Specifications

CHAPTER 3: Installation and Preconfiguration

Other concerns:

• The ServSwitch Affinity emulates several types of mice for the attached

computers, but the actual mice used at your user stations must be the same

type as the stations’ keyboards: Sun or USB mice with Sun keyboards or PS/2

or USB mice (not RS-232 mice) with PC type keyboards. For more details, see

Section 4.3.

• Because the Affinity currently only supports “stream mode” (continuous)

mouse data, but older IBM ThinkPad models have to handle mouse data in

“prompt mode” (burst-on-request), don’t try to attach any older ThinkPad

computers to the Affinity, either directly or through docking stations. Some

newer models should work with the Affinity, but there’s no good way to tell

other than by trial and error. (You can’t damage your equipment by trying—if

you have the wrong kind of ThinkPad, it just won’t work.)

• If you’re using a PC mouse as the common mouse, make sure that the IBM PC

CPUs use only the generic Microsoft

mouse driver MOUSE.COM, version 4.0 at

least and preferably version 9.01 or higher. If you’re running Windows

3.x,

this driver must be loaded in Windows as well as in the base operating system.

Do not, on any of your switched IBM PC CPUs, run any programs or TSRs, or

enter any DOS commands, that change the settings of the mouse port after the

driver has been loaded.

• When you first switch between CPUs, especially CPUs of different platforms,

you might notice wide variations in mouse sensitivity (how far or fast the

mouse moves) from CPU to CPU. This is normal. The IBM, Apple, and Sun

platforms all have ways to adjust the sensitivity of the mouse. (This is usually

handled through some kind of software “control panel,” but the specifics vary

depending on the operating system and—in IBM applications—on the mouse

driver.) To optimize mouse movement, adjust the sensitivity on each CPU

according to your individual preference.

• Although the ServSwitch Affinity resists minor transient surges that can be

caused by rapidly cycling power, certain keyboards are sensitive to such

transients. Because your shared keyboard’s power is provided by the Affinity,

wait at least three seconds after powering down the Affinity before powering it

up again, or the keyboard might not reset correctly.

• The ServSwitch Affinity is designed to support IBM PC compatible 101-, 102-,

104-, or 105-key keyboards and IBM PC keyboard-scan modes 1, 2, and 3; it’s

also designed to work with PC-type CPUs/keyboards that use 5-pin DIN or

6-pin mini-DIN keyboard connectors. The Affinity will try to pass through

keyboard codes that it doesn’t recognize without altering them, which allows it