APRIL 2001 Mac PC 1 2 3 4 ET 1 2 3 4 RES US STAT SW627A-R2 SW628A-R2 Customer Support Information: FREE tech support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: Call 724-746-5500 or fax 724-746-0746. Mailing address: Black Box Corporation, 1000 Park Dr., Lawrence, PA 15055-1018 World-Wide Web: www.blackbox.com • E-mail: info@blackbox.com © Copyright 2001. Black Box Corporation. All rights reserved.
THE SERVSWITCH™ FAMILY Welcome to the ServSwitchTM Family! Thank you for purchasing a BLACK BOX® ServSwitch™ Brand KVM switch! We appreciate your business, and we think you’ll appreciate the many ways that your new ServSwitch keyboard/video/mouse switch will save you money, time, and effort. That’s because our ServSwitch family is all about breaking away from the traditional, expensive model of computer management.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP TRADEMARKS USED IN THIS MANUAL BLACK BOX and the logo are registered trademarks, and ServSwitch, ServSwitch Jr., and ServSwitch Jr. MP are trademarks, of Black Box Corporation. Apple, Mac, and Macintosh are registered trademarks, and G3 and G4 are trademarks, of Apple Computer, Inc. IBM, PC/AT, PS/2, RS/6000, and ThinkPad are registered trademarks, and PC/XT is a trademark, of International Business Machines Corporation.
FCC/IC STATEMENTS FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND INDUSTRY CANADA RADIO-FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE STATEMENTS This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio-frequency energy, and if not installed and used properly, that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, may cause interference to radio communication.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP NORMAS OFICIALES MEXICANAS (NOM) ELECTRICAL SAFETY STATEMENT INSTRUCCIONES DE SEGURIDAD 1. Todas las instrucciones de seguridad y operación deberán ser leídas antes de que el aparato eléctrico sea operado. 2. Las instrucciones de seguridad y operación deberán ser guardadas para referencia futura. 3. Todas las advertencias en el aparato eléctrico y en sus instrucciones de operación deben ser respetadas. 4. Todas las instrucciones de operación y uso deben ser seguidas. 5.
NOM STATEMENT 12. Precaución debe ser tomada de tal manera que la tierra fisica y la polarización del equipo no sea eliminada. 13. Los cables de la fuente de poder deben ser guiados de tal manera que no sean pisados ni pellizcados por objetos colocados sobre o contra ellos, poniendo particular atención a los contactos y receptáculos donde salen del aparato. 14. El equipo eléctrico debe ser limpiado únicamente de acuerdo a las recomendaciones del fabricante. 15.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP Contents Chapter Page 1. Specifications ............................................................................................. 8 2. Introduction ............................................................................................. 2.1 The Complete Package ..................................................................... 2.2 Operating Features ........................................................................... 2.3 The Front Panel ............................
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 5. Page Troubleshooting ...................................................................................... 5.1 Restoring Factory-Default Settings ................................................... 5.2 Common Problems ........................................................................... 5.2.1 CPU Doesn’t Boot ................................................................. 5.2.2 Can’t Switch Ports from Keyboard ....................................... 5.2.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 1.
CHAPTER 1: Specifications Indicators — Both models: (1) for Switch’s power status; SW627A-R2: (2) for port status; SW628A-R2: (4) for port status Connectors — All rear-mounted; Both models: (1) HD15 female for VGA monitor; (2) 6-pin mini-DIN female: (1) for PS/2 keyboard, (1) for PS/2 mouse; SW627A-R2: (2) numbered DB25 female for CPUs; SW628A-R2: (4) numbered DB25 female for CPUs, (1) 3.5-mm barrel jack for power Maximum Altitude — 10,000 ft.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 2. Introduction Thank you for choosing a ServSwitch Jr.™ MP. Designed with your needs in mind, your new Switch will simplify your job by helping you organize your multiplecomputer application. Because the ServSwitch Jr. MP lets you use a single keyboard, monitor, and mouse to access one or two IBM® PC compatible computers and one or two Apple® Macintosh® compatible computers, you can significantly reduce your equipment overhead and end keyboard and monitor clutter.
CHAPTER 2: Introduction • If your application is not very demanding, the Switch can operate using only a portion of the attached computers’ keyboard power. For higher-level applications, an external power supply is included. • You can select the desired CPU from your keyboard or from the Switch’s front panel. • Front-panel LEDs show which CPU is selected. • The units remember and restore Num Lock, Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, and keyboard mode for each CPU.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 2.3 The Front Panel The ServSwitch Jr. MP’s front panel features three or five membrane switches and the same number of LED indicators. To familiarize yourself with these controls and indicators, refer to Figure 2-1 and the descriptions that follow. PC STATUS 1 2 3 4 RESET 1 Mac 2 3 4 Figure 2-1. The front panel of a 4-port ServSwitch Jr. MP (SW628A-R2). STATUS Status LED: Lights to indicate that the Switch is powered ON.
CHAPTER 2: Introduction 2.4 The Rear Panel All cable connections are made at the ServSwitch Jr. MP’s rear panel, as illustrated (in Figure 2-2) and described below. 4 3 2 1 Figure 2-2. The rear panel of a 4-port ServSwitch Jr. MP (SW628A-R2). Panel Label Connector Ports 1, 2, 3, 4* DB25 F Description Connect the sharing computers to these ports with special CPU Cables.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 2.5 Cable Requirements Many switches of this type have what seems like ten million connectors on their rear panels: one for each CPU’s video cable, one for each keyboard cable, and a third for each mouse cable. The potential for tangling or mismatching cables is high. By contrast, you can connect the ServSwitch Jr. MP to your CPUs with one CPU Cable for each CPU. This single cable reaches the CPU’s video-output, keyboard, and (on PC CPUs) mouse ports.
CHAPTER 3: Installation 3. Installation 3.1 Rackmounting (Optional) If you want to mount the ServSwitch Jr. MP in a 19", 23", or 24" rack, you will need a ServSwitch Rackmounting Kit (our product code RMK19M, RMK23M, or RMK24M respectively). The Switch is pre-drilled to accept the Kit’s rackmounting screws. See Appendix C for more information. 3.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 3.3 Connecting the CPUs CPU Cables run from the ServSwitch Jr. MP to the keyboard port, video-output port, and (on PC CPUs) mouse port of each CPU you want to directly attach to it. Different types of this cable fit the connectors on different computers (see Appendix B). This cable also comes in the different lengths supported by different applications (see Section 4.1.3).
CHAPTER 3: Installation CAUTION! Do not attach docking stations for older models of the ThinkPad® or other portable computers to the ServSwitch Jr. MP. The Switch currently supports only “stream mode” (continuous) mouse data, but older ThinkPad models have to see “prompt mode” (burst-on-request) mouse data. Some newer docking stations and some newer ThinkPad models might work with the Switch, but determining whether a particular unit will do so will probably require trial and error. 3.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 4. Operation The first part of this chapter, Section 4.1, gives you some guidelines that you should follow to make sure your ServSwitch Jr. MP works properly with your equipment. Section 4.2 summarizes the ServSwitch Jr. MP’s keyboard commands, and Section 4.3 describes these commands in detail. NOTES To start any ServSwitch Jr. MP keyboard command, you must press and release the left Control Key ([CTRL]).
CHAPTER 4: Operation might not work properly with keyboards that have proprietary keys or connectors or use proprietary keyboard-scan modes. Standard PC keyboards have between 101 and 105 keys. In order to reproduce all of the functions of the Apple keyboard, which has 105 keys (not all the same as those on the 105-key PC keyboard), we have “mapped” several of the special Apple keys to other keys on the PC keyboard. You can select any of three different mapping options; see Section 4.3.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 4.1.3 MONITOR NOTE No keyboard/video switch can provide perfect video. You will see at least a little fuzziness on your monitor no matter how close to ideal your ServSwitch Jr. MP system is. While PC-type CPUs and VGA monitors normally use two separate leads to send/receive sync signals (one lead for horizontal sync and one for vertical sync), Mac CPUs/monitors normally send/receive a composite sync signal on a single lead.
CHAPTER 4: Operation The ServSwitch Jr. will support SVGA (Super VGA) video, but with original Serv cables the video quality for SVGA and Mac video will decrease markedly at higher resolutions and distances. Table 4-1 illustrates this. The distances in the table are total cable lengths measured from the CPU to the monitor. Table 4-1. Video Quality vs. Distance for Original Serv Cables Distance 5' (1.5 m) 10' (3 m) 15' (4.6 m) 20' (6.1 m) 25' (7.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP By contrast, coaxial cables (required for XGA applications, and recommended for most other applications) do much better at maintaining video quality, as shown in Table 4-2. (For the meaning of quality numbers 3, 2, and 1, see the bottom of the previous page.) As before, the distances in the table are total cable lengths measured from the CPU to the monitor. Table 4-2. Video Quality vs. Distance for Coaxial Cables Distance Resolution 10 ft. 20 ft. 30 ft. 50 ft. 75 ft. 100 ft. 150 ft.
CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.2 Keyboard-Command Summary Table 4-3 on this page and the next page summarizes the commands that can be sent to the ServSwitch Jr. MP. To enter any command at the shared keyboard, first press and release the left Control Key ([CTRL]). This cues the Switch to look for commands from the keyboard. Then enter the command followed by any arguments you wish to specify (the port number, for example). Letter commands are not case-sensitive; they are all shown in uppercase for clarity only.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP Command Keystroke Sequence Description Scan OFF [CTRL] X Turns Scan mode OFF (the port being scanned at the time the command is entered is given access to the shared monitor, keyboard, and mouse). Note: Scan can also be stopped by entering a Select Port command. Reset [CTRL] R Resets and enables the keyboard and mouse. Issue this command to correct your keyboard or mouse if one of them malfunctions or gets stuck.
CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3 The Commands in Detail 4.3.1 SELECTING A PORT FROM THE SHARED KEYBOARD To select a port from your keyboard, press and release your keyboard’s left Control Key ([CTRL]), then press the number key corresponding to the number of your desired port ([1], [2], [3], or [4]). The ServSwitch Jr. MP will immediately switch to that port. You can always, of course, select any port by pressing its numbered button on the Switch’s front panel. 4.3.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 4.3.5 SEND NULL BYTE (PC CPUS WITH PS/2 MOUSE PORTS ONLY) PS/2 type mice send control data to CPUs in three-byte increments. Sometimes, because of electronic transients, unusual power-up effects, or plugging and unplugging of cables from live equipment, the currently selected PC type CPU in a ServSwitch Jr. MP system can lose one or two bytes of this control information and get “out of sync” with the shared mouse.
CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3.8 SET MAXIMUM PORTS (SW628A-R2 ONLY) Use this command to tell a 4-port ServSwitch Jr. MP the total number of CPU ports to which computers are or will be connected. This allows the scan function to cycle correctly if you have computers attached to only two or three of the Switch’s CPU ports. To issue the Set Maximum Ports command, press and release the left Control Key, type [P] followed by the total number of ports accessible to that Switch ([2] or [3]), and press [ENTER].
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP The ServSwitch Jr. MP can’t detect the CPU’s keyboard mode if the CPU doesn’t send “mode commands” (most CPUs that use mode 2 fall into this category) or if the CPU is already ON when you connect it to the Switch (it shouldn’t be). In these situations, the Switch tries to use the keyboard-mode setting stored in its nonvolatile memory for that port. The factory-default is mode 2 for all ports.
CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3.11 SET KEYBOARD TYPEMATIC Most IBM PC type keyboards have an internal seven-bit “typematic” setting, which governs the way the keyboard responds when you hold a key down to force it to repeat. The five “low” bits of this setting represent the rate at which the key repeats; the two “high” bits represent the delay after you begin holding down the key before it begins to repeat. Sometimes a keyboard’s typematic setting isn’t suitable for a given operator or for a given application.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP Table 4-5.
CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3.12 SET APPLE EMULATION Your shared keyboard must be an IBM PC type. In order for you to be able to reproduce all of the keyboard-driven functions of your Mac CPUs, the ServSwitch Jr. MP has to “map” some of the important keys on the Mac keyboard to keys on the PC keyboard that are either duplicates of other keys or keys that are not used in a Mac environment. (This is called “keyboard emulation.
SERVSWITCH™ JR.
CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3.13 SET MOUSE TRANSLATION (PC CPUS WITH SERIAL MOUSE PORTS ONLY) If each IBM PC CPU attached to your ServSwitch Jr. MP has a PS/2 mouse port, you can plug a PS/2 mouse into the Switch and control them both without having to reconfigure the system at all. However, if an attached PC CPU has an RS-232 serial mouse port, you’ll need to set the Switch to do PS/2 to RS-232 mouse translation for the serial-mouse CPU.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 5. Troubleshooting The first two sections of this chapter discuss some of the problems that can arise in a ServSwitch Jr. MP system and suggest possible causes and solutions. If the trouble you’re having with the Switch is something you haven’t seen before, or if the trouble seems minor, try the procedure detailed in Section 5.1 before doing anything else. If the trouble is chronic, see Section 5.2. Sections 5.3 and 5.
CHAPTER 5: Troubleshooting 5.2 Common Problems 5.2.1 A CPU CONNECTED TO YOUR SWITCH DOESN’T BOOT, AND YOU GET A KEYBOARD OR MOUSE ERROR A. First make sure that the CPU is in fact connected to the ServSwitch Jr. MP and that the Switch is receiving power. (One of the Switch’s numbered CPU ports must be cabled to the keyboard port of a powered CPU in order for the Switch to work properly.) B. If the Switch is ON, make sure its keyboard and mouse settings are correct. C.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 5.2.2 YOU CAN’T SWITCH PORTS FROM THE KEYBOARD A. Can you do anything from the keyboard? If not, the keyboard cable has probably come loose. Reconnect it. B. The ServSwitch Jr. MP might have lost power for less than three seconds. (This can cause the keyboard to lock up.) Disconnect the keyboard and plug it back in. C. The keyboard mode that the currently selected CPU port is set for doesn’t match the mode that the CPU on that port expects.
CHAPTER 5: Troubleshooting 5.2.6 YOUR MOUSE DRIVER DOESN’T LOAD (PC CPUS ONLY) A. What type of mouse are you using? If it’s a regular PS/2 mouse (either a regular type or a wheel mouse), see steps B and C. If it’s a Microsoft BallPoint mouse, see step C. At the time of this writing, the ServSwitch Jr. MP does not support other types of mice. B. To recognize the mouse, the CPU must be directly connected to it, or indirectly connected to it through the Switch, at boot-up time.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 5.2.9 YOUR MOUSE DOESN’T MOVE THE POINTER/CURSOR A. What type of mouse is it? If it is any other type than those listed as being supported in item A under Section 5.2.6, chances are that the ServSwitch Jr. MP doesn’t support it. B. The mouse might not be configured properly. C. The mouse might not have been connected to the Switch when the Switch was powered up. It might also have been disconnected and reconnected after the Switch was powered up. D.
CHAPTER 5: Troubleshooting 5.2.12 YOUR VIDEO IS OK IN LOW-RESOLUTION MODE, BUT YOU CAN’T GET INTO HIGHRESOLUTION MODE (PC CPUS ONLY) A. If you’re using XGA, you must use coaxial cables (see Section 4.1.3 and Appendix B). B. Check your video driver. It might not be set up correctly for your desired resolution. 5.2.13 ONE OR BOTH OF YOUR PC CPUS LOCK UP WHEN YOU START WINDOWS 3.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP 5.3 Calling Black Box If you determine that your ServSwitch Jr. MP is malfunctioning, do not attempt to alter or repair the unit. It contains no user-serviceable parts (and see the Caution notice at the start of Chapter 5). Call Black Box Technical Support at 724-746-5500. Before you do, make a record of the history of the problem.
APPENDIX A: NVRAM Factory Defaults Appendix A: NVRAM Factory Defaults The table below shows, for the ServSwitch Jr. MP’s saveable options, the default values stored in nonvolatile memory (NVRAM) when the Switch is shipped from the factory. It also shows what commands or actions can change these settings for the Switch’s current operating period, as well as what commands or actions can save changed settings to NVRAM, so that they become the new defaults.
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP Appendix B: Cable Product Codes The tables below list the product codes for all the types of cables we currently offer for use with the ServSwitch Jr. MP. The four digits that follow the dash in each product code indicate how long each cable is in feet (one foot = 30.5 cm). For these cables, xxx’s are shown in place of the last three digits of the product code because the cables come in several stock lengths: “005,” “010,” “020,” “035,” “050,” “075,” or “100” for 5-foot (1.
APPENDIX B: Cable Product Codes Mac Adapter for ServSwitch (provides monitor ID to Mac CPUs that need to see it): KV99MA Station Extenders for PC equipment: CPU to Switch (RS-232 Mouse): AC254A Switch to Station (RS-232 Mouse): AC255A CPU to Switch (PS/2 Style Mouse): AC258A Switch to Station (PS/2 Style Mouse): AC259A Station Extenders for Mac equipment: CPU to Switch: AC269A Switch to Station: AC268A Station-Extender Cables: EHN250-0zzz, where “zzz” = 050, 100, 150, or 200 CAT5 KVM Extenders (PC only,
SERVSWITCH™ JR. MP Appendix C: Rackmounting the ServSwitch Jr. MP If you want to mount your ServSwitch Jr. MP in a 19", 23", or 24" rack, use the corresponding ServSwitch Rackmounting Kit: product code RMK19M, RMK23M, or RMK24M respectively. Each of these Kits consists of two rackmounting “ears” and four screws. To use a Kit to mount a ServSwitch Jr. MP, take these steps, referring to Figure C-1: 1.
JANUARY 2001 Remote Unit M FIBER KV R EXTENDE Power R G B 1 2 ACS235A ACS236A Customer Support Information: FREE tech support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: Call 724-746-5500 or fax 724-746-0746. Mailing address: Black Box Corporation, 1000 Park Dr., Lawrence, PA 15055-1018 World-Wide Web: www.blackbox.com • E-mail: info@blackbox.com © Copyright 2001. Black Box Corporation. All rights reserved.
