KVM Switches

Jason Galterio

This is coming out of left field. Maybe someone can shed a little light on this.

I have a system KVM switch connected to two of my desktops. It has its own power supply. I have a Redragon gaming mouse and a Redragon mechanical keyboard connected to the KVM.

I noticed that I was getting a surge when I used the switch of the KVM. It would knock out the mouse, making all of the LEDs on the mouse turn on full blast. It didn't happen all the time, usually after working for an hour or so. Once it started, it would get progressively worse. The first time it happens, just hitting the switch again usually reset it. The next time it happens, swapping the mouse connection on the KVM would reset it. Then, as they say, strike three, and nothing short of rebooting will reset it. When this happens the mouse buttons don't function (almost like the buttons are all on "auto fire" but the mouse can still move the pointer.

I decided to try a different KVM.

I reran some wires so that I wouldn't need to swap the monitors. That meant getting a KM switch that wouldn't require external power. My assumption was that the external power might be causing the surge.

No such luck. Same thing was happening.

At this point I started taking more meticulous notes about when the issue was occuring.

The first thing I noticed was that it only happened in one direction; when switching to one computer. The computer in question was the one I use solely for graphics work. I then noticed that it only happened when DS is running on that computer.

There's the left field part of it...  I don't know any reason why DS would be causing a hardware issue when a mouse is connected. Is DS 'pinging' the mouse in some way that would cause this? Maybe occuring when the KM switch is just finishing the connection to the computer?

Jason Galterio

Adding a couple of more details, to help with the potential troubleshooting.

The computer that has the issue is brand new. I only run DS, Photoshop, Blender, DIM, iDrive, and a couple of ripping / conversion programs.

Most of the time is spent in either DS or Photoshop, which is why I hadn't noticed the potential DS connection before.

When the surge happens, particularly the "auto fire" issues, the keyboard still functions. In those cases I've been able to use it to save and close DS. When DS closes, the "auto fire" symptoms stop, but the mouse buttons are then unresponsive.

When the surge happens, DS is always one of the running programs. But the surge is more opt to happen if DS is in interactive mode. If DS is rendering then the surge is much less likely, however it still does happen from time to time.

Sevrin

My only experience with a KVM was when using it to switch between servers with really basic hardware, which didn't include gaming mice.  Do you have any problems when using a vanilla mouse?  

Also: quick Google tells me that you're not the only one having problems with a Red Dragon mouse and a KVM.

Redragon Impact MMO Gaming Mouse Review – Redragonshop

Jason Galterio

Interesting. I didn't see that...  I need to research it a bit more.

I'm not running the extra Redragon app, since I only wanted the mouse for the higher sensitvity.

I did try it with a standard mouse, but that was before taking detailed notes. So I can't recall if the issue happened then...  I'm inclined to think so, since I previously ruled out the mouse itself.

Jason Galterio

Sevrin said:

My only experience with a KVM was when using it to switch between servers with really basic hardware, which didn't include gaming mice.  Do you have any problems when using a vanilla mouse?  

Also: quick Google tells me that you're not the only one having problems with a Red Dragon mouse and a KVM.

Redragon Impact MMO Gaming Mouse Review – Redragonshop

Thanks for the assistance, I think your comment and link were right on. I would have never caught it without the assist.

I hadn't been having any issues for the past week or so, which I ascribed to only using DS sparingly because of other time demands.

I did a little experiment where I only had the "offending" computer on. I booted it up, no issues. I shut it down and set the KV switch to the other computer, which was off.

I booted up the DS computer and saw that the KV switch was still set to the off computer, as it should be. I waited until the DS computer was fully booted and hit the KV button.

Sure enough the mouse faulted. Pulling the mouse from the KV and reinserting it resolved the issue.

My guess is that the in-rush power draw of the mouse might be overloading the USB port. Or the opposite, the in-rush not being enough to initialize the mouse. In any case, it most certainly seems to be power related.

The DS connection appears to only be a coincidence; from the regular use of DS and / or the regular demands of DS slowing the OS from recognizing the mouse.

Seems the only options I have is a different mouse. I only use the KV switch to minimize items on my already cluttered desk.