Screen sharing slow

I'm using the "share screen" feature in the finder of Leopard on a Macbook Air to access a Mac mini running 10.4.11. Though it works quite well, the screen refresh is a bit slower than I would like.
Does anyone have any ideas regarding what might improve this . . . such as more memory in the mini, a faster intel processor than offered in the Air (Air is 1.6 ghz; a macbook would be 2.4ghz), upgrade the wireless network to 802.11/n from 802.11/g, lower the screen resolution on the mini (currently 1680x1050) . . . all of the above . . . none of the above . . . any ideas?

jollysFastVNC http://www.coolosxapps.net/2008/06/21/jollysfastvnc-free-vnc-client-for-os-x/

Similar Messages

Screen Sharing slows down dramatically after RDP upgrade from 2 to 3

For some reason once we upgraded from RDP 2 to RDP 3 our Screen Sharing has gotten increasingly slow. We are using it in a school environment where the teacher will share their screen with the students, and as we add more students to the share the sharing slows down to become unusable. This problem is intermittent (otherwise I would go though the logs and run a control test), and has only started upon upgrading to RDP 3. Anyone else experience this behavior? I believe we are all running 10.5.x on the OS side.

I also know someone that is having this issue; it was fine with the previous ARD version they were using in the computer lab, but after upgrading screen sharing have slowed down. It's not really that of an issue when its just one computer, but when they put all 30 computers the FPS drops down.
Keep in mind that they were not having the issues before upgrading. I've also been told that, currently, they got a 5 MB connection. I ran a network test and everything seemed fine (or more like I didn't know what was going to tell me that something was wrong, but all the numbers were very low).

Ichat screen sharing - "slow network"

Hi
I am trying to use screen sharing between an intel imac and a mac book pro over the internet. Both running latest versions of Leopard. The enable screen sharing menu item is greyed out. Connection doctor has a red cross next to "share my screen" with the message "(slow network)". Same for host multiperson video. Share remote screen has a green tick.
I have enable upnp on my router as recommended elsewhere. No change. Similarly, I have also set Quick Time streaming speed to 1.5 Mbps. No change.
I have tested by internet speeds at www.auditmypc.com:
download: 9782Kbps
upload: 526.4 Kbps
Is the upload speed causing the problem? Any tips on how to fix this pls (Virgin Media cable broadband)?
Thanks

QT is still on 1.5Mps, which I had set before trying the tips suggested here. iChat video still has the 500Kbps setting I gave it as advised.
Oddly, screen sharing is now available even though I am back on wireless not ethernet. This all seems a bit unpredictable and unreliable for something which is supposed to be 'easy' screen sharing!
Thanks again for the help people have given which has (hopefully) fixed this.

Screen sharing slow after recent update (june 2012)

I have installed the latest update that Apple posted a few days ago on multipl computers. It seems that after the update, screen sharing still works, but instead of bringing up the shared screen in about 5 seconds as it used to, it now takes almost 30 seconds. This has happened for me on two seperate networks so I believe it is not network related. Something in the Lion update seems to be culpret. My 10.6 server machines still can be shared fine.

I just upgraded all my MACs to Mavericks and have now found this issue. It isn't unusable but is real close. I use screenshare every day and all day so this is a real pain.
Is anyone else seeing this? Is it worth my while to try VNC? Is it reasonable to think it may perform better?
Thanks!

OS X Lion Screen Sharing Slow on MBP 13" (Early 2011)

Hello All,
I've been cruising forums and various posts, but have not seen anything directly relating to the issue I'm having. I just upgraded all my Macs to Lion and when I screen share(SS) from my lion macs at work to my lion macs at home there has been a notable drop in performance.
Here's where it get's stupid though. I can screen share to my Mini with very little to no lag at all from my MacBook Air at work. The Mini is directly hooked to my time capsule (2008,1TB). However, when I SS into my MBP 13" early 2011(wireless connection) the MBP becomes almost completely unresponsive or delayed to any change by 5+min.
I tried ss'ing into my mini and then from my mini to my MBP 13" and that was at least responsive, but obviously laggy. So what the frick man. Why can't I SS into my MBP from work? This was never an issue when all these macs were running 10.6.8.
I guess I should also mention that the Mini hasn't been able to update ARD 3.5 yet, because of a separate issue that I haven't gotten around to. Is it perhaps the ARD update that is screwing up my MBP13"?
Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I have the same problem. I think it has to do with the 'server' computer. When I remotely control my other snow leopard computers, it is snappy. When I connect to my iMac running Lion, it is slow. The whole page blinks like it is rendering all text/images/backgrounds all the time. So it seems to be loading the entire frame. On the contrary, when remoted into a Snow Leopard machine, only the word or area that you are typing is blurry, then crisp as it renders. It doesn't try to reload the whole screen since you are only modifying a small portion of it.

Screen sharing in 10.8 slower than in 10.7?

Hi everyone,
I use screen sharing a lot with my 10.7 server and 10.7 clients. I have now set up a fresh installation of 10.8 Server, but screen sharing to it seems way slower on the same connection. It takes around 10 seconds to connect (2-3 seconds with 10.7) and the speed (i.e. when dragging windows or typing) is slower, too.
Did you encounter similar issues?
Thanks
Björn

I have what I believe is the same issue. Used screen sharing to connect to my headless (no monitor) mac pro early 2008 running Lion from my early 2009 Mac Book Pro 17" also running Lion. I had them connection view internet sharing over an ethernet cable. There was no lag, I could eaisly use program and even watch video.
After upgrading both to Mountain Lion now screen sharing is usless. Apps are slow, mouse movements do not track well and forget about video, it doesn't even render.
I did notice something interesting, if i do connect a monitor to the headless mac pro the issues go away. Everything runs smooth like it used to headless on 10.7 until i disconnect the monitor, then back to slow town.
Any ideas? I'm getting close to reinstalling 10.7 as 8 is useless to me at this point.

Slow/lagging performance while screen sharing in OS X.

I am running two "headless" '09 Mac Mini. I control them with Screen Sharing in OS X from my MacBook 2.1ghz & MacBook Air 1.6ghz. After 10.5.7, screen sharing is very slow in response. This is the same for all my Macs, not just the Mini. My wireless bandwidth is 14 mbps down & 8 mbps up so it is not my network connection. Please look into this.
Thank you,
Mike

Please look into this.
This forum is for the exchange of information between Mac OS X customers. It is NOT a communications channel to Apple.
If you want to report this to Apple, then use one of the following methods:
<http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html>
<http://bugreporter.apple.com> Free ADC account needed for BugReporter
If you want fellow customers to take a stab at diagnosing this, please provide some additional information.
How are the systems connected? Ethernet, WiFi, over the internet (some or all of the above may apply)? A simple diagram such as
modem -- ethernet --> wifi base station
wifi base station -- 802.11n -> MacBook Air
wifi base station -- ethernet -> Mac mini A
wifi base station -- 802.11g -> Mac mini B
would be useful.
If over the internet, what method do you use to establish a remote connection, and did you have to make any special configuration setups to allow that connection?
If WiFi, is it 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n. If 802.11n is 'n' working in the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz frequences (it matters).
If using the 2.4GHz frequences (802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n in 2.4GHz mode) can all be affected by interference from neighbor's WiFi equipment using the same channel, 2.4GHz cordless phones, 2.4GHz baby monitors, microwave ovens (I'll discount the microwave oven unless you cook 24/7).
You can check on the neighbor's WiFi channel using with a utility such as
AP Grapher
iStumbler
KisMac
AirRadar
You should be able to find any of these utilities at
<http://versiontracker.com>
<http://macupdate.com>
What Mac OS X 10.5.7 installed on ALL the systems, or just the MacBook Air?
Besides upgrading to Mac OS X 10.5.7, have you made any other equipment changes (new router, new ethernet switch, moved equipment to a new location, played with any router configuration settings, etc...).
Actually some of this information would useful to Apple as well, if you should choose to report it to Apple.

Messages Screen Sharing is super slow

So, in Yosemite, Apple introduced native screen sharing. I used to do screen sharing via AOL IM in Messages, but have now been trying Apple's native version. It is, however, painful slow. Especially when compared to using AOL IM. Is anyone else having this issue? Have you found a way to speed it up?
Also, when using native screen sharing, the person requesting the screen share is introduced using their [email protected] user account. For users like me who use the (much) older @mac.com handle, is there a way to have Messages identify you as such, instead of using the @iCloud.com handle?
Thanks in advance.

I have the same problem, I think. The 2 computers take ages to connect to each other, with screen sharing and also to connect as a share in finder. This is only since updating to Snow Leopard, with Leopard everything was dandy

Screen Sharing is very slow

I use my Mac Pro to do maintenance on my Mini in the home theater using Screen Sharing. This worked great with Leopard, fast and smooth. I've now upgraded both to Snow Leopard and it has become extremely slow. Moving windows is glacially slow, for example. There is often a several second lag between a button press and resulting action. I haven't found any discussion about such a condition and don't know what to look for. Can anyone help me? Thanks.

I have the same problem, I think. The 2 computers take ages to connect to each other, with screen sharing and also to connect as a share in finder. This is only since updating to Snow Leopard, with Leopard everything was dandy

Slow cursor during screen sharing

Hello,
Running Mavericks on both my 2009 MBP and 2012 2.5 it Mac Mini- I am noticing that the cursor is sluggish- up to the point where I can swirl it around on my trackpad from my MBP- and the controlled Mac Mini lags behind up to 20 seconds. I have not seen this prior to Mavericks so I am guessing it is a bug (even running a fan control app to see if cooling the Mac Mini which is mounted in a gator rack case but with ample circulation is causing the issues).
I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I am running an external Thunderboth to VGA display (and have even tried connecting via HDMI). Normally I use the hdmi headless dongle for live music use and don't notice the issue (but am not using the trackpad much as I have MainStage controlled via my controller).
Any other suggestions

Only the screen content is being shared during screen sharing. Audio sharing is currently not part of the functionality.
What's a use case you can see for transferring audio as well?
Follow the latest Skype Community News
↓ Did my reply answer your question? Accept it as a solution to help others, Thanks. ↓

Can I display EyeTV's live TV over HDMI-out and be able to see my desktop using screen-sharing on a headless mac-mini used as a media-box?

Hi,
I'm thinking of buying a new mac-mini to replace my current one which acts as an iTunes server and records TV programs using eyeTV. I connect using screen-sharing/VNC to be able to do stuff on it (like handbrake etc.)
I have eyeTV with a satelite receiver and I want to change the setup so that:
- the new mac-mini continues to work as an iTunes server (and handbrake workhorse)
- I can use the HDMI output (inc. audio) to show eyeTV's live TV full-screen app
- I can connect using screen-sharing/VNC to the mac-mini and see my normal desktop to be able to maintain it etc. but this is a headless display (no screen is connected to the display-port).
- recorded media I'd play through the appleTV2 still + rentals etc. unless anyone knows if eyeTV software can offer up iTunes content? I don't like the eyeTV recordings in general as it seems very slow to me for access when there are lots of recordings and wouldn't be available in other apleTVs in the house AFAIK.
The main benefit that this gives me is that I'd no longer need a seperate satelite box to watch live TV and can add more eyeTV hardware to get additional TV channels all through the same HUD on the TV for ease of access.
Does this seem possible in theory & practice (ie are there any gotcha's to consider?)
- can I force the HDMI output resolution to 1080i as I go via an amp to the TV and the appleTV2 drops to low-res in this configuration so I have had to find a workaround for that.
- does the mac-mini have IR input that can be programmed?
- Does eyeTV software remain stable for long periods?
- Does the HDMI out have any handshake issues that would need a reset of the display (somehow)?
thanks in advance for any thoughts/contributions
Lee

I think the easiest way to do this is to have the EyeTV app running in one user account and sent via HDMI to the TV, and use a separate user account for Screen Sharing. Both logins can be active at the same time and with Lion you can connect via screen sharing to which ever login you need.
With regards to the Mac video resolution changing, when it is not the current input on your AV receiver. This is 'normal', if the Mac sees no signal it drops down the a lower level. What you need is to buy a HDMI Detective Plus which tricks the Mac in to always seeing a signal and hence it will not drop down the resolution. See http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=8005
The Mac mini does have an IR receiver. This can be used with the EyeTV app, iTunes, and similar. Yes I believe EyeTV would run for prolonged periods quite happily, it is has been around for a long time and had most of the rough edges polished off. However one issue you will have to deal with is that it does not automatically update its program guide data. For this you might have to write or modify an AppleScript. Elgato support or their user forums will be a lot of help.
You can set EyeTV to convert recordings to an iTunes (Apple TV) compatible format and then delete them from EyeTV.
The HDMI Detective should solve your handshaking problems.

How do I speed up my Screen Sharing experience?

Hi. Apologies if this has already been answered, but I couldn't find post that matched. Anyway, I have set up Screen Sharing on my iMac so I can run it with my eMac (running Tiger 10.4.11). It all works fine except the response is a bit slow - that is to say the refresh rate doesn't make it workable if I'm working in image editing or whatever, in fact even just moving open windows around there's a noticeable lag in response time.
I think I should mention that both computers are networked via ethernet cables - not wirelessly - so the response is as good as I can get it at the moment.
I did hear somewhere that if I had an 'N' speed Router (as opposed to the standard 'G' speed) then this would improve the speed noticeably. Is that right? Also, my iMac is equipped with a 10/100/1000 Base T ethernet port, whereas my eMac is only the 10/100 variety. Will this make an 'N' speed router pointless. I just want to know before I waste money on something that'll make no difference really.
Thanks
Simon
Message was edited by: Simon Bramley

If you are using ethernet to ethernet connection, then 802.11g vs 802.11n WiFi does not matter.
The slowest ethernet connection will be the limiting factor, so the eMac's ethernet port is the controlling factor for transfer speeds.
If you want to experiment with a different VNC client and server, you might try installing Vine Server (aka OSXvnc) on the Mac to be controlled, and then use Chicken of the VNC as the client on the Mac you are sitting at. This pair of VNC client and server are very good at compressing the screen data to maximize network bandwidth.
The next trick you could try is to tell Chicken of the VNC to use less colors. CofVNC -> Connection -> Connection Profiles -> Default Profile -> Color. Try "Thousands of Colors" first, then maybe "256 Colors" although 256 is going to look very Andy Wohl'ish

Screen Sharing/network problem seems confined to 1 volume. What's the fix?

I am having a networking problem on one of the volumes of my multi-volumed, three-Mac local area network, and I need a networking guru to identify the specific software file(s), application(s), or system configuration that is the cause of the problem. I have already spent several hours checking and re-checking the various hardware and system preference settings involved, and I have narrowed the problem down to a software corruption issue and/or system configuration issue on one volume.
I now need someone to identify specifically what the nature of the problem is, and how to eliminate it. I am not looking for a sledgehammer solution that says I should re-install all of the Mac OS X software on the problem volume. That may be held in reserve as a last resort. I'm looking for a more elegant approach, one that points out the specific corrupt files to remove without disturbing everything else.
Here's some background to set the context. I have a MacBook Pro laptop; a PowerMac iMac G5; and a PowerMac G4 hooked up in a network. All are running Leopard 10.5.8. All have file sharing and screen sharing enabled. Besides being able to connect to each other using registered users, my goal here is for each of the Macs to be able to share the screen of the others upon my demand. Since each of the 3 Macs can theoretically share the screens of the other 2, that makes a total of six possible connections. Five succeed; one does not. That's the problem. I am trying to determine why the iMac G5 cannot share the screen of the MacBook Pro.
The iMac G5 has no problem sharing the screen of the PowerMac G4. That connection is fast and immediate. But, every time that I hit the Share Screen button on the iMac G5 to try to connect to the MacBook Pro, I get a window with the blue barber pole spinning for two or three minutes as it is allegedly "Connecting to Mac Book Pro," followed by a window with a headline telling me that "Connection Failed to MacBook Pro." The text within that window goes on to say: "Please make sure that Screen Sharing (in the Sharing section of System Preferences) is enabled on the computer to which you are attempting to connect. Also make sure that your network connection is working properly."
Well, as I indicated, the PowerMac G4 has no problem sharing the screen of the MacBook Pro, so the Screen Sharing settings on the laptop are correct; and the iMac G5 can share the screen of the PowerMac G4, so its network connection is working properly in that regard. It is only in regards to sharing the screen of the MacBook Pro that the iMac G5 is not working properly.
The reason why I say that the issue must be unique to the one volume in question, let's call it "iMacG5 Music," is that another Leopard volume on the same computer has no problem whatsoever in sharing the screen of the MacBook Pro. Whenever I boot up in that volume, let's call it "iMacG5 JMB," it makes a network connection with a registered user name immediately, and it is able to share the screen of the MacBook Pro within a second of my issuing the command. In sharp contrast to the success of the iMacG5 JMB volume, the iMacG5 Music is unacceptably slow (several minutes slow!) in making a network connection with the MacBook Pro, and it always fails to share the screen of the MacBook Pro, preferring instead to take about three minutes to attempt the connection, before announcing its failure.
Since the iMacG5 Music volume makes an immediate network connection to the PowerMac G4, as well as sharing the screen of the PowerMac G4 the moment I ask it to, I have concluded that the hardware of the iMac G5 is just fine. The problem seems confined to the system software and/or associated networking files that are unique to the iMacG5 Music volume. I just don't know what those files could be, or where the problem lies, so I've issued this call for help.
Let me add one more little twist to this puzzle which baffles me even more. I use external LaCie Firewire drives as clone backups of my Macs. As part of my trouble-shooting process, I booted up from the cloned versions of the iMacG5 JMB volume and the iMacG5 Music volume. What I learned surprised me!
The iMacG5 JMB clone worked just fine in making a fast network connection to the MacBook Pro, as well as sharing the screen of the MacBook Pro. I expected that. What I did not expect was that the iMacG5 Music clone was also able to make a fast network to the MacBook Pro, as well as share its screen!
Yes, that's right. It's weird! Screen sharing works OK when I start-up from the clone of the iMacG5 Music volume, but it does not succeed when I boot up on the source itself! I was surprised to find that out, but I'm glad I did.
(Over the past few days since I executed the last clone, I did use Drive Genius to de-frag the source volume, and maybe that has contributed to the problem I am now encountering. But it's hard to say, since nothing else seems to be amiss.)
One solution, I suppose, would be to sync the clone back to the source. But, before I do that, I'm just wondering if anyone has a clue as to the nature of this problem on the source volume and what I might do to remedy it—short of re-installing the system software or restoring from the clone. Anyone have any insight to this problem?

CORRECTION #2:
Ignore the previous "CORRECTION" post.
Oops, excuse me, I wrote that sentence correctly the first time.
I was trying to point out that the ability of the iMac G5 computer to connect quickly and effectively to the PowerMac G4 when booted up into the iMacG5 Music volume was an indication (to me, anyway) that there is nothing wrong with the computer's hardware, nor its network connection ability, but that the problem lay somewhere in the files/settings used to connect to the MacBook Pro, which it cannot accomplish.
This is what happens when I get engrossed in one of these technical morasses and it ***** me into its vortex all through the night... time for bed.

Screen sharing and ssh tunnel

I'm trying to connect screen sharing to a server (S2) on my local network through a server(S1) on my local network with a static IP (local) and a static IP (public)
S1 is XServer G5 10.3.9 (dual nic)
S2 is Mountain Lion Server 10.8.2
Client: MBP ML 10.8.2
Client -> S1 -> S2
IP are for illustration
S1: Public 71.100.100.200
S1: Local 192.168.6.100
S2: Local 192.168.6.101
S1 Firewall rule: 01105 allow tcp from any to 192.168.6.0/24 5900
On client:
> ssh -L 5901:192.168.6.101:5900 71.100.100.200
connect to server vnc://192.168.6.101:5901
... no joy connection timeout - standard connection fail message for screen sharing.

I managed to find a slightly different tunnel command that does work.
ssh -t -L localhost:5901:S2:5900 S1
ssh -t -L localhost:5901:<private server>:5900 <public(dmz) server>
had to set screen sharing prerferences for adaptive quailty encryption of passworkd and keystroks only for the relatively slow connection.

Screen Sharing and VPN functionality with ARD

Can somebody with ARD tell me if the following setup is going to work? There's no demo version so I can't tell if it's going to be worth 300 dollars.
I have a number of local machines in a network and a couple external machines in other parts of the state that VPN in to the network. I want to be able to have a local machine that can screen share w/ voice reliably with these guys.
"Reliably" being the key. iChat screen sharing and VNC alternatives do not work reliably at all. They crash, they are slow, they sometimes disconnect video and keep the audio. Or some days they work perfectly, but that's few and far between. Zero-conf services like MacHelpMate work just fine, but I'm reluctant to pay 600 a year for something like this.
Is ARD going to be able to be able to fix this problem for me, or am I really just going to end up with more of the same issues?

ARD uses VNC for observation and control, so if you're having problems with iChat screen sharing and with VNC clients, I would not expect that ARD would be any better. My suspicion is that your network and/or VPN are cutting things off, since most people have found iChat sharing and VNC to be pretty reliable, but without being able to perform reliability tests on your network to VPN clients, I can't say for sure.

Screen sharing slow

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for