And whilst I'm on the subject of posting solved problems: I posted a while ago about a mouse problem with a set of eight debian boxes running from a Belkin KVM, and Wayne pointed me in the direction of the firmware of those particular KVM models. I set our hardwarey bloke on to the task and he was sent a few different firmware changes to make. He did this and reported the changes, none of which solved the problem, and finally Belkin requested we send the switch back to them for tests. They promised to send a reply-addressed box for this. Two weeks later, still no box, and since several weeks had gone by before that with these eight production-essential machines out of action, we had to shrug and order a known-to-work DLink KVM. This was a great shame, as the Belkin was an easier to use design in that you could select the channel required at the press of a button, whereas the DLink you have to tab round. Also because i was pretty pleased that Belkin were being so supportive and helpful and then disappointed they couldn't even post a box. So the solution was that we didn't solve it but bypassed the problem. Jenny
On Wed, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:08:21AM +0100, Jenny Hopkins wrote:
And whilst I'm on the subject of posting solved problems: I posted a while ago about a mouse problem with a set of eight debian boxes running from a Belkin KVM, and Wayne pointed me in the direction of the firmware of those particular KVM models. I set our hardwarey bloke on to the task and he was sent a few different firmware changes to make. He did this and reported the changes, none of which solved the problem, and finally Belkin requested we send the switch back to them for tests. They promised to send a reply-addressed box for this. Two weeks later, still no box, and since several weeks had gone by before that with these eight production-essential machines out of action, we had to shrug and order a known-to-work DLink KVM. This was a great shame, as the Belkin was an easier to use design in that you could select the channel required at the press of a button, whereas the DLink you have to tab round. Also because i was pretty pleased that Belkin were being so supportive and helpful and then disappointed they couldn't even post a box. So the solution was that we didn't solve it but bypassed the problem.
I must say that I've never had a lot of success with KVM switches from the mouse point of view. I have a Belkin switch that I occasionally use (instead of Cygwin/X on my Win2k machine) to switch between Win2k and a Slackware Linux system. Over the years systems have changed but the mouse switching has never worked reliably (different systems, different KVM switches). I just have two mice and use the KVM for only the keyboard and video. -- Chris Green (chris@halon.org.uk)
On Wed, 2006-09-06 at 09:13 +0100, cl@isbd.net wrote:
I must say that I've never had a lot of success with KVM switches from the mouse point of view.
With the exception of some very expensive enterprise grade rack switches I would say that I haven't had a lot of success with KVM switches period. What I would like (and may even build one day) is a laptop without the computer bit, i.e a Laptop format device that is in fact a Keyboard/Mouse/VGA screen, self contained and battery powered. For the odd occasion that you actually need a physical head on a server that would be ideal and would totally negate the need for KVM switches in the server room (already the case if you are using a server platform that supports proper remote management at the hardware level). Of course you need to sort the hot-plug ability, which is sometimes a bit of a challenge with the x86 bios, I have noticed that although x86 hardware is fine with PS/2 keyboards being changed it doesn't always like having a keyboard plugged in if one was not present at boot. On windows the mouse is also a bit of a pain (USB mice are better in this respect) For any other purpose (other than 3D) there are now plenty of remote desktop choices for almost every platform.
On Wed, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:15:19PM +0100, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
On Wed, 2006-09-06 at 09:13 +0100, cl@isbd.net wrote:
I must say that I've never had a lot of success with KVM switches from the mouse point of view.
With the exception of some very expensive enterprise grade rack switches I would say that I haven't had a lot of success with KVM switches period.
Well my Belkin one is 100% reliable switching keyboard and screen and the video is satisfactory for my 1600x1200 resolution so I rate it as pretty good. [snip]
For any other purpose (other than 3D) there are now plenty of remote desktop choices for almost every platform.
This is what I use most of the time, I run Cygwin/X on my Win2k machine to display my Linux desktop. Just to expand a bit more as to why I use both:- The (Slackware) Linux box stays on all the time as a file server and mail server for the family's desktop machines. It's also visible from the outside world as a web server and for ssh connections so I can get into it from work for example. The Win2k machine is my 'personal' machine at home and I turn that on when I use it. Much of the time I actually use the Cygwin/X Linux desktop (running FVWM2, I'm old fashioned!). I use a certain amount of Windows software (MS Access accounts, Epson scanner software, one or two others) so need the Win2k machine. Using Cygwin/X mens I can cut and pasate between Linux and Windows which is very useful at times. The only times that I switch the monitor and keyboard to the Linux box directly is when I want to quickly check something (e.g. some mail) without having to wait for the Win2k system to boot. It is very useful to be able to do this sometimes though. As a consequence of all this discussion (and the fact that my Win2k system is going a bit flakey) I've started another thread asking about Vmware. -- Chris Green (chris@halon.org.uk)
On 07/09/06, cl@isbd.net <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Well my Belkin one is 100% reliable switching keyboard and screen and the video is satisfactory for my 1600x1200 resolution so I rate it as pretty good.
What kernel are you running on the linux box? (I presume this is being used with at least one). I've got eight machines running debian linked to mine, and the problem seemed to start when I upgraded to a 2.6.something kernel from 2.4. Jen
On Thu, Sep 07, 2006 at 09:30:21AM +0100, Jenny Hopkins wrote:
On 07/09/06, cl@isbd.net <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Well my Belkin one is 100% reliable switching keyboard and screen and the video is satisfactory for my 1600x1200 resolution so I rate it as pretty good.
What kernel are you running on the linux box? (I presume this is being used with at least one). I've got eight machines running debian linked to mine, and the problem seemed to start when I upgraded to a 2.6.something kernel from 2.4.
It's a slackware Linux box running a 2.4.26 kernel. -- Chris Green (chris@halon.org.uk)
On Thu, 2006-09-07 at 09:30 +0100, Jenny Hopkins wrote:
What kernel are you running on the linux box? (I presume this is being used with at least one). I've got eight machines running debian linked to mine, and the problem seemed to start when I upgraded to a 2.6.something kernel from 2.4. Jen
That's a pretty interesting thought actually, I had always assumed that your problems are down to hardware compatibility and had never considered why you didn't have the problem initially. The reasoning behind this was that I have often had problems with various KVM switches on specific hardware (a switch will play up on one type of machine but be fine on others) In fact the belkin release notes specifically mention some IBM machines (I know yours aren't IBM but you get my drift)
On Wed, Sep 06, 2006 at 09:15:19PM +0100, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
On Wed, 2006-09-06 at 09:13 +0100, cl@isbd.net wrote:
I must say that I've never had a lot of success with KVM switches from the mouse point of view.
With the exception of some very expensive enterprise grade rack switches I would say that I haven't had a lot of success with KVM switches period.
What I would like (and may even build one day) is a laptop without the computer bit, i.e a Laptop format device that is in fact a Keyboard/Mouse/VGA screen, self contained and battery powered.
I want a combination of an IP KVM with a built in power cycler, serial console provision and wireless/ethernet bridging. This would allow me to setup a new server in a different room to the one I work in (avoiding the noise factor) and configure it up fully; I need the IP KVM to get it initially configured to talk to the serial console and the ethernet/wireless bridging so I can network install it. No one seems to have made such a thing. Worse, in my searching to build my own I've found the IP KVMs are horrendously expensive for the amount of use I actually expect to get out of it (£250+). Bah. I have a Belkin conventional KVM under the desk. It's mostly fine, though I don't run my mouse though it (I think the issue is that Windows and Linux somestimes talk to the mouse slightly differently, which causes confusion). J. -- "Drink until the seat isn't uncomfortable." -- Huey on long distance flights
On 9/6/06, Jenny Hopkins <hopkins.jenny@gmail.com> wrote:
And whilst I'm on the subject of posting solved problems: I posted a while ago about a mouse problem with a set of eight debian boxes running from a Belkin KVM, and Wayne pointed me in the direction of the firmware of those particular KVM models.
While we're on the subject of KVMs, anyone have any tips for a Lindy 4port KVM owner? It randomly drops in to configure mode which should only be possible by pressing the large red button for 5 seconds. Annoyingly, pressing the button for 5 seconds doesn't cause it to go into configure mode. Regards, Tim.
On Wed, 2006-09-06 at 09:15 +0100, Tim Green wrote:
While we're on the subject of KVMs, anyone have any tips for a Lindy 4port KVM owner? It randomly drops in to configure mode which should only be possible by pressing the large red button for 5 seconds. Annoyingly, pressing the button for 5 seconds doesn't cause it to go into configure mode.
Sounds like more of a mechanical problem with the button itself than anything else. Thinking that the button is intermittently shorted it is causing the switch to drop into configure mode and that somehow that prevents entering configure mode when you want to. Does this button also cycle the inputs ? If so how reliable is that at the moment ?
On 9/6/06, Wayne Stallwood <ALUGlist@digimatic.co.uk> wrote:
On Wed, 2006-09-06 at 09:15 +0100, Tim Green wrote:
While we're on the subject of KVMs, anyone have any tips for a Lindy 4port KVM owner? It randomly drops in to configure mode which should only be possible by pressing the large red button for 5 seconds. Annoyingly, pressing the button for 5 seconds doesn't cause it to go into configure mode.
Sounds like more of a mechanical problem with the button itself than anything else.
Thinking that the button is intermittently shorted it is causing the switch to drop into configure mode and that somehow that prevents entering configure mode when you want to. Does this button also cycle the inputs ? If so how reliable is that at the moment ?
Yes, The Button also cycles inputs. That is very reliable, only I don't normally press The Button, I use the keyboard shortcuts. Pressing The Button now to cycle does nothing! I think I shall be taking the cover off again (couldn't see anything obvious last time) and examining The Button more carefully. Ta! Tim.
participants (5)
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cl＠isbd.net -
Jenny Hopkins -
Jonathan McDowell -
Tim Green -
Wayne Stallwood