From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: <gentoo-user+bounces-168408-garchives=archives.gentoo.org@lists.gentoo.org> Received: from lists.gentoo.org (pigeon.gentoo.org [208.92.234.80]) by finch.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DEB4E1384B4 for <garchives@archives.gentoo.org>; Sat, 14 Nov 2015 11:58:04 +0000 (UTC) Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 012C521C094; Sat, 14 Nov 2015 11:57:56 +0000 (UTC) Received: from smarthost01d.mail.zen.net.uk (smarthost01d.mail.zen.net.uk [212.23.1.7]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0372521C016 for <gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org>; Sat, 14 Nov 2015 11:57:54 +0000 (UTC) Received: from [82.69.80.10] (helo=wstn.localnet) by smarthost01d.mail.zen.net.uk with esmtpsa (TLS1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:256) (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from <peter@prh.myzen.co.uk>) id 1ZxZSr-000BbX-VE for gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org; Sat, 14 Nov 2015 11:57:54 +0000 From: Peter Humphrey <peter@prh.myzen.co.uk> To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Heads up: Video mode and booting with KVM switch Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2015 11:57:53 +0000 Message-ID: <1502896.NC1D08RYDr@wstn> User-Agent: KMail/4.14.8 (Linux/4.1.12-gentoo; KDE/4.14.8; x86_64; ; ) In-Reply-To: <20151113205402.GA22097@waltdnes.org> References: <20151113205402.GA22097@waltdnes.org> Precedence: bulk List-Post: <mailto:gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org> List-Help: <mailto:gentoo-user+help@lists.gentoo.org> List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:gentoo-user+unsubscribe@lists.gentoo.org> List-Subscribe: <mailto:gentoo-user+subscribe@lists.gentoo.org> List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail <gentoo-user.gentoo.org> X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Originating-smarthost01d-IP: [82.69.80.10] X-Archives-Salt: a5c4bb6b-2dff-4922-8df0-ee7b7d102c08 X-Archives-Hash: 10d9c47f3d47f9e9f3ca8f2e1388a5b2 On Friday 13 Nov 2015 15:54:02 Walter Dnes wrote: > I have 3 machines kicking around. One is a Dell Inspiron 530 from > June 2008 that simply refuses to die. The others are more recent. > On my desk (actually a re-purposed kitchen table) I only have room for 1 > 24 inch monitor, 1 big Unicomp "IBM-like clickety-clack" USB keyboard > http://www.pckeyboard.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_code=UNI041 > A and 1 trackball. > > I got an IOGear 4-port USB KVM. It has a remote clicker to switch > between the 4 ports; no icky escape/control sequences. Because it's > hardware-controlled, there are no drivers required. It works great > with one exception, which is a linux kernel problem, not a switch > problem. The problem I've found occurs when booting a machine that is > not currently selected by the KVM switch. I found the BIOS settings to > eliminate the... > > Keyboard failure > Select F1 to continue; F2 to enter SETUP > > ...message. The linux kernel problem is that it doesn't detect the > display when that particular machine is not selected at bootup > (duhhhh), and assumes 1024x768 console and graphics video. If the > machine is selected by the switch at bootup, things work properly. > > But don't panic. Even if I boot into 1024x768 text mode, and default > to 1024x768 graphics, running "xrandr -s 1920x1080" gets me 1920x1080 > X Window display. The available modes for your display may be > different. Just run "xrandr" for a list of available modes. I don't think there's a problem at all. I have a 2-port USB KVM too, but I don't have any difficulty with the keyboard. Of course I get the 80x24 screen if the monitor isn't connected to the PC at boot time. I just make sure I do have that PC selected when I boot it - or if I can't, such as after a power cut while I'm out, I just reboot it when I can. There's a kernel config option somewhere, I think, about choosing whether to read the EDID from the screen or to use a preset value, but I haven't bothered with it for the few occasions I might need it. Can your PC BIOS start in headless mode? That would sidestep the missing- keyboard problem. -- Rgds Peter