Vetra KVM HOT!!!!

[Sun]

Woohoo. Just talked to the guys at Vetra and it seems these items are going out the door as fast as they can make them. The only problem I see is there is only one USB keyboard offered at this time. But because some of us require more than one connecting USB device, they are looking into making upgrades to their equipment. Its amazing that a small group of players such as ourselves are making such an impact on those who take notice of our needs.

My needs are as follows: N52 gamepad, Xkey Pro, and a keyboard to control multiple PCs. All of this as USB only. It wasnt too long ago that everything was PS/2 only. Technology advances so fast that now we are talking USB only for most machines. I love it. Anyways, I cant think of anything else to say. Just hope the guys at Vetra contact me and say its a go...they could make my dreams come true if they offer more than one USB device connection.

BTW....vetras 4 port are under 400 bucks. For those of you considering going hardware, thats a very reasonable price.

[Xzin]

I have said it before and I will say it again. For boxing more than 1 computer, PS/2 is far better than USB. Nothing out there changes things. Do some searches if you don't believe me. USB HID (N52, keyboards, X-keys, etc) has inherent limitations. USB gamepad might be a winner but nobody makes USB gamepad keyboards. And nobody multicasts them either.

PS/2 was DESIGNED for keyboard use. In 1987. They are STILL found on motherboards today. USB keyboards work, sure, but for boxing you have simultaneous keypress limitations. Among other things (can't reliably multicast, etc).

There is a reason PS/2 has hung around.

And a reason many "gaming" keyboards still use it.

http://www.steelseries.com/news/press_releases/steelseries_announces_7g_professional_gaming_keybo ard

USB can be extended to 5 meters (16.5 feet). Without hubs or repeaters. PS/2 should be closer to 50 feet or more.

[Sun]

ahhhhhhh.....well heres my problem then guys...

I do not have PS/2 connections at all anywhere on my laptops. I was thinking that USB was actually getting better but I guess I was wrong.
and trust me on this one...im not going to spend money unless I am absolutely sure of results. So I guess its back to the drawing board. Not sure how to resolve not having PS/2.

[Xzin]

It's not that USB is unsuitable. But given the choice, I went PS/2. If you don't have PS/2 ports, you can get most of the usefulness of PS/2 with USB to PS/2 adapters.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10404&cs_id=1040401&p_id=173&seq=1&format=2

http://images.monoprice.com/productlargeimages/1731.jpg

$5 each.

[Eteocles]

Nevermind i misread lol

[Sun]

just going by what I see advertised...and yes I was planning on getting the KVM broadcaster. This was the only thing I saw that would actually suit my needs. The problem I am having atm is having N52 gamepad and Xkey Pro along with a keyboard. I am still researching Xzins stuff and trying to piece this together. My problems stemmed from keyclone not working properly. I love the program but....for some reason it stops working at the oddest of times. I usually spend at least a30 mins or more trying to relaunch it until it recognizes the other machine. I mentioned this to keyclone i think ina post and i got the impression he thinks its a IP connection problem. But lol....sorry but I have heard others are having the same issues.

So I am going hardware....just want to make sure I am not spending thousands of dollars and find out it wont work. Could u guys send me an email on suggestions....I only have 2 laptops....can have another 3rd to connect. N52, Xkey Pro, and G15 logitech keyboard. I can buy whatever is needed. Even the suggestion with the PS/2 adapters. But at this time I need just the basics. Any suggestions? Otherwise, I will just look at the other post and try to figure out what I need to buy. Good to hear that Vetra does support N52 and Xkey pro....NTI was another one I was looking into but they didnt think those devices were supported.

[Xzin]

My suggestion? Read my guide. Brad's is helpful too. Understand what you are trying to do and what limitations you are going to have. Then buy the parts.

[Ziran]

I have recently switched from an all PS2 solution to hybrid PS2/USB solution with no ill effects. Basically I had the following:

chained 3x Xkeys pro+1x Xkeys stick multicast to 5 computers
1 full PS2 keyboard+X key stick switched to 5 computers
4x Xkeys pro for individual control of computers 2-5 (one each) (this turned out to be rather unnecessary as there are no fights in BC that require completely individual play like in the scholomance end boss, but it is nice to have just in case).

I then added two XKeys foot pedals. One programmed to repeat holydin flash heal on tank the other repeats mage attack /castsequence. With one foot pedal broadcasting a repeating character things were ok but with two pedals the rest of the setup becomes completely unresponsive (basically it looks like there is a limit on how many characters can be sent over PS2 originating from multiple units).

So what I did is buy a bunch of PS2 -> USB converters from monoprice, two vetra USB broadcasters (one for trackball the other for the 3xmage /castsequence foot pedal) and five 4 port USB hubs.

I still have 8x PS2 vetra broadcaster and 8x PS2 vetra switch and that takes care of all the backend keyboard switching and xkey multiplexing for main control array. I then use the converter to connect it to the hub. Each hub receives:

1) PS2->USB converted output of the main switch+main multiplexer
2) Individual USB trackball (each computer has its own physical trackball)
3) Multiplexed USB trackball (only for computers 2-5)
4) PS2->USB converted foot pedal (left foot for computer 2, right foot multiplexed for computers 3-5).

I then have ONE USB cable going from the "big spaghetti" to each computer.

Overall this combines the advantages of PS2 (fast switching and multiplexing) with the cable clutter reduction and higher bandwith of USB. I am happy with the way it works and it makes the foot pedals much more useable

I program all three buttons on each foot pedal to the same thing effectively making them 1 button devices (trying to hit the small side buttons is just not practical with a foot so I ignore them). Each device is programmed to repeat send a key while held down (corresponding to flash heal/nuke cast sequence) and when released to send a /stopcasting macro key once (this way for example if the NPC throws up a reflecting shield all I have to do it take foot off pedal to stop casting and avoid reflect, same for healing for agro shedding bosses like shattered halls ogre boss).

Ziran

[Xzin]

Wow, that's A LOT of X-Keys. Sounds like a viable solution as PS/2 does have eventual bandwidth limits. Never figured anybody would hit them 5 boxing. Not 100% sure that is going on though.

Did I count 12 chained PS/2 devices correctly?

Any pics available?

Have you ever tested the latency?

How do you fit all of this within reach?

Do you actually use it all?

[Ziran]

What I had before:

Chained into a 8x multiplexer input:

2 Xkey Foot pedals
3 Xkey Pros
1 Xkey stick

Chained into 8x switch input:

1 Xkey stick
1 PS2 full keyboard

Each output of switch for computers 2-5 was chained with one XKey pro for individual control of computers 2-5 (1 XKey pro per computer.). Computer 1 just went straight into Y key.

The output of above was then "or-ed" with the output of the multiplexer using Ykeys (5x)

The output of each Ykeys was then connected to each computer (1 to 1)


What I have now:

Chained into a 8x multiplexer input:

3 Xkey Pros
1 Xkey stick

Chained into 8x switch input:

1 Xkey stick
1 PS2 full keyboard

I also have the right foot Xkey pedal connected to USB 4x multiplexer via PS2->USB
I also have a usb trackball connected to USB 4x multiplexer.

The output of the 8xmultiplexer x 5 goes into a hub (via PS2->USB)
The output of the 8xswitch x 5 goes into a hub (via PS2->USB)
Each hub/computer also gets its own individual USB trackball

Thats it for computer/hub 1
Hub2 gets the multiplexed trackball + left foot Xkey pedal via ps2->usb
hub3/4/5 gets the multiplexed trackball + right foot xkey pedal via USB 4x multiplexer.

Now before the setup worked just fine, except when I pressed both foot pedals. Each foot pedal was programmed to repeat (on slow) 1 key press 1 key release (no alt/shift/control) The other devices chained into a multiplexer then became un-responsive. They would drop tons of keys or take 1 sec to actually transmit keys

Switching to the USB hub approach fixed the problem.

I connected otherwise unused PS2 switch output #8 as input into the multiplexer chain (so I can easily program any device in that chain) so the longest chain was:

PS2 full keyboard -> xstick -> 8x switch -> xpedal -> xpedal -> xstick -> xpro -> xpro -> xpro -> 8x multiplexer -> ykey(input A) -> computer

It worked just fine. The 4 individual XKey pros are connected on the other input of the ykey to avoid having another device in the primary path:

PS2 full keyboard -> xstick -> 8x switch -> xpro(individual) -> ykey(input B) -> computer

There really is no reason to buy Ykeys anymore though as the PS2->USB approach is cheaper and better.

So the chains are now:

with switch set to broadcast keyboard to all:
PS2 full keyboard -> xstick -> 8x switch -> xstick -> xpro -> xpro -> xpro -> 8x multiplexer -> PS2_to_USB -> USB Hub -> computer

with switch set to any one computer:
PS2 full keyboard -> xstick -> 8x switch -> xpro(individual) -> PS2_to_USB -> USB Hub -> computer

xfoot -> 4x multiplexer -> PS2_to_USB -> USB Hub -> computer

This way I can use the keyboard on any computer without loosing any control function (the primary 3x Xpro chain continues working). I also can send the keyboard output to all computers (for example when typing in a password logging in so I can log all computers in at once).

I do not have any pictures handy. If I get an opportunity I will take and post some but it will likely be awhile.

Physically controls are arranged like this (I sit in front of S1/2/3 with left hand falling naturally on S1 and right on S3):

____________Keyboard
__________I5__I4__I3__I2
_M5_M4_M3_S1_S2_S3_M1_MX_M2

S1/S2/S3 3 Xkey Pros multiplexed into all computers. S1 is mostly for tank actions and S3 is mostly for mage/healer actions. S2 contains all the lesser used actions
M1-5 are the invididual trackballs for computers 1-5
MX is the multiplexed trackball for computers 2-5
I2-I5 are the individual XKey pro for computers 2-5
keyboard is a full size keyboard.

The two sticks are placed on top of the Xkey Pros (not shown on picture above). One is used mostly to operate vetra switch the other is programmed with common interface actions (map/quest/bags etc).

With the MX trackball broadcast this almost plays like having just two characters. One to tank the other to heal and 3xnuke.

Ziran

[Xzin]

Have you ever tested the latency?

Go to one of those "test your reaction" sites and just hold down the button. You will need to do a few runs to average it out.

I was seeing ~ 50ms latency.

Not bad but 100+ would be a concern.