KVM switch + Windows 7 creates monitor switching nightmare

KVM Pro - Obviously you haven't been reading this thread in it's entirety.  Replacing hardware is not an acceptable solution for the bulk of people here.  I had just purchased my KVM not 6 weeks before Windows 7 RC came out.  Why should I have to replace brand new hardware???  Why should IT departments across the global be forced into replacing working hardware just to take advantage of a new O/S (W2008R2 which is also affected).

Not only that - many people have experienced issues that have nothing to do with KVM's.  Turning off a monitor and then turning it back on also triggers the system to attempt to 'refresh' the resolution. 

The root problem is that this new functionality in Windows 7 is reaking havoc on a lot of systems - with and without KVM's - and there needs to be some method to turning it off...

And to quote my earlier post:  "Microsoft's stance is that Windows 7 is suppose to fix all the issues that people had upgrading to Vista.  Well one of the biggest issues was backward's compatibility with older hardware.  Based on that - this answer should also not be acceptable to Microsoft"

Joseph W. Leathlean

ATI Radeon 3100 Graphics through a Belkin Flip DVI to a Acer P241W

I'm running VMware workstation 6.5 and if I leave it running full screen when I switch back it will  occupy a fraction of the screen. After a few times the background will disappear and eventually Windows 7 will become unresponsive even though VMware continues to work fine.  I also see the same behavior when I switch the monitor off but leave the KVM switch to Win7.

Hardware is an AMD Phenom Quad core with 8Gb memory running Win7 Pro x64

I'd been running the same config for months with RC and then  FCS over a VGA KVM without problems.

I do have solutions for all the issues listed regarding video problems with KVM switch connected/switched to Windows 7 systems.

Please refer to following link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVM_switch#Compatibility ) which does answer what caused the video problems – the KVM switches did not pass EDID data via DDC channel to Windows 7 continuously.   Disconnect or power on/off, or switching display devices from Windows 7 will trigger HPD (Hot Plug Detect) events to Windows 7.  Feeding Windows 7 with EDID data all the time can solve this kind of problems easily.  There are two ways to do it.

1)   If you want to keep your old KVM which can not feed EDID to Windows 7 systems, just adding a DDC/EDID emulator in between your KVM switch and each connected Windows 7.   The street price of VGA DDC/EDID emulator is about US$35~55/each.   It’s about $45~75 for DVI version.

2)   If you have too many of Windows 7 systems connected to the old KVM switch, it is simply too costly to add more than 3 DDC/EDID emulators to one old KVM switch.  Replacing the old KVM switch is suggestion.  Do your own calculation.  ($40x 3 = $130 which is the average marketing price for 4-port KVM switch with the all-time DDC/EDID feeding function).

Of cause, different  DDC/EDID emulators have different quality.  You can google it by using “DDC Ghost” “EDID Emulator” “DDC EDID Emulator” for the right emulator for your target.

Or you can google it by using “All-time DDC KVM” “Full DDC KVM” for those KVM switches support DDC emulation to all connected systems.

Since, so many KVM users having these same video issues with Windows 7,

I think the KVM makers will response to this demand to release more KVM switch models support the “All-time Full DDC/EDID” soon.

Thanks for the information everyone, please continue to post your KVM Make/Model as well as graphics card as the information is very helpful.

Thanks,

Kevin

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