Using VNC - TheTechnobear/NuiLite GitHub Wiki

VNC is useful if you want to develop pure data patches on your Norns

setting up Vncserver (one-off)

on norns:

sudo apt-get install realvnc-vnc-server jwm

so, now we need to get a script onto the sidekick menu

first we create a directory to hold the script

mkdir -p ~/sidekick/system/StartVNC

now we need to place a file (aka script) called 'run.sh' , in that new directory so ~/sidekick/system/StartVNC/run.sh

the contents of ~/sidekick/system/StartVNC/run.sh , should just be

vncserver

now we need to give sidekick permission to run this script

chmod +x ~/sidekick/system/StartVNC/run.sh

thats it, do 'Refresh Menu' in sidekick, and up it will come.

now you can use StartVNC on norns menu, when you need to use VNC clients (this will also work on std norns, as we are not using raspi-config)

using VNC

you need a (I recommend use realvnc) vnc client on mac/pc

  • so first we need to use that 'StartVNC' option , you created above

now, on your desktop/laptop:

  • start vnc client
  • connect to norns.local:5901

(don't worry about warnings of insecure connections... this is all over your own local private network ;) )

getting Pure Data to launch on your desktop/laptop screen

ok, so vnc is up n' running, but now we want sidekick to throw pure data onto our laptop screen.

to do this, we need to start sidekick, in a session on our vnc client.

so... first we need to stop sidekick,

on Norns:

  • bring the sidekick menu up ... this will stop any patches that are running (important: as otherwise you will get conflicts later on, and need to kill the patches manually!)

now in the terminal window from the vnc client window

sudo systemctl stop sidekick

ok, so sidekick is stopped.

now lets start it in that terminal window:

cd ~sidekick
/usr/local/sidekick/sidekick

do NOT close this terminal window !

now when you start a pd patch it will appear on your vnc display

viola, we now have a vnc server, client that you can use PD with

advanced config

(only do after you have the basics above working ;)

if you wish to change the size of the vnc desktop you can add -geometry to the vncserver command e.g.

edit ~/sidekick/system/StartVNC/run.sh and change to

vncserver -geometry 1920x1080

note: obviously larger desktops = more network bandwidth !