ISBoxer:Using multiple computers

Using Multiple Computers

This page is under construction. Please bear with us while we improve it.

The Process

1. Perform all configuration from the main PC.
2. Set up everything that will be on your main PC (Character Set, Window Layout, etc)
3. Set up each other PC (in ISBoxer on the main PC as instructed by #1), starting with creating a Computer for each other PC. If you will be using Window Layouts on the other PCs, you will need to set up the Screens per PC, each with the proper boundaries. To get the correct information to put for each screen, you can launch ISBoxer on each PC (you'll need it on each anyway), and on that PC, right click on Computers and click New Computer. It will fill in information on the Computer it is run on. You will need to make sure that either a) you name the Computer the same as the actual Computer name (see #5 for how to find it), or b) fill in the Uplink Name (see #5 for how to find it) and the IP address fields
4. Create everything that will be run on each other PC, as if you were going to play only on that PC (Character Set, Window Layout, etc). In the Character Set, you will need to set the "Computer to launch on" to the desired Computer (do not do this for the one on the main PC -- there is a bug with that in ISBoxer 29 and lower, fixed in ISBoxer 30, which is not out yet). In the Window Layout, in the Regions page, the drop-down box to select the Computer is on the bottom-right, and it will generally say "<Pre-defined Computer>". If you change the Screens for a Computer, you will want to select the Computer again from the drop-down box.
5. Enable Uplink Networking on each PC that is not the main PC. To do so, open the Configuration window in Inner Space (via its menu), and on the General tab, roughly in the middle is a checkbox to "Enable incoming connections on port" with a port number by it. Check the box to enable incoming connections. You may need to allow the given port (incoming, TCP) in your firewall. Directly above that box is "Unique name for this uplink" which defaults to the name of your PC (this is where to find the actual computer name or the Uplink Name for #3). If it's not the name of your PC, you will need to set the IP Address field in ISBoxer for the Computer.
6. To link the Character Sets together, go back to the Character Set for the main PC. You will notice an "Also Launch" at the bottom of it. Click and drag each of the other Character Sets (the ones to be played at the same time on the other Computers) to this Character Set (you have to drag it from the top part, to the bottom part, just like all of the other click+drag you do in ISBoxer). This will make it so that when you launch the main Set, it will "Also Launch" the others on the appropriate Computers. If you are using Repeater, everything will then repeat to ALL windows, not just the ones on your main PC. If you are using Key Maps, "All" will also include the other PCs, but you will notice that per-Slot is only available on the *current* PC. Action Target Groups work across all PCs (and therefore if you need per-Slot, create an Action Target Group for any given Character).
7. Once the configuration is complete, Save and Export it on the main PC. You will then need to get it to each of the other PCs, which will also need it Exported to Inner Space via ISBoxer. You can either copy ISBoxerToolkitProfile.XML across, (found where ISBoxer is installed, which is hopefully the Inner Space folder) or you can use the Copy to Clipboard feature from the menu on the "ISBoxer" item in ISBoxer, then the Paste feature from the same menu on the other PC. If you do not have a shared clipboard (e.g. Synergy), you can use a paste site like pastebin.com or rafb.net/paste to copy it on the other PC.
8. Launch Character Set on main PC, which should not show the additional Character Sets in the IS menu. If it does not launch on the other PCs, check the Console window in the uplink (main program) for error messages (it will be obvious, and colored red). You may need to check it on the other PCs as well. The uplink Console window can be opened via the Console item in the IS menu.

The Getting started and Using ISBoxer Toolkit pages may provide you with other helpful information.

With ISBoxer Build 19 or earlier

The following information is outdated and will be removed at a later date.

Step 1: Configure a Character Set for each Computer

First, set up each computer individually with any desired Character Sets, Window Layouts, Key Maps and so on. Many features will automatically work with multiple PCs, including Repeater and Mapped Keys that send Keystrokes or Key Map actions to either All (with or without current) or Groups (Action Target Groups). Any feature that requires selecting a Computer (such as a Slot in a Character Set, or Mapped Key Light actions) will not yet work and may be removed from final functionality (specifically regarding the Slot in the Character Set, that will probably go).

Because Character Set Slots are same-PC only when selecting a target for sending a keystroke, if you want to use an individual Character on another PC as a target, you will need to create an Action Target Group with only that Character on it (on the PC that the Character is running on), and an Action Target Group on the PC to send from (so that it will show up in the list of targets). Action Target Groups will work as long as the Computers are connected together (see Step 2 below) before launching the Character Sets.

Step 2: Connect Inner Space on the Computers

Here, we must network Inner Space. This part is currently best done with a Star topology -- that is, any number of PCs connected through one central PC. Designate one PC that will connect to each of the others. Don't worry about how to do that yet, because first all of the other PCs need to have incoming connections enabled. On each other PC, open the Inner Space configuration window by right clicking Inner Space in the system tray (while it is running), and selecting Configuration from the menu. In the Configuration window that opens, at the bottom part of the General tab, is a check box that says Enable incoming connections on port (with 10101 filled in the box next to it). Check the box to enable incoming connections, then click Apply, and restart Inner Space. Incoming connections will not be enabled until Inner Space is restarted. You may need to open incoming TCP port 10101 in your firewall software -- as different people have different software, I cannot easily explain how that is done, sorry! You might not need to, you can worry about that if connecting fails from the main PC. After enabling incoming connections for each of the other PCs, the main PC must then connect to each of the others. On the main PC, select Console from the Inner Space menu, to open a command console window in the main program. You will need to enter a command to connect to each of the other PCs, as follows:

remoteuplink -connect 192.168.1.101

However, you must replace 192.168.1.101 in the line above with the IP address or name of the other PC. If you don't know where to find either of those, the name of the PC is the default value for the "Unique name for this uplink" box found directly above where you enabled incoming connections, so you can try that name. Repeat this step for each of the PCs that you wish to connect to.

The connection process will need to be performed again if you shut down Inner Space or the connection is otherwise terminated. This process will be automatic later on when the multiple PC features in ISBoxer Toolkit are completed.

Step 3: Launch Character Set on each Computer

Just like you were playing on individual Computers, you must launch the desired Character Set on each, in the usual fashion (select from ISBoxer Character Sets in the Inner Space menu). As long as the PCs are connected, everything should work as described.

See Also

• ISBoxer
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Getting started with ISBoxer Suite
  • Repeater Regions
  • Types of Actions available for Mapped Keys
  • Using the ISBoxer Toolkit Interface
  • Special ISBoxer configuration for World of Warcraft