SPECIAL
NOTES – Improving Usability and Avoiding
Problems
REGARDING WIRELESS NETWORKING
§ Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to manually assign IP addresses to all of my computers. It makes it much easier to keep track of things. There are a few IP domains that are assigned for private networks. These include 192.168.X.X .
§
The Xplore tablet computer has a lan interface
built-in. Your laptop computer probably
has one as
well. If you want to use both the wired lan (for example to interface with some blackbox
instruments on your boat) while using the wireless network to
communicate
between the laptop and tablet, the wired and wireless interfaces will
have to
be in separate sub-lans.
For example, if your laptop wired interface
has an IP address of 192.168.1.12, you’re the wireless interface
have an
IP address of, for example, 192.168.2.12. Similarly,
the wireless interface of the
tablet would, using this example, have an address such as 192.168.2.15.
§
If your wireless network is intended
only to be
used in the ad-hoc (peer-to-peer) mode, you do not need to (and
probably should
not) set a gateway IP address or dns
server IP
address for the interface. If
all of this IP address stuff makes no
sense at all, consider reading James's
TCP/IP FAQ - Understanding IP Addresses
§
Before
turning on WEP security, first make sure the wireless connection is
actually
functioning by running VNC over the link.
(Be sure to write down your WEP code and VNC password where you
can find
them).
§
To make
keep your computer from trying to connect with any nearby access
points, use
the advanced options menu under the properties for your wireless
network
connection to allow only ad-hoc (peer-to-peer) connections.
FULL SCREEN MODE (AND EXITING FULL
SCREEN MODE)
§
VNCviewer
full screen mode allows the viewer to run on your tablet without a
frame or
scrollbars around edge of the screen. This
makes the display appear exactly the same as the display on the laptop
running
VNCserver and makes better usage of the area of your display. The trick to running is figuring out how to
exit VNCviewer from full screen mode. Exiting
the full screen VNCviewer is accomplished by bringing up the tablet
computer’s
Start menu and then right clicking the VNCviewer icon in the tablet’s
task bar.
Ctrl-Esc will bring up the tablet’s
Start menu. I have set the P3 key on my
Xplore tablet to generate this key sequence. Once
the Start menu appears, use the Event
Scheduler to create a right click then right click on the VNCviewer
icon on the
taskbar and select Close. (I have not
been able to find a way to generate a macro to do this yet, but I
continue to
work on it...)
QUICK START VNCviewer
§
You can
start VNCviewer without having to select the IP of the VNCserver or
entering a
password. First you must create a .vnc
(configuration)
file which contains your configuration information. Then
you just set-up a softkey or shortcut to
launch the application referencing the .vnc file. It
is a lot easier to do than it sounds…
o
Click on
VNCviewer (Fast Compression) via Start menu/All Programs/TightVNC. Enter the IP address of the VNCserver. Select Options. From
the Options menu, select Full Screen if
you prefer that mode. Close the Options
menu. Click
OK. Enter the password when
prompted. After the VNCviewer starts,
press either Ctrl-Esc
or press the “windows” key to bring up the Start menu on your tablet. Right click on the VNCviewer icon on the task
bar. Select “Save Connection info as...” Assign a simple name and location (like
c:\my.vnc). When prompted about the
password, select YES
to save the password (it will be encrypted). You
have now created the necessary
configuration file.
o
Next you
can create a softkey or shortcut to quickly launch VNCviewer using the
configuration file.
§
Softkey:
Select a softkey (I use P1) and configure it
to launch an application. Select
c:\Program
Files\TightVNC\vncviewer.exe Add the
following
to the options line: -config
c:\my.vnc Close the softkey configurator and give it a try. WOW!
§
ShortCut: Traverse the Start Menu down
to the vncViewer
(Fast Compression) and right-click it. Select
“Pin to Start Menu”. Go to the Start
menu and right click on the new vncViewer icon.
Select Properties. Replace
everything after …vncviewer.exe with /config
c:\my.vnc You should also
place a set
of quotation marks (“) around the c:\Program Files…\vncviewer.exe (not around the /config
c:\my.vnc) Close the Properties window
and try it. Equal WOW!
OTHER SUGGESTIONS
§
For fear
of sounding like your mother… as soon as everything is stable, create
an
automated system recovery backup of both your laptop and tablet. Using an external USB disk drive is ideal for
this. (I keep one that runs on 12 volts
on the boat for backups and to store my large music collection).
§
You can
use the wireless network to back up the tablet to the laptop and visa
versa.
§
Consider
keeping a USB keyboard on your boat. It
can be very handy if you want to do other work on your tablet computer.
§
Set the
Power Options to never standby or hibernate when the unit is plugged
in. This way, the system will remain live
in the cockpit
as long as power is provided. (Start
menu, Control Panel, Power Options, Advanced)