Black Box SW628A-R2 manual

APRIL 2001 SW627A-R2 SW628A-R2 1 2 3 4 ST A TUS RESET PC Mac 1 2 3 4 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, P A 15055-1018 World-Wide W eb: www.blackbox.com • E-mail: info@blackbox.com © Copyright 2001. Black Box Corporation. All[...]

1 THE SER VSWITCH™ F AMIL Y W elcome to the Ser vSwitch TM 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 i[...]

2 SER VSWITCH™ 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 ar[...]

3 FCC/IC ST A TEMENTS FEDERAL COMMUNICA TIONS COMMISSION AND INDUSTR Y CANADA RADIO-FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE ST A TEMENTS 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. I[...]

4 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP NORMAS OFICIALES MEXICANAS (NOM) ELECTRICAL SAFETY ST A TEMENT 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 adverte[...]

5 NOM ST A TEMENT 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 s[...]

6 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP Contents Chapter Page 1. Specifications ............................................................................................. 8 2. Introduction ............................................................................................. 10 2.1 The Complete Package ....................................................[...]

7 T ABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 5. Troubleshooting ...................................................................................... 34 5.1 Restoring Factory-Default Settings ................................................... 34 5.2 Common Problems ........................................................................... 35 5.2.1 CPU Does[...]

8 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP 1. Specifications Compliance — FCC Part 15 Subpart J Class A, IC Class/classe A Standards — With original Serv cabling: VGA (color or monochrome/ page white) and Apple Macintosh video; With original Serv cabling (minimal) or coaxial cabling (recommended): SVGA video; With coaxial cabling: XGA (color or monochrome) and Ap[...]

9 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; SW6[...]

10 SER VSWITCH™ 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 multiple- computer application. Because the ServSwitch Jr. MP lets you use a single keyboard, monitor, and mouse to access one or two IBM ® PC compatible compu[...]

11 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 wh[...]

12 SER VSWITCH™ 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. Figure 2-1. The front panel of a 4-port Ser vSwitch Jr . MP (SW628A-R2). [...]

13 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. Figure 2-2. The rear panel of a 4-port Ser vSwitch Jr . MP (SW628A-R2). Panel Label Connector Description Ports 1, 2, 3, 4* DB25 F Connect the sharing computers to these ports with[...]

14 SER VSWITCH™ 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 [...]

15 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 mo[...]

16 SER VSWITCH™ 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 suppo[...]

17 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 [...]

18 SER VSWITCH™ 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 ServSw[...]

19 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 “m[...]

20 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP 4.1.3 M ONITOR 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 on[...]

21 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. T able 4-1. Video Qual[...]

22 SER VSWITCH™ 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 [...]

23 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 follo[...]

24 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP PC CPUs with RS-232 mouse ports only: Q1 turns on PS/2 to RS-232 mouse translation for the currently selected PC. Q0 turns it off. [CTRL] Q x [ENTER] ( x = 0 or 1) Set Mouse Translation Determines how your PC-keyboard keys are mapped to Apple keyboard keys and functions. [CTRL] E x [ENTER] ( x = 0, 1, or 2) Set Apple Emulat[...]

25 CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3 The Commands in Detail 4.3.1 S ELECTING A P ORT FROM THE S HARED K EYBOARD 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 t[...]

26 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP 4.3.5 S END N ULL B YTE (PC CPU SW I T H PS/2 M OUSE P ORTS O NLY ) 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 sys[...]

27 CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3.8 S ET M AXIMUM P ORTS (SW628A-R2 O NLY ) 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 Maximu[...]

28 SER VSWITCH™ 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 [...]

29 CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3.11 S ET K EYBOARD T YPEMATIC 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[...]

30 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP T able 4-5. T ypematic Rate Decimal Binary Repeat Rate in Value Bit Values Keys per Second 0[ xx ]00000 30 1[ xx ]00001 26.7 2[ xx ]00010 24 3[ xx ]00011 21.8 4[ xx ]00100 20 5[ xx ]00101 18.5 6[ xx ]00110 17.1 7[ xx ]00111 16 8[ xx ]01000 15 9[ xx ]01001 13.3 10 [ xx ]01010 12 11 [ xx ]01011 10.9 12 [ xx ]01100 10 13 [ xx [...]

31 CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3.12 S ET A PPLE E MULATION 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 o[...]

32 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP [E][1]: Swapped Mapping (104/105-Key Keyboard, Mac Users) For those of you who are used to the placement of the command and option keys on the Apple keyboard and would like to preserve that key arrangement on the Windows keyboard, you can enter the [E][1] command to switch to a mapping that swaps the command- and option-key[...]

33 CHAPTER 4: Operation 4.3.13 S ET M OUSE T RANSLATION (PC CPU SW I T H S ERIAL M OUSE P ORTS O NLY ) 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[...]

34 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP 5. T roubleshooting 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 S[...]

35 CHAPTER 5: T roubleshooting 5.2 Common Problems 5.2.1 A CPU C ONNECTED TO Y OUR S WITCH D OESN ’ T B OOT , AND Y OU G ET A K EYBOARD OR M OUSE E RROR 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[...]

36 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP 5.2.2 Y OU C AN ’ T S WITCH P ORTS FROM THE K EYBOARD 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[...]

37 CHAPTER 5: T roubleshooting 5.2.6 Y OUR M OUSE D RIVER D OESN ’ T L OAD (PC CPU S O NLY ) 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 t[...]

38 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP 5.2.9 Y OUR M OUSE D OESN ’ T M OVE THE P OINTER /C URSOR 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 co[...]

39 CHAPTER 5: T roubleshooting 5.2.12 Y OUR V IDEO IS OK IN L OW -R ESOLUTION M ODE , B UT Y OU C AN ’ T G ET I NTO H IGH - R ESOLUTION M ODE (PC CPU S O NLY ) 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 [...]

40 SER VSWITCH™ 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 th[...]

41 APPENDIX A: NVRAM Factory Defaults Appendix A: NVRAM Factor y 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 pe[...]

42 SER VSWITCH™ 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 t[...]

43 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 [...]

44 SER VSWITCH™ JR. MP Appendix C: Rackmounting the Ser vSwitch 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 [...]

JANUARY 2001 ACS235A ACS236A R G B 2 1 FIBER KVM EXTENDER Power Remote Unit 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, P A 15055-1018 World-Wide W eb: www.blackbox.com • E-mail: info@blackbox.com © Copyright 2001. Black Box Corporati[...]