How do I start a pgm on boot up

carolinadon -

There are two ways:

1.  If the item you want to startup is on your dock, right click it (click and ctrl at the same time if you don't have a two-button mouse) and select "Open at login".  That's it!

2.  If it isn't in the dock, open System Preferences (under the apple) and select Accounts.  When that opens, select the user you want the app to open under.  Click the Login Items tab.  Click the plus sign at the bottom left of the right side of the window, and browse to and select the app to open.

That should do it!

Re method 1.  That does not work which is what prompted my question. It shows the
check beside "Open at Login" but it does not do it.  The app. is "Vine Server".  Would that make a difference?

I'll try method 2.

Method 2 did not work either.  One thing I noticed, after I clicked the app "Vine 3.0" it said "volume" beside it, while all the other things in the start menu said "application"

I re-started, but Vine 3.0 did not start automatically.

I have just one user in the Accounts section.

Are you getting any error messages or any unusual pop ups during restart?

It sounds like the OS thinks Vine 3.0 is a disk volume and tries to start THAT up (or mount it).

Do you have a Vines 3.0 volume set up on your hard drive or at the remote location?

No error messages of odd things on restart.

I'm sure there are clues if only I knew what's important. For example, there IS a Vine drive icon (a white rectangle with a slot in front that says Vine 3.0 under it on the desk top; but I leave that alone.  To start Vine I click open the silver Mac Hard Drive icon, then double click Vine 3.0.  Incidentally Vine 3 is described under "kind" as an Alias.  That causes a square screen icon to appear in the dock just above the trash can. When maximized, it says Vine (the server) is running.  When I actually connect from a PC to the Mac desktop, another icon appears in the dock above the separator bar. It is a greenish circle labeled Vine Server; right clicking that gives me a menu where I have checked "Start on Login" (which it doesn't).    I think one of these circle icons might appear each time someone uses Vine to connect, but since I am the only one I only see this one. This greenish icon looks similar to other app. icons like iTunes and Safari.  Perhaps this is not as simple a question as I thought and I should increase the points?  

Do not use an alias (shortcut) to start up with.  Find the actual program and use it.  That may solve this problem.

I found a Vine Server entry that says it's an "application".  When I start that, I get the same screen icon below the divider line in the dock that I get if I start the alias.  None of the options for the application includes a "start on login".  The only place I find that option is on the green circle icon that pops up once a PC actually logs onto the server.

In other words, starting the app and starting the alias seem to have the same result.

I would like for Vine to start as part of the boot so that I don't have to manually go to the Mac and start it before I can access the mac desktop from a PC.  (Mac is in one location, PCs are in another location.)  Is that possible?

OK.  Now try method 2 on the actual app.

Vine is now in the list of login items as per Method 2.

When the mac starts, it does indeed put the round green vine icon in the dock, but it does not actually start it. To do that, I must click it. That causes the icon for the volume (the white box) to appear on the desk top, a white dot to appear beside the green icon (saying its running), and a screen to appear that says the server is running, which, when minimized becomes a screen icon under the dock divider bar.

It would seem all I have to do is click "Open on Login" on the green icon in the dock. I do that. But it doesn't stick for the next re-start.  Restart puts the green icon in the dock, but "open at login" is no longer checked (which is why it doesn't start).

In summary, what we have done causes the Vine icon to appear in the dock on a boot, but does not actually start it.

I will research this tomorrow.  It has something to do with Vine and the way it works.  Since I am not familiar with the product, I can't say right this minute what the issue is, but I should know tomorrow and I'll get back to you.

I am going to post the question in the Vine forum (Redstone Software) and see if I can understand their answer. I apologize, I thought this was something simple. I'll post what I find out there.

Bring it back here if you need a translator or just more help.  Use this thread, so I get a notification when you do.

Good luck!

FROM FORUM:
It sounds like you've put the disk image for the Vine package in the dock, not the application. When you download the package, you get a disk image (like a virtual CD or DVD), from which you need to drag the application into the Applications directory on your Mac. It's that application that you then need to put in the dock and set to run at login.

I'm basing this on the fact that you say "That causes the icon for the volume (the white box) to appear on the desk top" -- that definitely indicates that you've mounted a disk, not started the application. You don't want to run the app from the disk image.

I did follow the instructions, and almost have it working.  I'll send you the results when everything is done.  

I have no idea what I did when I installed Vine 18 months ago. I've only installed 2 things on the mac and the whole process seems foreign to a PC user.  But it became less mysterious tonight when I followed the step-by-step directions; if only I can remember it when I install something else 3 years from now.  :)

3 years from now, you will follow the instructions again.

Correspondence from Vine forum:

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Open the mounted image. Depending on what you downloaded, it will have either just the Vine Server or the server and the viewer in it.

Drag the application(s) from the Finder window to the Applications folder on your machine.

Unmount the disk image and yes, you can move the file you launch it from to the trash.

Open the Applications folder and drag the Vine Server to the Dock.

Now do the setup for start at login and you should be good to go.
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Matt Hicks
Technical Support Engineer
TestPlant, Inc.
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That almost gets it!

When it launches, it leaves the Server Running screen open. Is there a way for it to automatically minimize? Or do I have to do that manually? I looked over "preferences" but didn't see anything that might work. Basically I want Vine to start when I boot and run in "background" without any action from me.

I access the mac desktop from a PC in another part of the house to control itunes, which continually broadcasts via an FM transmitter to radios around the property. There are no other users so I have the "allow only one user" option set for security. I turned off "advertise thru Bonjour" because I don't know what that is.

Thank you.

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Look under the Server menu. You want to set up the System Server and disable the Open at Login feature on the Dock.

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Did that, and when I boot nothing shows up in the dock but the server is running because I can access the mac from the pc. Perfect!
Thank you.
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There is a product/website called LogMeIn (.com).  You can install LMI Free on both the Mac and your (or any other computers) that let's you access the desktop of your Mac (or whatever PC you log into).  You can then do almost anything you would do sitting at that computer.  You can control the Mac that way.

Congrats on getting this done!

Take care!