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I Am One Lucky <expletive>! But I Need Help on the KVM Switch

bobber205

bobber205

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 15, 2005
2,183
8
Oregon
Ok. Here's the deal.
My grandparents won this awesome gaming PC at a raffel.
They didn't even know what is was (no screen they said lol) and they just gave it to me.

It has a 120 gig harddrive, AMD Geodu CPU, and 512 megs of RAM.
Everything was included including Windows XP.

But to use it, I have to pull on the 7-pin cord on my mini mac and plug it in on the pc.

What a pain. Then I have to move my keyboard too. Bigger pain.

So, obviously, I need a KVM switch. There's 1000000 on ebay, but what exactly do I need to hook up a mac to a Pc with a KVM switch?

One more question.

I share a internet connection with my mom's computer on my mini. I tried going to network places on XP and doing the same thing, but my PeeCee-expert friend of minea and I couldn't figure out what is going wrong?

It says the network connection has no power. That's dumb. It does. There's a ethernet card"?

We can't get the peecee to recoginize my mom's computer. (All the settings are right on her computer.)
 
CanadaRAM said:
What monitor do you have, a SVGA connected monitor, or a DVI connected monitor?

What monitor output(s) does the PC have?

You obviously have a USB keyboard and mouse.
Click to expand...

I knew I was forgetting something...

It's a VGA monitor.
The Pc has VGA too.
 
OK You'll need a USB-USB-VGA switcher. Most of the PC KVM switches require a PS/2 keyboard and mouse, or a PS2 connection for power even if they have USB ports. Many of these don't work on Macs.

Two reliable brands are DR. Bott and IoGear. But read the descriptions carefully to make sure you get the right ports and they are Mac compatible. You won;t get away much cheaper than $100 for a good one.
 
CanadaRAM said:
OK You'll need a USB-USB-VGA switcher. Most of the PC KVM switches require a PS/2 keyboard and mouse, or a PS2 connection for power even if they have USB ports. Many of these don't work on Macs.

Two reliable brands are DR. Bott and IoGear. But read the descriptions carefully to make sure you get the right ports and they are Mac compatible. You won;t get away much cheaper than $100 for a good one.
Click to expand...

100 = WOW!

That's way too much. Maybe 20 to 30?

On ebay there a few that high. Don't I just need one that has two Vga ports and one usb one for my mouse and keyboard?

This is a little confusing.
 
bobber205 said:
100 = WOW!

That's way too much. Maybe 20 to 30?

On ebay there a few that high. Don't I just need one that has two Vga ports and one usb one for my mouse and keyboard?

This is a little confusing.
Click to expand...
You stand about a 75% chance of a $30 one not working, then you are out shipping, and the eBay seller surely won't take it back. If you have to go budget, go to a B&M store and get in writing that you can bring it back for full refund if it doesn't work on the Mac.
 
bobber205 said:
So, obviously, I need a KVM switch. There's 1000000 on ebay, but what exactly do I need to hook up a mac to a Pc with a KVM switch?
Click to expand...

You need a vga/usb KVM.

I use the belkin F1DL102P with my linux pc and mac mini and have not had any problems. I have separate keyboards and mice hooked up to each computer and just use the KVM to switch the screen and audio. But I have used it to switch the keyboard and mouse as well for a while. The nice things about this belkin as compared to other cheap KVMs out there are: 1) this one works with a mac, and 2) it has a button on the KVM to switch between the computers (many of the other cheap KVMs rely on a keyboard shortcut that can interfere with OS X).

Another alternative that might suit is the Belkin Flip KVM. This has the same footprint as a MacMini so it just fits right under your mini.
 
I've got a Belkin USB/VGA KVM that works great with my Mini and one of my Windows computers. In addition the the keyboard, video, and mouse, it has sound connections, so you hear the computer that you are viewing (very few KVM's have this feature).

It runs about $60 new, but you can find a used one for about $25 - $35 on ebay or craigslist.

It is model number f1dl102u
http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/f1dl102u.html
 
bobber205 said:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Startech-10...ryZ45341QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
about 32 dollars
Click to expand...
That auction is for a cable only, not a switchbox. Startech-10FT-USB-VGA-KVM-SWBX-2-IN-1-CBL
http://cgi.ebay.com/SVUSB2N110-10-f...oryZ3666QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
about 34 dollars
Click to expand...
This is a BS seller ... "All specs are in the advertisement " > "Click here for more specs" = "No Specs Available"
There are no specs and no photo of the switch, for all you know all you will get (again) is a 2-in-1 cable.

My advice - stop trying to cheap out - you're going to get burned and lose more money than you could potentially save.
 
bobber205 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817403047

Very good price.
Any comments?
Click to expand...

The risk you are running is that many people have found that most of the KVMs on the market do not work with Macs. There are two issues that people generally encounter:

  1. the KVM introduces noise into the video signal or simply does not work at a high resolution.
  2. for a USB KVM to work then it must report itself to the OS as a keyboard and as a mouse. Effectively, a USB KVM partially emulates a keyboard and mouse, but passes the actual events from the keyboard and mouse through to the computer. Most KVMs identify as a PC keyboard and thus the Mac keys such as the command key don't get passed through correctly.
 
mrichmon said:
The risk you are running is that many people have found that most of the KVMs on the market do not work with Macs. There are two issues that people generally encounter:

  1. the KVM introduces noise into the video signal or simply does not work at a high resolution.
  2. for a USB KVM to work then it must report itself to the OS as a keyboard and as a mouse. Effectively, a USB KVM partially emulates a keyboard and mouse, but passes the actual events from the keyboard and mouse through to the computer. Most KVMs identify as a PC keyboard and thus the Mac keys such as the command key don't get passed through correctly.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Wouldn't worry about that so much. Every KVM I've used (admittedly all belkins) have been absolutely fine. The KVM appears as a simple USB hub to the OS (Windows or OS X), and any devices (keyboards, mice, and any accessories if the KVM has extra USB ports) are detected as normal. The KVM's basically transparent to the OS.

The KVM will most likely have a 'fallback' mode for legacy PC's. Many PC's will throw their toys out of the pram if they don't detect a keyboard and mouse at boot. If the KVM's switched to the Mac when the PC's booted, it'll report a generic keyboard and mouse to the PC as it boots so that the PC's happy. Then, when you switch to the PC, it'll correctly detect the attached devices. None of this has any impact on the Mac.

I've been really happy with my VGA/USB KVM. It even has Speaker & Microphone sockets so that audio devices can be switched between the two computers.

I've had no problems with picture quality, and that's when running at 1680x1050 resolution on my LCD. I bought the KVM before getting the LCD, so it's not got the digital DVI ports. If I were to buy one now, it'd be a DVI/USB model.

If you're using a PC keyboard with your Mac, you might have to swap the Command and Option keys via Tiger's Keyboard & Mouse system preferences pane. Likewise, if you're sharing a Mac keyboard with your PC, you might have to swap those keys in Windows to get the normal layout.
 
displaced said:
Hmmm. Wouldn't worry about that so much. Every KVM I've used (admittedly all belkins) have been absolutely fine. The KVM appears as a simple USB hub to the OS (Windows or OS X), and any devices (keyboards, mice, and any accessories if the KVM has extra USB ports) are detected as normal. The KVM's basically transparent to the OS.

The KVM will most likely have a 'fallback' mode for legacy PC's. Many PC's will throw their toys out of the pram if they don't detect a keyboard and mouse at boot. If the KVM's switched to the Mac when the PC's booted, it'll report a generic keyboard and mouse to the PC as it boots so that the PC's happy. Then, when you switch to the PC, it'll correctly detect the attached devices. None of this has any impact on the Mac.
Click to expand...
Problem is, your experience is with a limited population - I've seen lots of Startechs and Trendnets and other brands that don't work. Nothing as 'pleasant' as a machine that fails to wake from sleep because it doesn't recognize the existrnce of a mouse or keyboard. On a G3 I use, I have to keep a ADB mouse attached to the machine so I can restart it when the USB connection fails.
 
I got a Linkskey KVM on newegg a while back for about $30 new. It has 2 USB ports, VGA, and works great with my powerbook and PC. Its been about 6 months with no problems.

The only problem is that New Egg no longer has them for sale.

But, after a bit of Googling, i found it here.

Not sure about the retailer though, but maybe you can find the same KVM somewhere else.
 
bobber205 said:
Ok. Here's the deal.
My grandparents won this awesome gaming PC at a raffel.
They didn't even know what is was (no screen they said lol) and they just gave it to me.

It has a 120 gig harddrive, AMD Geodu CPU, and 512 megs of RAM.
Everything was included including Windows XP.

But to use it, I have to pull on the 7-pin cord on my mini mac and plug it in on the pc.

What a pain. Then I have to move my keyboard too. Bigger pain.

So, obviously, I need a KVM switch. There's 1000000 on ebay, but what exactly do I need to hook up a mac to a Pc with a KVM switch?

One more question.

I share a internet connection with my mom's computer on my mini. I tried going to network places on XP and doing the same thing, but my PeeCee-expert friend of minea and I couldn't figure out what is going wrong?

It says the network connection has no power. That's dumb. It does. There's a ethernet card"?

We can't get the peecee to recoginize my mom's computer. (All the settings are right on her computer.)
Click to expand...

You call yourself lucky for getting a PC for free? *sigh*. Whatever. I'm not even gonna start.
 
macgeek2005 said:
You call yourself lucky for getting a PC for free? *sigh*. Whatever. I'm not even gonna start.
Click to expand...

You would call yourself lucky too.
 
After owning one for a couple of weeks now, it's not so bad after all. :eek:

Of course, it can't connect to the net yet, so that may be why. :p

I was reading up on some things about XP today at school and I found a article about Remote Desktop Control.

Does anybody have experience with that?
 
Maybe I should compromise. (Would this solve my problem)

I could get a USB keyboard and mouse and get a cheapie converter... then I could use any 'ol KVM and have no problems?

Right?
 
Yet another post.

I just found out that my parents have gotten me a wireless keyboard and mouse.

This messes up all of my plans so far?

Dang. Now what?
 
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