Black Box KV812A User Manual
22
SERVSWITCH™ USB AND USB PLUS
4.2 Getting Your PCs Ready and Verifying Your Peripherals
Before you begin installing your system, check the OS version(s) you have installed
on your computers. If you’re running Windows
on your computers. If you’re running Windows
®
98 or Mac
®
OS, we highly
recommend that you upgrade to the latest version of the operating system, because
the USB handling has tended to become more reliable with each new revision. You
should upgrade Windows 98 to at least Release 2, and, in particular, you must
upgrade Mac OS to at least version 8.6; Mac CPUs with earlier OS versions tend to
hang following about 50 switch cycles. Other operating systems, such as
Windows 2000, HP-UX
the USB handling has tended to become more reliable with each new revision. You
should upgrade Windows 98 to at least Release 2, and, in particular, you must
upgrade Mac OS to at least version 8.6; Mac CPUs with earlier OS versions tend to
hang following about 50 switch cycles. Other operating systems, such as
Windows 2000, HP-UX
®
, Linux
®
, SCO
®
UNIX
®
, and Novell
®
NetWare
®
, now have
USB support or are expected to add it soon. However, DOS, Windows 3.x,
Windows 95, and Windows NT either do not support USB or do not support it
adequately.
Windows 95, and Windows NT either do not support USB or do not support it
adequately.
You will probably also need to configure any IBM PC compatible computers you
plan to attach so that they will accept USB peripherals. Unfortunately, at the time
of this writing, most PCs can’t automatically detect the presence of a USB keyboard
or other USB devices without initial detection of, or input from, a regular PS/2
keyboard. Some such CPUs will require you to attach an actual PS/2 keyboard to
them, because you have to do an initial operating-system configuration to make the
CPU USB-aware and to make sure that the appropriate drivers are installed. But
many CPUs just need to “see” a PS/2 keyboard, and then will autodetect the USB
keyboard; while you boot up these CPUs, you can simply plug in a PS/2 keyboard
emulator such as our Keyboard and Mouse GHOST Emulator, product code
AC245A, instead of attaching a real PS/2 keyboard.
of this writing, most PCs can’t automatically detect the presence of a USB keyboard
or other USB devices without initial detection of, or input from, a regular PS/2
keyboard. Some such CPUs will require you to attach an actual PS/2 keyboard to
them, because you have to do an initial operating-system configuration to make the
CPU USB-aware and to make sure that the appropriate drivers are installed. But
many CPUs just need to “see” a PS/2 keyboard, and then will autodetect the USB
keyboard; while you boot up these CPUs, you can simply plug in a PS/2 keyboard
emulator such as our Keyboard and Mouse GHOST Emulator, product code
AC245A, instead of attaching a real PS/2 keyboard.
It is also probably a good idea at this point to directly attach all of the USB
peripherals you plan on using to each of your CPUs, load the drivers, and make
sure that the devices work correctly when they are directly plugged into the CPUs.
This way, if there are problems with your equipment, cabling, or drivers, you can
find them before you put your whole system together.
sure that the devices work correctly when they are directly plugged into the CPUs.
This way, if there are problems with your equipment, cabling, or drivers, you can
find them before you put your whole system together.