Whats causing this?

[Peter F]

Hi All,

We have just begun a migration of legacy and new PC's. Both the systems are
needed to run in parrallel for at least a year due to SLA etc.

We use a 4 port KVM switch (which has USB and PS2) connections. When we plug
in the new PC's to the USB port there is no problem. When we conntect the old
NT4 legacy PC's to the KVM we can't get the mouse to work. We have attempted
to reboot while connected but still not joy.

Can anyone offer any advise please.

Thanks.

 

[John7]

Hi,


I assume when you connect the NT4 PC to the KVM switch , you use the PC PS2
mouse port.
What 'master' mouse is connected to the KVM-switch (USB or PS2) ?
_________

If USB, does the KVM-switch translate USB into PS2 ?
If not, is there a KVM port for a PS2 'master'mouse ?

If USB and PS2 'master' mice can be connected, how does KVM-switch determine
what mouse
to use for particular PC's ?

Does the NT4 PC have USB ports with BIOS Legacy Support (might support USB
mice & keyboard).
For NT4 operation it may be required to install USB keybaord/mouse drivers
in the NT4.

The KVM-switch must offer Mouse Emulation. This means, it simulates mouse
presence even
when the KVM switch controls a different PC. Some BIOSs tend to drop the
mouse when they
can no longer communicate with it.

Is there a BIOS update for these NT4 PC that might fix this issue ?


HTH,
John7



How is determined which mouse

 

[VanguardLH]

We have just begun a migration of legacy and new PC's. Both the systems are
needed to run in parrallel for at least a year due to SLA etc.

We use a 4 port KVM switch (which has USB and PS2) connections. When we plug
in the new PC's to the USB port there is no problem. When we conntect the old
NT4 legacy PC's to the KVM we can't get the mouse to work. We have attempted
to reboot while connected but still not joy.

By mentioning PS/2 ports and legacy hosts, the assumption is that your
legacy hosts have a BIOS that lacks USB support or lacks support for
"USB legacy devices" (i.e., USB keyboard and USB mouse).

Some KVMs are merely pass-through routers (i.e., just a switch with no
logic to convert between mismatched input and output port types). A USB
mouse connected to a USB input port on the KVM may not go through the
conversion needed to support a PS/2 output port on the KVM connected to
a PS/2 port on the host. It would depend on which KVMs you are using.
Don't expect much from the cheap ones which are often nothing more than
switched splitter boxes (this input goes direct to one of the multiple
outputs). A decent 4-port USB & PS/2 KVM that allows USB-PS2 conversion
costs $200, probably a lot more and hard to find. If they can be daisy
chained, they might have the logic to do the cross-port conversions.

Rather than mix your legacy and new hosts on a KVM, segregate your KVMs.
For each KVM, all hosts connected to it are legacy hosts, or all hosts
connected to it are new hosts, but don't mix them on the same KVM.
Those KVMs are lot cheaper and far more abundant.

Does the manuals for the KVMs say they will convert USB to PS/2 and visa
versa? Might work if you use a PS/2 mouse to the KVM, a PS/2 cable to
the legacy host that only supports PS/2, and a USB cable to the new host
but use a USB-to-PS2 adapter at the end connecting to the USB port in
the new host.

 

[Peter F]

Hi John,

Thanks very much for the usefull information. I am unsure of the queries and
i am going to ask the relevant support team, and will get back to you in due
course.

Once again thanks very much for your reply, very much appreciated.

Regards.

 

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[Peter F]

Hi Vangurad

Thanks for the information i will get in touch with the support team in due
course.

The KVM switch we use is an Avocent Switchview SC140 4 port.

Regards.

 

[VanguardLH]

Avocent Switchview SC140 4 port

Product description:
http://www.avocent.com/SwitchView_SC100-SC200.aspx

Online manual:
http://pcs.mktg.avocent.com/@@content/manual/590719501a.pdf

Not much there for a manual. More of a quick-start guide. It says,
"Using the SwitchView SC switch¢s peripheral cable set (USB or
PS/2), plug the cables into the corresponding ports on your
server." From the backpanel picture, it appears you select to use a
USB cable set to connect to a USB host or a PS/2 cable set to connect
to a PS/2 host. So my guess is that it is supposed to do the
conversion whether you use USB or PS/2 keyboard and/or mouse for the
console device inputs. I'm surprised it doesn't permit chaining (don't
see a port for that).

On the legacy hosts, are you connecting to a PS/2 or USB port for the
mouse connect in the cable set from the KVM?

 

[Peter F]

Hi Vanguard,

All the Legacy PC's are ps/2 ports. Hope that helps.

 

[VanguardLH]

Hi Vanguard,

All the Legacy PC's are ps/2 ports. Hope that helps.

I'd try following scenarios:

- Use the USB cable set between the KVM and legacy host. On the end of
the USB mouse cable, use a USB-to-PS2 adapter (lots of USB mice come
with this adapter to connect them to a PS/2 port). If that works,
you'll use the USB cable sets on all KVM ports whether they go to new or
legacy hosts but the legacy hosts will need the adapter for the mouse to
connect to the PS/2 port.

- Use a PS/2 cable set between the KVM and legacy hosts. Use a PS/2
mouse on the console input port. If this works, see if the USB cable
sets between the KVM and new hosts still work.

 

[Peter F]

Hi Vanguard,

Some very good points which i will try out.

I will keep you posted as to what happens but i dont think that i will be on
site for another 2 to 3 weeks.

Thanks very much for taking the time to post.

 

[Peter F]

Hi Vanguard,

I have some information of how the setup is at present, please could you
share your thoughts.

As requested this is a short description on the problems
encountered so far with the new Avocent Cybex SwitchView SC140's.

Initially we hooked up the KVM in two separate areas consisting of:

1 x machine (XP Pro)
1 x Machine (Windows NT4)

Cables:
1 x 26 pin to VGA/PS2
1 x 26 pin to VGA/USB
1 x VGA to VGA

Adapter:
1 x VGA to DVI

Peripherals:
1 x USB Keyboard
1 x USB Mouse

After installing the equipment in the correct manner (power to the KVM
supplied by the two base units) we found that the Keyboard (KB) and Mouse
worked fine on XP but on NT4 only the KB worked correctly with no clicking
actions available on the mouse (we could still move the cursor around the
screen). These symptoms were present on the second installation as well.

Next we tried the configuration with the KVM powered by its own power
adaptor but with the same results.

The next step we took was to take out the USB KB and mice and replace
them with PS2 KB's and Mice but with the same fault.

After reporting the fault the Technicians/Engineers were present to fault
find, signed on as the local administrator the engineers attempted to alter
the configuration but with no joy.

Our next step was to install the KVM onto a stand alone laptop with Windows
NT4, similar symptoms were present for this setup. The KB worked, at first,
in this setup with the Mouse producing the same error, after re-booting the
laptop the KB and Mouse attached to the KVM controller did not work at all.
At this point we stopped the trial. Tests were made with the KVM powered by
its own power source and off of the laptop.

If you can help in any way that would be great.