Mutant USB K(V)M Switches?

Zwack asks: "I was wondering about a KVM switch capable of handling both Macintosh and Linux like computers. I would prefer the V part to be optional as I use multiple screens, but I prefer to use a single keyboard and mouse. Ideally there would be an open design out there that I could adapt to my needs. I've worked with large commercial products before with mixed results, but the prices seem exorbitant for my limited home use. I've searched google without any real success. Does anyone know of any low cost products or open designs that they would recommend. Initially PC/Mac support is all that is required, longer term I may want to add Unix workstations into the mix (I used to own Sun and SGI boxes, and I work with a lot of HP and IBM equipment)." The "mutant" part comes from the fact that the switch itself has to offer an easy way to adapt to the different platforms it will connect to. Such a switch might use special cables: a custom connector to the switch, but the opposite end will connect to whatever machine you like, be it a PC, a Mac, a workstation or even a TV. Something like this would strike me as a very useful portable device, has anyone developed something like this yet?

Comments

x2vnc and win2vnc

[waxed]

Check out x2vnc and win2vnc. One keyboard and mouse, seamlessly controlling multiple computers on a desk (each with their own monitor) as though they were one big desktop space.

http://www.hubbe.net/~hubbe/x2vnc.html
http://w ww.hubbe.net/~hubbe/win2vnc.html

My KVM Solution

[AnamanFan]

I was in a very similar situation myself! I have a MAC tower, a Dell portable, and a HUGE Dell screen. I was appalled by the over-priced boxes out there, but here is my cheep-but-effective solution:

My keyboard and mouse I use is PS/2. (I do have MAC issue keyboard and mouse, but you'll see why I use PS/2.) from there, it travels to my $50 (w/o cables) Linksys PS2KVM2 switch with my screen connected. To my Dell PC, I connect the switch up using some double male patch cords. For the MAC, I got a USB to PS/2 adapter for $15 at a computer show.

It works like a charm! For the Linksys switch, I just have to hit Ctrl twice and I switch computers. It really confuses some of my friends when one minute they are looking at OS X and the next Windows XP. I do have a few notes:

If a switch does not plug into the wall for power, it will draw power from keyboard and mouse inputs. In other words, you can expect things to work unless one powered keyboard and mouse are connected to the switch. If you removed video from the switch, it will still operate as long as the keyboard and mouse are plugged in.

The other note I have is that even though I can still use all the keyboard functions on the MAC. The Windows key functions like the Apple key. The only thing I can't seem to do is do boot-level functions. (Example: If I hold down C at booting, it will not boot to the CD drive.) That's why you should keep your old mac keyboard and mouse around.

I know this isn't a pure USB solution, but it may be cheeper than finding a box that uses USB natively. Hope this helped someone!

Re:My KVM Solution

[PotPieMan]

I recently set up two Belkin OmniView SOHO series KVMs at work. One of the stations required a Mac and an IBM PC. We used the PS2 version and PS2-to-USB adapters for the Mac. It works pretty well; the only issue I've seen is that the mouse sample rate seems low on the Mac, but that might be the fault of a crappy wheel mouse (I'm used to opticals by now). Note that Belkin has USB solutions in the SOHO series, so that might be something to consider.

I prefer the Belkins over the Linksys KVMs because the cable management is sooo much nicer. The cables come out of the Linksys at right angles, ewwww.

use a normal kvm and a usb to ps2 adaptor

[silveyra]

I had the exact same problem, two linux machines, a windows machine, and a mac. I had a normal kvm, and all I did was get an adaptor that converts a mouse and a keyboard ps2 inputs to a single usb connector. I then hook the kvm ps2 ports to it, and I hook the adaptor to the mac.
Works great.
Adaptor was about $20 at Fry's.

Belkin OmniView SOHO KVM-(google is your friend)

[digitalmuse]

If you don't already have at least a basic video switchbox or basic HDI-15 & dual ps2 KVM, you might as well throw the money and do it right.
We're doing this at the office for some secretarial luser who needs both a W2K and Mac box. We picked up one of the Belkin Omniview SOHO 4's and had no problem hooking it up to both platforms. I've also heard that it works with linux (at least on a RH7.0 install someone had...YMMV)

Check out IOGear.com -- USB KVM switches

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.iogear.com/products/productselect.php?C ategory=KVM

I have the GCS104U. Bought it for $80 last year, but somehow it's selling for twice that now. 4 computers can share video and one USB mouse/keyboard, and can also share 4 USB peripherals (check the iogear.com web site for better photos, like:
http://www.iogear.com/resources/139/Web%20M ain%20I mage.jpg

Re:a lot of hard work, for what?

[tps12]

I keep two separate KVMs. One is for the boards I'm playing with and one is for the machines that are supposed to be stable. That works quite nicely. And once you try this, you realize you can add board, CPU, RAM units for such little cost your network starts to grow quickly. And why not, for the cost of a Dell PC you can add three or four boards/CPUs.

That's pretty awesome. One note, the KVM isn't even necessary once the boxes are configured and on the network. But is it not true that PCs won't boot w/o keyboard connected? Is there a kind of "fake keyboard" terminator or something that you can plug into the keyboard port to make the system boot?

And all this functionality is from no-name totally generic beige KVM boxes with A,B,C,D on the front that cost about twelve bucks. They're availalbe in USB, or AT + Serial or whatever brightens your day. I don't see why you'd need a name brand or something specifically tailored for multiple OSs. Just buy one and try it, they're quite cheap.

These would be KM switches, or video too? I had no idea they were available so cheaply. My needs in this area are minimal (unless I could share a sync-on-green monitor and a keyboard and mouse between a DEC 3000 and a NuBus Mac, but I'm not holding my breath), but I'm intrigued.

And while you're at it, build your own racks and screw the cases. You don't need to encourage bad design work from Taiwan. I live in Taiwan and I can tell you that the people here are capable of making beautiful designs that put the Japanese to shame, but they go where the money is. If people keep buying these ugly cases, they'll keep making them. If the demand drops maybe they'll start making cool curvy home rack mounts. I say buy the ugly KVMs for now and ditch the cases. Maybe later we'll see both in designer styles at the right prices.

I'm a little confused. I was under the impression that rack-mounted systems did have cases...just rack-mount cases. Above it sounds like you're talking about no cases at all?!? Or by "screw the cases" do you mean "screw the cases to the rack"? :)

And, there is an adaptor for swapping engines between cars, it's called a torch. If you keep the engine with a matching tranny all you have to do is shorten or lengthen the drive shaft to make it fit and possibly bang on some sheet metal and screw with the mounts, but it's not that big of a deal if you're swapping motors anyway.

I had no idea about this. Of course my parent gets modded "Interesting" and yours gets nothing, but that's the nature of the beast. Consider this an unofficial +1 Informative.