trouble with logitech mx 700 mouse and equip kvm switch

[Andreas Bittner]

hi all,

got some 4port ps2 kvm switch from equip (sw0407c) and try to use it
with a logitech mx 700 mouse.

the mouse is a native usb one, but comes with that little green usb-ps2
adapter. it works well when connected directly to any kind of computer
with a ps2 port.

now when i connect it to the equip kvm switch, it works ok (basic
functions) with linux, but it acts weird inside windows 2000.

when i first connected the mouse to the kvm and booted the win2k box, it
didnt work at all. i logged in with keyboard only, and then there the
logitech driver redetected some "lower class" logitech 3 button scroll
mouse, but didnt detect the mx 700 model properly. most of the stuff
worked all right, scrolling and forward/backword extra buttons also
worked.

after a reboot and mouse was dead again, and didnt work after relogin.

then i installed the latest win2000 logitech mouseware driver, and it
then detected the mouse model as mx 700 correctly, but then mouse isnt
working ever since, or sometimes it jumps around on the screen, and then
disappears completely.

whats wrong here?

i read in some threads, that the various mice manufacturers run their
own proprietary protocol or something on their cables/connectors, and
thats why some kvms support one brand of mice, but not all. can this be
true? and i thought the standard was the connector, and the pins all had
their signals and meanings, and not that some crazy manufacturers could
abuse or run some coded stuff on their cables and connectors. this is
madness...

i am wondering if soemone has any experience with those equip kvm
switches and logitech mice. or equip kvm stuff in general?

or what other kvm brands are compatible with logitech mice, or with a
broad range of mice manufacturers?

any advice or hints?

thanks,
andy

 

[Rose Tech Support]

I am not sure who makes a sw0407c but most KVM switches prefer to use
the default mouse drivers as shipped with the OS. It's to complicated
to try and keep up with every mouse manufacturers driver revisions.
My suggestion, let plug-n-play do the job for you. The KVM switch
performs keyboard and mouse emmulation. This means that the computer
will detect the KVM switch mouse, not the mouse connected to the KVM
switch. This explains why the mx700 is not detected. Also, most KVM
switches only support 3 buttons and a wheel. Therfore buttons 4,5,6
and up will not work.

Shannon Hegele
Tech Support
Rose Electronics KVM
www.rose.com

 

[Andreas Bittner]

news:[email protected]

thanks for the reply. well, another question though, what other kvm
switches would anyone recommend? what switches are capable of emulating
logitech stuff, since many switches i have seen on the net only talki
about ms/intellimouse compatibility.

and what about usb kvm switches? do those handle the usb mice/keyboards
properly, with all the buttons and functionality? i think usb support
has to be better/complete, as then need to pass on the complete usb
signal, they cant just filter various functions out, or emulate the
whole stuff? any good usb kvms out there for desktop/soho application?

why is this ps2 stuff so complicated in terms of different codes and
signals for different manufactures. i used to believe, that the various
pins on the ps2 connectors had some meaning and would pass on the
various signals of the button and so on, and not some sort of protocol,
that each and every vendor could modify and abuse this much.

i wonder why those mice work at all, and can be called ps2 mice, if
logitech is totally different from microsoft and other manufacturers.

thanks
andy