[OT] USB KVM switches

[Doc Shipley]

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