PS/2 peripherals
Rick Stevens
rstevens at vitalstream.com
Thu Mar 8 21:28:45 UTC 2007
On Thu, 2007-03-08 at 13:51 -0600, Les Mikesell wrote:
> Anne Wilson wrote:
>
> >> The KVMs are supposed to do that, but apparently it is more complicated
> >> than it used to be with auto-detection and maybe even initialization of
> >> different device types. Some older ones don't work with mice with scroll
> >> wheels and I've always had trouble getting linux and windows to share
> >> one properly on KVMs that work with a 3-button mouse.
> >>
> > No offense, Les, but these comments need to be accompanied by a YMMV.
> >
> > I work all the time with two linux boxes under this desk, connected to a
> > Belkin PS/2 KVM. It behaves faultlessly. From what I have read, USB KVMs
> > are more problematic, though.
>
> The problem case I have is switching between Linux and Windows on the
> same kvm with a wheel mouse - and you may be right that some of them
> will work. With mine, whichever was switched to the kvm when the
> machine was rebooted would work, but then switching back to the other
> machine would make the mouse go wild. A nicer approach when you use
> both frequently is to add a monitor to the other machine and run synergy
> to share the keyboard/mouse like it was a dual-headed box. On a pair of
> machines I use less frequently I just use a 3-button mouse.
Just to stick my oar in, you may find that the "mouse going wild" may
be caused by the gpm daemon running. On occasion there's a conflict
that causes gpm and the X mouse handler to fight each other. I usually
have gpm disabled in run level 5:
chkconfig --level 5 gpm off
If I need to go to a virtual console via C-A-number and need gpm, I'll
start it in the virtual console.
As far as plugging/unplugging PS/2 keyboards and mice...we've done it
for years on literally thousands of machines and haven't popped a mobo
yet. The operative word there is "yet". It hasn't happened to us, but
it could.
We have, however, bent many a pin on the DIN connectors and VGA cables,
so we use short pigtails between the device and the computer. Lots
cheaper to replace a pigtail than the device!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Principal Engineer rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
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- When all else fails, try reading the instructions. -
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