new kvm usb troubles - help!

ted leslie ted.leslie-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
Wed Feb 23 23:28:40 UTC 2011


I just bought a 4 port dual view dual-dvi kvm from iogear 1644
The first bad but not surprising news is that the hot keys don't work,
i have to actually press the port select on the device to get it to
route my monitors to the selected computer. The reason for this is, my
keyboard and mouse is a all in one unit (single usb connect),
so it plugs to the usb peripherals jack on the kvm (this kvm switches
usb, audio, keyboard, mouse, and video),
but the device (confirmed by tech support call just now), only
recognized the hot key from the usb keyboard port (on kvm),
and not a keyboard on a generic usb (i.e. mine is keyboard   mouse all in one).
But this isn't to bad provided i can place the unit wthin arms-fingers
reach (and i have another idea - more later).
(i worry however that over the years i  may wear out buttons on the
devices console as apposed to using keyboard issued hot keys).

The serious issue i have is, on the switch between ports (computers),
the usb devices are reoffered, but the order is problematic.
If i switch using the kvm, the mouse stops when i come back to my main
linux machine. If i physically unplug the  usb at the computer (cable
between kvm and computer),
it comes back, and the device order is opposite (see below), if i
issue a soft usb reset from the hot keys (on a second keyboard into
the kvm in keyboard port)
it also works, but it doesn't work (usb device come up in opposite
order) if i use kvm port switch.
xinput shows the usbPS2 devices and ATEN but i can  not get
xsetpointer of xinput set-pointer to work as device names are same ,
and if i use device # it fails as well.

usb black list doesn't seem to help, because from what i see, it is
for modules only, and that doesn't work for me. I also tried removing
the hid usb module and reinserting
but this has it come up in the wrong order again :(  it's odd that
depending on how i reset the usb bus, the order is consistently
different, i.e.:

phyiscal usb cable in/out  comes up with order i want,
 kvm port switch not the right order,
 kvm usb bus soft reset is right order,
 linux module out/in wrong order.


SO, my question is, can i some how in linux control the order, or
better yet get it to not accept the ATEN device?

Also, if i plug my mouse/keyboard combo into the dedicated keyboard or
mouse jack i (not so surprisingly) only get the one functionality,
but (ok maybe dumb question here), isn't a usb device a usb device? if
i plug my combo keyboard and mouse into    the "keyboard kvm port",
why can't it intercept my keyboard strokes (for hot key detection),
and pass across whatever "mouse" data is on it too?

If i can just get control over the usb device order (or blacklist
ATEN) i can fix this one issue, any suggestions?
b.t.w. the soft reset issued from the keyboard is a pain as it
involves a hold this, hold this, release, release, press type
pain-in-the-ass keyboard combination
(and i don't want to have to have a 2nd keyboard present just to issue
kvm hot key sequences).

and on a really why out thought, could i get a usb port on my computer
to act as a keyboard usb device to the kvm?
i.e. connect a usb to usb cable from pc to kvm (in kvm dedicated
keyboard usb jack), and I can feed the usb data to
the kvm (not by a keyboard , but from a usb port on computer faking as
a keyboard)? (ok i did say "why out thought here!").

the iogear 1644 kvm does however do the core piece i needed, which is
KVM for dual monitor dual-dvi  two monitors ( at 2560x1600 res) to 3
or more (it can route upto 4 computers) to share the dual dual dvi
view set up.
unfortunately on the switching, the monitors (or is it the unit, i
don't know), its about a 1/3-2/3 of a second to switch between views,
which is a little disappointing (last i used a kvm on crt monitor,
monitor switching had no detectable switching lag, i am guessing the
dvi add some lag in the loop for some hand shaking or something).
I couldn't find any other kvm devices close to the 550$ price range of
this one, so not sure there are others that work better.
To solve the hot key issue, i may get a programmable keyboard
(hopefully find a cheap one), that i could program the port switch
keyboard sequence in a macro and get it to fire on a singe keypress,
but i have to solve the linux usb order detection issue first.

below is dmesg , one where it works (notice order), and one where doesn't:
DOESNT WORK
[4814267.775320] input: ATEN CS1644 V1.2.11? as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-5/2-5.4/2-5.4:1.0/input/input103
[4814267.800288] generic-usb 0003:0557:2213.0063: input,hidraw2: USB
HID v1.00 Keyboard [ATEN CS1644 V1.2.11?] on
usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.4/input0
[4814267.820815] input: ATEN CS1644 V1.2.11? as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-5/2-5.4/2-5.4:1.1/input/input104
[4814267.852309] generic-usb 0003:0557:2213.0064: input,hidraw3: USB
HID v1.00 Mouse [ATEN CS1644 V1.2.11?] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.4/input1
[4814982.125905] usb 2-5.2: USB disconnect, address 46
[4814989.252313] usb 2-5.1: new low speed USB device using ehci_hcd
and address 48
[4814989.368340] usb 2-5.1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[4814989.371921] input: USBPS2 as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-5/2-5.1/2-5.1:1.0/input/input105
[4814989.400282] generic-usb 0003:0D3D:0001.0065: input,hidraw0: USB
HID v1.00 Keyboard [USBPS2] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.1/input0
[4814989.404536] input: USBPS2 as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-5/2-5.1/2-5.1:1.1/input/input106
[4814989.448434] generic-usb 0003:0D3D:0001.0066: input,hidraw1: USB
HID v1.00 Mouse [USBPS2] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.1/input1



WORKS
[4815033.912365] input: USBPS2 as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-5/2-5.1/2-5.1:1.0/input/input107
[4815033.936282] generic-usb 0003:0D3D:0001.0067: input,hidraw0: USB
HID v1.00 Keyboard [USBPS2] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.1/input0
[4815033.940429] input: USBPS2 as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-5/2-5.1/2-5.1:1.1/input/input108
[4815033.988347] generic-usb 0003:0D3D:0001.0068: input,hidraw1: USB
HID v1.00 Mouse [USBPS2] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.1/input1
[4815039.725105] usb 2-5.4: USB disconnect, address 47
[4815042.252326] usb 2-5.4: new low speed USB device using ehci_hcd
and address 50
[4815042.415105] usb 2-5.4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[4815042.435925] input: ATEN CS1644 V1.2.11? as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-5/2-5.4/2-5.4:1.0/input/input109
[4815042.460282] generic-usb 0003:0557:2213.0069: input,hidraw2: USB
HID v1.00 Keyboard [ATEN CS1644 V1.2.11?] on
usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.4/input0
[4815042.480161] input: ATEN CS1644 V1.2.11? as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb2/2-5/2-5.4/2-5.4:1.1/input/input110
[4815042.520317] generic-usb 0003:0557:2213.006A: input,hidraw3: USB
HID v1.00 Mouse [ATEN CS1644 V1.2.11?] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.4/input1
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