I have a ps/2 mouse over a kvm to several comps, 3 are linux, 1 is freebsd, when I switch away from the freebsd then switch back the scroller wheel no longer works until a reboot, how might one approach this problem?

i had problems with my scroll-wheel and kvm (all linux). while it did not cease to function it would not work correctly (results varied). i found that if i boot my system with the kvm focus on another port (any system except the one i am booting) then the wheel will work correctly always. may not be the same for you but since you have to reboot anyway to get it to work again, it couldnt hurt to try...

boot the bsd comp with kvm focus on one of the other systems until you are sure that it has booted to a login

other than that, i really wouldnt know

hope this helps

I've had similar problems with my KVM. The one thing I did figure out was that if I'm switching back and forth on the the KVM while booting a system, it tends to have problems. Because of this, I've gotten in the habit of NOT switching at all while a system is booting up and haven't had a problem since then.

in the past bsd would boot w/ no mouse at all when kvm focus was off it, that is fixed thanx to a recen reformat (?). anyway the situation is different and I have a way to get it back now. explination:
most will laugh at this but here it goes, my kvm/system deal:

I have 2 17" sharp lcd's a ps/2 mouse and keyboard

I have 2 kvm's, 1 dual screen 2 systems. The mouse, keyboard and screens are connected to this kvm, port 1 then goes to my main system (abydos), the second one has the second screen go to my freebsd box, the first screen goes toa second single screen kvm along w/ kb and ms, the first port on that goes to my server (giza) the second goes to my freebsd box (Thebes) the third goes to my old win2k laptop that no longer has a builton screen (luxor), and the fourth/final port goes to my new laptop (aswan) as a second monitor along w/ kb and ms. now when I am on the bsd box then switch the dual screen kvm to my main system and then back the scroller wheel does nto work, this issue does not happen on the other boxes, however if I then switch the 4 port kvm to my server and back the scroller works again 2/3 times.

so basically it works

I know most people are probably cringing at this kvm system specially when I say they are 15' cables mainly

but I am not a big gamer, just a programmer, Interface speed is not important to me, plus I notice no slowdown.


system specs for those curious:

Abydos:
Athlon64 3500, 1gb ram
asus a8n-delux
80gb sata hd
16x pioneer
dvd-r 2x dvd-rw
nvidia geforce 6600 pci-express
gentoo linux amd64 from stage 1 w/ 32 chroot environment

Giza (server)
p4 2.4ghz 1gb ram
Abit w/ builtin highpoint 8 ide raid
80gb ata133 main hd
2x 120gb ata133
2x 250gb sata
1x 120gb usb
asus 16x dvd-/+rw
generic 32x cd-rw
nvidia geforce4mx
Gentoo x86 from stage 1

Thebes
pentium4 2.2ghz 512mb ram
via vpsd
15gb ata100
generic cd-rom
zip drive
nvidia geforce4 4600
freeBSD 5.4

Aswan (dell laptop)
pentium-M 2ghz, 1gb ram
inspiron 9300
100gb sata
16x dvd-rw
nvidia geforce 6800go
17" wide-screen
gentoo x86 stage 1

luxor (Laptop)
1ghz Pentium3 384mb ram
dell inspiron 8000
30gb ide
8x dvd
8x cd-rw
geforce2go
win2kpro

I must say, that's quite the setup. Did you say the cables were 15' as in 15 feet? I'm not expert, so I'll ask the question. could 15 feet of cable be enough to cause problems with a keyboard or mouse? I wouldn't think it would cause that much of a delay, but just a thought.

as I said I notice no speed/delay issues with the setup.

Well, the reason I asked about the length of the cables is; I work on electronics, mainly RF equipment, transmitters, receivers, etc. We have a paticular system that we maintain that works, in principal, like a KVM. It's basically a remote head that controls several radios, similar to what a KVM does for computers. If the control cables are too long, the time delay of the signal from the remote head will cause the radio in question to lock up.

It's designed to work as a full-duplex system, with signals going between the remote and the radios. So, when the signal from the remote unit takes too long to get to the radio, the radio assumes there is no remote and switches to a local operator mode. I was wondering if something similar could be happening here or if that's even a possibilty.