New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Hello everyone!

Since the old rdesktop frontend only worked intermittently, I've written a new one! It's called pyrdesktop, and it's available in diablo and chinook extras. Features include: sound, multiple remote desktop profiles, the ability to toggle almost all command line options. The current version is 1.5.0-2.
Here's a nice big green install button (now in diablo and chinook extras:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/46230/install_button.png
And, here's some screenshots:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/46230/pyrdesktop-ss1.png
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/46230/pyrdesktop-ss2.png

Please report bugs and feature requests here, or at the rdesktop garage page. This is still a work-in-progress, so stay tuned for updates!

Changelog:
1.5.0-6
-- Removed dbus imports... again...
1.5.0-5
-- Fixed issue with python-launcher
1.5.0-4
-- Fixed to use python-launcher
-- Removed dbus imports
-- Fixed dependencies
1.5.0-2
-- Threading! The gui will stay open after a rdesktop session is opened.
-- Auto-reconnect! With a countdown dialog! Say cancel within 6 seconds, and it won't auto-reconnect. Say ok, and it will reconnect immediately.
-- Connection detection (that sounds pretty cool...) If you try to open a session and you're not connected to the internet, your device will attempt to connect.
-- Auto-load last opened profile. Close the gui, reopen it, and whichever profile you had opened will reopen automagically!
-- Fixed error code reporting.
-- NOTE: some of these changes are still a bit experimental. I tested as much as I could, but PLEASE report any bugs you find!
1.3.2-3
-- Fixed save and delete buttons
-- Added icons to menu items
1.3.2-2
-- Small change in about dialog.
1.3.2-1
-- Added support of console mode. Thanks for testing, sds910!
1.3.1-2
-- Added multiple remote desktop profiles.
-- Added "advanced options"
-- Added some error checking in connections
-- Fixed pyrdesktop not loading if no rdesktop settings were previously saved
-- Various other small changes/fixes
1.0.0 -- Initial release

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Works great for me so far.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

It installed with no issue, but when I try and launch it nothing happens, no crash,no error msg, nothing. Looked in gConf and program is NOT LISTED there either.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Thanks for your efforts! You appear to be one of the few people with dev skills willing to work on what I see as a crucial application for the NITs. Here are some suggestions if you plan to continue development.

-Allow the user to save multiple server/username/password combinations. I remotely administer half a dozen computers using RDP on a daily basis. Would be really nice to not have to type in the info each and every time.

-Ability to minimize an RDP session would be nice

-Right mouse button emulation of some sort.

-Ability to send arbitrary keystrokes/combos, including characters not on the N800/N810 keyboards.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Wow, you need more thanks!
Cant wait to try this out.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

tj110158: Hm, that's strange. The best help I can give you is a bit complicated. Try editing the program file (gainroot, then edit /usr/local/bin/rdesktop.py with your favorite editor), and change the first line from:
to:
Then, exit out of root and run:
And post what error messages that throws out. It's possible there was a dependency I missed when entering the dependencies in. Also, what OS version are you running? I'm running diablo, and there could be a bug I'm not seeing because of different OS versions.

Rocketman:
Glad to hear you like it. Being able to have multiple RDP profiles was one of the reasons I wrote this actually. This is just the first version, to make sure that I am able to get all the backend working, and now I need to work on features like that. I plan on being able to have unlimited RDP profiles, but I also need to work out how to store the information. I do have some ideas, just not how sure they'll work. I'm still begining my development with python. Unfortunately, I don't know C (which rdesktop is actually written in, I just wrote the GUI), so I'm not sure I'll be able to add some of the features you requested. Although, I also miss having the ability to minimize an RDP session, so that might be a feature you'll see.

Others:
Glad to hear you like it!

I'm actually sitting in the airport right now, and as I said, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to visit the forums, etc. this week. Next week I should be able to get bugs fixed and work on some new features, though.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Judged by the post, this is well received. Anybody pics?

bun

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

here you go bunanson :http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll2/El-Amir/rd.png

Works great btw! thanks!

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

You said it!:D

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

*points to screenshot* Huh? Is sound working remotely?

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Any chance at auto reconnect? That's the one issue that is keeping this from being the perfect solution in my my home automation.

In my setup (stock 770) rdesktop stays connected from 2 - 35 hours (right around 12 is probably average). Having it automatically try to reconnect would be a lifesaver.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

YES! Sound isn't to shabby remotely, surprisingly. I tried it via my local connection and it was a bit choppy, but not that bad. Would I use it for listening to music? No, but it does work OK...

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

When I try to run /usr/local/bin/rdesktop.py manually, I get the following: /usr/local/bin/rdesktop-cli:error while loading shared libraries: libcrypto.so.0.9.8: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

What I'm desperately looking for is a version that will pass the console mode option (-0)... it's the only way to interact with a running session on a Windows 2003 Server box.

Oh, pleez, pleez, pleez? :D

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

A suggestion:

For implementation details, have a look at kciconsbox -- it's even in python!

The need to minimize and handle multiple sessions suggests (to me) a possible interface for multiple sessions. Have one window with a listbox: one line per defined session, and one labeled "New session". One of the following schemes will be used:

1. Each normal line has
   • checkbox, which is checked when a connection (and hence an rdesktop client window) exists
   • label, which uniconifies the client window when clicked
   When switching to the control window, all client windows are minimized.
2. Each normal line has
   • Connect/Disconnect toggling button
   • Checkbox for window/icon status
   • Label; when clicked, switches to that window.
   When switching to the control window, all client windows are left alone.

Or some other variations...

The "New session" line is different, and provides a quick way to start a new session; clicking on the label pops up a screen much like the current one, with options of connect, save, and cancel. Connect will connect (showing up in the control window's list as "Unnamed session 1", with 1 incrementing, (or perhaps with the hostname?) and disappears as soon as it's disconnected. Save saves into the list, and cancel cancels...

Hmmm... I'm not seeing where editing/removing existing connections fits though; this concept needs some work there.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Hmm, guess I missed a dependency. Try installing rdesktop from the chinook extras repository, and see if that fixes everything. If not, let me know and I'll take a look at it next week.

Benson: Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into that. I have some ideas of the implementation, and I'll try to post a concept UI sometime late this week/early next week.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

I actually already had it installed. But I uninstalled it and installed it again with the same issue. The rdesktop I was installing is version 0.4...correct?

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Sparks: what OS are you running? I also have rdesktop version 0.4 installed (0.4-diablo1), however, I compiled a new version of rdesktop, which is included in this package, and it's compiled against the diablo libraries, not the chinook ones.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

I'm running OS2008. Is there something else I should try?

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Looking good, I can give you access to the garage rdesktop project if you want :)

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Yes, that's where I figured the errors are coming from. For now, the way to fix this is to install the old rdesktop frontend and save some settings. However, I've included a fix for the next version. Sorry, I'm still quite new at python, and there's no good reference for python's gconf...

Sparks: Are you running diablo or chinook? If you go to the control panel, and open "About Product", what OS version does it show? My guess is you're running chinook, while this is compiled against the diablo libraries. In the next version, I'll try to include a chinook version, too.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

+1

I only use the n800 connected with rdesktop 24hr to the server pc. Not often but sometimes I also see that it looses connection...

peter

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Well, the part I actually wrote, and the part most of the work will be done on is the GUI. I will try to implement being able to minimize rdesktop ressions, and having auto-reconnect, but those are both features of rdesktop itself, not the frontend.

Anyway, here's a little teaser of the next version of the frontend, featuring multiple profiles! If I figure out how, I'll include the rdesktop modifications in this next version...
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/46230/sho...6-02-44-29.png

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

How are you guys using rDesktop for more than a few minutes? If the screen blanks (timeout), when I reactive the screen, rDesktop is not fullscreen but just white and unresponsive.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

It says version 2.2007.50-2

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

It seems you are running an old version of Chinook. My suggestion would be to upgrade to the latest version of diablo, which you can get from http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/nokia_N800.php (file RX-34_DIABLO_4.2008.23-14_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin). I will try to compile a version for chinook with the next release, but that's only if I can figure out how to get chinook and diablo running side-by-side in scratchbox...

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

I installed rdekstop on n800-diablo and some files on my desktopto allow remote desktop connection on my vista Home premiun edition.
What is good: I can connect to my PC using the private IP (192.168.2.xxx), and everything wokrs very smooth but no sound, even if i choose sound option. I can see on the remote desktop that volume is set to "mute" and i can't change it.

My problem: I'm trying to connect to the same desktop but using the public router IP. I've already forwarded the 3389 ports (UDP and TCP) to this machine, but it didn't wok.

Actually, this is not a problem with rdesktop because i tried a RDC client on my vista to connect to itself using public IP but nothing. Using the private IP, it works.

I didn't try to access my desktop from another LAN, but i'm quite sure i'll get the same problem.

So, i need somehelp in this issue.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

I went ahead and upgraded. Now on 4.2008.30-2. And now having other problems. I'm following the instructions on http://pymaemo.garage.maemo.org/installation.html. Everytime I try
sudo flasher --enable-rd-mode
it asks for a password. I type it in and it keeps asking. Then I tried an SSH session, got logged in as root. Tried the same thing, loaded Python 2.5 runtime, loaded rdesktop, loaded pyRdesktop, launch either of them and nothing happens now. Guess I'm going backwards. Odd thing...when I try to enable R&D mode per the above instructions from the N800...it keeps asking for a password..even when I put the correct one in.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

ghassane: For the sound issue, try unmuting your computer before you start the rdesktop session. For the public IP issue, the best advice I can give is make sure the port forward is enabled, and make sure you don't have any firewall software blocking that port on the computer (most firewalls can detect the difference between local and remote connections).

Sparks: You shouldn't need to enable R&D mode if you have SSH working. Make sure python is working by typing "python" (no quotes) at your SSH prompt. You should get some messages about python, and then a different prompt. You can type "quit()" to get out of that prompt. Also, if you're trying to run rdesktop or pyRdesktop from a command line, make sure you run "su - user" first (changes you to the normal user, which is how programs normally run). If all else fails, try installing a different application that requires python, like Canola or PyPackager. Since these are in the repositories, they will automatically take care of dependencies. Although, if pyRdesktop installed without any errors, that shouldn't be a problem...

Anyway, I sent a PM to disq (the maintainer of the old rdesktop), because I'm having trouble adding the feature to minimize rdesktop sessions. Once I get in contact with him and get that figured out, the next version should be ready to ship, complete with profiles!

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

for SB2 see http://maemo-sdk.garage.maemo.org/install.html

(It has support for diablo but it tries to grab the data from maemo.research.nokia.com which currently has no A record. I guess this is fixed soon.)

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

I verified Python is installed and installed Canola and it works fine. When I try to run pyRdesktop....nothing. When I try to run it from a SSH session, I get the following

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...desktop1-1.jpg

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Ah, yes, this is a bug identified earlier in this thread. It will be fixed in the next verison, but for a temporary fix, open rdesktop (the old GUI), fill in some values, check the save settings checkbox, and try to connect. Then, you can use pyRdesktop.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Actually, my computer becomes "mute" when i connect to it using rdesktop, not before. The remote connection session make it mute, i think. For firwall, i really don't know what is the problem. I shut down my firewall, forward router to mine but nothing. I don't know what is the cause BUT for sure this is independent of rdesktop, so thanks again :).

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Problem is the old rdesktop 0.4 says Loading...., then nothing. I'll try it from a SSH session, where are the files located?

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

You should just be able to type rdesktop and have it load.

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Now I get
rdesktop: error while loading shared libraries: libcrypto.so.0.9.7: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I think I've just looped around to where I started :(

Found this on another thread for someone having the same problem running rdesktop:
That is because libcrypto (OpenSSL) is upgraded to 0.9.8 on Diablo. You'll have to recompile the package, wait for a Diablo version, or hack around this.

Found a version complied for Diablo in same thread http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=21614
and it works and so does pyRdesktop now!!!

Just went back to reread the above thread and found out it was you who recompiled it for Diablo :)

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Sparks: Glad to hear you got it working!

I finally got switching out of rdesktop working, but not quite the way I expected to... You press the fullscreen button, and that brings the remote desktop out of full screen. From there, you can switch to other windows, etc. Also, all the windows are labelled with the profile name, so if you have multiple sessions open, it's easy to keep them straight. Pressing the fullscreen button again will bring it back to fullscreen mode. I'll try to post a video preview tomorrow.

I just have some final touches for the next version, so it should be out in the next couple of days. The new version is MUCH improved from the current one. Oooh... the anticipation ;-)

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

the link seems to be broken.. can you re-upload?

Re: New rDesktop (with new frontend)
 

Sorry... it was accidentally deleted... Fixed!