I finally got Synergy to work

What a day. I have been trying to get Synergy to work with my Windows XP and Linux machines for two days now and finally got everything to work tonight. What I had to do was so simple. I had to click the Scroll Lock button on my keyboard on my Windows XP ( Server ) machine. That was it. Once I did that I was able to move the mouse from one computer and Operating System to another. I can now control both computers from one mouse and keyboard. The Scroll Lock is a hotkey that locks the mouse and keyboard to one computer. LOL This will make things so much easier. :)

This is how I finally got Synergy to work. On the Linux desktop I installed QuickSynergy. That was easy. Just go to the Synaptic Package Manager and do a search for QuickSynergy and download and install it. In QuickSynergy you go to the Share tab and type in the Server computer name in the direction box ( in this case the left box ) then go to the Use tab and type in the IP address for the Server computer. Then click Start. ( the Server is the computer that has the mouse and keyboard that you want to use )

On the Windows desktop go to the Configure button next to Screens and Links and input all the variables for both computers. Do this for the IP addresses and the computer names. It using two computers you will have 4 entries here. Under the advanced setting put the windows computer name. Make note of the port Synergy uses.

Next: GO to the Windows firewall ( or whatever firewall you are using ) and add exceptions for synergy. Synergy will do this once when you set it up but you should do it again. I had to do this to get it to work.

Next: Go to your router settings and enable port forwarding for synergy for the port that you noted earlier. Do it for all IP addresses for the computers that you are going to connect using synergy. That's about it except for the pesky scroll lock button on the keyboard. The Scroll Lock button locks Synergy to one screen. If you are having problems getting it to work try clicking on Scroll Lock and try again.


If you have any questions just ask.

I want to say a special thanks to Sean over at "The Tech Juice" for his excellent tutorial on Synergy and all his help.


Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s). Redirecting the mouse and keyboard is as simple as moving the mouse off the edge of your screen. Synergy also merges the clipboards of all the systems into one, allowing cut-and-paste between systems. Furthermore, it synchronizes screen savers so they all start and stop together and, if screen locking is enabled, only one screen requires a password to unlock them all.



How to use Synergy Video from Cnet