Black Box SW614A, User Manual

Page 1: ...JUNE 2001 SW614A SW616A SW617A SW619A ...

Page 2: ...ative to keeping two monitors keyboards and mice on your desk Or do you need to share dozens of computers including a mix of IBM PC RS 6000 Apple Macintosh Sun Microsystems and SGI compatibles among multiple users with different access levels Does your switch have to sit solidly on a worktable and use regular everyday cables Or does it have to be mounted in an equipment rack and use convenient man...

Page 3: ...a are registered trademarks of Hewlett Packard IBM PC AT PS 2 RS 6000 and ThinkPad are registered trademarks and PC XT is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation Microsoft IntelliMouse MS DOS Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and or other countries Sun Microsystems is a registered trademark of Sun Microsy...

Page 4: ... cause interference in which case the user at his own expense will be required to take whatever measures may be necessary to correct the interference Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user s authority to operate the equipment Shielded cables must be used with this equipment to maintain compliance with radio frequency energy emiss...

Page 5: ...nterference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment on and off the user is encouraged to correct the interference with one or more of the following measures a Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna b Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver c Con...

Page 6: ...ato eléctrico debe ser montado a la pared o al techo sólo como sea recomendado por el fabricante 8 Servicio El usuario no debe intentar dar servicio al equipo eléctrico más allá a lo descrito en las instrucciones de operación Todo otro servicio deberá ser referido a personal de servicio calificado 9 El aparato eléctrico debe ser situado de tal manera que su posición no interfiera su uso La colocac...

Page 7: ...istir una antena externa deberá ser localizada lejos de las lineas de energia 16 El cable de corriente deberá ser desconectado del cuando el equipo no sea usado por un largo periodo de tiempo 17 Cuidado debe ser tomado de tal manera que objectos liquidos no sean derramados sobre la cubierta u orificios de ventilación 18 Servicio por personal calificado deberá ser provisto cuando A El cable de pode...

Page 8: ...1 3 4 Powering the Switch 23 4 Configuration 24 4 1 Configuring Your PCs 24 4 2 Configuring the Multi Head ServSwitch 25 4 2 1 Entering Configuration Mode 25 4 2 2 Setting the Screen Saver Timeout 26 4 2 3 Autoscanning Setting the Scan Mode and Pause Time 27 4 2 4 Enforcing Mouse Speed 28 4 2 5 Setting Mouse Mode Reporting and Enabling Disabling Mouse Switching 29 4 2 6 Choosing Active Ports or Al...

Page 9: ...ted PS 2 Mouse 41 5 8 Hot Plugging Devices Into the Multi Head ServSwitch and Re Enabling Disconnected CPU PS 2 Mouse Ports 41 5 9 RS 232 Control 43 5 10 Performing a Warm Reset 43 5 11 Upgrading the Switch s Firmware 44 6 Troubleshooting 46 6 1 Things to Try 46 6 2 Calling Black Box 48 6 3 Shipping and Packaging 48 Appendix Cable Guidelines 49 A 1 Cabling from the Keyboard Mouse and Monitors to t...

Page 10: ...se ports OPTIONS port EIA TIA RS 232 proprietarily pinned on DB15 Resolution Up to 1600 x 1280 noninterlaced at up to 100 Hz Protocol RS 232 Asynchronous Data Format RS 232 8 data bits no parity 1 stop bit Data Rate RS 232 1200 bps Flow Control RS 232 None Maximum Distance 10 m 32 ft to any attached keyboard mouse or monitor 30 m 100 ft to any attached CPU User Controls Keyboard commands Mouse cli...

Page 11: ...or monitor attachment CPU ports 2 on SW614A and SW616A 4 on SW617A and SW619A each consisting of 2 6 pin mini DIN female for keyboard and mouse port attachment SW614A SW617A 2 HD15 female for video head attachment SW616A SW619A 4 HD15 female for video head attachment MTBF 500 000 hours based on the historical reliability of similarly designed and manufactured products Maximum Altitude 10 000 ft 30...

Page 12: ...or From the optional power supply PS649 not included Input 100 to 240 VAC at 50 to 60 Hz from utility power mains outlet through detachable power cord and IEC 320 male inlet to external transformer Output 5 VDC at up to 1 A Consumption 5 watts maximum Size 4 1 H x 10 3 W x 5 9 D 10 4 x 26 2 x 15 cm Weight 5 5 lb 2 5 kg ...

Page 13: ...nitors Continuous keyboard and mouse emulation on all ports ensures problem free computer bootup And because all ports are simultaneously active all attached CPUs can be booted at the same time Can usually draw all the power it needs from the attached CPUs For demanding applications with high end video etc an optional power supply product code PS649 is available Intelligent switching You can scan ...

Page 14: ...ain systems Supports IBM RS 6000 Compaq Alpha and SGI computers Compatible with all popular operating systems for the IBM PC Includes screen blank autoscan and variable hotkey options Metal enclosure for good shielding and video quality Can be soft reset if problems occur 2 2 The Complete Package The only other thing that comes with the Multi Head ServSwitch is this manual We don t include a power...

Page 15: ...ction 5 2 This is what the Module looks like Figure 2 3 The Remote Control Module KV6REM Display shows status and mouse keyboard data activity Button for changing channels and entering configuration mode CPU port video connectors blue Control port Connector for optional power supply Control port mouse connector Control port keyboard connector Expansion port for Remote Control Module RS 232 control...

Page 16: ... of delivering hazardous electric shocks do not attempt to dismantle it Make sure that the total current rating of the devices plugged into the AC outlet that s supplying the Switch is not greater than the outlet s rated current capacity If you use an extension cord with the power supply make sure that the total current rating of the devices plugged into the extension cord is not greater than the ...

Page 17: ... 2 keyboard adapter product code FA211 to connect it to the Multi Head ServSwitch A PS 2 style two or three button Microsoft or Logitech compatible mouse or a Microsoft IntelliMouse or IntelliMouse Explorer compatible mouse If you want to use the mouse to switch channels on the Multi Head ServSwitch you ll need a three button mouse or an IntelliMouse The Switch supports other IntelliMouse compatib...

Page 18: ... with single outputs in your Switch system When you switch to a CPU with a single output that output will be displayed on the first monitor and the additional monitors will be blank Most Multi Head ServSwitch applications will involve a keyboard a mouse a set of two to four monitors and two to four computer CPUs attached to a single Wizard If that describes what you want to do follow the procedure...

Page 19: ...ch by running cabling from the CPU s keyboard mouse and video ports to the matching connectors in one of the Switch s CPU ports You can use PS 2 extension cables to attach the keyboard and mouse ports plus video extension cables to attach the video ports But we recommend using our three in one Premium CPU Cable to attach the keyboard port mouse port and primary video port at all the same time at d...

Page 20: ...ou have to hot plug any powered computers into your Switch system see Section 5 8 Connect your primary user equipment your keyboard your PS 2 mouse and the first four of your monitors to the appropriate control port connectors on the master Switch s rear panel If you have had to place the Switch farther from the user equipment than the equipment s native cables will reach up to an additional dista...

Page 21: ...U ports of the secondary Switch For correct switching make sure to connect all of the video outputs from the same CPU to same numbered ports on your synchronized Switches As with your first CPU video connection these connections can be made with video extension cable or Premium KVM CPU Cable for distances up to 100 ft 30 m Figure 3 2 features a complete synchronized Switch system For clarity separ...

Page 22: ...PS05 MF and 6 pin mini DIN male to female PS 2 extension cables EVNPS03 MF to extend the distance from the Switch to your user equipment we recommend using Premium KVM User Cables EHN409 to run from the Switch to your keyboard mouse and first monitor Premium KVM User Cables come in 10 ft 3 m 20 ft 6 1 m and 30 ft 9 1 m lengths You ll still use EVNPS05 MF VGA extension cables to connect the Switch ...

Page 23: ...Keyboard and mouse strands molded to sides Cross section 9 22 9 cm 10 25 4 cm 6 Pin mini DIN 6 Pin mini DIN PS 2 style kbd mouse cable To Switch s CPU port mouse connector 6 pin mini DIN To Switch s CPU port keyboard connector 6 pin mini DIN PS 2 to Serial Mouse Adapter to computer s DB9 serial mouse port product code FA314 also incl with Switch Kits PS 2 to PC AT Keyboard Adapter to computer s AT...

Page 24: ...han one computer is connected to the Switch you ll probably be able to use longer cables the Switch will draw power intelligently from all attached computers As you power up your CPUs watch the Switch s 7 segment display as discussed in Section 5 1 If it shows the number 1 or the letter P the Switch will be able to operate using the power it s receiving from the CPUs but if it s blank the Switch i...

Page 25: ...in section of the keyboard Do not use the Enter key on the numeric keypad or the extra Enter key found on the main section of some specialized keyboards 4 1 Configuring Your PCs Configure your PCs in the same way that you would if your keyboard mouse and monitors were all connected directly to your PCs Keep in mind that the Multi Head ServSwitch emulates Microsoft compatible serial IntelliMouse an...

Page 26: ...ng the optional power supply or power up one or more of the attached CPUs if you re not using the Switch s power supply do not release the button until the Multi Head ServSwitch displays C to show that it is in configuration mode To enter configure mode while the Multi Head ServSwitch is running hold down its front panel pushbutton for 5 seconds until the front panel display shows C In configurati...

Page 27: ...front panel display will flash while the Switch is in screen saver mode To restore the blanked monitor display just type at the keyboard or move the mouse Use the B command type B digit Enter to set how long the Multi Head ServSwitch waits for keyboard or mouse activity before activating the screen saver B1 Screen saver disabled default B2 Screen saver is activated after 1 minute of inactivity B3 ...

Page 28: ...Multi Head ServSwitch powers on in autoscan mode and scans active ports only L4 Multi Head ServSwitch powers on in autoscan mode and scans all ports CAUTION Many modern monitors are fitted with automatic power saver relays and will automatically blank their displays after a short time if the computer they re communicating with becomes idle If you are using any such monitors you should not use the ...

Page 29: ...hat cause the mouse to seem slow or sluggish This has especially been noted to occur while using Logitech mice with some HP Vectra machines running later versions of Windows NT and Logitech mouse drivers One way to fix this problem is to change the mouse driver But if this isn t an option at least in the short term you can send the Switch the L 6 command This causes the Switch to take a more activ...

Page 30: ... 5 command The Multi Head ServSwitch supports Internet mice that are compatible with the Microsoft IntelliMouse These are fitted with a wheel or other type of scrolling control and sometimes have additional buttons Many such mice are available from several different manufacturers You can connect either a standard PS 2 mouse or an IntelliMouse compatible mouse to the Switch s control port You can c...

Page 31: ... outputting video or even if there isn t any device attached to that channel The Switch will display a blank screen for such channels But if you d rather have the Switch skip over any ports that don t have a powered up computer connected to them you can send it the U 8 command U7 Switch to all ports when switching with Hotkeys Tab or with the mouse default U8 Switch only to active ports when switc...

Page 32: ... keyboards where additional keys can be programmed to act as combinations of other keys Such keyboards are supplied with many Gateway computers If you program one of these spare keys to produce both hotkey keystrokes or if you program a set of these keys to produce the hotkey and channel number keystrokes you ll be able to select channels lock the Switch etc with as few as one or two keypresses H1...

Page 33: ...with the digit 2 your Switch is using firmware version 1 02 You can also restore the function of previously disconnected PS 2 type CPU mouse ports with the F 5 and F 6 commands see Section 5 8 and you can reset all of the Switch s configuration options to their factory default states with F 8 F1 Display first digit of firmware version number F2 Display second digit of firmware version number F3 Di...

Page 34: ...u ve finished typing in your password press Enter to save it to the Switch s EEPROM This type of memory does not depend on active power or even a battery backup so it can persist indefinitely Don t worry if you type the password incorrectly you can always re enter it even if you ve exited and re entered configuration mode The exception to this is if somebody locks the Switch and you discover only ...

Page 35: ...nel 7 segment display as described in Figure 5 1 If the Switch is not receiving enough power the display will be blank if the Switch can select CPU 1 the display will show 1 or if a password has been set the Switch will display P and remain locked until a valid password is entered For the meaning of this display after power up see Section 5 3 Figure 5 1 The front panel status display at power up D...

Page 36: ...appears on the Switch s front panel display An optional Remote Control Module RCM is also available for the Multi Head ServSwitch It s a small hand held component with a SELECT key that mimics the Switch s pushbutton and an identical copy of the Switch s front panel display whose cord you can plug into the Switch s RS 232 port This is particularly useful in applications where the Multi Head ServSw...

Page 37: ...lid password has been typed to unlock the Switch Finally if the screen saver mode has been activated the channel number will flash Figure 5 2 The front panel status display during regular operation DISPLAY SHOWS Channel number 1 through 8 steadily lit As above with flashing dot in lower right hand corner Zero Alternately channel number and clockwise progression of lit segments The letter P The let...

Page 38: ...use from the Multi Head ServSwitch will have no immediate effect but the CPU will lose mouse function as soon as you plug the mouse back in RS 232 mouse port connections can usually be freely unplugged and replugged provided that a mouse was connected when the operating system initially booted The Multi Head ServSwitch has a PS 2 mouse recovery system which allows you to disconnect and reconnect t...

Page 39: ...ognize keypad numbers Use Hotkeys x where x is a number from one to two on the 2 port models or one to four on the 4 port models to switch to the corresponding CPU channel If you try to select a channel with a higher number than the Switch has ports the Switch will ignore the command and pass it through to the currently selected computer Use Hotkeys Tab to switch to the next channel in numeric seq...

Page 40: ... be entered to unlock the switch simply type in the password followed by the Enter key to do so Note that if anyone has tried to type something at the shared keyboard while the Switch is locked you will have to press Enter to clear those characters so that they won t invalidate the password when you proceed to type it in Examples of common hotkey commands assuming the hotkeys are Ctrl and Alt To s...

Page 41: ...down the central mouse button or wheel button then click on the left hand mouse button To switch to the previous channel hold down the central mouse button or wheel button then click on the right hand mouse button Depending on whether the Switch s set to U7 or U8 see Section 4 2 7 the mouse will switch to either each channel in sequence or to active channels only Figure 5 3 Using the mouse buttons...

Page 42: ...e Switch or of the CPU connections 5 8 Hot Plugging Devices Into the Multi Head ServSwitch and Re Enabling Disconnected CPU PS 2 Mouse Ports We suggest that you turn off the computers that will be connected to the Multi Head ServSwitch before you install a Switch system However even if this is not possible most systems can be hot plugged connected to the Switch while they are powered and operating...

Page 43: ... connected expected restoration at bootup data format command PS 2 PS 2 only PS 2 F5 PS 2 IntelliMouse PS 2 F5 IntelliMouse PS 2 only PS 2 F5 IntelliMouse IntelliMouse IntelliMouse F6 To restore lost mouse movement on a CPU connected to the Multi Head ServSwitch 1 Select the CPU that has lost its mouse movement 2 Press and hold the pushbutton on the front of the Multi Head ServSwitch for five seco...

Page 44: ...ower supply you can do this by unplugging and replugging the power supply But if the Switch is getting power from the attached computers the only way to shut it down is to disconnect it from those computers or turn the computers off which might not be desirable or possible Instead of powering the Switch off and back on to completely reinitialize it you can accomplish the same results by having the...

Page 45: ...t find these files on our Web site Tech Support can help In these filenames xyz the x yz firmware revision level for example SSW118 EXE would be the installation program for firmware revision 1 18 2 Run the firmware upgrade cable from the host PC to the OPTIONS port on the Multi Head ServSwitch 3 There is an 8 position DIP switch on the bottom of the Switch Move position 7 of this switch the next ...

Page 46: ... Switch to normal operation CAUTION if the upgrade goes wrong The upgrade program rewrites the Switch s existing firmware code with the code in the SSWxyz HEX file If the upgrade process is interrupted the Switch will contain invalid code and will not operate properly A partial interrupted or failed upgrade can be fixed but only if you immediately repeat the upgrade process without turning OFF pos...

Page 47: ... receiving data from the mouse Check the mouse s connection to the Switch if it s OK try resetting the mouse using the reset function see Section 5 7 warm resetting the Switch see Section 5 10 or powering the Switch OFF and then ON again If you are attempting to connect the Switch to a CPU with a PS 2 mouse connection that has not been powered down you will need to use the mouse restoration functi...

Page 48: ...ing a Microsoft compatible mouse driver on your PC Some drivers by other manufacturers can cause the mouse to use proprietary mouse data formats that the Switch doesn t support If you have unplugged and reconnected a mouse to the Multi Head ServSwitch make sure that you reset it see Section 5 7 or especially if the mouse is an IntelliMouse use the mouse restoration function see Section 5 8 Problem...

Page 49: ...not attempt to alter or repair it It contains no user serviceable parts Contact Black Box Technical Support at 724 746 5500 Before you do make a record of the history of the problem We will be able to provide more efficient and accurate assistance if you have a complete description including the nature and duration of the problem when the problem occurs the components involved in the problem that ...

Page 50: ...t count on this A 2 Cabling from the Multi Head ServSwitch to the CPUs Video cabling HD15 male to HD15 male wired as a standard VGA CPU to monitor cable There are two types commonly available The better type which will carry video very well is constructed with a coaxial cable core The not so good type cheaper cable more suited for data communication is often used but can degrade video quality espe...

Page 51: ...PS03 MM or the keyboard and mouse strands of our Premium KVM CPU Cables EHN408 see Section 3 3 3 as far as 100 ft 30 m Cabling to CPUs RS 232 serial mouse ports You ll need PS 2 extension cabling as described above plus a special adapter with the pinning shown in Figure A 1 on the next page FA314 to connect the Multi Head ServSwitch s PS 2 mouse port to the RS 232 port on a PC As noted above PS 2 ...

Page 52: ... pinout 6 pin mini DIN attaches to Switch or cable from Switch N C RLSD DCD RD KDAT TD SGND 5V KCLK 12V TD 12V DTR SGND DSR RTS CTS RI N C N C DB9 attaches to PC s serial port or cable to PC s serial port 1 2 2 3 4 4 3 5 6 6 5 Female Male 1 1 Male Female 5 6 9 5 1 9 6 ...

Page 53: ...er to upgrade the Switch s firmware see Section 5 11 The pinout of this connector is pretty simple Pin 9 Signal Ground SGND Pin 10 Transmit Data TD and Pin 11 Receive Data RD are the only pins used for serial communication to PCs other Switches and RS 232 devices All other pins are intended for RCM communication only and should be left unconnected attaching them to any other RS 232 equipment could...

Page 54: ... 3 The firmware upgrade cable KV6SER DB9 female attaches to PC DB15 male attaches to Switch Female 5 1 9 6 Male 8 1 9 15 TD TD RD RD DTR DSR CTS SGND SGND DB15 male attaches to master Switch DB15 male attaches to secondary Switch Male 8 1 9 15 Male 8 1 9 15 TD RD RD SGND SGND ...

Page 55: ...ages resulting from the use of the information contained herein They reserve the right to change the specifications functions or circuitry of the product without notice Neither the manufacturer nor its authorized agents accept liability for damage due to misuse of the product or due to other circumstances outside their control And they will not be responsible for any loss damage or injury arising ...

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