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