[JohnR]

There was a mention of having a "headless" mini in a system. One possibility to enable this may be the VNC protocol and set of programs (open source, with some commercial versions as well it seems).

To try this, I downloaded the server and viewer for OS/X from http://www.redstonesoftware.com - the download page has a link to realvnc.com to download the free version of the Windows viewer and server.

So far, it seems to work well enough for operating something like a music server remotely. I'm typing this message on a Windows laptop connected using VNC to my Mac Mini. It's not perfect - some niggles but so far it seems usable.

For those wondering why not just get a cheap LCD to connect to the Mini, I'd like to have the DVI output connected to a projector. Remote desktop capability means that the projector doesn't have to be turned on to e.g. play music or do other stuff.

You would want to have some way to have the server on the Mini start automatically when the machine reboots. Haven't looked into it yet but I'm sure there's a way...

[Brad]

chicken of the VNC is pretty good on the mac side too.

[JohnR]

That seems to be a client only - ?

http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/

[Brad]

Sorry John - you're right.

I was using it the other way around - for a Mac controlling a headless PC in the closet

[JohnR]

Heh, no worries, that turned out to be a good tip anyway, as the redstone viewer for Mac seems not to be free (only the server). So just as an experiment, I'm now using Chicken of the VNC as a client to type on a Windows laptop running the RealVNC server. This might come in handy for those programs that only run on Windows and I need to transfer files or screenshots - I'll see.

[K.C.]

You can have all the remote control you like if you run Leopard.

I have 4 Minis that I run that way. Two are colocated and running OS X server, one runs Filemaker server and one Peak Pro to record XM radio from the digital out of my receiver.

Timbuktu Pro is another good option, but it's not free.

[Hell]

Screenshots Remote http://www.actymac.com/Screenshots_Remote/for iPhone.You also can monitor screenshot capturing.Try it.

[Atlplasma]

Not exactly remote control, but I use screen sharing on my iMac to control my headless Mini. A Universal remote and IR blaster allow me to turn the receiver on and off, change the volume, etc. At some point I'll probably buy an iPad for added convenience.

[skunark]

iSSH seems to do the trick for an iphone/ipad app as a VNC client, $10 is a bit pricey for an app so watch for when it goes on sale.   No need to install any special software on mac or linux machines, just set up the screen share/vnc server correctly and it's easy to use.  (in other words, you don't need a VNC server on your mac, it's built in)

I haven't tried windows, but I mainly use windows as a VNC client to linux machines but installation of tightVNC or realVNC should do the trick there.