Share Vacuumking's profile
Vacuumking
Vacuumking's stats
- Review count1
- Helpfulness votes15
- First reviewJuly 1, 2012
- Last reviewJuly 1, 2012
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4
Reviews comments
- Review comment count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First review commentNone
- Last review commentNone
- Featured review comments0
Questions
- Question count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First questionNone
- Last questionNone
- Featured questions0
Answers
- Answer count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First answerNone
- Last answerNone
- Featured answers0
- Best answers0
Vacuumking's Reviews
Gain control of your system with this clutter-free KVM solution. Audio support lets you share your multimedia speakers between two connected computers. >> Find the right KVM switch for your configuration! (684KB .pdf)
Customer Rating
4
Once tweaked, works great with Logitech Unifying!
on July 1, 2012
Posted by: Vacuumking
from San Diego, CA
This Iogear GCS632U KVM Switch is now working beauttifully with my Logitech Unifying USB receiver plugged into the Keyboard-designated USB slot on the switch. It lets me use a hotkey switch between my laptop and my tower so I can use a single Monitor, Keyboard, and Mouse and control either computer, one at a time. I had to do quite a bit of setup and reading to figure out how to get all components to work, but once I got past that I've had zero issues so far.
I am tech competent but not tech expert level. I had to read stuff at Iogear's site to figure out some of my issues and try several things to get everybody to work right.
Here's my system, and those of you trying to use with Wireless Keyboard/Mouse might appreciate the details of how I solved my issues.
I have a Logitech K520 Wireless Keyboard and an M510 wireless mouse. Both use a single USB receiver, Logitech's Unifying Receiver. I have an LG Monitor that has both DVI and VGA ports but I am using only the VGA port, connected between the KVM Switch. Video quality is fine for me, I'm not a gamer.
The box for the KVM is small and has two green LED's on top. On front is a VGA 15-pin female port for the Video, and two USB slots but these are not true, anything -oes USB's; they are designed to accept a wired mouse on one and a wired keyboard on the other. There's an audio jack (light green) on the side for speakers but I'm not using that for reasons I explain later. I plugged the little Unifying receiver into the Keyboard-designated USB slot.
Coming off the other end are two cables that each have 3 connections: VGA, USB, and Audio. Initially I plugged all 3 in to each computer. My tower uses DVI so I used a DVI-to-VGA adapter to connect to the KVM plug.
When I followed the Manual's directions and turned my laptop on first, I got video display just fine but no Keyboard/Mouse (KM) control. I plugged in a USB mouse into the laptop and controlled from there. Of course the KM wouldn't control, I needed to re-connect now that my Unifying was in the KVM. I used my Logitech app to have it recognize the K and M and then, voila! I had KM wireless control.
So, on I went to the tower, turning it on. Same issue, so I downloaded the Logitech Unifying app and again went through the steps to reconnect K and M.
Now the first big test was a big FAIL. Pressing [Scroll Lock][Scroll Lock] as the hotkey indeed toggled me back to my laptop, and its video displayed fine, but now I once again had to KM control. Huh? Time to read up at Iogears site. They detailed how some wireless ID codes might not be recognized..and how you need sufficient power through each USB port to get everything to work. So, I decided to totally power down both computers as Iogear suggested, disconnect all cables as suggested, and wait five minutes. To give the power equation a better chance, I unplugged the audio jack.
THAT WORKED! Now I powered up my tower first, and I had Video and KM control. Then I powered up my laptop, toggled via hotkeys, and had KM control here, too!
Since my laptop is used for business, I have decided to not try to push my luck; I'll hook up my speakers directly to my tower if I want sound on that computer, used for personal. Since this is a KVM switch and not a KVMP switch, I am using a 4-port USB hub to take USB from each computer then connect 1 USB cable to my printer.
I hope you found these details useful as you strive to figure out if this little KVM will work for you.
Coming off the other end are two cables that each have 3 connections: VGA, USB, and Audio. Initially I plugged all 3 in to each computer. My tower uses DVI so I used a DVI-to-VGA adapter to connect to the KVM plug.
When I followed the Manual's directions and turned my laptop on first, I got video display just fine but no Keyboard/Mouse (KM) control. I plugged in a USB mouse into the laptop and controlled from there. Of course the KM wouldn't control, I needed to re-connect now that my Unifying was in the KVM. I used my Logitech app to have it recognize the K and M and then, voila! I had KM wireless control.
So, on I went to the tower, turning it on. Same issue, so I downloaded the Logitech Unifying app and again went through the steps to reconnect K and M.
Now the first big test was a big FAIL. Pressing [Scroll Lock][Scroll Lock] as the hotkey indeed toggled me back to my laptop, and its video displayed fine, but now I once again had to KM control. Huh? Time to read up at Iogears site. They detailed how some wireless ID codes might not be recognized..and how you need sufficient power through each USB port to get everything to work. So, I decided to totally power down both computers as Iogear suggested, disconnect all cables as suggested, and wait five minutes. To give the power equation a better chance, I unplugged the audio jack.
THAT WORKED! Now I powered up my tower first, and I had Video and KM control. Then I powered up my laptop, toggled via hotkeys, and had KM control here, too!
Since my laptop is used for business, I have decided to not try to push my luck; I'll hook up my speakers directly to my tower if I want sound on that computer, used for personal. Since this is a KVM switch and not a KVMP switch, I am using a 4-port USB hub to take USB from each computer then connect 1 USB cable to my printer.
I hope you found these details useful as you strive to figure out if this little KVM will work for you.
What's great about it: Simple to operate
What's not so great: Had to figure out how to get it working with my setup
I would recommend this to a friend!
Durability
4
Ease of Use
4
Share this review:
+10points
15of 20voted this as helpful.
Vacuumking's Review Comments
Vacuumking has not submitted comments on any reviews.
Vacuumking's Questions
Vacuumking has not submitted any questions.
Vacuumking's Answers
Vacuumking has not submitted any answers.