Unable to Activate Screen Sharing

All of a sudden for some reason, although the option is not greyed out, screen sharing is not activating...
Clicking to activate results in nothing happening...
Any ideas on how or what to reset on OS X to re-enable this feature? Or is there a way to activate/deactivate via the command line in the terminal?
Regards,

That certainly could be true,...I guess. I did use Firefox 3.6.10 to accomplish what I needed with these secure sites without experiencing any of the same problems. So, it almost sounds like you have to *drink the kool aid* to believe it is the web sites themselves. I had this problem with more than one web site; as, I was in the process of paying four monthly bills online on different web sites. At least three of them were secure sites, and Safari would not work on any of the three web sites...I am pretty sure they were the secure ones. It also appears possible that to the degree that Safari is NOT standards-compliant, some fault in systems engineering might be preventing its ability to work with secure sites. I did encourage, through an independent email, one web master to investigate with Apple why his web site/Safari interface was not working. So, he might take you up on your advice to become more standards-compliant if it applies. I'm still in need of a fix that I can really use.
Message was edited by: Bronco 01

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Fix for anyone unable to use screen sharing

Hi guys
Not so much a question as a fix for anyone who has been unable to use screen sharing since yesterday.
Apple have started to turn off parts of MobileMe however one of the issues is if you still have MobileMe signed in on your Snow Leopard install Screen Sharing will stop working to any computer.
To get things working again go into System Preferences -> MobileMe -> Sign Out.
It should now be fixed.
Hope this helps someone out.

@Jay Gamel specifically, but to anyone who is having problems with Screen Sharing and thinks that since they don't use MobileMe that it must be something else ..
I have never used MobileMe, not even the free trial.
When I saw this post, I looked at the Mobile Me pref pane and since I had never logged in, there was no way to sign out, so I kept looking elsewhere.
Hours later, I read this email again and saw how timely it was, so I went back and looked again.
Even though I had never signed in, my AppleID was pre-populated in the Member Name field.
As soon as I cleared out this field, Screen Sharing started working again.
So, not only should you make sure you are signed out, but you should wipe out any information in either the Member Name or Password field.
I also noticed that, even after I solved it, as I continued to look at the issue, at some point the Member Name re-populated and sharing stopped working until I cleared it out again.

Unable to tick screen sharing

I have a MacBook and an iMac, both on Lion 10.7.1. I am unable to tick the screen sharing button on either machine. Both sets of software are up to date. I have tried downgrading the AR Agent to the earlier version, that did nothing, so I have put back the newer version.
Any ideas?

I have a MacBook and an iMac, both on Lion 10.7.1. I am unable to tick the screen sharing button on either machine. Both sets of software are up to date. I have tried downgrading the AR Agent to the earlier version, that did nothing, so I have put back the newer version.
Any ideas?

Unable to resize Screen Sharing screen

Hi,
I am seeing two issues with Screen Sharing when accessing a desktop Mac from a MacBook Pro with a 20in external monitor attached to the laptop.
Using the Screen Sharing application to remotely control the Mac Pro when I connect the size of the Screen Sharing window varies, most of the time it is small (about half screen width and two thirds screen height) but sometimes it is almost full size on the monitor. The Fit Screen in Window button setting does not seem to affect this.
Furthermore when I try and drag the bottom right hand corner to increase the size of the Screen Sharing window it will not allow the window size to be increased.
In 10.5 Leopard the Screen Sharing app could be configured using defaults but Apple in their, err, wisdom, have disabled them it seems in 10.6 Snow Leopard. So...
(1) Is there any way to make/configure the app to always display a maximized screen size when connecting to a remote Mac?
(2) Why can I not resize the window by dragging the right corner using the standard Mac window resizing mechanism?
Thanks.
Tim

I am seeing two issues with Screen Sharing when accessing a desktop Mac from a MacBook Pro with a 20in external monitor attached to the laptop.
Using the Screen Sharing application to remotely control the Mac Pro when I connect the size of the Screen Sharing window varies, most of the time it is small (about half screen width and two thirds screen height) but sometimes it is almost full size on the monitor. The Fit Screen in Window button setting does not seem to affect this.
Furthermore when I try and drag the bottom right hand corner to increase the size of the Screen Sharing window it will not allow the window size to be increased.
In 10.5 Leopard the Screen Sharing app could be configured using defaults but Apple in their, err, wisdom, have disabled them it seems in 10.6 Snow Leopard. So...
(1) Is there any way to make/configure the app to always display a maximized screen size when connecting to a remote Mac?
(2) Why can I not resize the window by dragging the right corner using the standard Mac window resizing mechanism?
Try playing around with the window positioning. There is no definite way to keep a window's size/position, but try playing around with it.
I have dragged the window around but it makes no difference.
(2) Why can I not resize the window by dragging the right corner using the standard Mac window resizing mechanism?
You may not be able to make it bigger, but can you make it smaller?
Yes I can make it smaller but when I drag to make larger again it stops at the original size and you cannot drag further.
I noted that the screen resolution setting in the monitors preference pane of the Mac Pro had been set at 800 x 600 but it was set to 1680 x 1050 (the res of the 20in monitor) so perhaps Screen Sharing does not support that res and it gets reset when you create the connection?
Tim

Unable to Activate Screen Buttons on Secure Web Sites with Safari 5.0.2

I often pay bills online with secure sites, but today I was unable to complete any of those actions. The problem was that I could not produce the desired action when I clicked on action buttons (associated with secure emails in a list), such as SEND or REPLY. The problem was highlighted by red text notes telling me I should have used the onscreen buttons rather than my browser's arrow keys. Obviously, that's exactly what I was doing. It never cleared itself, even with a Reset Safari or Empty Cache. I did not have any of these problems before the recent upgrade to Safari 5.0.2.
Message was edited by: Bronco 01

That certainly could be true,...I guess. I did use Firefox 3.6.10 to accomplish what I needed with these secure sites without experiencing any of the same problems. So, it almost sounds like you have to *drink the kool aid* to believe it is the web sites themselves. I had this problem with more than one web site; as, I was in the process of paying four monthly bills online on different web sites. At least three of them were secure sites, and Safari would not work on any of the three web sites...I am pretty sure they were the secure ones. It also appears possible that to the degree that Safari is NOT standards-compliant, some fault in systems engineering might be preventing its ability to work with secure sites. I did encourage, through an independent email, one web master to investigate with Apple why his web site/Safari interface was not working. So, he might take you up on your advice to become more standards-compliant if it applies. I'm still in need of a fix that I can really use.
Message was edited by: Bronco 01

Back to my mac screen sharing no longer works since Mountain Lion release, even on Lion

I've used screen sharing via iCloud and back to my mac between a 2007 macbook and a 2010 imac. Both computers are still on Lion but screen sharing stopped working when Mountain Lion was released. I've read a number of comments on this forum that people were having trouble since upgrading to Mountain Lion, but I don't think that's the problem b/c I haven't upgraded either machine. I think the problem is something Apple did in preparation for the Mountain Lion release date and it seems to have damaged screen sharing functionality. Anybody else experiencing this or have a fix for it.
As for the specifics, I can still see my "other" machine under shared and can click "share screen," it usually searches for a couple minutes, then pops up the password dialogue box, but then searches for a while and eventually the password box closes, "screen sharing" stays open, but there are no windows associated with it.

I have the same problem, just today (although I'm still running 10.6.8). Every morning I turn on my main Logic mac then fire up my 2 slave macs, connect to them, activate Screen Sharing, and get going.
This morning I tried it, connected to the other macs as usual (I can see/access/alter their hard drives from my main mac) but when I click "Share Screen" I just get the "connecting" dialog box & it just keeps going.
The weird thing is, when I put my laptop into the network via wifi, I can screenshare my main mac's screen (all 3 of them, actually!) but not my 2 slave macs that are ethernet'd to the main mac.
I've tried every solution I could find via google, and nothing is working.
Kirby

Screen sharing to OS X Lion Server with non-admin account

I have set up a Lion Server with one admin (in addition to the root user) and several non-admin normal accounts. In Server.app, I have enabled remote login with ssh, and remote management via screen sharing. I am unable to use Screen Sharing to connect to the server from the non-admin accounts, but able to use the admin account. I've read that it is only enabled for admin users, but need to access from non-admin accounts, and I can't add these accounts to the admin group. Is there a way to do this with Workgroup Manager? I tried changing the Remote Management settings in System Preferences by adding the non-admin, but when selecting 'Observe' and 'Control' in the options for the user, they are not saved.

I resolved this issue by deselecting the "Enable screen sharing and remote management" in Server.app and going to System Preferences, Sharing Preferences, Screen Sharing, and allowing access for "All Users". If you have some users you want to allow VNC, you can create a group, add the allowed users to the group, and add the group under "Only these users".

Screen Sharing to Device with iCloud

Prior to Yosemite, every machine associated with my iCloud ID would show up in the Finder under "Sharing". If I selected that machine's name, I'd see the shared folders, and be able to activate Screen Sharing directly to that machine with a button click.
Since upgrading to Yosemite, I no longer see these machines available to connect-to. I've tried disabling and re-enabling "Back to my Mac". I've also upgraded the Server service running on the host machine I'd planned to connect-to in case that was a factor, but it hasn't resolved the problem.
Anybody know how to get iCloud-linked machines to show up under Sharing in the Finder so I can easily establish Screen Sharing connections?
Thanks

If you changed nothing other than to update your client Mac to Yosemite, what you describe strongly resembles an earlier bug making an encore appearance.
What follows is what I had to say about it roughly a year ago, updated for today. Some of it will be obvious to experienced Mac users so overlook that.
This can be a challenging problem to diagnose. It appears that Mavericks Yosemite has changed something about BTMM resulting in it being less reliable than it was with Mountain Lion Mavericks. It works, but not always, and I have yet to correlate its cause to anything specific.
Here are some possible hints.
Make sure you are using a compatible router. BTMM requires a router that supports NAT Port Mapping Protocol (NAT-PMP) or Universal Plug and Play (UPnP). Most routers will work without any trouble at all, but an Apple AirPort will eliminate any uncertainty.
Review all the steps in OS X: Using and troubleshooting Back to My Mac with your iCloud account
The most useful suggestion may be the simplest:
Toggle Back To My Mac off and back on by deselecting and then reselecting Back To My Mac in iCloud System Preferences.
Sometimes that's all it takes.
You can also try some simple steps with Terminal to verify that your BTMM settings are correct:
dns-sd -B _rfb | grep icloud
That will show the Macs using your iCloud ID advertising screen sharing services. If you get no response, ensure the Sharing services on the Macs you wish to use remotely are configured correctly. Perhaps Mavericks simply reverted their settings during installation, as a "security" measure.
dns-sd -B _afpovertcp will show Macs advertising file sharing services.
To ping your Mac use:
ping6 <macname>.<nnnnnnn>.members.btmm.icloud.com
where <macname> is the name of your Mac and <nnnnnnn> is your Back to My Mac account number. See below. You should get a response from ping6; if there is none then screen or file sharing will not work. If the response times are excessively long then the connection may time out and fail.
The name of your Mac is in System Preferences > Sharing > Computer Name:
Your Back to My Mac account number can be determined with the following
dns-sd -E
It will respond with something like this
Timestamp    Recommended Registration domain
0:43:20.322 Added    (More)              local
0:43:20.322 Added    (More)              icloud.com
                                            - > btmm
                                            - - > members
                                            - - - > 0123123
0:43:20.322 Added                          icloud.com
                                            - > btmm
                                            - - > members
                                            - - - > 987654321
The numbers at the end (0123123 etc) are your BTMM account numbers. Most users will have only one.
^C to terminate each of the above.
Good luck.
An example of the above is as follows. Assuming your iCloud ID is 123456 and the Mac you're trying to connect to is named MyMac the above ping6 command is
ping6 MyMac.123456.members.btmm.icloud.com
You should get a response.
You can also try to login to the remote Mac using ssh. Assuming your login name is telstar that would be
ssh -l telstar MyMac.123456.members.btmm.icloud.com
Both should work regardless of your location, whether both Macs are on the same LAN or separated by thousands of miles makes no difference because they are using iCloud services and not local Bonjour to access the remote machine.
Given that your Mac is not appearing in a Finder Sidebar under "shared" I doubt either of the above will work for you.
Report it to Apple. The problem may be related to the particular model Mac you are using, or not.
That's all I have to offer.

Screen Sharing Problem after Lion Install

Greetings,
After installing Lion on my MacBookPro 17", I am now unable to use screen sharing to access my Mac Mini Server running 10.6.8 server. When I attempt to make the connection, the Screen Sharing application starts, but I never see a desktop of the Mac Mini. In the system.log, I see entries that include:
Screen Sharing[2062]: MVS Codec - bad rectangle size - closing connection
I've tried rebooting both machines and it doesn't make any difference.
I've only been able to find one mention of a similar message from someone trying to use desktop sharing in iChat, but it didn't include a fix.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
Dave

Apple appears to have solved the problem for me. :-)
My scenario was a MacBook Pro running Lion attempting to screen share the screen of a Mac Mini Server (My HTPC) running 10.6.8. Apple pushed some updates to the Mac Mini on 10.6.8, including:
Remote Desktop Client Update 3.5.1
Safari 5.1
Mac OS X 10.6.8 Supplemental Update 1.0
iTunes 10.4
After these updates, I can once again screen share with the Mac Mini. So, my guess would be something in more likely the Remote Desktop Update or less likely in the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Supplemental Update solved the problem.
Check your Software Update on the machines that you're trying to connect to and see if that solves your problems too.
Thank you Apple!
Dave

Screen sharing not on same network

I set up my grandmother's new computer at my house, and since we were on the same network, I was able to use Screen Sharing to access her computer.
But now that she's back in Chicago, and not on my network, Screen Sharing doesn't seem to allow me to access her computer. She's got some issues I could easily resolve if I could screen share. How can I do this now?

HI,
iChat or Messages will let you do this is both ends have Screens Names (AIM based) or Jabber IDs.
In Messages or iChat go to the App menu > Preferences > Accounst and use the plus button at the bottom of ther list to add an Account.
In the add Account Pane chose either AIM (Includes some Apple IDs) or Jabber (Includes a Google options in the list).
Google Mail IDs work in the Google choice if you enable "Talk" in the Products at your Google account page (not the web mail login)
Facebook IDs can also be Jabber IDs if you enable "Chat" at their settings.
Use the Preferences > General section to Unlink the gathered Buddy lists (By default they are in one list in Messages).
The window Menu should now display a list of Buddy List accounts that can be displayed.
(Bonjour if Enabled, Jabber, Google and/or AIM). There is a Yahoo account but this will not Video or Audio Only chats which in turn means no Screen Sharing.
Once you have the Buddy list on Show you can add the Buddy name
(Press the + icon and choose Add Buddy (Or use the Buddies menu > Add Buddy) )
Having the list separate means you can add the right name to the right Buddy List.
Check you can Video chat (Screen Sharing needs the same Internet Connection minimum speed.)
You need to activate Screen Sharing in the Video menu.
This version is really an Audio Chat with a VNC connection along side
For this UPnP needs to be the method employed in the router to open ports as the VNC connection is on a random port.
The System base Screen Sharing is also a VNC connection.
It follows more closely to the Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) ports as it too, like iChat/Messages uses the ARD engine.
However instead on a Finder > Go Menu > Go to Server and typing VNC:// and a local IP or Browsing for a local computer you need the Public IP address of your mother's Modem.
The modem or router at her end would then need to point that connection to the computer (Port Forwarding).
The same would need to be done in your router for the return stuff.
(most routers have the first 1024 ports (or 65535) open but in this case the Screen Sharing app uses ports above this as does iChat/Messages).
iChat just handles it better once UPnP is enabled.
10:33 pm Sunday; July 28, 2013
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.4)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Screen Sharing in Same House

I have several Macs in the same house. When in my office in the basement my wife often calls with something she doesn't know how to do so I thought screen sharing would be perfect, except we have been unable to get screen sharing to work amongst any of our computers in the same house.
We have different AIM screen names and have plenty of internet speed (12Mbs).
Is there a setting somewhere I need to change?

Hi,
Why not use Bonjour ?
This would not need to go over the internet then and is more likely to avoid Port Issues.
The iChat Screen Sharing uses a undisclosed Random port with an Audio chat that goes with it.
If you can Video chat or Audio Only chat using your AIM names then it is not the Audio/Video port that is the issue.
To allow the Random port for the Screen Share it is best to use UPnP to allow ports in your Modem or router.
9:24 PM Tuesday; July 28, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Back to My Mac - Screen Sharing Mac OS X 10.10 problem

Sense Mac OS X 10.9 great feature Screen Sharing & Back to My Mac does not works any more.
Mac OS X 10.10.1
Russian interface:
We can see remote computers, but can not connect. We get a error.
English interface:
We can not even see remote macs.
If I start up main computer from Mac OS X 10.8 Screen Sharing works fine. Remote macs has Mac OS X 10.8 and 10.9

I have the same problem, just today (although I'm still running 10.6.8). Every morning I turn on my main Logic mac then fire up my 2 slave macs, connect to them, activate Screen Sharing, and get going.
This morning I tried it, connected to the other macs as usual (I can see/access/alter their hard drives from my main mac) but when I click "Share Screen" I just get the "connecting" dialog box & it just keeps going.
The weird thing is, when I put my laptop into the network via wifi, I can screenshare my main mac's screen (all 3 of them, actually!) but not my 2 slave macs that are ethernet'd to the main mac.
I've tried every solution I could find via google, and nothing is working.
Kirby

Screen Sharing (Messages)

I am trying to take over control of my fathers MBP using Messages (Screen Sharing feature). I am so glad that in Yosemite they brought the screen sharing functionality back ( I think in Mavericks it was gone??). Well, when he would have problems I would simply take over and move his mouse and do what I needed to do. Now with Yosemite I can only view his screen and I cannot take full control of his MBP.
Is there a setting I am missing? Our computers (Mine is a MBP and so is his) are on different networks. I found today that if I hold my mouse down it will create a small circle that is highlighted and shows my dad where I want him to navigate to but it was much easier if I could do it. If there is a thread on this please direct me to it since I have not found it.
Thank you,
Jeremy

The default mode is view only. He has to allow remote control as illustrated on the page linked below:
http://9to5mac.com/2014/08/19/apple-activates-screen-sharing-over-imessage-accou nts-in-latest-yosemite-beta/

Screen Sharing controlled by 'remote management service'....What is that?

Under preferences, 'Sharing', I cannot activate screen sharing. Message says 'Screen sharing is currently being controlled by a remote management service'. What does this mean?? How can I correct????

It thinks that Remote Management is also checked on the list of Sharing services. Is it? If so, then screen sharing is running through the remote management service.
Ok, that sounded like a definition using the word to define it. Remote Management is a superset of screen sharing. Apple makes a product called Apple Remote Desktop that can be used for an administrator to manage lots of Macs. Remote Management is the service that talks to ARD. Screen sharing is part of remote management, but Apple also provides simple screen sharing for people that don't have/need ARD.
Message was edited by: Barney-15E

Screen Sharing Doesn't Work

Hi!
I am having problems getting screen sharing to work. When starting a session I get an error message saying iChat is unable to start screen sharing.
Using the same computer with the same settings I can connect to some systems, but most systems won't allow me to connect.
In all cases, Enable Screen Sharing is checked. All systems are running iChat 4.x. All systems are running the same operating system. All systems are connected via hard-wire Ethernet.
What do I need to do to get iChat screen sharing to work? Connection Doctor does not show any results until AFTER a session has started.
We are able to connect via messaging with no problems.
Thanks,
Larry

Hi,
Welcome to the  Discussions
The Connection Doctor gives a shortened form of the Error message.
The Pop up (Send to Apple) has a Reveal Triangle next to the word Details.
In here will be a Longer Log with the Error code number at the end of the first main paragraph.
The Main issue with Screen Sharing is that it uses a Random port.
iChat uses 20 ports at iChat 4 and 5
Port 5190
On TCP (to Login to AIM) and to Plain IMs and ON UDP to send Direct IMs including File Sending and Pics in Chats.
Some modems and routers cannot handle this dual use and we suggest changing the Login port to 443 (it helps with some Logging in issues and some Video chats)
Ports 5220, 5222, 5223 on TCP for Jabber and GoogleTalk Buddy Lists.
Ports 5297, 5298, 5353 on UDP and 5298 on TCP for Bonjour Buddy Lists.
Ports 5678 On UDP for Sending/Receiving the Visible Invite to A/V chats
Ports 16393-16402 On UDP (Ten Ports)
(iChat 2 and 3 uses a wider range of ports (2) that can be read here which is where the Jabber and Bonjour ports are listed)
See this Article for iChat 4 up which only lists the changes to the A/V ports
You will notice that the later Article does not mention Screen Sharing.
This tends to mean you cannot "Set" the port in Port Forwarding due to it's random nature.
This may mean your Buddies do not have the port "open" for it.
Using UPnP which gives control to the App about which ports (and when) are opened.
There is also and Issue in Leopard with iChat 4.x with Internet Sharing (System Preferences > Sharing).
This can not be On. It effects all chats that involve A/V, which includes the Audio Chat with Screen Sharing.
9:31 PM Monday; October 26, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Unable to Activate Screen Sharing

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