mystery trouble with Trendnet KVM TK-400

[Richard Setters]

I have been using a Trendnet KVM Tk-400 for several years with three
homebuilt PC's. It seems to work ok except if I either have to disconnect
one PC or more and/or the power goes out for a period of time. Then, it
seems to take a lot of effort to try and get the PC's to recognize any of
the input devices (keyboard, mouse, monitor). I follow Trendnet's
instructions to the letter and it's only after luck that I will finally be
able to get one PC to recognize the devices and eventually all three.
Sometimes I will get 5 beeps at start up on two of the PC's, but only after
the power outage and/or disconnection.

I've been thinking of replacing the Trendnet KVM for quite some time, but I
want to be sure I'm not overlooking something first, which is why I came
here.

Are these symptoms something anyone else has experienced and what steps can
be taken to cure the problem? Any other suggestions? How about wireless
KVM's- are they availabe and at what cost or is there an alternative that
would work just as well?

Thanks,
Rich S

 

[Paul]

I have been using a Trendnet KVM Tk-400 for several years with three
homebuilt PC's. It seems to work ok except if I either have to
disconnect one PC or more and/or the power goes out for a period of
time. Then, it seems to take a lot of effort to try and get the PC's
to recognize any of the input devices (keyboard, mouse, monitor). I
follow Trendnet's instructions to the letter and it's only after luck
that I will finally be able to get one PC to recognize the devices and
eventually all three. Sometimes I will get 5 beeps at start up on two of
the PC's, but only after the power outage and/or disconnection.

I've been thinking of replacing the Trendnet KVM for quite some time,
but I want to be sure I'm not overlooking something first, which is why
I came here.

Are these symptoms something anyone else has experienced and what steps
can be taken to cure the problem? Any other suggestions? How about
wireless KVM's- are they availabe and at what cost or is there an
alternative that would work just as well?

Thanks,
Rich S

Does it work any better, if the PCs are plugged into the same
power strip ?

My reason for suggesting that, is in case the problem is related to
equipment grounding.

That's just a theory. I don't know if that is a common problem with KVMs.

Your KVM has its own power adapter, and that doesn't have a safety
ground reference. So this rules out power related failure modes.
(Some KVMs would steal power from the +5V pin on each keyboard connector.)
Having a wall adapter, helps rule out a problem with phantom power.

http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Power-Adapter-TK-400-401R/dp/B0011UR7DQ

It could be the KVM itself which is defective, but the thing is, it
eventually works.

*******

It's pretty hard to move a monitor video signal over wireless. It requires
a great deal of bandwidth. I think it's been done with UWB (ultra-wide-band)
but that only works well at short distance. And I'm not even sure that
UWB has left the lab.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-wideband

"High data rate UWB can enable wireless monitors..."

"...FCC authorizes the unlicensed use of UWB in the range of 3.1 to 10.6 GHz"

There is an announcement here, of a product in 2011. Now the question
would be, how many devices using that technology, could be run in
the same room.

http://en.akihabaranews.com/94622/d...wb-wireless-full-hd-monitor-c23a750x-in-korea

http://www.zdnet.com/reviews/produc...-central-station-syncmaster-c23a750x/34662676

"We experienced a few frustrating bugs on one test system, and didn't
find quite the same visual quality over wireless that we did with HDMI."

Based on that licensed range of frequencies, perhaps a UWB wouldn't interfere with
Wifi at 2.4GHz, but might do so with the Wifi at 5GHz. Switch on the UWB LCD monitor,
and watch the Wifi data rate on 5GHz, drop (because the UWB would look like background
noise to the Wifi signals, and degrade SNR). At least they didn't license
all the way down to baseband.

Paul