KVM issue

[MapleE.]

Hi:
I have two KVMs, one is 'TRENDENT' and other is '
'D-Link.' They both are for 'two' PCs.

I used 'D-Link' KVM over weekend and it worked really well. However, today
it does NOT work at all when I tried to use the same KVM, 'D-Link'. That
happened after disconnecting it and connecting to 'Trendent' KVM that also
works good. Then, I forced to use 'Trendent' KVM, although I want to use
'D-Link' KVM for permanent basis, because of 'audio' feature on 'D-Link.'

My question is;
Two KVMs can NOT be swapping around?

Any clues on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bob I]

Are you shutting down PCs, disconnecting one KVM, connecting other KVM,
and then starting up the PCs?

 

[MapleE.]

Yes, I did exactly, ... but it still does not work at all.

Any clues on this?

Thanks,

 

[Bob I]

Did something fail in the D-Link unit?

Yes, I did exactly, ... but it still does not work at all.

Any clues on this?

Thanks,

 

[Twayne]

Hi:
I have two KVMs, one is 'TRENDENT' and other is '
'D-Link.' They both are for 'two' PCs.

I used 'D-Link' KVM over weekend and it worked really well.
However, today it does NOT work at all when I tried to use the same
KVM, 'D-Link'. That happened after disconnecting it and connecting
to 'Trendent' KVM that also works good. Then, I forced to use
'Trendent' KVM, although I want to use 'D-Link' KVM for permanent
basis, because of 'audio' feature on 'D-Link.'
My question is;
Two KVMs can NOT be swapping around?

Any clues on this would be greatly appreciated.

You have to shut down the computers while you swap cables. If you tried
to hot swap, you likely caused damage to one of the KVM ports or, less
likely, the computer's ports.
KVMs, at least the ones I've looked into, all seem to use CMOS
components and almost no protection from spikes and surges in the form
of connection/disconnection voltages. CMOS requires protection around
its connectors, usually in the form of capacitors as opposed to
inductors, but either may be used. The Belkin and D-link units I
dissassembled had zero protection and in each case the failure was one
of the CMOS components in the main piece. That was about a year ago so
they may have hardened them by now I would hope.

Also, there is a phenominon called "CMOS lockup" in which a CMOS
component can to to one state or the other and "lock" there, unable to
leave that state by normal means. The KVM will appear broken, unacle to
switch any of the connected components. The only way to "fix" that is
to disconnect the KVM completely and let it sit around for a couple days
so the layer charges can dissipate and allow the gate to operate
properly again. Static voltages greater than around 42V can cause this
lockup and designs should have dissipation paths for it to dissipate the
charge but the ones I looked at did not.

As you can see I'm not a fan of KVMs anymore<g>. Instead I've gone to
UntraVNC for such things. I can sit at my machine and control as many
other computers as I want to connect. Downside is though, trouble with
sending commands such as CTRL-ALT-ESC. You have to use a special
recover-command to do that properly and get re-connected when the slave
comes back up.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[MapleE.]

Twayne:

Thanks for the very informative response in regard to KVM Switches. Sounds
like you've used it many times, given your detailed and knowledgeable
response to my question, above.

BTW, what 'Untra VNC for ....? Because I never read nor heard about this,
'technical term?'

Could you explain on 'Untra VNC?' Particularly, how does it work.

Thanks,

 

[BillW50]

In Twayne typed on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:32:01 -0400:
[...]

As you can see I'm not a fan of KVMs anymore<g>. Instead I've gone to
UntraVNC for such things. I can sit at my machine and control as many
other computers as I want to connect. Downside is though, trouble
with sending commands such as CTRL-ALT-ESC. You have to use a special
recover-command to do that properly and get re-connected when the
slave comes back up.

I am not a fan of either anymore. As I use laptops and netbooks
nowadays. And when I want one of them to use an external monitor and
keyboard/mouse, I just move two cables and I am good to go. Otherwise
the internal keyboard/touchpad and display is just fine.

 

[BillW50]

In MapleE. typed on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:44:39 -0400:
[...]

BTW, what 'Untra VNC for ....? Because I never read nor heard about
this, 'technical term?'

Could you explain on 'Untra VNC?' Particularly, how does it work.

Thanks,

It is one of those remote desktop programs. As it allows you to see the
desktop of another computer. This is possible through the local area
network generally. It is cute, but the video isn't very fast. So forget
about seeing videos on another machine through remote desktop programs.
Also my experience with them, one computer is stuck with a high CPU use.
So it can cause heating problems if you are not careful.

http://www.uvnc.com/

 

[Twayne]

Sorry; I typo'd. It's UltraVNC.

http://www.uvnc.com/

http://www.uvnc.com/download/

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ultravnc/

Once computer is the Master and any others connectec become slaves. You
can run the other computers programs, chat with a person at the other
computer, transfer files, all sorts of things. As long as you can ping
a machine, you can connect to it with UltraVNC or they can request to
connect to you. Other machines do not need to be manned.
It had a predecessor called simply VNC. The origin is from
SourceForge if you're familiar with them. A lot of excellent software
comes from those guys. Setup one machine as master, the others as slaves
and you've good to go. Any machine can be a master. Just give the
machine's IP and password to connect.

Sorry for the hassle; maybe the links make up for it in some small way.

Twayne`