Is there a driver for Linux for the Belkin Flip KVM? One main reason why I ask this is because I got the Mac OS X driver and discovered that I can switch either just the audio or video. For the most part, I listen to the music being played on my OS X computer while "Working" on my linux box.

I have the same setup: a PowerMac G4 running OS X Tiger and a FC5 box both attached to a Belkin Flip (USB version). What a disaster! Fedora Core just falls apart unless BOTH the Mac and the Linux box are powered up. It's so bad, I just got done ripping the Flip cables out of my workstation and chucked them into my dead hardware box. A complete waste of money.

My Linux box would report "No keyboard attached" when it was, indeed, attached. The Mac had no problem but I just couldn't trust the Belkin Flip to do its job. Sometimes the audio would disappear when switching between the two boxes. Sometimes the mouse would go dead. And don't even try to use the Flip unless both machines had completed their boot-up chores.

I don't know if you are still interested, but there is a utility to flip the Flip. (Actually, I just wrote it and I'm looking for intrepid testers!)

It's called "flapjack" and you can get it at http://sourceharvest.com/flapjack

Enjoy!
-Dan

Thanks for the info. I am in the process of building it right now. The only problem that I have is that I have to mess around with the kernel stuff. I am not comfortable with this, but I will do it to try out this program.

Let me know how it goes.

I don't know what kernel version you're using, but if the patch doesn't apply cleanly, then instead try this:

Go to your kernel source (usually something like /usr/src/linux) and open the file drivers/usb/input/hid-core.c

Search for the word "blacklist" and you'll find a long table of entries, each with three values. At the end of the table is the entry "{ 0, 0 }" (Yeah, I know--two values (shrug)).

Insert a line before the "{ 0, 0 }" entry that looks like this:

{ 0x050d, 0x3201, HID_QUIRK_HIDDEV },

The comma at the end is important.

Then rebuild and reinstall your kernel.

(By the way, I have no idea how much you do or don't know about programming, so please forgive me for "talking down" to you. On the other hand, if you need more detail, let me know. Whatever help I give you will go into the documentation in the next release.

Thanks,
-Dan

Hi Dan,
This utility is exactly what I am looking for - as my manual switch on my Belkin Switch2 is broken and the only way out of Linux is to use a software switch. (a work around that I was using until now is that as I run Windows under VMWARE on Linux I installed the software switch there and that enables me to get out of Linux to my alternate machine.)

From looking at your documentation for release 0.3 of flapjack I presume the patch to hid-core.c is for distributions prior to 2.6.20.4; as the doc does not make any mention of having to do the patch (except for the presence of a patch file in the doc directory); I only saw mention of doing the patch in this thread.

So does that mean that the changes to hid-core.c are correctly in for kernels from 2.6.20.4 onwards?
(I am planning to upgrade soon, but this may change my decision if I need a minimum level of kernel to use flapjack without patching the source.)

regards

Patrick.

Patrick,

Thanks for checking out the flapjack.

Kernel version 2.6.20.3 was the latest version at the time of developing flapjack. At the same time I put flapjack "out there," I submitted a kernel patch for the hid-core.c file.

I know the patch was not present as of 2.6.21.1. The earliest kernel version in which I know the patch is present is 2.6.22.1. In the interim, the USB code has been significantly reorganized, but if you get 2.6.22.1, you can be assured that you will be able to use the utility without applying a kernel patch.

I apologize for not making the state of things more clear in the documentation.

Thanks,
-Dan

Hi Dan,
thanks for the info. I will try to get the patch in and the kernel rebuilt when I get a chance. As this is my work machine I am not sure when I will get to do it (I usually only use the supplied kernels for stability), but I will let you know if I do.
It looks like OpenSuSe 10.3 (due in October) will have at least the 2.6.22 kernel. Hopefully that will include the changes to hid-core.c.

regards and thanks

Patrick.

Hi Dan,
At last I have upgraded to OpenSuse 10.3. Downloaded flapjack 0.4 and hey presto it works beautifully.

regards
Patrick.

That's great to hear!

Hi Dan,
I tried to use flapjack on FC9 but when I switch back from Windows, I see the kernel panic error and the keyboard and mouse does not respond and have to reboot FC9.

Is there any solution for this?

Thanks

Worked great on OpenSuSE 11.0 and still on 11.1. Thanks!

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for OpenSuSE 11.2... shortly after using the flapjack command to flip to my other system, my Linux box reboots. Any thoughts on how to go about debugging this?

Almost ten years after the first post on this and flapjack worked perfectly for me. Now I can listen to my Google Play Music on my Linux machine while switching the Key/Vid/Mouse over to my work Windows PC. Awesome!