Windows Terminal Client

I just noticed that fink knows about this program. Try
Code:
sudo fink install rdesktop
 
Sorry if this sounds ignorant ... It's been several years since I compiled anything in UNIX. If you have time, what are the required steps to prepare source files and what is the UNIX command line required for successful compilation ?

Regarding SUDO: Are you saying I can just simply run this command line from a terminal window ? Is this a shortcut to a precompiled executable image of some kind ? Do I need to run this from the directory containing the RDESKTOP source files ?

- Steve
 
The fink command will download the source, patch it (if necessary) to run on mac os x, compile it, and install it. All with one command. That's why people think fink is kewl :)

But if you don't have XDarwin installed, it'll probably complain and ask you if you want to install that, too. You'll need to.
 
FINK works ... but RDESKTOP is dependent on XFREE86 - which won't compile on my POWERBOOK G4. This is not so easy to get working. Any ideas ?

I tried this:

SUDO FINK INSTALL XFREE86-ROOTLESS

Results:

echo '#define EtcX11Directory ProjectRoot/etc' >config/cf/host.def
make World WORLDOPTS=-S
Can't exec "make": No such file or directory at /sw/lib/perl5/Fink/Services.pm line 180, <STDIN> line 1.
### failed, exit code -1
Failed: compiling xfree86-base-4.1.0-8 failed
 
Hi,

I got the latest rdesktop software v 1.1.0, it compiled without a hitch.

It connects to the server but the server drops the connection before the login box comes up. (MacOS 10.1.3).

I compiled the rascal on one of our AIX boxen and it would connect and get the login box but the keyboard was fubar....

It is a great idea but I think it needs a bit of help...

--Jerry
 
I am kind of curious, everyone is talking about getting this RDesktop thing to work. What exactly is RDesktop and what does it do or help you do. I've also been hearing a lot of people talk about XFree86, but I'm not quite sure what this is either. I'd appreciate someone explaining exactly what these two apps are and what they do. I believe XFree86 has something to do with running apps designed for XWindows or something like this, not really sure. I'm still fairly new to all this Unix/Linux stuff.

Specifically I'd also like to know, what will these do for me in a MacOS X environment, and are there any known ill effects? Like MacOS X updates clobbering them or their components and therefore screwing up my system.
 
I suggest reading fink's documentation on installing XWindows. It's at Fink's documentation page .

But if you've never installed XWindows before and you've got a working installation of fink, you can do the following. Type 'sudo dselect' to enter the dselect program. Choose option 1 to update dselect's knowledge of available software. Choose option 2 to select the package(s) you want to install. Hit the spacebar when you're done reading the help screen. Find the package 'xfree86-base' - you can do this by typing '/xfree86-base' (without quotes). While it is selected, hit '+' to tell dselect that you wish to install it. Do the same for the package 'xfree86-rootless'. Hit return to tell dselect you are done selecting packages. Hit 3 to tell dselect you're ready to install 'em. Follow the prompts and sit back. Hit 6 to quit dselect when you're finished.

At this point, you've got XWindows installed. XWindows is the graphic user interface used by ordinary (read, not Mac OS X) versions of Unix. Installing it allows you to run unix programs that are not written to take advantage of Apple's graphic layers.

To answer other questions, rdesktop is a program that (supposedly, I haven't tried running it) allows you to place the screen of a Windows XP box inside of a window on your mac and control your XP box that way - lots of people use progs like this for working from home or whatever...

Fink and XWindows shouldn't interact with your mac's operation at all. Fink installs everything but XWindows into the /sw directory so that it won't interfere with the rest of the operating system. XWindows is installed into its own directory also. So, none of it overwrites or overrides any of the Mac OS X operating system unless you have set it to while using Terminal.app.

Wow, long post... Hope it's understandable.
 
Originally posted by howardm4
it compiles just fine. Just need
to add '-traditional-cpp' the the CFLAGS
in hte Makefile.
Nice! It compiles without errors once that flag is added. I also had to change the compiler in the makefile to point to /usr/bin/cc. make wasn't able to find cc without an explicit path for some reason (even though /usr/bin was in my path.)

So, now all I need is a VPN client!

On a side note, my installation of fink did not list rdesktop as an installable package.
 
Tried to compile it on OSX. Didn'twork, permission denied. Then tried Linux 7.2, didn't work either, no GCC found. any ideas?
 
Where are you getting this? My fink doesn't list rdesktop. On their site the package is listed, but there's no download link.

I have never gotten rdesktop to work properly on Unix. It either has messed up fonts or the keyboard isn't mapped correctly, or both. Great idea, but not there yet. Although I'm sure that it works for some people. I've tried on various Linux boxes with limited success.

There is a Java client which runs on OS X. It's ok, but I'd prefer something native. It's also not free. It's called HOBLink or something like that. A google search should find it.

I would happily pay for a native OS X client. Particularly a modern one that supported Windows XP and the new features it brings (sound, file sharing, etc).

Cheers,
John
 
Originally posted by napdaddy
Nice! It compiles without errors once that flag is added. I also had to change the compiler in the makefile to point to /usr/bin/cc. make wasn't able to find cc without an explicit path for some reason (even though /usr/bin was in my path.)

So, now all I need is a VPN client!

On a side note, my installation of fink did not list rdesktop as an installable package.

Hi there,

Perhaps you could be of assistence to me in compiling the code. I've downloaded the developer stuff from apple, installed it, fine. I've added the flag parameters and i've changed the CC variable according your specs to /usr/bin/cc. When typing ./Makefile it starts executing but comes with the message:
CC: Command not found.
Illegal variable name.

Perhaps you could point me in the right direction?

Ever so gratefull.

Cheers,

Mike
 
It built successfully for me by changing the first two (real) lines of Makefile to
Code:
CC     = cc
CFLAGS = -O2 -Wall $(DEBUG) -I/usr/X11R6/include -traditional-cpp
and then typing 'make' at the command line.

But trying to run it doesn't work. It fails while trying X_CreateWindow.
 
Hi all,

One little thing that I thought might be helpful to those of you who got it built successfully but then got a Connection Reset by Peer, Broken Pipes error when trying to connect to TS on Win2K. It might have to do with the leve of encryption that's setup on the Win2K's TS configuration. I couldn't connect until I set the TS's encryption level to either medium or low.

You can find the encryption level if go to the Terminal Services Configuration in Administrative Tools, then right-click on the RDP-tcp icon in the right pane and click on Properties. There you will see the option for the encryption level. This is on a Windows 2000 Server box. Just set it to Medium for it to work with rdesktop.

Hope this helps.

Frank
 
If any of you get this working can you post the binary? Also, does anyone know where I can get the developer tools? They didn't come on my box for some reason.

Cheers,
John
 
I just got rdesktop working on Mac OS X 10.1.3 a couple of weeks ago. I found everything I needed by searching Google.

- Apple's developers tools and X Windows are required. I grabbed XDarwin from http://www.osxgnu.org.
- The rdesktop v1.1.0 code at http://www.rdesktop.org will compile without any errors
- There are issues with the keyboard and a PowerBook G4. When you connect to the Windows server, you will find the keyboard is a mess. I found a newsgroup posting from an individual who modified the original source to account for this with a new -a switch. I apologize to the author. I can't find the newgroup posting again to give him credit for his work. He posted the modified code in the newsgroup message. I have pasted the code from the two updated .c files in the attached text file. The two source files to replace are rdesktop.c and xwin.c.
- Even with the code changes, I have occasional keyboard problems. I can usually disconnect from the server and reconnect to resolve the issue.

I am very new to Unix, so I consider myself lucky I was able to find this information.

I hope it helps,
Tim
 

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  • rdesktop_updates.txt
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My apologies. Even though I was able to get rdesktop to compile and run, it was unusable because the keyboard mapping is completely wrong. I had found a working copy of it, but it was a part of some sort of VNC application. I lost track of where I got the app from and where I installed it to. I'll let you know when I find it!
 
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