I've got more than one computer in my office. To be more precise I've got four: my desktop system, my laptop, our house server, and an old system that isn't currently hooked up—largely because I don't have desk space to dedicate to yet another keyboard, mouse, and monitor. In the past, I've managed our "headless" house server using TightVNC, but I've always wanted a KVM; i.e., a device that would let me control more than one computer from one Keyboard, Video, and Mouse.
Now that I've got some free time, I decided I should take the plunge and acquire a good KVM to do the job. I've always wanted to install Linux on the old system that is presently collecting dust, but I simply haven't had the time or the desire to crawl around under my desk to fiddle with cables during the process. What I discovered while evaluating several different KVM units surprised me greatly, for it seems that neither USB nor PS/2 ports are nearly as standard as they are supposed to be.
I started with a really neat unit, Iogear's GCS1714 MiniView™ III 4-Port KVMP Switch. The 'P' in 'KVMP' indicates that the unit also supplies peripheral sharing features; i.e., that it can effectively serve as a USB patch bay, connecting USB devices to any of the four computers it controls as needed. This was also the only pure USB KVM that I found at my local Fry's Electronics, and since both my keyboard and mouse were plugged into USB ports on my desktop system it seemed like a good choice. The peripheral sharing features also appealed to me, as did the fact that all Iogear units include their own high-quality cables right in the box—unlike some other competitors as we'll soon see.
At any rate, I got the unit home, read the instructions, powered all my computers down, installed the device properly, and began my testing by turning on the house server. It worked exactly as one would expect. It started up fine, made it into Windows XP, detected new hardware (the server previously had a PS/2 mouse and keyboard), and everything worked as it should. Because something actually working as it's supposed to is so rare, I had to fuss around with the machine for a few minutes to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Sure enough, though, the keyboard worked and so did my mouse.
I then fired up my desktop system, expecting the same sort of pleasant experience, and I was dismayed to see it halt on startup with a keyboard error. According to the error message, there was no keyboard connected, and I was given the option of pressing F1 to continue or the delete key to enter setup. Honestly, people, it's 2003; isn't it about time for computers that don't detect a keyboard to handle it more intelligently? I mean, how can I possibly press any key if there's no keyboard?! Sheesh. I fiddled about with it for a while, trying various things, but no matter what I did I couldn't get my keyboard to work.
So I did something stupid: I called technical support. After talking to them for a while it became clear that my keyboard wasn't ever going to work properly. Ah, well, what did I expect from technical support anyway? The whole point of technical support, it seems, is to piss off the customer so that he won't call back and further waste the company's time and money. As an aside, the technician with whom I was speaking deserves promotion in light of his steadfast adherence to that philosophy.
I did eventually discover on my own that if I waited for the keyboard error, unplugged the keyboard from the KVMP, and plugged it back in, my keyboard would be detected properly and work. Unfortunately, that wasn't my only problem with the Iogear unit, for once I had gotten past the keyboard error, I discovered that my nifty eight-button Logitech MX-700 wireless mouse was being detected as a pedestrian three-button rodent. For some reason, Windows XP refused to see the Logitech mouse for what it was, and I couldn't find any way to convince it otherwise. Given that neither the keyboard nor the mouse worked properly, I decided it was time to head back to Fry's.
Along the way I made two decisions: (1) I would start using my keyboard and mouse as PS/2 devices, and (2) I would try a different vendor's wares. In light of (1), I had to buy a USB to PS/2 adapter for my mouse (my keyboard's cable actually splits and provides both). In light of (2), I purchased my second KVM, Belkin's F1DS104T OmniView™ SOHO Series 4-Port KVM Switch with Audio. I didn't really need the audio features, but I thought (mistakenly) that the Belkin unit had peripheral sharing features similar to the Iogear unit.
As it turned out, the Belkin unit was a sort of hybrid; i.e., it required a PS/2 keyboard and mouse, but it could connect to the client computers via either PS/2 or USB. That wasn't at all obvious from reading the features listed on the box, mind you, but it became clear after reading the manual and examining the device. Despite the lack of peripheral sharing features, however, the Belkin unit was strong in other respects. It had a longer warranty than the Iogear unit (viz., five years as compared to three), it had a more intelligent design in some respects (e.g., the Iogear unit tipped over easily once cables were plugged into it, while the Belkin unit was angled nicely to prevent that), and it handled higher video resolutions and refresh rates.
The most obvious drawback to the Belkin unit was that it was more expensive; i.e., it cost $10 more and didn't include any KVM cabling, which essentially added another $45 to the overall price. A less obvious drawback was that it didn't work properly. I was pleasantly surprised to find that both our house server and my desktop system started up just fine, the latter not giving me the goofy keyboard error in the process. I was even more pleasantly surprised to find that my desktop computer's Windows XP installation continued to detect my mouse properly. I began to think that my first experience with Iogear was atypical and that I had found the right vendor. After all, everything seemed to be working as it should.
Unfortunately, the first time I switched to our house server and back to my desktop system with the KVM, the scroll wheel on my mouse stopped working. Or to be more precise, my desktop system stopped responding to it. I could switch to the house server and use the scroll wheel just fine, but when I switched back to my desktop system the scroll wheel was ignored completely by all applications. Only by rebooting the system or unplugging the mouse and plugging it back into the KVM could I get the scroll wheel working again. Isn't that odd?
So again I did something stupid and called technical support—I really don't learn very quickly, do I? This time I got someone who at least tried to be helpful. What he told me, though, was very hard to believe. As soon as he found out that I was using a wireless mouse, the Belkin technician told me that it wasn't going to work. When I asked why not, he told me that it was because wireless mice "send different signals". When I asked how my mouse could possibly be sending different signals, given that it plugs into the same bloody PS/2 port as every other mouse in the world, his only response was that it does somehow "send different signals".
That didn't pass the stink test with me, so I hung up and called Logitech support instead. I figured they would be able to confirm or deny that their mouse somehow sends different signals than other PS/2 devices. Again I was wrong. The technician couldn't comment on any sort of signals, but he did say that the Logitech MX-700 wireless mouse isn't supported when plugged into a hub, a KVM, or any other device separating it from the computer. That sounds pretty silly to me and implies that Logitech's hardware or drivers are doing something unorthodox at best. Regardless of why it wouldn't work, the Belkin unit clearly wasn't for me.
So back to Fry's I went. I really hate having to make so many trips and return so many items to the store, but what else can I do? It's not like hardware or software actually works like it's supposed to, and it's not like I have any way to find out what will actually work without buying and trying it. After another trip to the returns desk I investigated my other options. Both Belkin and Iogear had even lower-end models, lacking any USB support whatsoever, and I figured I had a workaround for the mouse problem if needed.
After comparing feature sets, I settled on Iogear's GCS14 MiniView™ PC 4 Port Compact KVM Switch. My reasoning was pretty simple. By this point I figured that none of the available models were going to work properly, so that was no longer a relevant consideration. The determining factors were therefore price and convenience. Again, the Iogear model was about $10 cheaper than the Belkin model, and it also included four sets of cables while the Belkin unit included none. Note to Belkin: if you included cables for your products, I'd pay the extra $10. As things stand, Belkin simply isn't price competitive in my view.
Sure enough, despite the fact that the Iogear unit's box says "Microsoft Intellimouse, Logitech FirstMouse+, MouseMan+, and other special mice are supported", my special mouse wasn't supported. I hooked everything up and Windows XP on my desktop system again refused to treat my mouse as anything but a three-button rodent. Since I was tired of fighting with the whole mess, I went straight to my workaround: I dug up an old Microsoft three-button mouse and plugged that into the KVM instead, connecting my Logitech mouse directly to my desktop system. That works just fine. Yes, I have two mice sitting on my desk, but that's a price I'm willing to pay to have a KVM and still be able to use my nifty Logitech mouse.
The question that kept coming back to me throughout this process was this: why must everything be so damned difficult? If any old USB device can't be plugged into any old USB port, then what is the point of having a USB port standard? If any old PS/2 keyboard or mouse can't be plugged into any old PS/2 keyboard or mouse port, then what is the point of having a PS/2 port standard? Why is it that, in this day and age, such seemingly standard technologies still aren't standard in any useful sense of the word? And why can't vendors at least be bothered to note such ridiculous compatibility exceptions on their boxes? And still more important, why must we consumers put up with this ridiculous garbage?!
Almost every time I buy some piece of hardware, it fails to work as it should. There's always some compatibility problem with some other piece of hardware or software in my system. We're not talking about rocket science here, folks, we're talking about KVM products; these are devices that are glorified switches, for crying out loud, and one would think that they are actually capable of routing and carrying signals from one device to another in a wholly transparent fashion. But this is obviously not the case. If you too are in the market for a KVM, I suggest you take my advice: buy it locally, because you'll probably be returning it if you're using anything fancier than the lowest-common-denominator keyboard or mouse.
08/08/2003