SOLVED: Where is my user name and what is it exactly?

[pax-eterna]

So, I am trying to use Screens and it keeps asking for my Mac mini User name as well as password...

Now I am assuming this is the MAC Mini password and not the Screens ID password and that being the case I keep entering my mini password and it keeps rejecting it...I have tried the display name (you know the one that is shown when you first boot up) I have tried the correct Apple I.D and password - nothing works. Also tried the Screens ID and pw but clearly that doesn't work.

So what is the "username" and where is it, as it is obviously not eh one shown on the screen.

 

[rm5]

So, I am trying to use Screens and it keeps asking for my Mac mini User name as well as password...

Now I am assuming this is the MAC Mini password and not the Screens ID password and that being the case I keep entering my mini password and it keeps rejecting it...I have tried the display name (you know the one that is shown when you first boot up) I have tried the correct Apple I.D and password - nothing works. Also tried the Screens ID and pw but clearly that doesn't work.

So what is the "username" and where is it, as it is obviously not eh one shown on the screen.

I have never used Screens, but hopefully I can provide insight into the username problem.

A good example is in the "Create New User" dialogue.

You can see that "actual name" which is what appears in the login screen, and then the "account name" which is what you "need to" type in.

From my experience, macOS accepts both, but it sounds like in your case, you need the "account name."

To find out the "account name" you will need to open Terminal and look at the first thing it says before the @ sign. THAT is the "account name" which is what you need.

You could also hit Shift + Cmd + H in Finder to open the home folder, and the name of the folder displayed is the account name.

Let me know if this works.

 

[pax-eterna]

Thanks - and for the record it was different, but that didn't work either. The Screens app keeps bouncing back to the login screen.

EDIT: I have tried reaching out to the developer, however they are quite tardy with replies. Took three days just to get a pre-sales question answered (they have no demo version)

 

[DeltaMac]

Is this what you are asking about?

Screens - Seamlessly control your computer from your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Vision Pro - Edovia

Screens lets you connect back to your computer at home or wherever you are in the world.

edovia.com

Screens is used as a VNC to connect and control another computer.
There appears to be a 14-day trial period, where you can try it for free before purchase.
How is that different from a "demo version"?

So --- have you tried the username and password for the computer that you want to connect to? (That would not be the Mac where you installed and are running Screens)

 

[pax-eterna]

nah, nothing works...I followed all the troubleshooting steps the dev has links to...and they do admit to issues with Monterey....BUT I really looked at this as they claimed it was all pretty much (with a few small user entires) automatically setup. And for a new MAC user that was important!

 

[pax-eterna]

Is this what you are asking about?

Screens - Seamlessly control your computer from your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Vision Pro - Edovia

Screens lets you connect back to your computer at home or wherever you are in the world.

edovia.com

Screens is used as a VNC to connect and control another computer.
There appears to be a 14-day trial period, where you can try it for free before purchase.
How is that different from a "demo version"?

So --- have you tried the user and password for the computer that you want to connect to? (That would not be the Mac where you installed and are running Screens)

Nope no demo version available on iOS App Store in Australia - Unless it is somewhere else under a different name...the Screens Connect App for macOS is a different app and is nearly double the price, and is not needed in any case. They provide a free utility for users to connect the iPad to the Mac - to be use a a touchscreen device for the Mac in headless mode, which is the case with a Mac mini

So, one (screens) is used for controlling the Mac from an iOS device, the other Screens for macOS, is for controlling other PC's from your MAC

 

[Apple_Robert]

nah, nothing works...I followed all the troubleshooting steps the dev has links to...and they do admit to issues with Monterey....BUT I really looked at this as they claimed it was all pretty much (with a few small user entires) automatically setup. And for a new MAC user that was important!

If you can't get Screens working and you are positive you have the settings correct on both computers, take a look at JumpDesktop. It is much faster with a lot less friction.

The only time I could ever get Screens to work was while I was on home Wifi, which wasn't of much use to me, although this was years ago.

 

[pax-eterna]

https://help.edovia.com/hc/en-us

If you can't get Screens working and you are positive you have the settings correct on both computers, take a look at JumpDesktop. It is much faster with a lot less friction.

The only time I could ever get Screens to work was while I was on home Wifi, which wasn't of much use to me, although this was years ago.

Cool - thanks MUCH! I'll have a look - Have to try and get a refund for Screens from Apple ....

 

[pax-eterna]

Ok, to close out the thread I have marked it as solved...went through the whole process manually after deleting the Screens Connect utility which actually missed a couple of important settings!

It now works....just got to ask the dev if they can include an "auto-hide" for the Apps tool bar - the Mini one I can do on the mini.

 

[Mike Boreham]

If you can't get Screens working and you are positive you have the settings correct on both computers, take a look at JumpDesktop. It is much faster with a lot less friction.

The only time I could ever get Screens to work was while I was on home Wifi, which wasn't of much use to me, although this was years ago.

I spend quite a bit of time using Screens to do things on my 13" M1 MBA from my 12.9" iPad with Magic Keyboard, and it works brilliantly, home Wi-Fi, remote Wi-Fi, mobile data etc. Almost like being on the actual machine.

Before I got an iPad Magic Keyboard I used VNC but they didn't support the Magic Keyboard, so switched to Screens.

I haven't tried JumpDesktop...does it support the Magic Keyboard? Difficult to imagine it being 'much faster' than Screens, but I did find Screens slightly non intuitive to set up, but has been very solid once done. I haven't quite sorted out what "Screens Connect" and "Screens" do. I have both but not sure what does what!

 

[Mike Boreham]

I haven't tried JumpDesktop...does it support the Magic Keyboard?

Just been trying JumpDesktop, and there is a lot to like. Very straightforward to set up. (not sure if easier than Screens where I think it was user caused). It supports the Magic Keyboard and splitscreen multitasking like Screens.

The one thing JumpDesktop does (which screens doesn't) is have option to change the resolution on the remote Mac to match iPad, which sounds good and is the default setting. However the text on Jump is blurry compared to Screens. It is still blurry with the 'change resolution' turned off and I can't find any setting to improve this. I wonder if some automatic compression is being applied to improve speed.

 

[pax-eterna]

As I wrote the Screens Connect App ws supposed to set this automatically (that was the option chosen and the "recommended" one) however it missed setting up a system item ...it was ONLY when I set it up manually (ie WITHOUT the so called helper app) that it worked.