Those two switches look exactly the same ard probably are, I've got a 2 port version of the above and it works okay.

The problems seem to be, you've got both computers running and switching between the two fine and dandy, you shutdown one computer, monitor goes into standby mode and switching back to the other machine the switch doesn't register, you have to switch to the computer you want to keep using before powering down completely.

Another strange problem with one machine is it wont just work, I have to turn the computer on, wait til it gets passed post and disconnect and reconnect the usb keyboard and away she goes, the keyboard wont get recognised if I dont do that,

That problem occurs with my Tualatin 1.4 machine, it has standard ps2 Keyboard & Mouse connectors and obviously connects via a usb, If I dont have the "USB LEGACY SUPPORT" or whatever option it is in the bios it wont work in dos, I cant remember if it still worked in windows though.

In my opinion it works well enough if you remember the few flaws it has, I've used a VGA switch in the past which performed worse, Mine does work with resolutions of 1920x1200 on both machines.

This is what I use:

Belkin Soho DVI KVM:
http://www.amazon.com/port-DVI-USB-Switch-fou … /dp/B001BTWSLI/

Atlona VGA to HDMI Scaler:
http://www.amazon.com/Atlona-Technologies-AT- … /dp/B00384D67O/

The scaler is powered via USB so, another wall wart is not needed. You just get a HDMI to DVI cable to connect to the KVM.

I like the SOHO KVM because you can switch the audio and video independently. Granted, this is probably more than you wanted to spend, but I wanted to share anyway.

Many thanks for the responses so far!

laxdragon wrote:

This is what I use: Belkin Soho DVI KVM: http://www.amazon.com/port-DVI-USB-Switch-fou … /dp/B001BTWSLI/ […]
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This is what I use:
Belkin Soho DVI KVM:
http://www.amazon.com/port-DVI-USB-Switch-fou … /dp/B001BTWSLI/

I like the SOHO KVM because you can switch the audio and video independently. Granted, this is probably more than you wanted to spend, but I wanted to share anyway.

I had actually had a look at the product and dismissed it because there was no mentioning of PS/2 whatsoever. The USD amount seems perfectly ok (given that it has dual-link DVI-I and I guess the consumer market for four-port switches isn't the biggest anyway). As it turns out, it costs about 50% more at Amazon in my country, though. For that price, it would really have to "do it all" (i.e. incl. PS/2).

(I am curious as to why you are using the separate scaler. Does this mean that both VGA and DVI are routed through independently, i.e. there is no conversion from a VGA source to a DVI output? Would seem too nice to be true, of course, given what a single scaler costs already.)

I also got a response from LevelOne, stating that only the input devices could be PS/2 but that it is USB-only to the PCs. The Digitus device does indeed look very similar, so I guess it has the same restrictions. What I find annoying is that they don't at least list the supported cable types.

They give the cable types for this one, though:
http://www.digitus.info/en/products/datacom/k … ort-dc-12401-1/
namely the following (two already included):
http://www.digitus.info/en/products/datacom/k … eries-ak-82001/

I missed it because I was also looking for DVI at the same time. USB to PS/2-wise, it seems to be exactly what I need. I just hope it works also without VGA connected.

(With regard to being future-proof on the display side, such a device - with dual screen support - looks actually the nicest, but is beyond what I'd pay:
http://www.aten.com/products/productItem.php?model_no=CS1944
What I find quite hard to understand is how HDMI 1.4 switch matrices can be $50 but if you add USB switching to it, you end up at about 10x the amount ...)

So I will probably try the "input device only" solution along with investigating DOS USB drivers (again). On the matter of a pure coverter I still haven't found anything.

My keyboard and mouse are USB, as well as the KVM, so I never needed PS/2

Also, the KVM itself is DVI-D only, so it was not able to take in a VGA signal. This is why I opted for a scaler box. I have 4 systems on my KVM, if I only had 2, I might have just used something else.

My current solution involves using a semi-modern 4-port Avocent Switchview with PS2 and VGA only (no USB or DVI).

I think it has 400mhz bandwith(= high resolution), picked it specifically because of that. (bought new)

Practically no sign of 'shadowing'* etc on this setup.
(*: a faint 'shadow' on the right side of all edges/icons/windows and so on)

Using an LCD Dell monitor(2009 model), PS2 Keyboard(IBM/1987!), VGA cables all around, and DVI passive adapters on the 'modern' computers video cards.

Have not tested the mouse connections, as I have so far chosen to use USB mice directly to all the computers, ending up with currently 3 mice on my desk...

So at the moment it basically functions just as a monitor/keyboard KVM.
Works for me though... 🤣

Important thing is that at least the 'big' items are restricted to 1 each (montior/keyboard).