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KVM Switch for Both PS/2 and AT Connectors



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 8th 03, 11:11 AM
Alien Zord
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Posts: n/a
Default KVM Switch for Both PS/2 and AT Connectors

"Thomas M" wrote in message
...
I would like to buy a KVM switch to control several newer computers

with
PS/2 connectors, and if possible and older computer with AT

connectors.
I understand that buying adaptors won't work unless the KVM switch
supports the older AT standards.

Does anyone know of a KVM switch that supports both PS/2 and AT
connections?


If your AT PC uses PS/2 mouse then there's no problem whatsoever, just
use a converter for the keyboard. If your AT PC uses serial mouse then
you may have to use a separate one as PS/2 to serial converters usually
don't work.


  #3  
Old July 9th 03, 04:51 AM
rcm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

As Alien Zord said, the keyboard is not a problem as keyboard converters
work because it is a simple wiring change between the two types of keyboards
and not an electrical/electronic one.

But a mouse in serial mode and mouse in PS/2 mode are different modes
electrically/electronically. There are dual mode mice for PS/2 and serial.
The mode of operation is determined when the mouse is turned on with the PC
at power up.

I have been wondering about the serial/PS2 mouse scenario. I have a KVM
switch with serial mouse DB-9 support. I think I could use it with the
appropriate cable converters to switch a PS2 mouse. I have a dual Microsoft
mouse (serial and PS/2 support) and could connect the mouse to the KVM, then
use DB-9 cables to the PC, add a serial to PS/2 converter and plug in the
PS/2 mouse into the PC. Electrically it should all work fine in my mind.
It will use the serial wiring and be in PS/2 mode through it.
Unconventional but nothing wrong with it. I assume one could use a KVM with
PS/2 connections to run a serial mouse with all the appropriate adapters
converting the wiring.

An extension of this scenario is can I use the dual mouse in both serial and
PS/2 modes. By this I mean have a PC with serial mouse only (AT) and
another with PS/2 mouse port support. I know I can physically wire up the
KVM and the PC with adapters so they are all connected to serial and PS/2
ports. But can a dual mode mouse operating in one mode, say serial, to a
serial port PC switch over with the KVM to a PC in PS/2 mode. Or will it
goes nuts or worse, fry the port(s) or mouse.

Any ideas on this.

Of course, the simple scenario is to use my KVM with serial ports on all the
PCs and a serial mouse on the KVM ignoring all the PS/2 ports. Right now I
just have a serial mouse on the serial port PC and another PS/2 mouse on the
PS/2 port PC. Just been lazy to switch it all to the serial ports.

I do have a couple of old 486 PCs that and could test this out but it is a
pain to try it out.

"Thomas M" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
"Thomas M" wrote in message
...
I would like to buy a KVM switch to control several newer computers

with
PS/2 connectors, and if possible and older computer with AT

connectors.
I understand that buying adaptors won't work unless the KVM switch
supports the older AT standards.

Does anyone know of a KVM switch that supports both PS/2 and AT
connections?


If your AT PC uses PS/2 mouse then there's no problem whatsoever, just
use a converter for the keyboard. If your AT PC uses serial mouse then
you may have to use a separate one as PS/2 to serial converters usually
don't work.


Thanks for the reply.

That's pretty much the story I've been hearing. Unfortunately, my AT
system uses a serial mouse. In fact, the mouse is a DB9, but the
connection on the case is an even older DB25, so the mouse uses an
adaptor already. I pretty much figured that going from PS/2 to DB9 to
DB25 just wasn't going to work, but I thought that if the KVM switch
could handle a serial mouse, then buying an adaptor might be worth it,
just to see if it would work, if nothing else.

At this point, I think my best option is to just live with the fact that
I won't be able to use the mouse with the KVM switch. That's okay
because the AT computer will soon be relegated to a file server anyway,
and at that point, I will be able to do everything that I need to do on
the machine via mapped drives.

--Tom



  #4  
Old July 9th 03, 06:51 AM
Newt
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"rcm" wrote in message
. ca...
As Alien Zord said, the keyboard is not a problem as keyboard converters
work because it is a simple wiring change between the two types of

keyboards
and not an electrical/electronic one.

But a mouse in serial mode and mouse in PS/2 mode are different modes
electrically/electronically. There are dual mode mice for PS/2 and

serial.
The mode of operation is determined when the mouse is turned on with the

PC
at power up.

I have been wondering about the serial/PS2 mouse scenario. I have a KVM
switch with serial mouse DB-9 support. I think I could use it with the
appropriate cable converters to switch a PS2 mouse. I have a dual

Microsoft
mouse (serial and PS/2 support) and could connect the mouse to the KVM,

then
use DB-9 cables to the PC, add a serial to PS/2 converter and plug in the
PS/2 mouse into the PC. Electrically it should all work fine in my mind.
It will use the serial wiring and be in PS/2 mode through it.
Unconventional but nothing wrong with it. I assume one could use a KVM

with
PS/2 connections to run a serial mouse with all the appropriate adapters
converting the wiring.

An extension of this scenario is can I use the dual mouse in both serial

and
PS/2 modes. By this I mean have a PC with serial mouse only (AT) and
another with PS/2 mouse port support. I know I can physically wire up the
KVM and the PC with adapters so they are all connected to serial and PS/2
ports. But can a dual mode mouse operating in one mode, say serial, to a
serial port PC switch over with the KVM to a PC in PS/2 mode. Or will it
goes nuts or worse, fry the port(s) or mouse.

Any ideas on this.

Of course, the simple scenario is to use my KVM with serial ports on all

the
PCs and a serial mouse on the KVM ignoring all the PS/2 ports. Right now

I
just have a serial mouse on the serial port PC and another PS/2 mouse on

the
PS/2 port PC. Just been lazy to switch it all to the serial ports.

I do have a couple of old 486 PCs that and could test this out but it is a
pain to try it out.

"Thomas M" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
"Thomas M" wrote in message
...
I would like to buy a KVM switch to control several newer computers
with
PS/2 connectors, and if possible and older computer with AT
connectors.
I understand that buying adaptors won't work unless the KVM switch
supports the older AT standards.

Does anyone know of a KVM switch that supports both PS/2 and AT
connections?


If your AT PC uses PS/2 mouse then there's no problem whatsoever, just
use a converter for the keyboard. If your AT PC uses serial mouse then
you may have to use a separate one as PS/2 to serial converters

usually
don't work.


Thanks for the reply.

That's pretty much the story I've been hearing. Unfortunately, my AT
system uses a serial mouse. In fact, the mouse is a DB9, but the
connection on the case is an even older DB25, so the mouse uses an
adaptor already. I pretty much figured that going from PS/2 to DB9 to
DB25 just wasn't going to work, but I thought that if the KVM switch
could handle a serial mouse, then buying an adaptor might be worth it,
just to see if it would work, if nothing else.

At this point, I think my best option is to just live with the fact that
I won't be able to use the mouse with the KVM switch. That's okay
because the AT computer will soon be relegated to a file server anyway,
and at that point, I will be able to do everything that I need to do on
the machine via mapped drives.

--Tom



If the mobos have support for ps2, ie pin header on mobo, then buy a ps2
connector,usually fitted to a backplate, and plug it into header on mobo.
I have fitted them to a number of older AT boards so that they can use ps2
mice.
Maybe that will cure your ills.


  #6  
Old July 9th 03, 07:19 PM
rcm
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I have a manual no-name 4 port KVM switch I picked up used at a computer
swap meet. It has a red reset button on it to reset the keyboards attached
if they get stuck (hung). I have to switch on each PC one at a time with
the keyboard + video switch to that PC for booting so it will detect the
hardware. I then repeat it for each other PC I have connected.

I don't use the serial port mouse connections yet. There are only serial
DB-9 mouse port connections on the switch and I need to connect a mix of
PS/2 and serial mice to them. Currently I just run separate mice on each
PC. I am just lazy to figure out the best mouse setup right now.
Everything is working perfectly right now on my first try in setting it up
so I am happy with it. I also need to track down the correct DB-9 to DB-9
cables for the mouse. I go to swap meets to pick them all the cables for my
box as they are cheap ($1-$2) used there. So far my switch box cost $25
with all the cables (box, 4 video, 4 keyboard).

For a manual switch, I don't have video problems. But I am running 800x600
res on the PCs with older 15 inch monitors. My main PC had a dedicated 17",
keyboard and mouse. My other PCs (SETI farm) run off the switchbox. Never
have problems running the switch box on video except if I don't manually
click into the switch position properly, then I get a bit of red tint. I
just jiggle the rotary switch a little and it is clean right away. The
keyboard froze once, just pushed the red reset and it came free right away.

I was afraid my previous post description would be too involved to
understand what I was trying to get across for the mouse ports.

I won't get into that again. My main point of curiosity was can a dual
mouse be used on my manual switch box running in PS/2 mode on one and serial
mode on another. Wiring wise I can connect everything with the appropriate
adapters. It looks like I will have to try it out on old 486s I have lying
around here.

The easiest way for me is run a serial mice on all PCs and skip the PS/2
ports.

"Thomas M" wrote in message
...
Comments in-line...

In article ,
says...
As Alien Zord said, the keyboard is not a problem as keyboard converters
work because it is a simple wiring change between the two types of

keyboards
and not an electrical/electronic one.

But a mouse in serial mode and mouse in PS/2 mode are different modes
electrically/electronically. There are dual mode mice for PS/2 and

serial.
The mode of operation is determined when the mouse is turned on with the

PC
at power up.


I think this is going to cause a problem.

I have been wondering about the serial/PS2 mouse scenario. I have a KVM
switch with serial mouse DB-9 support.


Mind giving me the brand and model so that I can see if it will work for
my needs?

I think I could use it with the
appropriate cable converters to switch a PS2 mouse. I have a dual

Microsoft
mouse (serial and PS/2 support) and could connect the mouse to the KVM,

then
use DB-9 cables to the PC, add a serial to PS/2 converter and plug in

the
PS/2 mouse into the PC. Electrically it should all work fine in my

mind.
It will use the serial wiring and be in PS/2 mode through it.
Unconventional but nothing wrong with it. I assume one could use a KVM

with
PS/2 connections to run a serial mouse with all the appropriate adapters
converting the wiring.


This is basically what I am researching. As I understand things, it
won't work the way you describe if the KVM switch has only PS/2 ports.
The issue is that the KVM switch has to be able to emulate both serial
and PS/2 mice. Active KVM switches that autodetect activity and switch
automatically emulate only PS/2, so no matter what adaptors you have,
they will not work with serial mice. Supposedly, manual switches will
work with both kinds of mice, but deliver poor video quality.

I emailed Belkin Product Support to see if any of their KVM switches can
handle serial mice, and I was told that Belkin KVM switches support only
PS/2, and that a second mouse would have to be used for the machine that
requires a serial mouse.

An extension of this scenario is can I use the dual mouse in both serial

and
PS/2 modes. By this I mean have a PC with serial mouse only (AT) and
another with PS/2 mouse port support. I know I can physically wire up

the
KVM and the PC with adapters so they are all connected to serial and

PS/2
ports. But can a dual mode mouse operating in one mode, say serial, to

a
serial port PC switch over with the KVM to a PC in PS/2 mode. Or will

it
goes nuts or worse, fry the port(s) or mouse.


In your case, it might work because--if I understand you correctly--your
KVM switch has both serial and PS/2 ports, which probably means that it
can emulate either type of mouse. However, I'm a newbie when it comes to
KVM switches, so I could be wrong.

--Tom



 




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