In this tutorial I'll be showing how to get a really nice workstation that can utilize two computers at once. The two computers will work seamlessly together, and is especially useful if you have a laptop because it can function as a docking station.
I will be using an Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) desktop with a hacked "Dual-View". The other unit will be a laptop that I mentioned in a previous post. It was recently received a laptop as a graduation gift. It is a HP Pavilion DV9700t.
While these are the computers I will be using, nearly every computer can be used. All that is
Requirements:
2 Computers of almost any kind
A LAN network, or at least way of networking two computer together.
Part 1: Windows / Samba Share
This will allow files to be transferred easily between computers
If you are try to set up a docking station, you will probably want to have the files hosted on the desktop unit. Laptops generally have less space than a desktop.
To Share:
Linux users will need to use samba share the files. Modern Linux distributions come with samba pre-installed. It can typically be administered in "System/Administer/Samba". From there, you can add the shares you need.
Windows users will use the built in sharing feature. Depending on the version of windows that you are using, you can typically share folders by right clicking on them, selecting properties, then sharing.
To Recieve:
The newest Linux Distributions can interact with Samba shares as if they are local files thanks to GVFS. You can also do this by adding this line to "/etc/fstab": "//fileServer/folderShared /mnt/local_folder smb defaults 0 0". Make sure that you have a folder made in order to mount it to. For example, you would need to "sudo mkdir /mnt/local_folder" in order for the previous instruction to work. You can get really fancy and mount individual folders to your home folders. This way you don't have multiple copies of your music or documents to deal with, and it is very well integrated. The downside is that the receiving unit is completely dependent on the sharing unit for those files. It is typically better to find a way to sync them.
The best way to recieve a folder is to navigate to it in your network, right click on it, and click "map network drive". Then pick a letter like "S" where you will see the "drive".
Part 2: Keyboard and Mouse
Synergy allows you to share a keyboard and mouse to other computers.
Most Linux distributions will have synergy in their software repository, so it can be installed very easily.
It can also be downloaded from sourceforge. http://sourceforge.net/projects/synergy2/
The windows install is fairly easy to configure, but there is easysynergy for linux as well.
On both Operating Systems, you will have to open up port 24800 in the firewall.
Part 3: Audio
Often times, especially with laptops, the speakers on one machine are not nearly as good as the other.
Sometimes, this may be best handled by a male-to-male heaphone cord.
If both of your computers are Linux computers, you can set up PulseAudio so that all sound comes from one computer. PulseAudio also works if you want to play the sound over a Windows computer. In either case, you will probably be using RTP.
It is also possible to use a program typically used for streaming audio over the internet, but this means that there will be much large latency. Usually 3-5 seconds.
The easiest way to do this on windows is to install IceCast and Edcast. Edcast is a client that will take either all sound produced by the system, or a microphone and turn it into a stream. If you are using Vista, you will have to follow this tutorial to get a sound source.