Question Intermittent KVM Functionality with Mechanical RGB Keyboard

[Gaius_Catulus]

Hello,

With my current setup I've been using a USB switch to toggle my mouse and keyboard between my desktop and laptop. This has worked flawlessly for the mouse, but ~50% of the time the keyboard won't work after toggling the switch. If I press a button, the keyboard lights will all come on for a second, then turn off again with no input to the PC. If I unplug the keyboard and plug it back in, it works totally fine. I've used 3 different switches from different manufacturers with the same problem on each, so it doesn't appear to be caused by a faulty switch; additionally the mouse always works, even when the keyboard doesn't.

I have read that power hungry devices (e.g. an RGB mechanical keyboard like mine) can cause problems, but people seem to get resolution if they connect an external power supply to the switch. I've done this, but there's no change to the problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions for anything else I can try?

Thanks!

 

[iiSlashr]

What keyboard is it? If it's super cheap, it might just not be suited for it. "RGB mechanical keyboard" isn't very specific, and it probably isn't particularly power hungry. You may simply need a higher quality USB hub, or if it is plugged into a USB2 port as opposed to a 3.1 you might have issues there.

 

[Gaius_Catulus]

To be more clear, I'm using this keyboard: https://stogagame.com/product/mecha...ming-office-portable-computer-keyboard-black/. Based on my understanding, it's not a cheapo product but also nowhere near high-end.

For the USB hubs, I first used a USB. I hypothesized it could be something with USB 2 vs. 3 as you mentioned, so the next two hubs I tried were both USB 3.0 from different manufacturers. Again, these hubs weren't super fancy, but I haven't seen much differentiation of USB hubs on the basic 4 inputs 2 output models (as all 3 of these hubs were).