Specifications

CHAPTER 5: Operation

5.4 Things to Keep in Mind About the Keyboards and Mice

CPU bootup sequence: When your computer CPUs are powered on, they

communicate with any attached keyboards and mice and load the setup

parameters required by their particular operating systems. It’s necessary for the

Multi-Head ServSwitch to be attached and powered on during this sequence so

that it can give the CPUs the required responses and keep track of all the modes

and settings requested by each of the connected CPUs.

Mouse characteristics: Do not unplug a PS/2 mouse connection from a computer

CPU while the CPU is on. Because of the way PS/2 mice communicate, the CPU

will lose mouse function and you will have to reboot the CPU to regain normal

operation. Unplugging a shared PS/2 mouse from the Multi-Head ServSwitch will

have no immediate effect, but the CPU will lose mouse function as soon as you

plug the mouse back in. (RS-232 mouse-port connections can usually be freely

unplugged and replugged, provided that a mouse was connected when the

operating system initially booted.) The Multi-Head ServSwitch has a PS/2 mouse-

recovery system which allows you to disconnect and reconnect the shared mouse

without powering down the system, but we recommend using this only when

absolutely necessary. See Section 5.8 for details.

Keyboard- and mouse-mode handling during channel switching: The Multi-Head

ServSwitch keeps a log of the keyboard and mouse modes and resolution settings

requested by each of the connected computer CPUs, including the keyboard Num

Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock states. These settings are automatically restored

to the shared keyboard and mouse when the Multi-Head ServSwitch channel is

switched, ensuring maximum software compatibility.