RDP client under Wine?

[Hetz Ben Hamo]

Hi,

A friend of mine needs to connect to MS Terminal server through his linux 
machines.

There seems to be 3 options:

1. rdesktop - it runs, but only 8 bit colors and it's pretty slow (on 10MBit 
LAN)
2. WinConnect for Linux - costs a fortune - $79.
3. MS RDP client through wine - it runs up to the point where you actually 
connect, and then it dies..

Regarding option 3 - anyone managed to make it run somehow? any tips would be 
welcome...

Thanks,
Hetz

[Rick Romero]

On Sun, 2003-01-05 at 15:36, Hetz Ben Hamo wrote:
> Hi,
>
> A friend of mine needs to connect to MS Terminal server through his linux 
> machines.
>
> There seems to be 3 options:
> - rdesktop - it runs, but only 8 bit colors and it's pretty slow (on 10MBit
>
> LAN)

What rdesktop version did you try?  
I'm currently running rdesktop-1.1.0-pl19-8-5, and I don't notice a
difference between that and the Microsoft client.  The patch level
releases aren't exactly 'prominently' displayed for download..

I also use it to connect over the Internet to a remote TS, on a 128k
line.  So it shouldn't be a bandwidth issue...
> - WinConnect for Linux - costs a fortune - $79.
> - MS RDP client through wine - it runs up to the point where you actually
>
> connect, and then it dies..

I would like this, my current patch level of rdesktop doesn't allow
cut/paste between local and remote.  Maybe a newer version does?
> Regarding option 3 - anyone managed to make it run somehow? any tips would be 
> welcome...

Not yet :(

Rick
> Thanks,
> Hetz

[Steve Langasek]

On Sun, Jan 05, 2003 at 11:36:20PM +0200, Hetz Ben Hamo wrote:
> Hi,
>
> A friend of mine needs to connect to MS Terminal server through his linux 
> machines.
>
> There seems to be 3 options:
> - rdesktop - it runs, but only 8 bit colors and it's pretty slow (on 10MBit
>
> LAN)

Hmm?  Does the '-D' (depth) option to rdesktop not work as intended?  The
manpage also says it autodetects your X session's bit depth and matches
it.  What version of rdesktop are you using?

I've also used rdesktop for remotely administering servers over a 256K
link.  While not speedy, it's definitely more responsive than VNC.

[Hetz Ben Hamo]

> > - rdesktop - it runs, but only 8 bit colors and it's pretty slow (on
> >
> > 10MBit LAN)
>
> Hmm?  Does the '-D' (depth) option to rdesktop not work as intended?  The
> manpage also says it autodetects your X session's bit depth and matches
> it.  What version of rdesktop are you using?

I'm using 1.2 beta 1 version. the -D option is to hide decoration. I tried to 
connect to Windows XP Pro and all I get is 8 bit colors, while my X is set to 
24 bits (XFree 4.2.1, NVidia binary drivers). I didn't find any info on man 
page how to get more then 8 bit colors...
> I've also used rdesktop for remotely administering servers over a 256K
> link.  While not speedy, it's definitely more responsive than VNC.

True.

Thanks,
Hetz

[Rick Romero]

On Mon, 2003-01-06 at 10:32, Hetz Ben Hamo wrote:
> > > - rdesktop - it runs, but only 8 bit colors and it's pretty slow (on
> > >
> > > 10MBit LAN)
> >
> > Hmm?  Does the '-D' (depth) option to rdesktop not work as intended?  The
> > manpage also says it autodetects your X session's bit depth and matches
> > it.  What version of rdesktop are you using?
>
> I'm using 1.2 beta 1 version. the -D option is to hide decoration. I tried to 
> connect to Windows XP Pro and all I get is 8 bit colors, while my X is set to 
> 24 bits (XFree 4.2.1, NVidia binary drivers). I didn't find any info on man 
> page how to get more then 8 bit colors...

I tried 1.2 beta 1, and it seems noticeably slower than the patchlevel
I'm currently running.

The 'Experimental' patches are actually for 1.1.0, while the site
incorrectly says they're for 1.0.

http://bibl4.oru.se/projects/rdesktop/  
has the patches for 1.1.0. Try that.
(plus the 1.2 beta version doesn't have a 'percent of desktop' option, I
like that one :)

Rick
> > I've also used rdesktop for remotely administering servers over a 256K
> > link.  While not speedy, it's definitely more responsive than VNC.
>
> True.
>
> Thanks,
> Hetz

[Matt Chapman]

On Mon, Jan 06, 2003 at 11:52:56AM -0600, Rick Romero wrote:
> On Mon, 2003-01-06 at 10:32, Hetz Ben Hamo wrote:
> > I'm using 1.2 beta 1 version. the -D option is to hide decoration. I tried to 
> > connect to Windows XP Pro and all I get is 8 bit colors, while my X is set to 
> > 24 bits (XFree 4.2.1, NVidia binary drivers). I didn't find any info on man 
> > page how to get more then 8 bit colors...

More than 8 bit is not supported in any version.  Lots of people whinge
about this, but no-one has actually implemented the necessary changes
to the X11 frontend.
> I tried 1.2 beta 1, and it seems noticeably slower than the patchlevel
> I'm currently running.

Can you try latest CVS - there is an important optimisation post-1.2beta1
merged from the patches.
> The 'Experimental' patches are actually for 1.1.0, while the site
> incorrectly says they're for 1.0.

They are actually on top of 1.0.0 except someone diffed them against 1.1.0...
Please don't use the 'experimental patches' if you can help it, they are
nsupported, have incompatible options, etc.  The main authors are now
contributing to the mainline instead.
> (plus the 1.2 beta version doesn't have a 'percent of desktop' option, I
> like that one :)

I'm not a big fan of 'percent of desktop', since it results in weird
geometries which have caused problems in the past.  What if rdesktop was
to default to the biggest natural size smaller than the current desktop?
e.g. 800x600->640x480, 1024x768->800x600, 1280x1024->1024x768.

Matt