iTunes CoverFlow issue in VNC
Posted by: AS332 on 29 November 2009
Hello all ,
When accessing my iTunes library through a VNC connection I have never been able to view album covers in Cover Flow , I just get a black space.
My library is stored on a Buffalo NAS drive with a wired connection to both my iMac in the office and headless Mac Mini / Lavry / 252 setup in the living room .
If I access the library directly from iTunes in any machine including my laptop then there is no problem it shows up perfectly , however using a VNC connection to control the mini ( whether Apple screen share or third party VNC software ) no joy , even if I toggle the quality between adaptive or full or switch the scaling on or off .
I also use Songbird which has no problem displaying it's version of the coverflow add-on whilst accessing the same NAS .
I would be grateful if anyone has any ideas on why it will not display .
Many thanks ,
Ed
Posted on: 01 December 2009 by winkyincanada
quote:
Originally posted by Eloise:
IIRC when using coverflow on iTunes on Windows and Remote Desktop you get a "coverflow not supported in this mode" message.
Eloise
I've only used Macs but that's the message I used to get. Fixed now, though.
Posted on: 03 December 2009 by Peter Dinh
I have just found out an interesting fact about the iTunes Cover Flow issue in Screen Sharing - If I connect my Mac Mini to a physical terminal then all are honky dory in a remote screen sharing session, in fact it is very fast in my system but if I disconnect the terminal then Cover Flow stops working entirely, all I've got is a black space where the Cover Flow is supposed to be.
So that is it, iTunes Cover Flow in VNC only works if you physically connect your Mac to a Monitor, also years ago I found out that Toast Titanium crashed when my Mac did not connect to a monitor.
So it looks like there is some messy Mac implementation where people make certain assumption about things are connected.
On a somewhat related topic, another interesting fact is that if you use Google Public DNS on your Mac, your screen sharing will also stop working. To work around that strange thing, I set up my router using the Google Public DNS.
Posted on: 03 December 2009 by winkyincanada
It makes sense to me now. It would have been when I connected my TV as a monitor to the Mini that the cover-flow started to be displayed on the screen share on the Macbook. This was about the time that I upgraded to SL, so i wasn't sure which it was. It works all the time now, regardless of whether the TV is on, or whether the input is selected for the Mini.
Strangely though, when watching video in iTunes, the Macbook display (remote screen) will be black unless the TV (local screen on the Mini) is on AND switched to the Mini input. Curioser and curioser, but it seems that certain video/image stuff is turned off in the Mini unless a screen is detected. This makes sense (except for how it messes up the whole screen sharing thing) but it seems inconsistently applied.
The whole HDCP issue with iTunes and Hi Def content is another (but related) story. I have that working too, now, although sometimes I have to launch the file from Finder rather than from within iTunes.
On a related matter, my partner is determined to get a HD video camera. I am about to become familiar with large NAS boxes, methinks.
Posted on: 03 December 2009 by garyi
It was my understanding if you did not have a screen attached you didn't get any kind of screen sharing?
Posted on: 03 December 2009 by Peter Dinh
LOL, terminology kills the cat.
Actually, the whole idea is to have a headless Mac Mini.
