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[okänd]

Yeah this service, just be in the background stuff weirded me out at first but I see what they're going for at least. The autosetup worked for me and being able to change which device you control it all from on the fly instead of having to reconfigure the server and client setup is cool. The documentation is sorely lacking because if I had known it was laid out like this I would probably not have upgraded yet. Clearly not ready to be sold as some kind of finished product yet.

That also this version looks like garbage on a mac with a retina screen is amazing, those have been around for over 5 years now...

[kameyin]

So I just purchased this recently and installed it on macOS and Windows 7. Aside from the setup being unintuitive, I also had this question. If you close the window, the app just closes and the service continues running in the background. There's no way to stop the service or any indication that it's still running. Having used v1 several years ago, this feels like a huge downgrade in functionality (not to mention documentation). This is starting to become one of my biggest software purchase regrets. I saw that they are on vacation until Jan 8th, but I do hope that we get an immediate response once the holidays are over.

[Chris0x00]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that's encountered these problems with Synergy 2, and very recently at that.  My concerns are just compounding:

1. Installation of multiple services with no documentation explaining why they exist or what they do.

2. No documentation of any kind, functional or otherwise. No one expects a closed-course product to reveal all of their intellectual property, but it is generally expected that customers are provided with some sort of documentation stating things like required ports and account privileges.

3. No ability to "Quit".  This one should be self-explanatory.

 

So I guess another +1 for a GUI quit button.  And some docs would be cool too.

 

[Chris0x00]

The forum ate the rest of my post:

 

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that's encountered these problems with Synergy 2, and very recently at that.  My concerns are just compounding:

1. Installation of multiple services with no documentation explaining why they exist or what they do.

2. No documentation of any kind, functional or otherwise. No one expects a closed-course product to reveal all of their intellectual property, but it is generally expected that customers are provided with some sort of documentation stating things like required ports and account privileges.

3. Random "Cannot connect to server" problems.

4. Intermittently drops connection between 2 Macs, typically with no apparent cause and rarely auto-reconnected.

5. "Reconnection" process after rebooting 1 or both machines only works ~75% of the time.  Many times several reboots and service stops are the only way to regain functionality.

6. No ability to "Quit".  This one should be self-explanatory.

 

So I guess another +1 for a GUI quit button.  And some docs would be cool too.

[GranPaSmurf]

Since I know the developers want Synergy to end up being as unobtrusive as possible I've been neutral about a tray icon. 

Now, however, with troubleshooting from beta through 2.04 I agree that Synergy should offer the option of a tray icon. 

BTW, a drop-down showing the details of the current configuration is planned for one of the 'near-term' updates. I don't know how much tweaking it will allow though. 

I'm going out on a limb here to suggest this to this thread and some others posting on this forum, that AS IT STANDS NOW Synergy 2.xx might not be for you. It is being developed to target average users, not power users or IT professionals right now. As if Synergy version 1 is the professional version while 2.xxx is being developed to be the consumer version. 

Long term, I expect to see Synergy 2.xx incorporate all the IT options to satisfy everyone, but that is not the immediate development goal. 

AS IT STANDS NOW, if I were responsible for a network of production computers I'd stick with Synergy version 1, but check in occasionally to monitor the progress of version 2.xxx. Ultimately it will end up being everything you are asking for. 

I wouldn't ask for a refund because down the road you will have a financial incentive for version 2.xxx since you are an early adopter. 

[eth0]

49 minutes ago, GranPaSmurf said:

It is being developed to target average users, not power users or IT professionals right now.

Yet, as of now, it seems only the non-target audience can even start to troubleshoot all the problems it has. For an average user it's usually install on machine number one, install on machine number two, it doesn't work, to hell with it.

[kameyin]

Quote

...AS IT STANDS NOW Synergy 2.xx might not be for you. It is being developed to target average users, not power users or IT professionals right now. 

I'm going to have to disagree and say that I don't think many of the people here are power users. Speaking from the perspective of someone with a bit of QA and UX background professionally, the main issues being pointed out for this 2.xx line are that of visual feedback and common UX expectations. Specifically:

• You "install" Synergy (clearly labeled Install Helper).
  • What really happens is the service is installed but found to be no where on the system. This breaks macOS conventions. It's not in the Applications folder. It's not in the Login Items list. It's not anywhere which makes it non-obvious that the user just installed a service that autostarts on every boot. It also means it cannot be uninstalled to the normal user because they don't know this.
  • This also starts right away without any indication that the install process finished. Super confusing as I was never sure if I should close the window at any point which leads me to my next point about UX.
• Next, It tells you to now install and start it on another computer. Sounds good. I do that on my Windows machine.
  • The new computer appears magically. Very nice auto detection. However, it randomly turns green then back to grey? What does that mean? (I really still don't know.) Normal UX expectations state that green means go so that must mean that it connected and turned on but then off? Why did it stop working?
  • So the normal user will right click and notice that you can "Share from this.computer". Maybe that is it, but that does nothing as far as I can tell. No visual feedback after choosing that option. Did that do something? Try mousing over and you'll see that it works. But nothing changed visually on the configuration. That's not good design.
• Ok, so it works. It's taking up a space on my Dock so I guess I can hit X to close it.
  • Doing so closes the app completely and without leaving a menubar/tray icon or anything. Normal users will panic at this point thinking that they quit the application completely as that is normal macOS convention. So they will look to reopen the app without even trying to see if it's still running. Why do I know this? Because that's exactly what I did.
  • So you go to Launchpad and type "Syner..." wait, nothing is appearing. Did it install? Do I have to run the installer again?

At this point I went into QA mode and started trying out different things to try and figure out how this thing worked. I reran the installer (you don't actually need to), checked my Activity Monitor, looked for documentation, rebooted, etc. That's what brought me here.

I never approached this as any sort of power user or IT pro. I bought this to just Get Things Done and from the sounds of the other posts (gaming for example), that's what everyone else bought this for too. So I'll retract my complaint about functionality downgrade and even documentation and instead say this:

• Synergy 2.xx is at best beta software. It's not a good macOS app. This is what makes this one of my most regrettable purchases ever.
• At the bare minimum, the screens should turn and stay green when computers are connected and working.
• In one day of usage, I ran into #3 and #4 that Chris0x00 posted. For the intended goal of being unobtrusive, this is what makes me claim that it's beta software.
• The app should also actually install an application. That's macOS convention #1 that needs to be fixed. There are more, but at the very least fix that.
• Lastly, everyone expects to be able to quit an app that they installed. That isn't a power user thing. It's just common sense.

[kameyin]

Took me too long to write this so couldn't edit it into my previous post.

1 hour ago, GranPaSmurf said:

I wouldn't ask for a refund because down the road you will have a financial incentive for version 2.xxx since you are an early adopter. 

I don't know about this. Personally, I feel like I was mislead instead thinking that this was a stable piece of software. I actually decided to purchase after hearing ads on Linus Tech Tips which made me think that this was finally at a stable, user friendly release. I avoid purchasing alpha or beta software precisely because of issues like this. My time is more valuable than what it took to get this thing working (still have mouse drop issues). Just my 2 cents.

[dEEkAy2k9]

@kameyin

this is exactly what i went through. i used microsoft garage mouse earlier and had issues with it. after some time i discovered symless through Linus Tech Tips and looking at the website gave me no idea that synergy 2 is beta software. i saw all the features that are marked as "soon" yet i still bought it.

 

later on i realized that its not running as an app, has no taskbar icon (im on win 10) nor any other form of options available for me to configure it. i can't copy stuff from computer a to b nor share clipboard contents or anything else. i had issues while gaming and tried to disable it while gaming just to find out i cant disable it by normal means. only stopping the service or uninstalling worked and thats nothing i expect of a sold program.

 

heck, i couldnt even find this forum until i somehow stumbled upon it and saved the url since then. (wheres the link on the websute to the forum?)

[wesruv]

Going to add to this thread, Scroll Lock is ok I'd much rather be able to turn it on and off instead of being _constantly_ on, as well as an option to have it turn on with the system by default.

Love everything else in my experience in Synergy 2, but this has caused me a lot of time debugging, then once I figured it out from this thread with Scroll Lock, a lot of frustration.

[Chris0x00]

I did a complete uninstall of Synergy 2 on both of my machines, followed by an install of the most recent 1.8 build.  I had almost forgotten how rock-solid and genuinely good of a product 1.x is.  I haven't had a single problem all day, and I can quickly turn it off from my menubar when I bring my personal laptop to another room.

 

My advice to the Symless dev(s): Don't try to re-invent something just to re-invent it.  You already have a great product that people will continue to buy.  Improve on it, don't replace it.  Innovation is as much about adding value as it is about creating new value.

[Michael Bryne]

Just to weigh in on this as well, +1 for a way to start and stop the service. My use case is my laptop is the host when I am at work and when I take the laptop home I am losing my cursor.

I am a bit disappointed with the jump to zero config options here with Synergy 2, I will be rolling back until this gets resolved.

[AndrewL]

Weighing in here as well on 2:

Huge blockers:
- Not being able to start/stop the app.
- Not being able to minimize to tray
- Not being able to see any configuration, change configuration, or deploy this on offline machines without a connection to the internet.
- Looks like there's constant queries to the net to "sync" latest configuration or status between my logged in machines.
- Requires a newer version of OSX than I'm able to upgrade to.

I too have to roll back to 1.8 until these are resolved. Really disappointed in the new version.

[KPX]

I am a DevOp and Synergy 1.x was great.  I just finished uninstalling Synergy 2 from my Linux box and Windows.  Synergy1 was easy to control; easy to start and stop; easy to configure.  Synergy 2 feels like change for change sake without any daily usage benefit.  I prefer to know what is happening when I'm configuring Synergy.  And, I prefer to manage the configuration myself.

[Gasrshasp]

I am new to Synergy 2 and it's really true it's a very crappy software. I have purchased Synergy 2 is there any way I can download synergys old version to use?

[GranPaSmurf]

refunds@symless.com

[ronnonononon]

On 12/19/2017 at 8:24 AM, Cher said:

Neither of these are actual solutions given that 1) most average users shouldn't be opening terminal, and 2) you can't remap the lock key. None of my keyboards have a scroll lock key. I have to unload the plist and uninstall synergy on my mac to disconnect from the service.

Use the on-screen keyboard that is on windows, I have no idea what is the Mac equivalent. The on-screen keyboard has scroll lock, and it works quite dandy on my laptop for locking the mouse to the machine.

[And]

Don't know if this is already in the pipeline, but I would love to have a button or way to turn Synergy off and on from the application. 

[tebruno99]

I'm with you all too.  I'm going to have to go back to version 1.  Version 2 is choppy, the remote machine's mouse only wants to move in straight lines, have to fight it to move it in a diag.  No config options. I'm actually very sorry I paid the discounted price.  I've been a follower of Synergy since the day it came into existence, this really feels like Synergy 2 changes are just so they'll have something new to sell so they can afford the offices they can't afford.

[Nick Bolton]

There will be an advanced option to disable in Synergy 2.1, due in about 6 months.