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Does a DVI KVM Solution Exist?
clichekiller asks: "I'm looking for a way to share my Apple 23" LCD between my Dual-G4 and my Athlon PC. I know that I'll need to upgrade my PC video card to one that has a DVI connector on it, but I haven't found a DVI Switch yet. Is there a simple way to share an LCD between two computers? Has anyone managed this between a Mac and a PC? I'd really like to ditch my behemoth 70 lbs. 19" monitor."
Belkin makes a version of their Omniview SOHO KVM switches that has DVI ports and USB - perfect for use with a Mac. Unfortunately, I've been unable to get it to work with the Apple 23" flat panel monitor using Apple's DVI-ADC adapter. When the monitor is connected to the Mac through the KVM switch, the Mac (a G5) shuts itself down immediately. I haven't yet figured out why it does this or whether there's a workaround. Belkin tech support says they've never heard of that but couldn't say whether they'd tested the switch with Apple's monitors.
He said he wants *two* window managers. I take that to mean two different window managers running and controlling each screen. I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that, but whatever floats their boat. NVidia's stuff works fine on the other hand except for the occassional flickering I get from the DVI output (connected via a DVI-VGA adapter which I've replaced.. still flickers randomly).
I find it hilarious that you didn't read his post thouroughly. If you did you would have seen he wants it for a 23" Apple HD LCD. In other words, he wants to be able to use the native 1920x1200 resolution. If you had checked the ones you found they have a MAX digital resolution of 1600x1200. So who is the idiot now?...
MacOSX, because making *NIX better is a lot better than waiting for Micro$loth to fix Windows
Dr. Bott makes a pretty inexpensive mechanical DVI+USB switch. Like most of them, it's only good for up to 1280x1024 panels. They used to advertise it as being okay for Cinema displays, but enough people had problems owing to the extra cable length not being tolerated well for the higher signaling rate that they withdrew the claim.
VNC and similar virtual computing programs are useful, but they don't compare with direct access. No latency, no compromise on color depth or resolution, no compression or update artifacts. There's also no dependency on the VNC software, which means you can access/view parts of the machine outside of the OS (BIOS configuration, etc).
There's also a ZERO percent chance that a third party can access the machine remotely. Even with the best security practices and software, if you're connected to a network there's still a chance of a break-in.
VNC has it's uses, but a direct connection is preferable if the physical machine is right next to you. The advantage of a KVM switch increases with the number of machines, too!
=Smidge=
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/DVI_switch.html
Expensive, however....
-psy
DVI KVM Switches
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
I ditched KVMs about a year ago. Now I have Xinerama multihead setup (number of heads vary with varying number of monitors, videoadapters and deskspace available), and use X on *nix boxes and vnc to windows boxes.
.. they are a thing of the past .. and perhaps serverroom.
Much easier than KVM-switches.. really
Sorry if my initial posting was not specific enough. This was my first time posting a question.
Yes I'm looking to run at the native resolution, if possible. I keep my PC around to play games on so VNC or other networking solutions won't work.
As far as googling, I did that and only came up with some switches that wouldn't support my resolution. Again I should have been more specific.
I was hoping I wasn't the only person out there who wanted to do this and was looking for some input from others who have tried this to see what solutions work best.
On a side note, I've read your criticisms and have distilled from them the mistakes I made in my initial posting. In the future I will try to post more detailed information.
Sir, there is a dragon outside with an armful of armor. He's inquiring if we offer free refills.
VGA->DVI won't work with the Apple Cinema Display, which is digital-only and won't support analog signals. VGA->DVI adaptors don't do any conversion, they just bundle the analog signal into the little plus-shaped analog cluster on the side.
There are 10 kinds of people: ones who understand ternary, ones who don't, and ones who think this joke is about binary
I current have a setup with a couple of Powermac G4 Cubes and a Vaio on a Gefen KVM connected to a 23" cinema display LCD and a Kennsignton wireless mouse.
Works great, they support ADC by providing ADC-to-DVI cables and the main box is DVI/USB/audio.
I have one major complaint - the switch they provides (ie, the UI) is via an IR remote control. Unfortunately it's hideously simple - my TiVo remote is constantly swtiching the KVM if I don't block it. And that's the only UI to the KVM. Otherwise, it's great.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
Keep in mind that using a KVM may require you to make compromises you find unacceptable.
I bought and tried a few on my P4, G4, and G5- based setup. Ended up returning *all* of them.
The biggest issues I encountered, in no particular order:
1) degraded video quality. some cables / switches were better than others, but all of them caused some degredation past about 1024x768.
2) virtualization of mouse and keyboard devices. stops any special buttons or keys from working. on most KVMs, this means that your apple media keys might not work and some unusual mice (my kensington optical trackball) may not work at all. This alone was a deal-breaker for me since i use those extra buttons for expose and other functions
3) pc-centric nature of most kvm's. most of them assume you are connecting PCs. KVM hardware may not work or may have issues with non-PC OS' or hardware. The KVMs i tried usually worked ok, but a few presented virtual devices that were not recognized by my Macs or Linux.
Good luck!
Diego
There is an easy solution and I have it for you.
What you need is the CompuCable Hybrid ADC/DVI KVM switch.
It has an ADC-out port that goes to your Cinema display -- mine is the 22". There is an ADC-in port that comes from the video card on the G4. You plug your USB keyboard and mouse into the back of the Cinema display. Mouse and keyboard signals are passed over ADC to the Mac.
There is also a DVI-in port that accepts signal from your PC video card. Then there is a USB output port that connects to your PC's USB input. This gets mouse and keyboard signals into the PC.
It changes monitor AND mouse AND keyboard from Mac to PC and back with the push of ONE button. It works every time. I'm using my Cinema 22 monitor, swapping between a G4/Panther and a PC/Windows 2000 at 1620x1024 32-bit resolution.
No sweat! Five minutes to set up!
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.