Lion Screen Sharing Asks?

Question

I'm trying to share the screen of my Lion MacMini located in the other room. Both machines are Lion 10.7.1.
Regardless of which account I use to connect to the macMini, I'm presented with a dialog that says "Ask to share the display. 'mini User' is using the display". This is a hassle, because no one is sitting at that machine.
When I attempt to share the screen with other machines, I can start screen sharing without intervention on the far end.
What determines whether someone needs to be sitting at the machine to initiate Screen Sharing on it?

Answer 1

Scratch that: there is still something wrong. Now, when "Connected as" mini User, I still must obtain permission from someone sitting there to start screen sharing, even though now, no windows are open.
So, as an alternative, I click "Virtual Display" and... and I get logged into _another_ user's account, the one which the machine defaults to because that password is saved in the keychain.
Furthermore, when I click "Ask" and walk over to the remote machine, it says the _other_ user is requesting access, even though I am "Connected As" the correct user.
So to summarize: I cannot start screen sharing in the account that I need to share without intervention -- even with no applications open, and virtual sharing automatically logs into some _other_ user's account.
Next, I opened Keychain Access and removed all entries for the server I'm trying to contact. Then, I "Connect As" and enter the appropriate user name "mini user" and _no_ password, since that account does not have a password. The file sharing connection proceeds. I click "Share Screen" and attempt to use the same user name and _no_password, and the system refuses to accept it.
So, perhaps for Lion Screen Sharing to work without intervention, accounts _must_ have passwords?
No, that's not it either. I went and set a password for mini User, and can log out and log in successfully there. I can "Connect As" with the new password, successfully. But when I try Screen Sharing, even with the correct user name and password, I get an authorization failure. I simply cannot start Screen Sharing without intervention, regardless of what I try.
But wait: maybe the problem was that I was not _authorized_ to screen share? So I started up the "Sharing" control panel and sure enough, only "administrators" are allowed to share the screen, and mini User is a Standard User. I unlock the settings using an admin log-in and click the "+" button... and nothing happens. Darn. So I switch _to_ that Admin account and in Sharing, click "+", and I'm able to add mini User. OK. Now, when I try to screen share, my credentials are _still_ rejected
Finally, I started Screen Sharing by logging in as a "Sharing Only" user, to the Virtual Display. I'm presented with a User selection screen. I click mini User, no password, and I can see the screen.
Gee, this all used to work flawlessly in Snow Leopard.