KVM to work reliably with Advanced MiniDock

[particleandparcel]

Hi all,

New here, been cruising the forums for the last few weeks to clear up some issues I've been having. I was just issued an R400 as my new work PC, we're switching from desktops to all portable. I wouldn't know who to thank, but I've fixed so many issues with the help of the posters here! It's been fun finding these solutions and showing them to our IT department.

But now I'm here looking for something we have been totally unable to solve.

For the last three or four years, I've had a KVM switch (a TrendNet 207) toggling my USB keyboard and mouse between an older M-series desktop (and before that, a Dell GX60, ugh) and a Mac Pro. Never had a problem in all that time. But with the R400 and the Advanced MiniDock, the KVM switch exhibits one of two annoying behaviors:

1. When the USB cord for the KVM is plugged into the dock, toggling back from the Mac to the PC never completes. The KVM switch is unable to detect that the PC is powered on, in effect, until I unplug the USB cable and plug it back in again. It's almost as though the signal on the USB port is timing out because the keyboard is inactive.

2. When the USB cord for the KVM is plugged directly into the USB port on the side of the laptop, toggling back to the PC results in the mouse and keyboard being recognized on completely different timetable. The mouse is recognized almost immediately and I can move the pointer, but can't complete a click on anything for a few seconds. The keyboard takes about 15 seconds, and the computer freezes temporarily when it does finally recognize the keyboard.

The TrendNet 207 supports switching VGA video as well, but I am not using that function, so the VGA cables are all unplugged.

Not using the minidock isn't really an option. This is just for my primary workstation, and at several others where I split time with colleagues, I can't be unplugging and replugging their docks.

IT is at a loss. So I'm hoping that someone here has some insight into what might be going on, or a KVM I can persuade them to order that actually will work with the minidock.

Thanks, all!

[particleandparcel]

This message has gotten a surprising number of views. So I thought I would reply to my own post with some good news: there is a solution!

The guys in the IT desktop group eventually decided, after some testing, that the old TrendNet 207 KVM switch wasn't working correctly with Windows 7's USB power management. So procurement ordered me a Belkin Flip KVM switch (model F1DF102U) and it's been working like a charm!

I recommend this heartily to anyone else with this issue. For one thing, it's designed to sit behind the desk, and has a small remote to control switching. Much better ergonomic placement, without the thick monitor cables taking up your desk. I wish it were DVI-based, but we don't have the budget for that right now.

Good luck!