Hi,

I have 4 computers at home all shared through a KMV switch ( meaning that I have only 1 monitor/keyboard/mouse.)

Like many people I hate the spaghetti that the above creates.

What I would like to do is power up the PCs without the keyboards or mice connected so that I can use Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection, and restrict my cabling to a SVGA/VGA monitor type switch.

Does anyone think the above possible, if so have you got a solution or product details.

Many thanks.

Tony

Hi- Welcome aboard!
The machines will fail POST if no keyboard is attached. Win machines will live without a mouse, but you'll just hang with an error message if no keyboard is present.

I agree with you about the spaghetti - I've got 4 here hooked up by a KVM. As I use them for my security+ lab I also have them connected via a switch, a hub (and in a couple of days) wireless links as well.

It should still post without a keyboard so long as you go into the BIOS and tell it there's no keyboard. My smoothwall box runs without anything atached and only beeps like crazy at boot because there's no monitor. :rolleyes:

Whether or not it will work depends on how windows behaves with no keyboard attached.

It should still post without a keyboard so long as you go into the BIOS and tell it there's no keyboard. My smoothwall box runs without anything atached and only beeps like crazy at boot because there's no monitor. :

I've seen a couple of posts like this, especially in the linux forums- but haven't come across any bios that actually allows this (most will allow ps2 mouse disabling, but sulk if there is no keyboard present). What bios are you using?
this is something I'd like to have a crack at myself.

Actually now that you mention it I'm not sure if my primary machine allows disabling the keyboard or not, I'll have to remember to have a look before I go to bed and make a note.

My smoothwall is on an old IBM PC330 my dad bought for 5 bucks, and I also have a Dual P90($0) that allows no keyboard but I had to keep a keyboard in that because it wouldn't allow shutdown remotely via SSH so it required a bit of blind typing at the end of the day.

-EDIT--
Just checked the BIOS on my parents machine to refresh my memory and all BIOS should work without a keyboard.

Just go into the Standard CMOS Features menu, and there should be an option called Halt On or Halt On Errors and you just change that to None and it will happily boot without a keyboard or mouse and you just have to worry about what windows will do.

Pave_spectre -I haven't seen the 'halt on errors' option for a while (except on some older machines I've serviced) - I noticed this on my present machines, but am wondering if this feature is available on Intel based boards, as most of mine are currently AMD.
It's not something I've had to use on any PC I've fixed, so I haven't really paid it a great deal of attention - it is an important feature that seems to be missing from many systems.
Mine are all AMIBIOS, ranging from a '98 (for a celeron) to 2003 (PCChips/MSI)

tonymondeo - give it a try. If you enter the BIOS and see an option for 'halt on errors' then you could well be ok - great stuff!! If it's not there though, you're pretty much goosed.

Thanks for all the replies and effort.

So, judging by what you are saying all I need is a base station,hub, and PXE ethernet cards for the slave PC's, CAT5 to the hub and bingo.

That should reduce the spaghetti to 1 cable plus mains per pC, and the ethernet cable is required anyway.

(By PXE I mean the Lan cards that support the power up/shut down via Lan option)

That's about it - make sure you check your BIOS before you go buying any parts though; if your machine doesn't support the feature, there's no point throwing any money at it.