Kenbushi
User Manual
Getting Started
Overview
The Kenbushi
application must be running on all computers you wish to
share files between. It only uses Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) for it's
operations, so you don't need other protocols such as NETBEUI,
AppleTalk, etc. to successfully share files.
In addition, you
don't need file sharing enabled on your computer, nor do you use the
Network Neighborhood, My Network Places, the Chooser, or any other
networking functions built into your operating system to use Kenbushi.
Setting
Up
Select the Preferences panel and enter a Sharing Password to ensure only
authorized users (ie. those people who know your password) can access
your shared files and folders. Then choose the Shared Folders panel
and add all the files and folders on your computer you wish to share.
If you wish to
share files with your friends over the Internet, select Internet
(Internet Workgroup) from the Workgroup
Setup Method popup menu on
the Preferences panel. Then
enter the Workgroup Name you
and your
friends have chosen to use, and press the Join button. Your friends'
computers should appear in the Connect
to popup menu on the Transfer
Files panel within a few seconds.
The fastest way
to set up a LAN workgroup (eg. a simple home network) is to select Auto-Discovery from the Workgroup Setup Method popup menu on
the Preferences panel. All
computers on the LAN should then be discovered
quickly and automatically. No further setup is required.
Operation
When you launch
Kenbushi, you should see other computers running Kenbushi listed in the
Connect to
popup menu on the Transfer Files
panel after a few seconds. They will also be shown in the Remote
User Connection List listbox on the Network panel, and you can
see their IP address, their computer name and what they are doing.
Select a
computer from the Connect to
popup menu to view it's shared files and
folders. You may need to enter a Sharing
Password to gain access to
files on this computer (once entered, the password will be stored and
automatically used for subsequent operations).
When you have
the remote file list displayed, simply double-click a file in this list
(or highlight it and press the Download
button - the left-pointing
arrow)
to begin transferring it to your computer. The file will be stored in
the folder displayed in the Local
File List listbox. You can also
highlight a range of files and/or folders in the remote file list and
press the Download button to
get them all.
To upload files
to a remote computer, the remote computer must be set up with a shared
folder which has been set to 'Writeable'. You can then navigate into
this folder via the Remote File List
listbox, select files in the Local
File List listbox and press the Upload
button to upload the
files
to it.
The Sync
button works similarly to the Upload
button, except that it transfers
(uploads and downloads) files so that the contents of the selected
folder is synchronized with the equivalent remote folder on the Remote
File List. If the remote folder doesn't exist, it is
automatically
created. Synchronization means: any files not at
both locations will be transferred, so that they exist at both
locations; any updated files will be transferred, overwriting the old
ones (if they exist).
Dynamic help
text (based on which button, textbox, etc. you have the cursor over) is
displayed at the bottom left side of most panels.
Notes
If you get a
message saying that a computer is unreachable, try again. Sometimes
network packets get lost (especially in congested networks) and simply
trying again can result in success.
A file shown in
the Local File List or Remote File List with an '*' in
front of it's
size value is a Macintosh file with a resource fork. When
transferring these types of files to another Macintosh, all file
information will be transferred correctly. However, when transferring
these types of files to a PC, only the data fork will be transferred
(thus, the file may be corrupted) unless you check the Transfer MacOS
Resource Forks checkbox in the Preferences
panel.
If a control is
disabled, the dynamic help text associated with it will be displayed in
red. Normally, it is displayed in black.
Further
Information
Please read the
section on Detailed
Operation
for further
information.
Linux version issues
You will probably need to install a library which Kenbushi
depends on, called libstdc++5. If you are running Ubuntu, you should
find that the following command line will install the correct library
by downloading it from the Internet:
sudo apt-get install libstdc++5
For other Linux
distributions, you should visit the libstdc++5
resource
page for the correct version for your system.
If Kenbushi doesn't launch after about 20 seconds on your
Linux computer (the startup time depends on your setup), you should try
running Kenbushi from the command line. In that way, you
can see if there are any error messages returned by the operating
system.
The Ubuntu Starter Guide is an
excellent resource for quickly setting up Linux eg. auto-mounting NTFS
volumes so they can be read, changing file/folder permissions, etc.
The Linux (i86)
version of Kenbushi is a first release, and
may have some stability issues on particular system configurations.
There are a number of considerations you should keep in mind when using
this version:
- Screensaver activation during transfers may cause Kenbushi to
lock up. Deactivate your screensaver when using Kenbushi.
- Files with path names containing unusual or exotic characters
will probably not transfer correctly. Try changing source file path
names so they don't contain unusual characters.
- Localization into other languages is very limited on the Linux
version,
and may not work correctly on your particular system configuration.
- Up to 3 remote users can download files at the same
time on the Linux version (the MacOS and Windows versions support 5
concurrent users).
- File sizes up to 2GB are supported.
Please report
any
problems to service@lavasoftware.com
and include as much detail as possible about the sequence of
operations you performed which led to the problem manifesting itself,
your Linux installation details, and anything else which you believe
may be affecting it.
MacOS
Classic version issues
New features such as media playback control and data backup are not
supported in this version.
If you have problems connecting to Kenbushi running on
MacOS Classic, after previously connecting successfully, try quitting
and relaunching the application on MacOS Classic.
The MacOS Classic version is designed for transferring small groups of
files to MacOS X, Windows and Linux. There are a number of legacy
issues with MacOS Classic which limit it, including memory allocation
issues, threading issues and file naming issues. If you need to
transfer large groups of files to another platform, it is recommend you
burn them onto CD or save them onto a USB flashdrive and then transfer
them across, rather than using Kenbushi.
The Lite Edition of the MacOS Classic version is also limited to 2mb
upload and 2mb download file sizes.
Important
information for Lite Edition users
The Lite Edition has a number of differences and/or limitations
compared to the Standard and Professional Editions.
Transferring Files
During the first 30 days after installation, file transfers are
unrestricted on the Lite Edition - this allows you to transfer movies,
music, etc. between computers without limitation. After 30 days, the
file download size is limited to 10MB, and the file upload size is
limited to 2MB.
The Standard and Professional Editions have no limits on file transfers.
Data Backup
When using the backup function on the Lite Edition, backup data is
stored in a folder whose name is based on the Computer Name entered on the Preferences panel on the remote
computer. If you change the Computer
Name on the remote computer after doing some backups, the stored
backed up data will not be accessible and will caused errors during the
backup/restore process.
Backup data stored by the Standard and Professional Editions is stored
in a folder whose name is based on the runtime key's serial number, so
changing the Computer Name on
the remote computer has no effect.
During the first
30 days after installation, data backup is unrestricted on the Lite
Edition. After 30 days, a maximum of 20 backups can be performed.
Since the data backup function in the Lite Edition of Kenbushi is only
intended for demonstration purposes, you should not backup important
data with it. Please purchase the Professional Edition if you wish to
routinely use the data backup function with real data.
Media Playback
All editions of Kenbushi can play music and full-length full-screen
movies (with wireless PDA remote control) without restriction. After 30
days, the Lite and Standard Editions have their bookmark and Skipmark
buttons disabled. Skipmarks already set on movies will work as usual
(if the Enable Skipmarks
checkbox is checked), but no new Skipmarks can be added and Skipmarks
cannot be edited or removed. Please purchase the Professional Edition
if you wish to use media bookmarks and Skipmarks.
Wireless Slideshows
During the first
30 days after installation, wireless slideshows are unrestricted on all
editions. After 30 days, this feature is disabled on the Lite
and Standard Editions. Please purchase the
Professional Edition if you wish to use wireless slideshows.
Web Server
All editions of
Kenbushi have an unrestricted Web server.
Verify files after transfer
The
Standard and Professional Editions support automatic verification of
files after transfer, to ensure file transfer integrity. On the Lite
Edition, this feature is disabled.
Encrypt Data
Only the Professional
Edition supports file data encryption, to keep it secure during LAN and
Internet transfers.