[Tfug] KVM switches and Gentoo

[Adrian]

On Saturday 12 August 2006 17:37, bigj at flatwan.net wrote:
> >
> > Some switches need to be switched to that machine before powering on that
> > machine.  Some of them miss the mouse completely if it's not targeting
> > that
> > computer while it is powering on.
> >
> 
> Seriously? Yuck. One of the purposes of a KVM is to keep all ports captive
> so that this doesn't happen. Get a new KVM if that is the case 'cause that
> is a PITA if that is true.
> 

Yes... Unfortunately he is exactly right. Many of the cheaper KVMs available 
(re: less than $100-150) have 2 problems that I have found. 1) Many are 
powered by the PS2 and/or monitor cables, so they suffer from lack of power 
problems, particularly when several machines are connected, but only 1 is on. 
2) The most important, the port state is completely passive, the KVM itself 
does not save/replay/emulate any peripheral devices, so it must often be 
switched to the device on boot to recognize properly.

I just went thru this last month, fighting with a Linksys KVM. Even with both 
machines on all the time, the PS2 would drop periodically and the machine 
would not re-recognize a device there (always either the keyboard or mouse). 
I finally gave up after a couple weeks of trying different cables/configs and 
just dropped 2 monitors and keyboards on the desk for the user.

Adrian