MOTM

This is probably "old hat" to many computer geeks, but I just discovered the
neatest gadget for my office.

It's called a KVM switch: Keyboard, Video and Mouse. It allows 1
keyboard/monitor/mouse to control up to 'n' PCs without swapping cables.

There are manual switches for $10 up to $1000 1U racks for switching 32
computers around (used by places like Dell for QC/burn-in).

Mine is a Linksys 2-port model ProConnect, for a staggering $29 from buy.com
(digress: Linksys is the MOTM of the computer world. I buy ONLY their stuff, and
I have ~8 various things of theirs and all work FLAWLESSLY).

I have 2 computers I use (work and fun) and was constantly on hands and knees
swapping cables around. Now, all I do is tap SCROLL LOCK twice and within 1
second, I'm on the other computer.

For the QC types, you can set it to automatically toggle every 3, 5, 10 or 30
seconds (is it booting, found a hard drive error, etc).

Impressive!

Paul
still hates computers

Now you need dualhead DVI flat panel displays for the CAD work.  Once 
you try it, there is no going back... ;)

Crow
/**/

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004, Paul Schreiber wrote:

> This is probably "old hat" to many computer geeks, but I just discovered the
> neatest gadget for my office.
> 
> It's called a KVM switch: Keyboard, Video and Mouse. It allows 1
> keyboard/monitor/mouse to control up to 'n' PCs without swapping cables.

My, you HAVE led a sheltered life!

;>)

Moe

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@a...> wrote:
> This is probably "old hat" to many computer geeks, but I just 
discovered the
> neatest gadget for my office.
> 
> It's called a KVM switch: Keyboard, Video and Mouse. It allows 1
> keyboard/monitor/mouse to control up to 'n' PCs without swapping 
cables.
>

>   Now you need dualhead DVI flat panel displays for the CAD work.  Once
> you try it, there is no going back... ;)

I've already replaced all the CRTs in the house with flat panels (fav is the
Samsung SyncMaster 172N). Everybody buy lots of modules when the income tax
refund checks hit :)

Side note: I spent big $$$ for a DVI video card only to find out the flat panel
suppliers *on purpose* don't support DVI in panels less than 19". AND a friggin'
DVI cable is like $60. The 21" Apple display still is jaw-dropping.

Paul S.

>
> I've already replaced all the CRTs in the house with flat panels (fav 
> is the
> Samsung SyncMaster 172N). Everybody buy lots of modules when the 
> income tax
> refund checks hit :)

Just bought a G4 iMac, my first flat panel computer. Whee!

nathan durham

saving up for the 650 :-)

Paul,

  Actually, there are 18" LCDs with DVI.  Here is a teaser pic:

http://www.oldcrows.net/~oldcrow/DualDVI.JPG

  JPEG is unkind to images like this, but that is a quick shot of my 
KLM-367A board and its schematic running on a pair of Viewsonic VX800 
displays from a Matrox Parhelia 128 display card.  DVI cables came with 
the monitors.  Figure $1500 for a similar setup today using 19" LCDs.

ScottR
/**/

Well, that was meant for Paul only, but oh well...

Crow
/**/

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" wrote:
> This is probably "old hat" to many computer geeks, but I just
> discovered the neatest gadget for my office.
> 
> It's called a KVM switch: Keyboard, Video and Mouse. It allows 1
> keyboard/monitor/mouse to control up to 'n' PCs without swapping
> cables...

We have the fancy $1000 model "at the office"  It is an Avocent 
(Cybex) product that connects 8 PCs on one side of the switch with two 
sets of display/keyboard/mice on the other side.  One "terminal" 
(display, keyboard, mouse) is in the equipment rack with the KVM 
switch and all the attached PCs.  The other "terminal" is remote via 
CAT5 cable!!!  The KVM switch actually sends the analog RGB signals 
over 3 of the twisted pairs in a CAT5 with the 4th pair used for the 
PS2 (keyboard/mouse) signaling.  Switching between connected computers 
is done with the keyboard.  A magic key sequence (something like 
pressing "print screen" twice) brings up an on screen video overlay 
with a list of machine names to choose from.

I'm sure these products work great in a facility with a really good 
grounding system but in our "office" we had problems with the video 
going in and out of sync at the remote terminal.  My first thought was 
to lift the ground on the remote CRT which improved but did not 
eliminate the video sync problem.  My final solution was to run a #10 
ground wire along with the CAT5 cable to force the remote terminal to 
a close enough ground potential.  Works great now!  It is somewhat 
amazing to me that high resolution (high frequency) analog video can 
be run across a hundred feet of unshielded twisted pair and still have 
a nice sharp image at the remote terminal!


The first place I saw a really fancy KVM system like this was at a big 
(conglomerate / multi-station) radio broadcast facility.  They had all 
of their computer equipment in a centralized equipment room (probably 
50 to 100 computers, PCs and Macs) and all of these went through a 
monster Cybex KVM switch out to many remote terminals.  They claimed 
this solved numerous problems such as 1) elimination of machine (fan) 
noise in the "on air" studios and production rooms, 2) expensive 
machines such as ProTools could be shared between rooms, 3) equipment 
maintenance was centralized.  (Don't need to kick anyone out of a 
studio or production room to fix a dead power supply in a PC or 
whatever.)

They had a similar monster switching system that routed audio between 
different rooms.  I can't remember who made the audio switch but I do 
remember poking my nose into the card frame on this thing to see who 
made the audio crosspoint switching chips.  (Analog Devices)



> Mine is a Linksys 2-port model ProConnect, for a staggering $29
> from buy.com (digress: Linksys is the MOTM of the computer world.
> I buy ONLY their stuff, and I have ~8 various things of theirs and
> all work FLAWLESSLY).

I think you are selling MOTM short.

I know a few "computer knowledgeable" guys who recommend Linksys 
products for budget computer networks but acknowledge that Linksys is 
something like the best of the worst.  I'm sure products like the KVM, 
Ethernet hubs, etc work fine.  However when there is a significant 
amount of software (firmware) involved (in products like the Linksys 
Cable/DSL routers) that is where you sometimes run into problems.  
Weird stuff like Internet access gets slower and slower and eventually 
stops.  If impatient, just press the secret reset button on the 
Linksys router.  Or, if you like, just wait a few more minutes and the 
hardware watchdog will press the reset button for you ;)


seth

>We have the fancy $1000 model "at the office"  It is an Avocent
>(Cybex) product that connects 8 PCs on one side of the switch with two
>sets of display/keyboard/mice on the other side.  One "terminal"
>(display, keyboard, mouse) is in the equipment rack with the KVM
>switch and all the attached PCs.  The other "terminal" is remote via
>CAT5 cable!!!  The KVM switch actually sends the analog RGB signals
>over 3 of the twisted pairs in a CAT5 with the 4th pair used for the
>PS2 (keyboard/mouse) signaling.  Switching between connected computers
>is done with the keyboard.  A magic key sequence (something like
>pressing "print screen" twice) brings up an on screen video overlay
>with a list of machine names to choose from.

The next step up from this are the ones that digitize the video, compress
it, and stream it over the network. You can work a whole room full of
computers from literally anywhere in the world without installing any
"remote control" software on them because it's all done over TCP/IP. In
fact, you can watch anything that has a VGA output on it.

Needless to say this is even more expensive, but the geek factor is enormous...


>I know a few "computer knowledgeable" guys who recommend Linksys
>products for budget computer networks but acknowledge that Linksys is
>something like the best of the worst.  I'm sure products like the KVM,
>Ethernet hubs, etc work fine.  However when there is a significant
>amount of software (firmware) involved (in products like the Linksys
>Cable/DSL routers) that is where you sometimes run into problems.
>Weird stuff like Internet access gets slower and slower and eventually
>stops.  If impatient, just press the secret reset button on the
>Linksys router.  Or, if you like, just wait a few more minutes and the
>hardware watchdog will press the reset button for you ;)

Unfortunately it goes without saying that when routers and KVM's get down
to $29.95 this is bound to happen. Not long ago there was a story about
"When Routers Attack". It seems that one of the manufacturers (forget who)
had coded the router to check a certain time server to set its own internal
clock. The only problems with this scheme were that they hard-coded the
address of a single, specific time server instead of picking from a list of
them at random or some similar scheme, AND they had it make the attempt at
rather frequent intervals (you might say VERY frequent intervals). You can
guess what happened--it brought some university's time server down with
what amounted to a DDoS attack. All those thousands of routers kept pinging
that server for months before the admins figured it out (the waste of
bandwidth alone was a considerable expense for them). A firmware upgrade
would fix the problem but who bothers to register ownership of a cheap
router so the manufacturer can tell everyone to upgrade their firmware?
Firmware upgrade, what's that? What's this file attached to this email?
Think I'll just open it and see...

-- 

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

> I know a few "computer knowledgeable" guys who recommend Linksys
> products for budget computer networks but acknowledge that Linksys is
> something like the best of the worst.  I'm sure products like the KVM,

VERY MUCH AGREED ("best of the worst"). And in fact, they only seem to work
"well" with Windows PC's. Mac users frequently find all the weaknesses in
Lynksys' hardware for some reason... even though I thought TCPIP was TCPIP,
crossover is crossover, etc...??

I've bought a couple Lynksys products, had to call their customer support
each time, each time was actually *insulted* for using Mac's (!), and will
never ever buy another of their products again. Mediocracy is one thing, but
the attitude I got from that company really floored me. Funny thing is, I
have to reboot my Lynksys DSL router about once a day... Compare that to my
G4, oh lofty customer service rep.


Sorry to be ranting OT, but Lynksys strikes a slight nerve...

best,
- Scott
____________
http://www.red-noise.com
http://www.strawberryplanet.org

Now just think if you could do that without a gadget, just software.  
No wait!  You can!

Terminal Services.

Mike, doesn't always hate computers

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@a...> wrote:
> This is probably "old hat" to many computer geeks, but I just 
discovered the
> neatest gadget for my office.
> 
> It's called a KVM switch: Keyboard, Video and Mouse. It allows 1
> keyboard/monitor/mouse to control up to 'n' PCs without swapping 
cables.
> 
> There are manual switches for $10 up to $1000 1U racks for 
switching 32
> computers around (used by places like Dell for QC/burn-in).
> 
> Mine is a Linksys 2-port model ProConnect, for a staggering $29 
from buy.com
> (digress: Linksys is the MOTM of the computer world. I buy ONLY 
their stuff, and
> I have ~8 various things of theirs and all work FLAWLESSLY).
> 
> I have 2 computers I use (work and fun) and was constantly on hands 
and knees
> swapping cables around. Now, all I do is tap SCROLL LOCK twice and 
within 1
> second, I'm on the other computer.
> 
> For the QC types, you can set it to automatically toggle every 3, 
5, 10 or 30

> seconds (is it booting, found a hard drive error, etc).
> 
> Impressive!
> 
> Paul
> still hates computers

It's not old hat to me and I'm glad you mentioned it.  I've always made it a point to buy monitors that have two inputs so I can switch between two computers, but this would allow three computers on one monitor and getting a kybd and mouse off my cluttered desk.

>>I've already replaced all the CRTs in the house with flat panels<<

Not a good idea if you are into photo editting, desktop publishing or graphic arts.

Scott Gibbons writes:
>>I've bought a couple Lynksys products, had to call their customer support each time, each time was actually *insulted* for using Mac's (!), and will never ever buy another of their products again. Mediocracy is one thing, but the attitude I got from that company really floored me. Funny thing is, I have to reboot my Lynksys DSL router about once a day... Compare that to my G4, oh lofty customer service rep.<<

Customer support?  In all my 15+ years of buying Apple computers, I called Apple once about their own bugs in the G4/OS9 and they wouldn't talk to me.  They wanted me to call back and pay money to tell them about their own stupid bugs and how I'm supposed to get around them.  Add to that, that I was a software developer writing commercial Mac software, but that didn't matter.  Worst customer service ever and probably lost me as a future Mac customer for good.

-Elhardt

I've had a number of problems with Linksys stuff.  We have gone through
several firewalls and even now have to reboot the firewall about every
other day.

Likewise I've had a number of technical problems with both Macs and
Wintels.  I can't say I hate one worse than the other, but the Mac
people tend to treat you more like you're a total idiot.  Neither comes
lose to the worst tech support I have ever seen, that being Pinnacle
(the people who make video software and hardware) 

To get tech support from Pinnacle you have to fill out their online
form, which of course has absolutely nothing to do with the problem you
are having.  Then they email you back with questions which you have to
answer within 48 hours or they assume your problem is solved and you
have to start over with the online form.  They don't get back to you in
48 hours, but they expect you to get back to them in 48 hours.  Not a
chance of talking to someone on the phone.

Like Ken, I wouldn't recommend an LCD display for video or photo work.
At my studio we use Viewsonic 20" and 19" LCDs for everything but CD
artwork layout, (and for fooling around with video and DVD authoring.)
For that we have a 21" NEC CRT.  

When we decided on the Viewsonics we compared a number of LCDs side by
side.  The color variations were all over the place.  Not a problem for
ProTools, but not good for photographic work.