What if, say, you use your Linux box like I do, for a “server” rather than a regularly-used OS? When I’m playing music on my XP PC but want to switch over to Linux for some quick diagnostics, I don’t want the sound on my Linux box to take over. These are user-defined through software, though, in case you have any interest in using an alternative configuration.
For example, to get to my Windows XP machine, which is specified as PC 1, I just needed to rapidly press ScrollLock+ScrollLock+1 (default) or Ctrl+Alt+1. I don’t have the KVM switch sitting right next to me, so while I can press the buttons to get to another terminal, StartTech has hotkeys that you can use to get access to the desired terminal. Occasionally, I encountered a “sticky keyboard” in the sense that when I typed on the keys as expected, the computer thought that the keys were still being pressed and I had to interrupt the inputs which would normally stop myself from writing “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” or “hhhhhhhhhh.” Again, I’m not sure if this was a KVM or keyboard issue, but it’d be interesting if the latter because I encountered two oddities with the setup. I’m not sure if it was isolated to the graphics card I had or the KVM, but in the end, I plugged the monitor directly into the graphics card and did not encounter the issue any longer. In the graphical user interface, I often ran into horrible blinking of the screen (on, off, on, off) which was not predictable at all.
The Linux box was the only real issue, but if you’re using Windows and Mac, you should be fine. (On Linux, it was actually the only thing that worked flawlessly.) Further, and something I was especially appreciative about, I was able to connect USB devices that aren’t even recommended by their manufacturers, such as the Logitech MX Revolution mouse which is completely wireless.
I was able to successfully connect a Linux machine using Fedora 11, a Windows XP desktop, a Windows XP laptop, and a Mac Pro to the KVM switch without a hitch, save for a few frustrations with the Linux box (see below). Once you get the computers hooked up, though, you’re well on your way to becoming a multitasking guru.
Most likely, your video card manufacturer has set this limitation, so if you’re planning on testing out functionality like this, you’ll need to do a complete reboot to get full functionality. Furthermore, you need to resolve to use either VGA mode or DVI mode, not both. Your VGA video cards should definitely also be DVI compatible, and you should have a solid 24-pin DVI cable at the minimum (a 20-pin DVI cable won’t work on any KVM switches from my experience). I don’t need 4 keyboards for 4 desktops, do I? Having the StarTech SV431DVIDDU 4 Port StarView Dual DVI USB KVM Switch with Audio, thus, is an opportunity to get the best of both worlds (or three worlds, or four) since I can connect up to four computers via one console to two DVI monitors, a USB mouse, a USB keyboard, and even 2.1 speakers.įirst things first: before using this device, you need to get the right hardware for it. I’m a Windows user who wants to take advantage of using both Mac and Linux without extraneous hardware. With this technology the user has the choice of direct digital connection or analog connections through a DVI to VGA adapter adding flexibility to the type of monitor they choose.If you’re like me, you like using multiple computers at any given time, but you don’t want to have one monitor (or two) per computer in addition to separate keyboards and mice. This technology the most popular as it supports both pure digital as well as the analog display market. Integrated digital and analog transmission technology. Quality degradation is experienced due to the digital to analog conversion which makes this the least attractive of the Digital Visual Interface protocols. The most common use of a DVI-A device is connecting to an analog monitor. Used to carry a Digital Visual Interface signal to an analog display. This format should be considered when the highest clarity and resolution is required. This provides the highest possible quality image due to the nature of the digital format. Used for direct connection between two true digital devices. Dedicated digital only Digital Visual Interface displays.