1 PC, 2 sets of inputs but not being used at the same time, possible?

saitrix · 20 Feb 2012 at 17:47

Hi,

I have a pc and I am wanting to do inputs on it from two different positions (about 10 metres from each other). It is an old pc which cannot be upgraded, so it has vga video, ps2 mouse and ps2 keyboard. Now looking on the net you can get powered splitters for vga and you can get ps2 splitters.

Would I be correct in saying that should work with both mice operating the same cursor and the keyboards both inputting in the same place on the screen? As that is totally fine for me as there is only ever 1 user on the pc at once, I am just trying to minimise the distance the users have to travel to use the computer.

Oh and if it changes things it runs on Windows NT.

saitrix · 20 Feb 2012 at 18:01

Aren't they normally for doing the other way round, multiple computers to single input?

saitrix · 20 Feb 2012 at 18:46

Ahh unfortunately no USB either due to it being Windows NT. Old computers are annoying, I have to use floppy disk to get files off it!

saitrix · 20 Feb 2012 at 19:33

Nope can't have that, the mouse would get stolen.

This is to be used in a factory so if you don't bolt it down it disappears. It really is an annoying situation!

saitrix · 20 Feb 2012 at 19:42

I am going to give a y lead a go with ps2 as they will be about 10 metres apart and I cannot have any cables dangling between (very hot things between, about 400C). See if that works, I have found something I am totally sure will work for vga so its just a question of the keyboard and mouse.

saitrix · 21 Feb 2012 at 07:19

How hard is remote desktop setups on the 'main' pc that you would be remoting into? As I think it only has about a 700mhz cpu.

saitrix · 21 Feb 2012 at 12:38

NDJ88 said:
Saitrix, we do something very very similar.

In a factory environment, we have a large piece of machinery being controlled by a PC which needed to be operated from either side of the equipment.

The cables were only a couple of metres long, so we just used PS/2 and VGA splitter cables. In your situation, a powered splitter might be a better option.

It all worked fine for us, except for an old cherry keyboard which didn't want to play so we replaced it.

There are reverse KVMs out there, but they're generally not made these days and don't give any advantage over splitters.

That is excellent news. It is a similar thing with me, so a nice basic setup will be perfect for it. Will get on and order the bits required, but I will see if I can get a powered ps2 splitter. I have already found a perfect powered vga splitter.

saitrix · 21 Feb 2012 at 17:49

Ahh thats handy to know, I have got hold of a ps2 splitter so I can try testing different keyboards etc tomorrow. The current keyboard is a special built in one but I looked and it is just connected using a standard ps2.

I have found a decent selection of bits I need, the best part being I found a 10m cable that has vga and 2 ps/2 connectors on either end. So I will only have to feed 1 cable between the two positions, which is perfect.

Needing to reboot the pc is bad due to the potential for data loss which we just cannot have. Will have to trial all of this then.