Re: Resolved (and extended): Re: OT: Belkin F1DS104J KVM and PCs on a UPS
Oops, fixing a typo, below
On Sunday, February 02, 2020 04:18:39 PM rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> Thanks to all who replied!
>
> Everybody had good points. I ended up putting the unit on the non-battery
> side of the UPS (just because I was out of outlets on the battery side and
> didn't want to take the time / space to add a powerstrip or such (space is
> tight behind / under my desk)). I usually feel that the surge suppression
> there is better than on some inexpensive powerstrips.
>
> In the course of plugging in a power supply for a laptop (which was the
> reason to switch from a 2-port KVM to a 4-port KVM), I accidentally
> tripped the power to the KVM switch with no ill effects, that is, the
> computer did not lose its communication to the monitor, keyboard, and
> mouse, and, after I repowered the KVM, I could switch between the
> computers as before the power loss, so I'm not worried about not being on
> the UPS.
>
> I did learn some things (one mentioned above), another is:
>
> * the KVM has inputs for either a PS/2 keyboard and mouse, or a USB
> keyboard and mouse. My mouse is USB and my keyboard is PS/2. I found that
> if I plugged the keyboard into the PS/2 port and the mouse into a USB
> port, that would not work for the most finicky computer. I added a USB to
> PS/2 converter plug to the mouse, plugged them both into USB ports on the
> KVM, and now things worked.
Should have been "plugged them both into the PS/2 ports"
>
> * the output from the KVM (to the computer) has one USB cable and one
> PS/2 cable. After I did the above, I was able to plug the PS/2 cable into
> the keyboard port on the computer, and the USB cable into a USB plug, and
> the mouse and keyboard both worked. (I thought I might have to add
> another USB to PS/2 converter plug so that I could plug both cables into
> the PS/2 ports on the computer.
>
> * The other (desktop) computer I consider less finicky. (Because, when
> I tried to set it up with the inexpensive 4-port all USB KVM that I bought
> on ebay, it worked with no trouble, the finicky computer would not, even
> when I used things like a cable splitter and USB to PS/2 converter plugs)
> to plug into either both PS/2 "jacks" or two USB ports on the computer (or
> the various possible combinations of one each))
>
> Anyway, this less finicky computer has only one PS/2 ports, colored half
> pink and half gray, and apparently can work for either a PS/2 mouse or a
> PS/2 keyboard (or maybe even both with some kind of "combiner cable").
>
> I ended up plugging the PS/2 cable from the KVM into the PS/2 port on
> the computer and the USB cable into a USB port, and both the mouse and
> keyboard work. I didn't try any other approaches, I mean, I didn't try to
> see if only one of the KVM output cables connected to the computer would
> be sufficient.
>
> I am just a little worried that maybe the mouse and keyboard signals are
> going into both the PS/2 port and a USB port, and that maybe someday I'll
> encounter some kind of problem because of that, but, for now I'm happy that
> everything (on these two computers) seems to be working ok through the KVM.
>
> I do have another OT problem related to the laptop and the existing
> installation of Windows on it. I'll describe that problem later (in a new
> thread) to see if anyone can help.
>
> Thanks again to the list and those who replied!
>
> On Thursday, January 30, 2020 08:36:32 AM Roger Price wrote:
> > Speaking from experience, another reason to put the KVM switch on the UPS
> > is protection from power surges. I live in a lightning prone area, and I
> > have lost expensive gear because ancilliary stuff such as a KVM switch
> > with a wired connection to PCs was not protected.
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