First post, by kreats
I use a belkin omniview 4 port PS/2 KVM (F1D104) for my retro rigs - which is very convenient for switching between pcs (can use at/ps-2 adapters, has inbuilt serial-ps/2 translation). However, getting a wireless keyboard / mouse that works properly seems to be a bit of a problem (due to modern wireless mice not being ps/2 compatible).
What I am looking for is the most modern keyboard/mouse I can find that has no/few problems either being used on a variety of older machines or being switched through the belkin KVM.. ideally they would just be a vanilla wireless keyboard/wireless optical mouse combo - without lots of media keys, special buttons etc.
Mice/keyboards up to about 2010 generally seem to support ps/2-USB adapters - which is probably the most important consideration.
Another consideration is (I think?) I need a seperate ps/2 cable to go to the kvm for mouse and keyboard, so single receivers that go to a single usb aren't good.
A cursory look seems to bring up these candidates:
Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 2.0 and below
Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer series, inc Wireless Optical Mouse 5000 (aka Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0)
Microsoft Wireless Desktop Elite
Logitech cordless desktop mx3100 (and below?)
I'm not the biggest fan of microsoft's horizontally scrolling mouse wheel or their (mostly) wacky designs but if they are the only ones that work I guess I can give them a shot.
I'm also unsure if the extensions that microsoft did to the ps/2 protocol will cause problems (e.g. once the driver puts the mouse in an "enhanced" mode & the kvm switches - is this going to cause problems?). Perhaps there are other 3rd party alternatives that would work even better (kensington?)
Anyway, has anyone already solved this problem? If so, what option did you end up going with and why? Are there any other alternatives that aren't too crusty and old?
While keyboard/mouse cables aren't the biggest problem in the world - having a wireless optical mouse on a 386 is kinda cool if you ask me.