If I use a USB keyboard on a Windows PC, can I “hot plug” the keyboard? That is, can I unplug and reconnect the keyboard without shutting down the computer first?
I ask because I saw a USB selector switch at the computer shop. I’m wondering if I can use this to control two PCs with one set of keyboard + monitor + mouse. (Assuming I use a monitor with two inputs) Only I don’t have a USB keyboard to experiment with.
I should have mentioned: I know there are selector switches for PS/2 keyboards. It’s just that USB selectors seem to be much less expensive.
A better bet would be to get a proper KVM switch that supports USB as well as PS2 and monitor connections.
But I’m almost certain that USB keyboards can be hot plugged.
USB was designed from the start to be hot swappable. Shouldn’t be a problem.
PS/2 ports aren’t hot swappable, which makes PS/2 KVM switch designs more complicated (and more expensive).
Yes, you can hot-plug a USB keyboard on a Windows box. I use a USB keyboard/mouse/switchbox combination to control a Mac and a PC from the same keyboard/mouse, for example: works like a charm.
One caveat, though: Many PC BIOSes need to see keyboards at startup, or you get the dread “No keyboard detected, press F1 to continue*” error, so the switchbox needs to be switched to the PC when it’s booted (the Mac doesn’t have this problem). Otherwise, works slick.
*seriously
Thanks guys!
BIOSes tend to have a setting to get round this, I switched some setting I can’t remember offhand from “halt on all errors” to “halt on all but keyboard errors” for this reason.
The only problem I can see is how quickly the PCs respond to the USB plugging - might be too slow for lots of quick switching.