Pardon me for a hideously off-topic question here, but does anyone know of any cheap alternatives to getting a KVM for home use? I've got 3 PC's tucked away under my desk, as well as a Sega Dreamcast that I connect my monitor and my keyboard to, and none of them care about whether they're started up with or without these devices or whether the devices are plugged in afterwards. So, for me, there's no benefit in getting a KVM for $500+ when I'm sure that there's a "quick and dirty" solution available somewhere. I've scoured the net to no avail. (I'm not an engineer, but how hard can it be to have a switch go from one input to 4 outputs?) -Alex On Sat, 2002-02-16 at 22:06, Alvin Oga wrote: > > hi ya Mike > > to boot w/o kb is tricky.... mouse is less of an issue > - and yeah...cant hit F1 to continue if there is no kb > plugged in > > - if you can be there ... its easiest to just plug in the kb ... > reboot it... and unplug it when the kb is needed on another pc > > - went poking around to see why kvm switches was so expensive.. > > - probably can use a wireless kb to aim it at the pc being rebooted?? > > some fake kb adaptors... > http://www.vetra.com/Elimina2.htm > http://www.raritan.com/products_gdn.html > > http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/a01e61042c57d9778625684300572489?OpenDocument > > am just wondering... why dont we just insert a pull up or pulldown > resistor on the transmit port of the keyboard connector... > > donno if the linuxbios project allows for "keyboard-less" boots > > have fun > alvin > http://www.Linux-1U.net . how do you backup a terabyte disk system.. :-) > > > On 16 Feb 2002, Elizabeth Barham wrote: > > > "Mike Millner" <mike@mikeshome.com> writes: > > > > > Is it a function of the hardware bios or the OS to be able to boot > > > without a keyboard or mouse? I have a Debian Potato system that is > > > up and running. I want to be able to boot the system with no > > > keyboard or mouse plugged in. I SSH to it when I need to check it or > > > do anything. > > > > BIOS. Some BIOS' (notably the older Compaq's) halt on Boot if it can't > > find a keyboard (but if you plug in a monitor it says something like > > "Press F1 to Configure, F2 to continue"). To the best of my knowledge > > this is unconfigurable for these older Compaq's. > > > > > If it is hardware anyone know where I can get a dummy mouse and > > > dummy keyboard? > > > > I looked for these in the past and I don't recall finding anything (or > > if I did it was above my budget). Your options are rather limited if > > your BIOS errors with no keyboard installed: > > > > 1) Purchase a $5 keyboard at the store, plug it in, boot, leave > > the keyboard plugged in and walk off. > > 2) Bring a keyboard, plug it in, boot, remove the keyboard (but > > hopefully you have a UPS). > > 3) There are little devices ($50?) that allow you to hook up > > more than one machine to one monitor, one keyboard, and one mouse - > > you select which one you want to use with a button on the > > device. Use it. > > > > I generally just go with No. 1. > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-request@lists.debian.org > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org >
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