Server doesn't receive key events or pointer events

[ChrisEineke]

I've a VNC server running on a KVM switch here. rfb2 prints

3.003 security type: 2

but the server seems to ignore any and all key events and pointer events. No error event is emitted, so I'm wondering what's going on here. ._.

[sidorares]

Difficult to tell from your description :(
What server are you using? I only tested it with x11vnc, OSX server and windowd+tightvnc
Maybe tcpdump would help

[ChrisEineke]

The manufacturer states that a TightVNC client would have the best compatibility with the embedded VNC server, and VNC works as expected if I use xtightvncviewer, xvncviewer, or Remmina. Wireshark correctly interprets the client->server packet as a mouse down/up and key down/up, but doesn't decode the response packet.

[ChrisEineke]

Is it necessary to call requestUpdate at any point in time? I'm only interested in using mouse and keyboard.

[sidorares]

No, requestUpdate is for screen rectangles only and should be optional

[ChrisEineke]

I called requestUpdate for experimentation. It throws a TypeError because foregroundColor is undefined (in drawRect). I added a return to the function, simply short-circuiting the code in drawRect. rfb2 now prints unsopported server message: 96. Like you're indicating, this may be another bug.

[sidorares]

Can you show your code?

[ChrisEineke]

Okay, I can confirm that I have to call requestUpdate periodically, or else the input won't show up on the server.

[ChrisEineke]

rfb2 = require("rfb2");
util = require("util");

var device = rfb2.createConnection({
        host : "xxx",
        port : "xxx",
        password : "xxx"
});

function pressKey(keysym) {
    setTimeout(
        function () {
            device.keyEvent(keysym, 1);
            console.log(util.format("%d key pressed", keysym));
        },
        100);
    setTimeout(
        function () {
            device.keyEvent(keysym, 0);
            console.log(util.format("%d key released", keysym));
        },
        200);
}

device.on("error", function (error) {
    console.log("errored");
    console.log(error);
});

device.on("connect", function () {
    setTimeout(
        function () {
            pressKey(0x0061);
        },
        2000);
    setTimeout(
        function () {
            pressKey(0x0062);
        },
        2500);
    setTimeout(
        function () {
            pressKey(0x0063);
        },
        3000);

    setInterval(
        function () {
            device.requestUpdate(true, 0, 0, 1, 1);
        },
        10);
});

[ChrisEineke]

Without the setInterval calling requestUpdate repeatedly, keypresses and mouseclick will not get registered on the server.

[sidorares]

Just tried your example from OSX to control virtualbox (x11vnc) - works fine without requestUpdate.

[ChrisEineke]

What version of node are you using? (v0.10.22)

[sidorares]

same. There is very little node-specific code, I think I used library from version 0.4 without having compatibility issues during upgrades. Right now it's v0.10.22

[sidorares]

Just realised that your server sends hextile-encoded rectangles and hextile is not really supported. I suggest to set list of supported encodings to be only raw + copyRect - just set 'encodings' array when you create connection. hextile is currently set by default, I should remove it - see code here https://github.com/sidorares/node-rfb2/blob/master/rfbclient.js#L235

[sidorares]

Just realised I posted exactly the same comment 6 month ago :)

[ChrisEineke]

It would be great if you could merge a fix :)