Synergy broken on Windows 8.1 + HDPI

Question

When I run synergy and move the cursor to a client, the cursor goes invisible and sticks to the bottom right corner of the screen (triggering windows peek). This renders all computers useless until the clients and servers are killed.

I get dropped bogus delta motion errors on the server and CALV/CNOP no-ops on the client.

I'm running the absolute latest windows 8.1Update with the latest updates. I'm also running the latest Synergy 1.5.0 and 1.5.1 Nightly (tried all permutations). This worked before I left for a week and now it's broken. I have no idea why.

Answer 1

This works for me:

1. Downgraded synergy to 1.3.8 on both server (win8.1) and client (linux)

2. Set compatibility of synergy.exe and synergys.exe on server to win7 and disable display scaling on high DPI settings

Answer 2

Here's a work around which will allow you to avoid having to kill the clients and servers in order to make your computers useful again...

On the Server, click on the Configure Server button, and in the wizard that pops up:

• Screens and Links tab: arrange your screens so that you can't move from one to the other using the mouse
• add horizontal or vertical spaces
• arrange screens diagonally
• Hotkeys tab: set up Hotkeys to jump directly to each screen:
• create new hotkey
• select newly created hotkey
• create new 'switchToScreen(screenName)' action
NOTE: don't forget to create a hotkey sequence to jump back to the server!

I would have posted photos, but need 10 reputation points and this is my first 'answer'/post so I currently have 1... the one you get for signing up, that is ;)... Anyway, I will edit this post when I am able to and add the photos...

Also, my Synergy installation started acting up right after I enabled 'dead corners' - did you make any similar changes in the Advanced Server Settings tab?

Good luck - and please post a solution here if you find out how to fix this before I do ;)

EDIT: have contacted Synergy and sent in log files... awaiting reply...

Answer 3

Perform the following in order (read the other answers on this page):

1. Downgrade is unnecessary.
2. Perform the "compatibility and DPI" procedure.
3. Perform the "hot key" work around procedure.
4. Restart the synergy and this should already work - but you have to press the hotkey to switch screens.
5. NEW PROCEDURE: Go to settings again and on the Screens and Links Tab, re-arrange screens to the desired position again. Press Ok. Then, press Apply.

This has worked for me and now there's no need to switch screens using the hotkeys. Switching screens now happens with mouse movement.

Answer 4

The problem is related to DPI scaling in Windows 8.1. I posted on the Synergy Q&A site and a user reports setting it back to 100% solves the problem:

http://synergy.askbot.com/question/244/synergy-150151-on-windows-81-update-1-hidpi/

This however is not possible for anyone using a truly HiDPI device because without scaling the desktop and UI would be tiny.

I also reported the problem on the Synergy Bug Tracker, but thus far I have heard nothing from Synergy Support.

http://synergy-project.org/spit/issues/details/4111/

Answer 5

I moved my Server to my laptop (running Windows 7) and my client to my Desktop (running Windows 8.1) then plugged my keyboard and mouse into my laptop. It works for now - am awaiting a response from Synergy from the logs I sent in. Will keep everyone posted.

Answer 6

Some solutions to problems with the Synergy server on Windows 8 are described in
How to fix Synergy scrolling and connectivity issues in Windows 8 :

1. Uninstall synergy, turn UAC off, then reinstall using Windows 7 compatibility mode

2. In dashboard, check the Elevate option

3. Still in dashboard, File menu -> Edit -> Settings, Advanced settings, change Process mode to Desktop (legacy).

If you cannot get Synergy to work correctly on Windows 8.1, try the alternative ShareMouse, which is freeware for non power users (definition on website).

Answer 7

If you're up to making a switch, I would recommend MSFT's Mouse Without Borders. It seems to work more smoothly on Windows platforms.

Answer 8

The DPI scaling idea is interesting, however I have seen almost all reports of this issue starting after a Windows Update. I believe I have narrowed it down to the particular update that caused the issue. If everyone could check to see if they have this update installed and uninstall it, please report back if this fixed it for you or not:

KB2973201