rberq Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 We just installed Macro Express on two PCs that use KDM switches (Keyboard / Display / Mouse switches). The user has one monitor, keyboard, and mouse, which are switched between the Macro Express PC and another unrelated PC. One macro, that has been running reliably on dozens of other PCs for many months, fails intermittently in this new environment. Keystrokes from the Text Type command are sometimes processed wrong. For example, <TAB> acts like <SHIFTD><TAB><SHIFTU> and jumps the view from the top to the bottom of the web page. Also, <BACKSPACE> typed in a data-entry field should erase the previously-typed character; instead it is passed to Internet Explorer and returns to the previously-displayed web page. One user said she was manually filling in another web form, and her monitor/kybd/mouse were switched to the other computer even though she did not invoke the switch. (There are timed macros that would have run and possibly would have resized the window she was working in.) Has anyone else see odd behavior with ME and KDM switches? Any idea what is going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yehnfikm8Gq Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 (edited) I doubt I can help but is there any relationship between behaviour and what is active on the 2nd PC? Hardware differences? Your knowledge may be beyond this but you could check "KVM switch" in Wiki - it has a few paras on compatibility. (edit) I think this multi-PC scenario has come up before. There are alternatives if the KVM issue cannot be resolved and PCs are networked. To save power, I run my 2 PCs over VNC and normally use one keyboard, mouse and monitor. Perhaps if they are not networked you can use a null modem cable to directly connect? No switch of any sort is required - the other PC is just another Task Bar application. Edited February 17, 2010 by JohnS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin Posted February 17, 2010 Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 One user said she was manually filling in another web form, and her monitor/kybd/mouse were switched to the other computer even though she did not invoke the switch. I used such a switch for a while (although it was called KVM for Keyboard, Video, Mouse). I noticed a couple of things. Macro Express could not control the switching actions; it could not send any commands to the KVM switch. This is understandable since Macro Express interfaces directly with Windows and the KVM sits between the keyboard and the computer. The length of the cables could be problematic, especially if they were unshielded and it was difficult to position the computers close enough to be able to use short cables. Other than these issues the KVM switch worked great and there were no problems with Macro Express or any other programs running on my computers. If I had to guess, since Macro Express cannot send keystrokes to a KVM switch and the KVM switched computers without the user invoking it, you are experiencing interference with the cables. Make sure you are using short and shielded cables. Make sure they do not run next to power cables, power supplies, plugs or other things that can generate interference. And, you might just have a bad switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rberq Posted February 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 Thanks for the responses. Part of the problem turns out that the switches were mis-programmed, so the right-side Shift key, operated by the user, triggered the change from one PC to the other. Still no answer on why the <TAB> and <BACKSPACE> act strangely ... I suspect something else caused by the KDM (KVM?) switch, since I have replaced the offending <TAB> with a mouse click, and removed the <BACKSPACE> entirely, but IE still sometimes goes back to the prior web page. So ME is likely an innocent bystander here, not involved in any of the problems. But of course it gets blamed by the users because it's there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yehnfikm8Gq Posted February 18, 2010 Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 It sounds like the keyboard hooks aren't working. Are they set on Auto in Options/Miscellaneous? The backspace as you correctly said should delete a character but IE is grabbing it first (previous page shortcut). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rberq Posted February 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2010 It sounds like the keyboard hooks aren't working. Are they set on Auto in Options/Miscellaneous? Good thought. I will check on that -- I know the restore-hooks command can be inserted in a macro, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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