KVM switch from Hell
April 17th, 2005 by scottjanousek_lifeblog
If you ever see this KVM, run away quickly. It is the worst piece of pricey junk I’ve bought in a while. Forget KVM, it’s best feature is as a doorstop only.
I could go into details, but all you need to know is that apparently belkin put out a shoty kvm, which has no reliable firmware updates and only works when it decides too (for me that was never, for others 60% of the time).
I’d love to take a hammer to it (aka do a Jesse Warden “office space” style on it), but alas I spent a good chunk of change on it.
Again, stay clear of Belkin’s omniview 4 port KVM switch with DVI. Soho series, model #F1DD104U. You have been warned.
- Anyone have recommendations on other KVMs that support DVI output and are compatible with both MACS and PCs?
- Also, to keep this on topic a bit … does anyone have any suggestions on dual monitor setups while doing Flash work? Post what you got below. I’d love to look into that at some point.
-sj
April 17th, 2005 at 3:07 pm
Good to know. I’ll be shopping for a KVM shortly, as soon as I get my new Mini Mac. I was looking at that model, too. Hopefully you’ll get some feedback on a more decent model.
April 17th, 2005 at 3:41 pm
I’ve got this KVM, and while its not perfect, its not TOO bad… The one thing I hate, is that my wireless mouse doesnt work with it.
April 17th, 2005 at 4:26 pm
jd, compared to my old one it’s garbage. I’m surprised, since I’ve always had best of luck with belkin products.
I knew I was in trouble when the firmware said “traMsmit error” … instead of “traNsmit error”. Come on, give me a break! With software perhaps it would slide, but firmware? That means they didn’t test it for failure, which is scary for a hardware product.
… Plus apparently after the fireware error it did in fact do something cause the beeping “flaw” stopped (see below).
Did you apply the firmware? All that beeping was clearly a design flaw and drove me crazy.
Did you try putting the cover on the back of the unit? I’m not even sure why they bothered!
The only good thing is it looks cool. But I need a KVM that works, not one that looks pretty.
I’m glad to see someone post that actually got it working. I’m going to try another vendor and product. Apparently hooking it up to a MAC is a trick in of itself …
April 18th, 2005 at 1:29 am
Don’t know about Mac compatibility, but I’ve been using a cheap 4 port (US$35) Link Depot KVM and it works beautifully with the 3 Windows and 1 Linux box I have in my home office. As far as DVI goes, I usually don’t worry about KVM support (tends to push the price through the roof). Instead, just buy several DVI to VGA adapters (most video cards come with at least one these days and buying additional adapters is cheap). I run three monitor config (used to do dualies) now and love it. Single monitor for main ide (timeline and stage and property manager), second monitor handles library and commonly used panels (swatches, color mixer, actions, components). Third monitor allows Flash Resource Manager email to be up and visible while working in Flash. I used to really hate fighting focus issues when using a dual monitor config with Flash and trying to bring other applications into view…now if I can just find room for a 4th on my desk.
April 21st, 2005 at 3:07 pm
I dumped my belkin and went with: ATEN CS-1762 … it’s a korean device, but it works pretty well so far with my mac mini and pc … only bad thing is the keyboard and mouse inputs are on the front … besides that it works 100% better than the beklin, which is to say it actually works …
http://www.aten.com/02-p-category.php?id=104
Finding a quality dvi kvm nowadays is hard! Hopefully this one stacks up.
I should say the documentation has spelling mistakes also, but I don’t care as long as it works!
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February 27th, 2006 at 12:25 am
Well I’m in this same hell with the F1DD102U SOHO Series KVM switch from Belkin. Holy cow, this is rediculous. If I wasn’t so pissed off the “Tramsmit Error” message would be funny.
So let’s describe this consumer nightmare with an analogy: You go out looking for a movie star that can sing (KVM switch that can handle USB, DVI and Audio), You find that there is really only one (The movie you are making has a tight budget) in your price range. So the only actor that makes it through the audition is actually a pig (You realize that the Belkin product doesn’t really work like it’s suppose to right when you hook it up. Mine would occasionally not recognize a USB Keyboard on port 1. So I decided to just hook the keyboard through the accessory USB port provided, but the KVM squeals like a pig when you don’t have either a Mouse or Keyboard in the designated USB port). So in order to make the pig look better, I follow the suggestion to put lipstick on it. (Belkin says that if you use their dandy flash utility to upgrade your firmware, this might fix the problem. I say “might” because the instructions on the site are horrendous. Also, there are no instructions ANYWHERE IN BELKINS DOCUMENTATION on the proper procedure to flash the firmware.) So you put the lipstick on the pig, but the pig is alergic to the lipstick, keels over and goes into a coma. (upon figuring out how to use the flash utility and initiate the flash process, the Flash process fails and now the KVM is totally useless). And then you find out that somebody once said a magic incantation over a pig in a coma and it woke up, so you try that (I read the story where the guy unplugs everything, unpowered then repowered the KVM and then tried the flash and it worked - But it didn’t work for me. I haven’t gotten further than about 1/8 fo the way across the progress bar before the infamous “Tramsmit Error”.) So now I’m stuck with a pig in a coma with smeared lipstick on it’s face. Don’t even ask about mouth to mouth resusitation.
Folks this is really a poor product. I’m going to try their 9-5, M-F tech support tomorrow. We’ll see what they can do…
August 4th, 2006 at 6:30 am
Hello,
I’ve had all af the above problems too with my Belkin F1DD102U KVM switch, first the problem with the keyboard and later also with the flash the tramsmit error.
But,,,,,
I’ve called Belkin and a very nice employee told me to use a laptop to flash the device.
First i didn’t believe him but i tried it although the KVM switch wasn’t working anymore.
Result, the flash did his work and i could connect my keyboard to one of the device ports. Only problem is that i can’t use the Scroll lock button to switch to the other computer.
So, in the end its a good product but it’s a pity Belkin doesn’t flash the product before you buy it.