M
Mountain Bikn' Guy
After many months of effort and expense, I finally have a good dual monitor
extended KVM setup. Here are the details and some history.
I have 3 computers located about 100 feet from my desk (in the garage). Each
has a dual monitor card (Appian Jeronimo Pro, PNY GeForceFX, & Matrox G550).
I use 2 Viewsonic VP181b flat screens (analog), each at 1280 x 1024. I also
have a special mouse (Contour Rollermouse USB) and a special keyboard (IBM
Trackpoint PS/2). All computers run Win2K (However, the hardware is very
different: a PII with 384MB RAM, a fast P4 with ATA RAID and a very fast
dual XEON with 4GB RAM and ATA RAID but a touchy (Tyan S2720) server
motherboard that won't boot if it doesn't like the keyboard/mouse). All of
these factors made it almost impossible to find a good KVM solution. I could
list many pages of what doesn't work. I'll give a few examples.
I tried the CompuCable Dual Monitor 2-Port PS/2 KVM Switch (KVM-201DUO)
($189) and the video resolution was very poor. Text was fuzzy and hard to
read.
BTW, I extended the video by using 2 special coax VGA cables (100 ft long)
from http://www.nti1.com/
For a while I was using 2 Belkin KVMs. They have good video quality and they
support audio. However, switching computers from 100 ft away is very
problematic -- the keyboard hotkeys only switch the KVM that is plugged into
the keyboard. The only way to switch the KVM for the 2nd monitor is to use
another keyboard (and another 100 ft PS/2 extension cable). On top of this,
the USB to PS/2 converter on my mouse caused some compatibility issues that
finally became too annoying. So I looked for a better solution.
Belkin recently announced their new dual head KVM (OmniViewT SOHO Series
4-Port KVM Switch with Audio). The video resolution looks to be best in
class at 2048x1536@85Hz. The audio is also unique in this class. So I made
the purchase. (Beware -- this model takes special cables. All my existing
Belkin cables wouldn't work and cables can be a big investment.)
Unfortunately, it wasn't a simple deal to get this new KVM working. It isn't
compatible with special keyboards, for one thing. And it won't operate
unless a keyboard it likes is plugged into the correct USB port on the KVM.
I didn't want 2 keyboards on my desk (why upgrade to this KVM, after all?).
A key part of my solution was the X-keys stick (http://www.xkeys.com/). It
can be put in a special mode to work just like a USB keyboard. I programmed
it with the hotkeys for the KVM and plugged it into the KVM's keyboard port
and the KVM liked it. However, I needed it 100 ft away at my desk. I used a
Cat5 USB extender (Aten UCE50, $100) and that worked.
Next I needed to hook up my real keyboard and mouse. I used a Y-mouse®
Adapter for USB to connect my Trackpoint keyboard. My Rollermouse was
already USB. Now I needed to extend these 100 ft also. I used this product
(http://www.nti1.com/usbc5.html) that is also a 4 port USB hub. I connected
my Trackpoint and my Rollermouse to it and ran CAT5 for the 100 ft distance.
The solution works incredibly well. I tried a lot of things over many
months. Even the $3000 high end "solutions" were not adequate.
But this solution does everything and it does it well. The video quality is
good. I have audio on all computers. I can switch computers using a single
button (on the X-keys). All my pointing devices work (I even have a wheel
mouse plugged into the Rollermouse). Even the Trackpoint works. I no longer
have weird mouse compatibility problems.
I wasted a lot of money on solutions that didn't work (and I have a few
decent single monitor KVMs that I now need to sell). But the final solution
is probably the best that can be done and it costs a small fraction of what
the specialty vendors charge for their KVM solutions. In my case the cables
were about the single most expensive part. I found a REALLy good price on
the dual monitor KVM at chumbo.com.
My office is so much nicer now. The P4 and especially the dual Xeon machine
are loud and hot. I used special quiet fans, but still the noise was
significant. My office is now very peaceful, comfortable and relaxing. I
have full use of all computers with no compromises (didn't have to give up
my keyboard or mouse and I didn't lose any video quality or audio). It was
definitely worth all the trouble to get this setup working.
I hope this helps others who want a good dual monitor EXTENDED KVM solution
with audio and all the bells-and-whistles. My e*ma il add_ress is d s h i e
l at y a h o o (I'm sure you can figure that out if you need to ask me
about my extended KVM solution). HTH
extended KVM setup. Here are the details and some history.
I have 3 computers located about 100 feet from my desk (in the garage). Each
has a dual monitor card (Appian Jeronimo Pro, PNY GeForceFX, & Matrox G550).
I use 2 Viewsonic VP181b flat screens (analog), each at 1280 x 1024. I also
have a special mouse (Contour Rollermouse USB) and a special keyboard (IBM
Trackpoint PS/2). All computers run Win2K (However, the hardware is very
different: a PII with 384MB RAM, a fast P4 with ATA RAID and a very fast
dual XEON with 4GB RAM and ATA RAID but a touchy (Tyan S2720) server
motherboard that won't boot if it doesn't like the keyboard/mouse). All of
these factors made it almost impossible to find a good KVM solution. I could
list many pages of what doesn't work. I'll give a few examples.
I tried the CompuCable Dual Monitor 2-Port PS/2 KVM Switch (KVM-201DUO)
($189) and the video resolution was very poor. Text was fuzzy and hard to
read.
BTW, I extended the video by using 2 special coax VGA cables (100 ft long)
from http://www.nti1.com/
For a while I was using 2 Belkin KVMs. They have good video quality and they
support audio. However, switching computers from 100 ft away is very
problematic -- the keyboard hotkeys only switch the KVM that is plugged into
the keyboard. The only way to switch the KVM for the 2nd monitor is to use
another keyboard (and another 100 ft PS/2 extension cable). On top of this,
the USB to PS/2 converter on my mouse caused some compatibility issues that
finally became too annoying. So I looked for a better solution.
Belkin recently announced their new dual head KVM (OmniViewT SOHO Series
4-Port KVM Switch with Audio). The video resolution looks to be best in
class at 2048x1536@85Hz. The audio is also unique in this class. So I made
the purchase. (Beware -- this model takes special cables. All my existing
Belkin cables wouldn't work and cables can be a big investment.)
Unfortunately, it wasn't a simple deal to get this new KVM working. It isn't
compatible with special keyboards, for one thing. And it won't operate
unless a keyboard it likes is plugged into the correct USB port on the KVM.
I didn't want 2 keyboards on my desk (why upgrade to this KVM, after all?).
A key part of my solution was the X-keys stick (http://www.xkeys.com/). It
can be put in a special mode to work just like a USB keyboard. I programmed
it with the hotkeys for the KVM and plugged it into the KVM's keyboard port
and the KVM liked it. However, I needed it 100 ft away at my desk. I used a
Cat5 USB extender (Aten UCE50, $100) and that worked.
Next I needed to hook up my real keyboard and mouse. I used a Y-mouse®
Adapter for USB to connect my Trackpoint keyboard. My Rollermouse was
already USB. Now I needed to extend these 100 ft also. I used this product
(http://www.nti1.com/usbc5.html) that is also a 4 port USB hub. I connected
my Trackpoint and my Rollermouse to it and ran CAT5 for the 100 ft distance.
The solution works incredibly well. I tried a lot of things over many
months. Even the $3000 high end "solutions" were not adequate.
But this solution does everything and it does it well. The video quality is
good. I have audio on all computers. I can switch computers using a single
button (on the X-keys). All my pointing devices work (I even have a wheel
mouse plugged into the Rollermouse). Even the Trackpoint works. I no longer
have weird mouse compatibility problems.
I wasted a lot of money on solutions that didn't work (and I have a few
decent single monitor KVMs that I now need to sell). But the final solution
is probably the best that can be done and it costs a small fraction of what
the specialty vendors charge for their KVM solutions. In my case the cables
were about the single most expensive part. I found a REALLy good price on
the dual monitor KVM at chumbo.com.
My office is so much nicer now. The P4 and especially the dual Xeon machine
are loud and hot. I used special quiet fans, but still the noise was
significant. My office is now very peaceful, comfortable and relaxing. I
have full use of all computers with no compromises (didn't have to give up
my keyboard or mouse and I didn't lose any video quality or audio). It was
definitely worth all the trouble to get this setup working.
I hope this helps others who want a good dual monitor EXTENDED KVM solution
with audio and all the bells-and-whistles. My e*ma il add_ress is d s h i e
l at y a h o o (I'm sure you can figure that out if you need to ask me
about my extended KVM solution). HTH