Things To Keep In Mind About The Keyboards And Mice - Black Box ServSwitch Wizard SW651A User Manual

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 is necessary for the
ServSwitch Wizard 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 ServSwitch Wizard 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 ServSwitch Wizard 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 ServSwitch
Wizard 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 ServSwitch Wizard channel is
switched, ensuring maximum software compatibility.
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