your server running on Windows or Linux? What's the version of TightVNC server?
Thanks and kind regards,
Richard Markievicz
I've been using .vnc file shortcuts to connect before now without issue. Opening one of those in Notepad, it looks like the correct syntax should be what we've tried: -viewonly=1. I did try launching it in the command line outside of RDM, and it still did not launch in view only. So I suspect this is a TightVNC issue and not an RDM issue. I will submit a bug report to them.
For the cursor in embedded mode, it was only invisible when I'm the last one to move it, or immediately after connection. Like, wherever I (remote) leave the cursor, it stays invisible until someone else (local) moves the cursor with their mouse. After that, it stays visible the whole time I'm watching. I guess this isn't much of an issue since I'll still be able to see what operators are doing on the other end of the connection.
Hello
I'm not sure there's an expectation that the .vnc format matches the arguments that tvnviewer expects on the CLI, but the documentation implies it in this case. I did try various ways and none of them worked so - yes - this should work as an "argument" in RDM but only if we can confirm that Tight is accepting the argument. Let us know what they come back with.
I do remember some specific oddities around Tight cursor rendering, is it Windows on the server or something else? In the environment I tested with just now, Tight actually renders the cursor into the remote frame buffer (whereas a lot of VNC servers will not do that, and rather send the cursor image separately so the local client cursor can take the right shape - it's also a lot better for performance that way). Let me know if you want to pursue that further.
Kind regards,
Richard Markievicz
I figured it out. I did submit a ticket to TightVNC, but figured I could examine the source code to see what it's expecting. I found that the correct argument is -viewonly=yes, not =1.
For the embedded display, the remote machine is Windows. I'm not sure how TightVNC servers are set up, so I don't have any insight into that. But the embedded display doesn't have a named option for "TightVNC", only "FreeVNC" and "IronVNC". The FreeVNC option does connect, so I'm not sure what makes it different from Tight.
I think I'm happy with what I've found, both for the CLI and embedded display. No need to look into this any further, thanks!