VNC and SSH on Win Mo 6 (Dopod C730)
A few months ago we organised some new phones for us developers so that we could be more contactable in case of an emergency. So we got the phones, but they never really saved the day when problems arose. We couldn’t do remote access, read encrypted emails, or do anything useful. Instead, the phone became a broadband modem, which required access to a laptop; hardy something you want carry every time you leave the house!
So we’ve been casually looking around for VNC and SSH clients for the Dopod C730 (which runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard). All the clients I’ve tried so far haven’t installed, or had incorrect key mappings and were entirely useless on Win Mo 6. I was starting to lose hope of ever using the phone for its intended purpose. But now that the semester is over at uni, I thought i’de put in a decent days worth looking for apps that worked. After a few hours of looking, I stumbled across some really useful programs, that actually run perfectly in Win Mo 6…
Hamachi is an easy to use and secure VPN. With it, you create and join a virtual network, and all traffic is encrypted. Very neat! Using Hamachi, you can access computers/services behind firewalls, NAT and with no need for port forwarding. Hamachi installed from a .cab file, and no additional tweaks were required. Hamachi is free to use to.
Hamachi will connect over Wifi or 3G/EDGE/GPRS, so its very flexible.
MidpSSH is a free Java-based SSH client. All key bindings work as expected, colours work and the text is actually readable. I’de recommend changing the default font, unless you can read miniscule glyphs. It can be changed by Settings > Fonts > Font Size (LCD 5×9 is my preference).
As the app is Java, the interface is a little clunky to use; entering text takes a few additional button clicks each time (to access the text field, enter it, end the text, OK it, and move on). By default, Java applications won’t have access to the Hamachi network interface, but this is easily changed in the Java Apps launcher by going Menu > Settings (7) > Choose Network (4) > Hamachi Network.
VNC+ is (another) brilliant Java-based app that provides VNC client functionality. With it, you can connect to a computer running a VNC server and control it remotely. VNC+ provides all the functionality of a desktop client, but in a mobile setting. It behaves just as you’d expect it to. No clunky scrolling or slow refreshing like other clients I tried. It’s a true miracle app that will no doubt come in very handy. It is well worth the $19.95, and comes with a free 7 day demo. VNC+ also provides efficient zooming, which loads the screen at the correct level detail. After connecting with the server, navigating around the whole screen is painless. This program is just so awesome!
Like MidpSSH, if you are accessing a computer over Hamachi, the Hamachi network must be assigned to Java. Otherwise, just bind Java to the Internet. I did have to manually bind the function keys to their appropriate functions in the program. This was done in Menu > Setup > Assign Keys, where I bound Select to my middle button, Menu to left soft key and Enter to right soft key.
With these apps installed on my phone, I can confidently leave my laptop at home and still be able to tackle any issues that flare up. Now thats mobilty!
Update: Discovered that VNC+ doesn’t recognise the letters from the 10 digit keys (numbers are transmitted regardless of whether Fn key is pressed or not. This makes it really hard to type text into the VNC session.
Update 2: Discovered the “Send text” menu option in VNC+. It allows for any text to be sent. Just need to get backspace working, then I’m all set.