Load-in to first slide
From road cases to one advance landing on every screen. Every machine keeps its settings, so you do this once per fleet, not once per day.
Before doors
1Install on every machine
Mac: double-click the .pkg. Windows: run the .exe. KueSync opens at login and lives in the menu bar (Mac, top right) or the system tray (Windows, bottom right), not in the Dock or taskbar.
2Put every machine on one network
Every machine on the same network and subnet. A wired show switch is best; an isolated switch with self-assigned 169.254 addresses works too.
- Ignore hotel and guest Wi-Fi on every machine. Those networks stop devices reaching each other. The machine still uses it for internet. Mac: KueSync menu › the Wi-Fi address › Ignore this network. Windows: tray › Ignore network.
- Mac: set the show network as preferred. KueSync menu › the show network address › Use as preferred network.
3Make the Leader
Every machine starts as a Follower. On the machine that runs the show, open KueSync menu › Settings.
- 1Mode › Leader. This machine now drives the fleet.
- 2License. Enter your key here, on the Leader only. Followers need no key; a backup Leader is licensed when you approve it.
On a Mac Leader: allow the permissions
The Permissions window opens by itself the first time you turn on Leader mode. Press each button and switch KueSync on in System Settings; each row turns to Allowed within a second.
- Input Monitoring and Accessibility: needed only where a clicker is plugged in.
- Local Network (macOS 15 and later): reads Allowed once this Mac has reached another KueSync machine.
Open it again any time from KueSync menu › Permissions…. Windows has no permissions like these.
4Add your followers
First, the PIN and the Fleet Password
- Match the Settings and Control PIN. Each machine makes its own random PIN at install. Set every follower’s PIN to the Leader’s, at Settings › Security › Settings and Control PIN on each machine. Then adding a follower is one click with no prompt, and its Settings open from the Leader with no prompt. A machine never asks for its own PIN.
- The Fleet Password is automatic. The Leader makes one the first time it becomes a Leader, and gives it to each follower you add. On a follower it reads Fleet Password, locked to the Leader: there is nothing to set there. You only type it into a Companion connection, from the Leader’s Settings › Security › Fleet Password.
- 1Scan finds every KueSync machine on the network.
- 2Add the ones in this show. Scan only finds them; the Leader drives only the machines it lists, and gives each one the Fleet Password.
- 3Each follower shows its number, name, address and version. Every version should match the Leader’s.
A machine that was in another fleet
A machine keeps the Fleet Password of the fleet it was in, so a new Leader can’t take it over by accident. Move it across like this:
- It was a follower in another fleet. Its Settings say This machine belongs to a different fleet. On that machine, press Settings › This machine › Leave this Fleet, then add it on your Leader.
- It was a Leader. Set its Mode to Follower. It asks Listen for a new leader for 3 minutes?: press OK, or press Settings › Security › Listen for a new leader. Then add it on your Leader within the 3 minutes. It takes your Leader’s Fleet Password and the button closes by itself.
On the Leader, a follower that still holds another password reads refusing: Fleet Password mismatch in red, and one that another Leader holds reads held by that Leader’s name. Either way, do the step above on that machine.
5Test one advance on every screen
Open a deck, start the slideshow on the Leader and press forward on the remote. On a Mac, the first time KueSync moves a slide, macOS asks to let it control Keynote or PowerPoint: click OK.
Open KueSync Control from the KueSync menu. Fleet ready at the top, and the deck and slide under Now Playing, mean the fleet is up.
Next: get the show files on every machine with the Getting files onto every machine guide.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Fix |
|---|---|
| Scan found a machine, but it doesn’t follow | Scan only finds machines. Press Add. |
| Adding a follower asks for a PIN | Its PIN doesn’t match the Leader’s. Enter the PIN shown in that machine’s own Settings, or match the PINs first. |
| A follower reads refusing: Fleet Password mismatch | It still holds another fleet’s password. On that machine: Leave this Fleet, or, if it was a Leader, Listen for a new leader. Then add it again. |
| Its Settings say This machine belongs to a different fleet | Press Leave this Fleet on that machine, then add it on your Leader. |
| A follower reads held by another Leader | Another Leader on the network has it. Remove it there, or press Leave this Fleet on the machine. |
| Mac Leader, and the remote does nothing | Open KueSync menu › Permissions… and allow Input Monitoring and Accessibility. |
| Slides don’t move on a Mac | Click OK when macOS asks to let KueSync control Keynote or PowerPoint. |
| Settings says the machines can’t see each other | The network isolates devices, usually hotel or guest Wi-Fi. Ignore it and use your show network. |
| New PC, and Settings opens nothing | Open Microsoft Edge once, then try again. |
| One machine lags or acts differently | Open http://<its-ip>:37100/health and check its version matches the rest of the fleet. |
Pre-show checklist
- The KueSync icon is on every machine, all on the show network.
- One Leader, licensed; every follower added, with matching versions.
- Every follower’s PIN matches the Leader’s, and none reads refusing or held by.
- Mac Leader: Permissions all Allowed.
- KueSync Control says Fleet ready; Settings, Live status shows every follower online and the clock locked.
- One forward and one back on the remote land on every screen.