Hello all. I am in the market for a KVM switch to toggle my Apple Cinema Display and Apple Keyboard between my Linux box and my Mac. I was eyeing the Belkin Flip, and was wondering if it has a good track record for cooperating with Linux. Also, have you had a good experience with a particular brand/model of KVM switch? My specs are: Debian 4.0 Etch, 2.6.18 kernel (soon to be the latest 2.6.22 release), USB ports aplenty, 2.16 GHz P4 processor, 512MB ram. Thanks in advance...

Cheers!

I have 4:

1. 4-port PS2 (servers)
2. 4-port USB (desktops)
3. 2-port PS2 (desktops - "travel")
4. 2-port PS2, w/ sound (desktops? - "travel"?)

#1 is a Smart View, 2-4 are IOGear. All came w/ all necessary cables. In the case of the 2-port IOGear ones, the cables are molded into the switch.

The USB 4-port (#2) actually calls itself a "KVMP" because it will switch the sound as well as a USB printer & the regular KVM stuff. I bought it, with my eyes wide open, for the sound switching feature. It has had problems w/ some mobo's & BIOS's -- especially a server I am building that is temporarily connected to the desktop group.

I bought #1 in a local Micro Center about 4 years ago, 2-4 refurbished direct from IOGear about 3 years ago. The whole package was less than #2 would have been alone.

I don't yet trust Belkin for anything but cable -- I have a friend who makes his living maintaining small business's networks, etc., & he reports a lot of trouble w/ Belkin electronics.

In my experience, OS has nothing to do w/ KVM compatibility, just like ethernet. As long the KVM electronically simulates the the K, V, & M to the inactive machines (& AFAIK all modern ones do) there should be no problem.

Pay attention to the features you want. If you are considering a 4-port KVM, & it sounds as if you are not, think seriously about the inconvenience of 1 button vs. 4. Of course, a 2-port is just fine w/ a single button.

I have a Belkin 2-port and I wouldn't recommend it. This probably doesn't apply to many people, but it has issues if one of the machines is AT instead of ATX. If the ATX is booted first the mouse would not work on the AT. If the AT is booted first the mouse would work but it goes crazy after switching. And it doesn't work with serial->PS/2 or USB->PS/2 adapters. Belkin tech support told me that when I asked. Even the "switch" is strange. In order to "switch" you press Scroll Lock twice, then Up or Down.

Since I posted this am, I have talked to the friend who had Belkin KVM mouse problems. Eventually, he tracked down the kernel "bug" involved & it was tagged something like "will not fix" -- apparently the kernel developers regard the hardware as defective.

Ironically, he says he had no trouble w/ a couple of cheap 2-port Belkins he bought because the price was so good. It may be that Belkin is not making these in-house & the quality depends on whom they sub-contract the actual manufacturing to.

I continue to not trust their non-cable products.

My old IOGear 2-port (with pluggable cables) PS/2 KVM has been rock solid for years. The one Belkin that I tried back when I bought this didn't seem to want to work. I haven't tried any of the more recent KVMs or any with USB.

Okay. IOGear appears to be a bit more expensive than what I was hoping, but you get what you pay for. I will do some more research... Thanks so much guys!

Cheers!

Thanks, archtoad6. That's good information and an interesting thought about the sub-contracting. I certainly wouldn't doubt it. After my experience with the KVM and various surge protectors I agree with your last comment:

Remember, I bought all that IOGear refurbished & have had no trouble w/ it. Check this out:
http://shop.iogear.com/searchresults.asp?search_id=1
Would the "Reconditioned MiniView™ Micro USB Audio KVM Switch" about 2/3 of the way down the page & described here:
http://shop.iogear.com/product.asp?sku=3043254
suit your needs? $30 seems cheap enough. Of course, you profile doesn't say where you're located, so I can't guess if buying direct from IOGear is a viable option for you.

I have a couple of these Iogear 4 Port USB KVM's with Sound. For $70 it's a decent unit and works fairly well, All cables are included (cables can cost more than the KVM for some units, makes sure Whatever you buy INCLUDES ALL the necessary cables).

The only issue I have run into are that some PC's will not recognize the USB connection as being the keyboard during boot, even though that very same PC was shipped from the manufacturer with a USB keyboard.. Once the system has booted I have experienced no real issues. I have this connected to several PC's on my desk running a variety of Linux OS's and Windows OS's.

If you have 2 PC's now I would recommend getting a KVm that has more than 2 ports.. that way if you get another system, or work on a PC for a friend, you can easily hook up the additional machine without disconnecting yours.. Extra ports are almost never a bad thing.

The Belkin unit's I had were pretty sketchy.. I like these iogear units much better.

Farslayer, with the Iogear 4 Port USB KVM's with Sound, is there a problem with the switching? I see that the software only supports Windows and Mac and I was wondering how it works with Linux. It seems like this one doesn't have a hardware switch, right? Is it friendly switching?
Looking for one to buy and wanted to know your opinion.
Thank you.

I just hit <Scroll Lock> <Scroll Lock> <number 1-4> <ENTER> and it switches between my Linux PC and my 2 Windows PC's on my desk at work..

I've never had to install any software for it on any OS.. .