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Receive Assistance
Provide Assistance

From the antiX menu select
^{1-to-1 Assistance}

A window opens asking which mode is wanted.

If a buton is not pressed, Receive is automatically started after a timeout

A window opens asking whether to make your desktop fit within the provider desktop.

If a button is not pressed, Resize is automatically started after a timeout

A window opens asking what IP address to contact

Enter the IP Address supplied by the provider system operator

A window opens asking you to approve the sharing of your desktop

Press the Yes button or press the Y key to begin the session

To indicate your desktop is being shared an icon is displayed in the taskbar

Click on the X11VNC icon in the taskbar to display a popup menu

Select Stop x11vnc to close the session and the connection

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To share the desktop of the receiver system across the internet, a connection must be made to the external IP address of your local network firewall/router. This is different from the internal address it uses on your local network.

A home firewall/router will usually have its external IP address assigned by your ISP. Often the ISP can change this external address without your knowlege and without affecting your access to the internet. This means your external address must be found before each session can be started.

Open a web (internet) browser
Enter the address http://whatismyip.com

Supply the IP address to the person operating the receiver system, via 'phone, email or some other means.

From the antiX menu select
^{1-to-1 Assistance}

A window opens asking which mode is wanted.

Press the Provide button

The first time you run provide mode, a window will open advising you to create the SSL certificate.

Press the OK button

Either accept the default settings or enter your own

Press the Generate Cert button

Accept or decline the opportunity to view the certificate and key

A window opens to indicate provide mode is listening for a receiver system to request a connection

Leave this window running while awaiting a connection request

When you close the listening window, or when the shared desktop session ends, a window opens asking what you want to do

Press the Listen button to wait for a further connection request, or the Exit button to close

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Scenario Private Session via the Internet
Utilities Available When Providing Assistance

Any or all of the following might be present and constraining performance

Optimising performance is based on 2 ideas

The default set up incorporates these ideas but is able to be enhanced when wanted. Implement any/all the following for the duration of the session.

These tweaks are visible on both the receiver and provider screens. They may be performed by either

Desktop Wallpaper or Colour
Colourful and highly detailed images require more work to process. The more plain and undecorated the desktop background, the less work is needed to reproduce it. Prefer a wallpaper having a single non-graduated colour. Alternatively, switch off the desktop wallpaper and use a solid colour for the background.

Example

Switch to using a desktop that is not managed by either RoxPinboard or SpaceFM.
Desktop→Other Desktops
Select from Fluxbox, IceWM, JWM

Substitute the wallpaper image with a colour
Control Center→Choose Wallpaper→Static→No Wallpaper→Select Color
Set to solid grey, Red=160, Green=160, Blue=160

Desktop Size/Screen Resolution
In cases where the receiver system is a more capable system than the provider system, it is beneficial to change the screen resolution of the receiver system in order to resize the shared desktop. Doing this is preferable to scaling the shared desktop on only the provider screen via Scale Viewer or Set 1/n Server Scale. Using either of these places an extra workload on the provider system which might be seen as degraded performance.

Unnecessary Applications
Close all applications that are not required for the session. It is particularly beneficial to shut down any application that might produce any form of on-screen movement. Unnecessary on-screen movement requires extra workload to be handled during the session which in turn results in degraded performance.

Examples

Window Manager Theme & Icon Set
The beneficial affect of switching these might be apparent only on the oldest, least capable kit. Switch to a very plain, low colour version of both. Colourful themes and icon sets that use fancy images and gradients result in a higher bandwidth use which can degrade performance.

These tweaks are visible on only the provider screen. They may be performed by the provider operator after a connection is established.

8 Bit Color
The higher the bit colour, the greater is the number of colours displayed which might be seen as degraded performance. 8 bit colour is a low colour mode which requires less work to process. The reduced number of colours are often acceptable for many tasks during a short session.

Grey Scale
The receiver system will usually display its desktop in colour mode. This means the provider system has to handle the corresponding workload in order to display the shared desktop in colour mode. Using Grey Scale enables this workload to be reduced as no colours are reproduced. The entire contents of the shared desktop are displayed in shades of grey, whilst retaining the same clarity and usability as colour mode.

Taskbar Icon
When running in receive mode, by default an icon is placed in the taskbar (panel) to indicate the provider is sharing your desktop. The X11VNC application window can be shown on your desktop instead by changing a setting.

In the file, find the line that refers to setting the gui.
Remove the reference to the default value of tray and save the file.