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Which is the correct cable for a kvm?


proskater123

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I purchased a rackmount kvm monitor that slides out on ebay. The problem is, is that it has no markings saying who made it or what model it is. The only port it has is a vga port in. But it has a built in mouse and keyboard. I figured there was a special cable that sends the mouse and keyboard over the vga cable some how. Here is the kvm and the only port besides the power port.HERE is the images of the kvm. What kind of cable do I need to hook this up to a kvm switch?

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Show a pic if you can. There are more than one type pf KVM switches out there (from what I recall) and ours had VGA, Ethernet and USB ports on them for controlling several servers in one rack using one monitor, keyboard and mouse. Older ones we had, used serial/printer type cables tied to a different type of controller that used PS/2 mice and keyboards and VGA, and didn't use software to switch between them, but instead had a physical dial to switch between them on the front and was limited to 4 units, as where the other one, we hit the prt scr button, got a menu, and could reach a dozen or so over the network using software as Me-Protocol mentioned.

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I provided the link for the images in the original post.

.HERE is the images of the kvm.

Here is the link as well http://imgur.com/a/iiFQP. The only two ports on the back of this kvm is the port for the power, and the vga. I opened it up and the cables for the mouse and keyboard go to the same circut board as the vga.

Edited by proskater123
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Ah, missed the link initially for the pic...my bad. Yeah, some VGA act as serial and can do multiple functions. I know a guy who has video booths and the boards have a VGA type cable that all of them run to, but they use some sort of break out cable to wire them all up to DVD players and such, so they do video, plus other stuff over the same port, but the cables have RCA coming out the other end for sound and video.

This might be network over serial using VGA to VGA alone although you would probably buy a cable like this: http://www.amamax.com/kvmswcaforus.html or http://www.staples.com/TRENDNET-TK-CU06-USB-VGA-KVM-Cable-6/product_IM1Q72888

Some also do VGA Male to USB and network over USB/Serial. Thing is, you're probably going to need a disc with drivers to make it work is my guess, so it knows to create a virtual serial port over USB to the laptop. I had something similar for my GPS for my laptop, and it did USB with a virtual serial port that showed up in the system tray for com1-4 to use the GPS since it was serial based but came with a USB adapter for non-serial based computers.

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While we're on the topic, KVM switches like proskater123's seem pretty antiquated now. I remember selling these type of devices like 11 yrs ago when Linksys WRT's and 1GB USB thumb drives were hot. Whats the next generation of these kind of devices? I personally use a router and good ol' remote admin to deal with multiple computers; switches are pretty inexpensive on eBay.

I wonder if there's are like a wireless KVM switches for servers. I read that one advantage of a KVM is that it can use virtual disks of many kinds, for example images of USB drives, which can be mounted as SATA drives. If it is the first drive, the virtual machine will boot from it.

I don't quite understand the purpose of Ubuntu's virtman https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM/VirtManager.%C2'>

Edited by logicalconfusion
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While we're on the topic, KVM switches like proskater123's seem pretty antiquated now. I remember selling these type of devices like 11 yrs ago when Linksys WRT's and 1GB USB thumb drives were hot. Whats the next generation of these kind of devices? I personally use a router and good ol' remote admin to deal with multiple computers; switches are pretty inexpensive on eBay.

I wonder if there's are like a wireless KVM switches for servers. I read that one advantage of a KVM is that it can use virtual disks of many kinds, for example images of USB drives, which can be mounted as SATA drives. If it is the first drive, the virtual machine will boot from it.

I don't quite understand the purpose of Ubuntu's virtman

That's all fine and dandy, until you're working with a rack full of servers that don't have a window manager. KVM's are still around, and won't go away for a very long time.

I don't think you're using the KVM term correctly.

As for the OP, most likely the part you have is only one part of a system. Most likely they're using a vga connector as a serial connection to the actual KVM box.

lcd1u15-04_17-01_19-01_10.jpg

Can't guarintee this will work, but have a look at this page. I've got a kvm at a couple client sites with connectors like the one's in this link.

http://www.rackmountmart.com/rmLCD/lcd1U15-04.htm#82

Edited by barry99705
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