Can TightVNC control a Linux box using a Java-enabled browser and nothing more, or was I dreaming when I was controlling my Winders box this way (which I was able to get up and running in about 10 minutes)?

I have discovered the following behavior:

With KDE Desktop Sharing "allow uninvited connections" turned on:

Port 5800 - Open
Port 5901 - Open

With "allow uninvited connections" turned off:

Port 5800 - Closed
Port 5901 - Closed

It doesn't seem to matter what rules are set up with iptables. KDE Desktop Sharing makes its own rules.

I can sorta get the machines talking to each other but keep getting "Desktop Sharing - The remote user has closed the connection." messages on the Linux box.

Every time I start up tightvncserver I get:

Warning: mycomputer:n is taken because of /tmp/.Xn -lock
Remove this file if there is no X server mycomputer:n

where n increments each time tightvncserver is started.

Are you trying to use desktop sharing or are you wanting a seperate X server to be available from VNC?

Thanks for your reply.

Tight VNC under Windows gives me desktop sharing so I think that's what I want.

After mucking about some more I installed vncjava and was able to get a VNC connection going on port 5800 + the X server connection (5800 + 1 = port 5801). After password verification I got a functional console window but no desktop or GUI.

Never got KDE Desktop Sharing to work.

The best way to do desktop sharing is to install the XFree86 module that comes with RealVNC 4:
http://www.realvnc.com

Will this work with any Java-enabled browser or do I need a special viewer program?