On Mon, Apr 07, 2014 at 11:52:53AM -0700, John Meissen wrote: > > I need an affordable rackmount 8-port KVM that supports EDID (DDC) (I've seen > models for $999, that's NOT affordable). Alternatively, I've seen single-port > EDID emulators that I could use to solve this specific issue. I'd prefer a > more general solution, though, since this issue will come up again.
I don't have a great solution for you. Ideally, a KVM should fetch EDID information from the monitor at power-up, and clone it for all the connected computers. This would not be difficult, EDID signalling is low tech, and a $1 processor could do this. Some KVMs just pass EDID between monitor and the currently selected computer - no good for X starting on an unselected computer. Some KVMs pass through nothing. Boat anchors, fooey. I use an ioGear 4 port DVI/USB KVM for four computers sharing one monitor. If they all reboot (perhaps because of a power failure), only the default selected computer gets EDID information, the others don't. I can select the other machines one at a time, then restart X on them (Ctrl-alt-backspace), and they will get proper EDID while selected. This may work for your Mac. If you can use xconfig for the rest of the machines, you can put the Mac on the default port for the KVM. The problem with the kilobuck KVM is that it may work for some folks but not others. So even if you sold your car and ate beans and rice for six months to pay for it, it might be a disappointment. There are used 8 port VGA KVMs for sale at ecoBinary and GreenCentury. I have no idea how well they work, but they were surplused by the original owner and are still on the recycler's shelf for a reason. Keith -- Keith Lofstrom [email protected] _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
