Synergy Software Kvm
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10 Responses to “Software KVM switch : synergy on Linux”
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My current work setup is something like this – I have two desktop computers, each running Windows, and they are both connected over LAN. Each of these machines have separate monitors but they share the same wireless keyboard and mouse – thus the desk looks less cluttered and I can quickly switch between the two computers.
This can be done is multiple ways.
There’s a simple hardware device called the KVM switch that is helpful when your computers aren’t connected over a network. With a KVM Switch, you can easily manage multiple computers (CPUs) with just one monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
The idea is a simple. The switch has USB ports where you may attach the shared keyboard and mouse. Then connect the switch and your computers using the included cables and you are good to go. Most switches have a button to help you flip between computers.
KVM switches even make it possible for you share the same set of microphones and speakers with multiple computers. And it doesn’t matter whether your computers are running Windows, Mac or a mix of both.
Software Alternatives to KVM Switches
If you are not too keen on a hardware based solution and if your systems are connected with each other over LAN, all you need is copy of Input Director, a Windows-only utility that’s easy to configure and is absolutely free for personal use.
As a first step, you need to install the Input Director software on all your machines. The computer that is physically connected to the keyboard and mouse becomes the “Master” machine while other systems will be known as “Slave” machines. Here’s a detailed guide to help you through with the installation.
The good thing about using a software based solution is that you can seamlessly switch between computers without having to press any buttons as in the case of KVM switches.
There are however a few points you need to remember:
1. Never shut down the Master machines without turning off the Slave machine first because then you would lose access to the keyboard and the mouse as well.
2. Don’t disable networking in Windows while the keyboard /mouse is active on the Slave side else you’ll have to restart the Master to regain control over the mouse and keyboard.
3. There may be instances when your Master machine won’t be able to recognize the Slave(s). In that case, simple right-click the Input Director icon in the system tray and choose “Rescan Slave Systems.”
4. Unlike a VNC software, you can’t drag and drop windows from one computer to another. However, Input Director supports clipboard sharing so you can copy-paste URLs and other text across computers.
[*] Input Director is for Windows only but if you are work with both Mac and Windows, or if you intend to use the program in a commercial environment, check out Synergy.
[**] If you only want to share a monitor between two computers, you don’t even need a KVM switch. Just connect one computer to the monitor using a VGA cable and the other monitor using the DVI or HDMI cable. You can then switch between computer using a button on the monitor itself.
March 27th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Not so well on mac? Funny, I’m doing it right now, and have used that as my daily system for a long time now, linux and mac, no problems whatsoever. And I repeatedly take my mac laptop between a synergy setup at work, and another at home.
March 27th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Great, man. Glad for ya’. I was just going off what the synergy site was saying. I’m glad to hear that it does, in fact, work great for you on your Mac machines.
March 27th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Hey guys the bist is, that if i tap zwo times the upper side i jup to my mediacenter, back down to my desktop, than left out of the dualhed to my notebook!!!
I love it!
A bit sad, that I can`t use it for sharing my wacom between the machines because it`s absolut positioning prohibits this :/
March 27th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Great times, huh? Very neat tool.
April 18th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
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May 26th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
The Synergy site says the -f you’re using is forcing it to run in the foreground.
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Normally synergy wants to run “in the background.” It detaches from the terminal and doesn’t have a visible window, effectively disappearing from view. Until you’re sure your configuration works, you should start synergy “in the foreground” using the -f command line option.
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Site here: http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/
August 30th, 2007 at 7:48 am
I know this is an old post, but I was having the same problem… thanks for the hack! BTW, w/o this hack you can’t use it on the login screen (endless loop or something like that…) Funny thing is the version on my Ubuntu box worked fine. Oh well, it works now!
February 4th, 2009 at 10:51 am
This is a nice tool and article which made me curious and I tried it on my Win laptop as server and linux desktop as client. The one thing which is slightly misguiding is “Translation: pretty much a software KVM switch”. I would say it is a KM switch as each machine needs its own monitor. Very useful tool to switch between laptop and desktop but from desktop to desktop a regular KVM switch is better as it lets you use the same video for all machines. A good feature request would be to have the video on the same display.
July 26th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
kvm swithces can reduce alot of clutter
July 28th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
However, synergy takes up no space. That said, you still have to have room for the monitors. But hey, extra real estate is never a bad thing for me. To each his own. And Linux offers that. Thanks for stopping by!