[Novalug] mouse - KVM woes

[Beartooth]

 	For years out of mind (well, several, anyway; 2 - 4 at 
least) I've been running four or five machines behind a generic 
Chinese import KVM switch. The mice till now have all been USB 
Logitech, with an adapter to PS/2. The KVM switch and the 
computers have also all used PS/2 for mice & keyboards, and still 
do.

 	The other day I found some cute little mice made (I 
thought) to look like classic blue Volkswagen beetles, which 
swarmed the country in such profusion in the Sixties -- or close 
enough, anyway. (I took them for poor imitations; my otherwise 
favorite tech disillusioned me today by pointing out that with 
that grill, they can only be BMWs; pfui; Jo & I both had Beetles 
-- OLD Beetles. Let them be Beetles. In drag, if you insist, but 
Beetles.)

 	They're a fun toy, feel decent in the hand, and work as 
well as any, with blue LEDs behind the headlights that make them 
easy to spot in the litter on the desk.

 	BUT. But, but, but. You put one behind the KVM switch, 
and the computers can't see it. You shut them all *down*, 
frcryinoutloud, and reboot each one separately, with the new 
mouse. It does fine -- not only on a USB port, but through its 
own mouse port with the adapter.

 	So you put the mouse back behind the KVM switch -- and no 
machine can see it.

 	So you go through the whole nine yards *again*, this time 
with each machine connected directly not only to the mouse (via 
adapter) but also to keyboard & monitor -- just as if you were 
installing a new release of Fedora. (It's the most tedious part 
of that job.)

 	All is fine, right? Wrong! Go back behind the KVM switch, 
and the machines *still* don't see the mouse.

 	All right, maybe one mouse is defective somehow. Go 
through -- what is it by now? nine cubed yards? -- with a 
different blue mouse.

 	Result : unchanged.

 	Sure it's a silly toy. If it comes this close to working 
(and the old ones're getting pretty worn, afaict -- you have to 
bash on the buttons (no pun intended)), it blankety-well 
*oughtta* work right.

-- 
Beartooth Implacable, Curmudgeon On Line
Know your enemies. They are your leaders.