KVM switch + Windows 7 creates monitor switching nightmare

OK. I've found a solution for my particular scenario and it may help others so here it is.

It seems I may be wrong and "KVM wobbly monitor syndrome" might have more to do with EDID than DDM. This means that it may not be an MS problem at all but rather (as some have suggested) a problem with ATI graphics cards.

After setting my resolution, I stopped and then turned off a service called "AMD External Event Utility". This seems to have stopped the system from detecting my monitor dismounting every time I switch PCs with the KVM. This service can also be called "ATI External Event Utility" depending on one's card.

I don't get any flickering resolution identity problems any more and the KVM now works just the way it did with XP. Hope this helps someone.

As someone has previously said... "What's the point in having a luxury car when one can only turn right by making three left turns?

Everything points to this being a problem with "Dynamic Device Mapping" and there must be a software way around it because until a few days ago when I reinstalled W7 Retail, my KVM switching was running just fine (using build 7100). So unless it is a DDM "feature" that was inserted at the last minute into the final version (which is unlikely), a software fix must be possible.

Many others are having problems with their Windows 7 machines suffering this "resolution identity" problem when using KVM switches and there are threads all over the web from bewildered people mostly being answered by well-intentioned folk offering misleading advice

As regards changing the hardware, there doesn't seem to be any "PS/2 solution" as no PS/2 KVM with "true mapping" currently exists and as PS/2 is pretty much "legacy tech" now, it is unlikely that anyone will develop one in the future. The ConnectPRO UR-14+ model with USB DDM technology, which provides true USB device mapping to each connected device WILL work with Windows 7 machines but this is only a solution for those with USB connections. The DDM patented technology is the ONLY reliable solution that I've managed to find for sharing a keyboard and mouse among Windows 7 systems and nobody makes a KVM switch for PS2 with this technology on-board.

My conclusion... For existing and complex PS2 KVM set-ups Windows 7 is a very bad idea unless one is prepared to spend lots of money on a very expensive new KVM switch and accompanying USB connections to all PCs involved. This is not a solution for those home users who were quite happy to spend $30 on a small 4-port switch on eBay but are not so happy to be told that they now have to buy an expensive rack-mount industrial KVM switch in order to get back to the same place they were in a few years ago!

A software solution should be a priority for MS since this issue will only affect an increasing number of systems as more people upgrade to W7. DDM may have its advantages but from where I'm sitting the only "dynamic" thing about it is that it makes one want to boot one's PC out of the window (or should that be "out of Windows"?).

I've been using Synergy as essentially a software KVM but it obviously doesnt share a monitor.  What it does is allows you to seamlessly move from on box say on Windows XP to Solaris to Linux to Windows 7 just by dragging your mouse from one monitor edge to another.  It uses ethernet to transmit the keyboard/mouse movements from a server install to the clients etc.  You set positioning in the software, and I love it. 

Like I said, it does not give you monitor sharing... only keyboard mouse sharing without pushing any buttons.  BUT...  GO FIGURE... It runs like ____ with the "new and improved" WINDOWS 7 (64 bit) client or server mode.  It seems to only poll on keyboard/mouse but it's jittery and lost it's smoothness the moment you jump/use a Windows 7 machine. 

So this brought me to look at KVM's... and now I see this too is a $^@%ing issue!   GREAT JOB MICROS#!T !   GO UBUNTU!!!

They're losing their focus... instead of writing software (like a software company should do) now their effort are put toward DRM which not only puts on new constraints, but breaks stuff that used to work.  :::as the world slowly converts to Ubuntu:::  Microsoft will be left wondering why and how to get their "imposed" user-base back.

BTW... Open Office is free too on Ubuntu and obviously other linux flavours... who needs microsoft anymore?!  Oh the gamers...  well DX10/11 is better/faster in linux, so that'll change too :-)  I wait for the day where Micros#!T is left behind like dialup, its not too far away.

Fix yer chit Microchit!  <~~~ strangely more suitable for them

Well it seems Microsoft do in fact monitor issues on these forums and reply. Refer http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproui/thread/5b524d53-df97-405d-835f-f081d106a19b

Unfortunately, despite having 46 people waiting for an answer, and it clearly being established Microsoft need to respond on this - there is still no comment at all.

Perhaps this thread needs to be recreated with a title that will help Microsoft to find it and understand what the problem has developed into.

Something to indicate EDID based automatic desktop resizing is broken in a variety of use cases (single display, multi display, kvm) and that a response from Microsoft on their intentions with this issue is being saught.

For what it's worth, I'm using a Belkin KVM that's a few years old.  It worked when sharing between an XP box and a Vista box and is now working flawlessly with a 64-bit Win 7 Pro laptop and a 32-bit Win 7 Ultimate desktop box.  The monitor is an ASUS 24-inch, the keyboard is a Logitech Wave (wired) and the mouse is a Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 2.0.  The only issue I have with it is that I wish it was faster.