Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: Walter Dnes <waltdnes@××××××××.org>
To: Gentoo Users List <gentoo-user@l.g.o>
Subject: [gentoo-user] Heads up: Video mode and booting with KVM switch
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2015 20:54:23
Message-Id: 20151113205402.GA22097@waltdnes.org
1 I have 3 machines kicking around. One is a Dell Inspiron 530 from
2 June 2008 that simply refuses to die. The others are more recent.
3 On my desk (actually a re-purposed kitchen table) I only have room for 1
4 24 inch monitor, 1 big Unicomp "IBM-like clickety-clack" USB keyboard
5 http://www.pckeyboard.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_code=UNI041A
6 and 1 trackball.
7
8 I got an IOGear 4-port USB KVM. It has a remote clicker to switch
9 between the 4 ports; no icky escape/control sequences. Because it's
10 hardware-controlled, there are no drivers required. It works great
11 with one exception, which is a linux kernel problem, not a switch
12 problem. The problem I've found occurs when booting a machine that is
13 not currently selected by the KVM switch. I found the BIOS settings to
14 eliminate the...
15
16 Keyboard failure
17 Select F1 to continue; F2 to enter SETUP
18
19 ...message. The linux kernel problem is that it doesn't detect the
20 display when that particular machine is not selected at bootup
21 (duhhhh), and assumes 1024x768 console and graphics video. If the
22 machine is selected by the switch at bootup, things work properly.
23
24 But don't panic. Even if I boot into 1024x768 text mode, and default
25 to 1024x768 graphics, running "xrandr -s 1920x1080" gets me 1920x1080
26 X Window display. The available modes for your display may be
27 different. Just run "xrandr" for a list of available modes.
28
29 --
30 Walter Dnes <waltdnes@××××××××.org>
31 I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-user] Heads up: Video mode and booting with KVM switch Matti Nykyri <matti.nykyri@×××.fi>
Re: [gentoo-user] Heads up: Video mode and booting with KVM switch Peter Humphrey <peter@××××××××××××.uk>