[OT] USB KVM switches

From: Doc Shipley <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
Date: Tue Feb 1 06:05:26 2005

Eric Smith wrote:

> Bruce wrote:
>
>> KVM (Keyboard/Video/Mouse) switches do the same wonderful job for PC
>>consoles that serial A/B switches did for terminals.
>
>
> And I sure wish I could find some *reliable* USB KVM switches. Ideally
> without spending an arm and a leg, but given that the inexpensive ones
> are terrible, maybe I'd be willing to spend real money for one that
> actually works.


> Given that USB and the HID class have much more well-defined specifications
> than the PS/2 keyboard port, it astonishes me that USB KVM switches are
> so bad.

   Most of them - maybe all - assume Windows. Don't ask me how a KVM
that works with PCs running Windows WON'T work correctly with the same
PCs running Linux or *BSD, but it's common.

   I had an 8-port Aten KVM that works reliably and perfectly with PCs,
Macs with the proper adapters, PS/2-based HP 9000, and SPARCs, and
worked mostly with Alpha and RS/6000 gear. SGIs depended on the system.
  The only real quirk is that most systems want the switch's undivided
attention while they boot. (Alpha and RS6k translate the ? key to a
slash, no matter what you do, and attempts to use extended keys could
throw some Alpha systems into rectal flutter.)

   I recently spent the arm & leg on a Raritan 16-port MasterConsole II,
and I wish I'd done it 4 years ago. The video is *much* cleaner, my
mouse cursor is no longer 2 pixels off, and everything I've attached to
it to date Just Works.


        Doc
Received on Tue Feb 01 2005 - 06:05:26 GMT

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