Belkin KVM causes black screen

[stretch0069]

Well...after many years of popping into TH for info and sending others here for help , I'm now in need of some serious help myself.

I have a belkin 4 port KVM Model F1DS104U. It has been a fairly good little KVM for some time. I've been using it with an ADi E66 19" CRT for about 2 years. I also have an ADi PD-959 19" CRT w/ built-in USB hub. Both use VGA connectors.

Here's the problem: when I hook everything up and use the E66, all is well. If I remove the E66 and put in the PD-959, there is no display on the CRT. Its almost like the brightness is turned all the way dark....but its not. Now....to make things fun... If I take the PD-959 and plug it directly into each of the four PCs, the display comes up just fine. Plug it back into the KVM and darkness.

Belkin says its an incompatibility with my monitor. Well well well. What other monitors doesn't this KVM work with then??? They didn't have an answer.

I know there are a bunch of ground pins and a couple "not connected" pins. Did Belkin take a shortcut with their KVM that causes this problem????? I'd really like to solve this little mystery, but Belkin (after 3 emails and a phonecall) couldn't care less.

I'm going to try ADi next.

Does anyone have any insight????

I've always used this site for info. Its a wealth of knowledge that maybe I'll be able to contribute to.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[folken]

I did a little googling and your problem with the PD-959 appears to be universal. Something about it must be proprietary because it doesn't work for anyone.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

 

[stretch0069]

I appreciate the info. I did a Google search, but I guess I didn't do one on the PD-959. Sometimes I'm just not all here.

Guess I'm going to have to investigate this one myself. I'm stuck since its the only monitor I have for the next couple months.

 

[folken]

If all you need switched is keyboard video and mouse just get a cheapo kvm and see if it works on that. I bought a kvm on newegg.com for $36 and it works like a champ. Its a no nonsense switch, lol.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

 

[stretch0069]

Well...there's more to it than just getting a new KVM. I have the curiousity that wants to understand why this is happening. In my gut I have this feeling that something is there that can be fixed. I'm a field tech and I love solving little mysteries like this. Ok..maybe I'm just sadistic.

 

[folken]

That is true, I am a tinkerer myself. But for only $36 whats to loose
If it does the same thing on that one you can just mess w/ it w/o fear of screwing up something that was more expensive.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

 

[stretch0069]

I looked on Newegg. Nothing for me under $100. Besides...even $36 could be better used elsewhere.

I spent good money on this KVM and the more I talk with them (Belkin) the more angry I get. They really couldn't care less.

Guess I'll just have to keep looking for an answer.

 

[jmwpom3]

Won't they just change it out to see if that particular one is defective?


<font color=green> AMD- Intel's choice for Best CPU manufacturer </font color=green>

 

[lrod99]

Hi I just installed Belkin Soho KVM F1DD104L with 2 towers and a laptop. One tower is running windows 7 64 bit home edition, the other is running windows 7 64-bit enterprise, the laptop is running enterprise edition as well. Both computers running the enterprsie edition ran fine. When I tried to hook up the home edition it started up ok, showed that it was starting Windows then the screen went black. I tried lots of trouble shooting, switching out cables, switching ports and had the same behavior every time. I called support, uuuugh what a nightmare, I spent more than two hours explaining to them what I did and basically they said I should return it because it was faulty. I refused and asked to have it escalated, because the port worked fine with a different computer (You tell me how switching the KVM is going to fix that). Anyway once I was escalated I got a much better english speaking person and she got what I was saying that it didn't make sense to switch out the KVM with all the troubleshooting I had done. I told the support gal that I thought it appeared to be a compatibility issue and maybe the firmware needed to be updated. So now I'm waiting on 3rd level support to call me back.
In the meantime, it's driving me crazy because I'm thinking it should work. So I go back and try another monitor and guess what it worked on any port (I switched the non-working tower to other ports to make sure). What was the difference? You got me. Non working monitor is a HP 2210m, working monitor is a HP compaq LA2205wg. There are some differences, but I still can't understand why it didn't work. For now I'm armed with some information to provide support. I will add another update when I finished working with them on this issue.