Experiences with Synergy 2 Beta 4

[Tomasz Cielecki 0]

I have been using Synergy 1.x for a loong time now and the only thing that prevents me from using it, is the issue where mouse speed is derped in certain directions on the client, when using a Mac as server. This has been fixed in Synergy 2 which is great.

So. I bought Synergy 2 in the hopes of that issue being solved, which it is! Yay! However, it is not all bliss and I have a couple of things I want to discuss a bit.

I don't really care about the new license you have to buy, yeah it is another 15 USD or EUR or whatever it was for the beta maybe more for the actual release. However, some people might expect that their Synergy 1 license carries over, especially since bugs that were not fixed in 1.x that they have suffered under, are fixed in 2.x and don't seem to be back ported. Hopefully you have thought about that and offer refunds or something. Anyways, expect people bringing torches and pitchforks.

The new UI is very sparse. I know Synergy 2 is labeled beta. However, beta usually means somewhat feature complete and mostly bugs are being fixed during this phase. And of course beta users' feedback is taken into account. To me it seems like the label is wrong here at least for the UI for the software.

Bringing up the UI since there is nothing you can do there right now, stuff like switching up keys, hot corners etc is not there. You have to resolve to using the synergy.conf config file and you have to know the schema for that. Is this the same config as for Synergy 1? Is new stuff available in this config for Synergy 2? Can we please have some documentation or a schema or something that we can use?

Then to the quirks or bugs I have encountered. My current setup is:

Server: Mac OS 10.12.6 running Synergy 2 beta 4 - one screen
Client: Windows 10 fully updated Synergy 2 beta 4 - laptop screen and 1 external portrait mode screen

• Screen savers do not synchronize. When Mac enters into screensaver, Windows doesn't show its screensaver. When Win 10 is locked using Win+L the Mac doesn't lock.
• When mouse is on the client, the mouse sticks to the edges on the laptop screen, but not on the external one. This doesn't happen when Synergy is not active or using a physical pointer device connected to the client.
• When mouse gets near the edge on the client where it should switch to the server, sometimes it switches to the server, even though I am around 20 pixels away from the edge and it looks like it moves the mouse from the left edge of the server screen to the middle of the screen.
• Sometimes when switching from the client screen to the server screen, mouse moves to the middle of the screen.
• Sometimes after a longer period of the client has been sleeping it will not connect to the server. On the UI both seem to see each other, the client just says Connection Timed Out in the log.

One feature that I have never got to work is the drag and drop file thing... not sure how that even works. Copying a file into the clipboard doesn't seem to work. Dragging a file to the edge of the screen doesn't seem to work. Dragging a file onto the synergy app icon doesn't seem to work either.

As for stuff I'd love to see in the UI:

• Double tap to switch screen with delay
• Configurable key remaps between environments
  • I.e. I want right alt on my keyboard to be AltGr when I am on the Client, but normal Right Alt on the Server

[jamesyapth 1]

its a beta  if you've taken a look around the forums, call it whatever you want but its not finished product. they are focusing on major things/functionality rather than smaller things that are easy to code in - like a config UI. 

copy paste works fine. im using it now. drag drop doesnt. not yet at least. take a look at the unofficial roadmap

[Tomasz Cielecki 0]

1 hour ago, jamesyapth said:

its a beta  if you've taken a look around the forums, call it whatever you want but its not finished product. they are focusing on major things/functionality rather than smaller things that are easy to code in - like a config UI. 

That is exactly one of my points. The if it should fit the traditional beta label it should be feature complete, this doesn't seem to be. Although I didn't expect a completely finished product either. I don't think I expressed that?

1 hour ago, jamesyapth said:

copy paste works fine. im using it now. drag drop doesnt. not yet at least. take a look at the unofficial roadmap

Copy/paste text works fine for me, not files though.

[jamesyapth 1]

yeap. no arguments there. totally agree with you on all accounts. file transfer doesn't work yet. i think it was mentioned by someone on the dev team somewhere. I think the general consensus from the replies from the devs is that from their perspective they are trying to get the magic network stuff on the backend working properly first.

[Tomasz Cielecki 0]

I think that is a great place to start with fixing network issues and symptoms thereof.

Not going to bike shed more about the beta label  

[jamesyapth 1]

yea. tbh im just happy something like this exists and is still supported and regularly updated haha

[GranPaSmurf 108]

Thomaz, Thoughtful and meticulous. Thanks, great beta tester reporting.

We are all watching the horizon for beta5.