Aten CS1782 DVI KVM Switch Very Fragile

[dwightmccann]

I have had an Aten CS1782 Dual-DVI KVM switch for a few months. I'm not happy with it. I have it connected to two WinXP systems. Initially it seemed to connect intermittently. After much upset I discovered that it will not withstand being powered off with the computers but must be powered on continuously prior to the computers being powered up. OK, I put it on an unswitched UPS port. It ran fine for a couple of months. Then my power company had a scheduled power outage. I took everything down cleanly before and brought it up cleanly afterward, following the requirement that the KVM must come up first, sigh. It no longer presents the keyboard to the second computer ... which is odd since it is all USB (not PS-2) and the two mice and sound are presented properly. When I connect a keyboard directly to the computer that can't see it via Aten it works fine ... that's what I am doing right now.

I contacted Aten. They want me to swap all the cables around but can't explain what they hope to find by doing this, they just refer to "cable or port issue" but there isn't a cable or port issue ... it is a logic issue. This would require four boots for each of two computers plus recabling and doesn't address the likelihood that it is a switch logic bug. I know for most of you doing this sort of thing is a happy part of your day but I've done this kind of thing a hundred times for computer support people and not once has it ever resolved an issue ... the only support people who ever resolved an issue for me explained what they wanted to determine, we did one test and fixed the issue ... LSI on a RAID controller card ...

Anyway, I'd recommend against an Aten KVM. They seem to have way too much logic for allowing you to have various combinations of keyboard, video, mouse, sound from different computers to your set of peripherals and the underlying logic just doesn't manage the job if everything isn't exactly as they expect.

 

[henly]

I have exactly the same problem, Ive been in constant contact with Aten and the switch retailers by email and phone and the latest is that Aten UK has passed the problem to The US for trouble shooting, but it has been going on now for several weeks meanwhile there are cables and wires everywhere and half my installation is lying dormant in the corner.

I have two PC desktops, one I have built myself and the other a Dell xps (big mistake, First pc I havent built myself), Started off with Vista 32 on the home build and Vista 64 on the Dell.

From the very begining the HB worked as it should Ive tried all sorts of combos with KBs and mice, wireless, wired, optical, rollerballs, swichted cables, had another switch sent and tried that but nothing works.

They work fine as individual units but not through the switch, it seems the Dell does not read the KB and/or the mouse on bootup when the switch is operating.

The latest is I have upgraded both machines to Windows 7, the HB has a dual boot with W7 64 and W7 32 on two different drives working through a boot manger with the 32 as an upgrade and the 64 as a clean install, the Dell has a 64 upgrade with none of the Dell bloatware installed (waited 2 weeks now for a W7 free upgrade from Dell and its still in Philadelphia, I live in UK, go figure).

The swithch works fine if I boot the Dell with KB and mouse attached and then Hot switch both to the KVM with the HB already connected, all the bells and whistles work, ie screen, mouse, KB, and any USB item I have connect,, it switches from one to the other with no problem until I have to reboot the Dell for some reason, then it all turns to cack, really because then it means I have to transfer all the devices back to the Dell and it takes a while to convince the Dell that everything is ok and it can boot what with windows repair and safe start up etc.

Ill wait until the official Dell W7 discs are here before I send back the switchs 'as not fit for purpose' but I dont hold out much hope for correct operation (and the return of my living room to optimum conditions).

My advice dont go for the Aten c1782, its a nice idea and I would dearly love to see it work, but the customer support is not as could be desired and the switch doesn't work despite the claim that it should.

Also I had trouble upgrading the firmware on the switch as none of my machines had a rs232 socket (the cable supplied with the switch) what modern computer does these days, so I had to go out and buy a rs232 to usb converter (that's another story and half days work), you would think that a switch with USB capabilities would come with a USB cable, ah well maybe I expect to much of the world .