MBP + Win 7 Desktop with U3011, KVM or other options?

[R.Perez]

So I would really appreciate if you guys could help me out with the best way to do this....?


Here is my situation,

I want to use my 15" MBP and Win 7 desktop with one monitor (Dell U3011)

MBP will be connected via mini-dp to DP

Desktop will be connected via DVI

Now here comes the problem....

I want to use one keyboard and mouse, both USB

What is the best way to share the keyboard and mouse with both computers?

Can I use a USB KVM switch without using the video switching?

Does anyone make just a USB switch for a keyboard and mouse?

I would really like to leave the display connections using the monitors multiple inputs, and just have the keyboard and mouse switched separately.

Is there a software based solution like Synergy+ that will allow me to share a USB keyboard and mouse with only one monitor?

Anyway, thanx for reading.

 

[miles01110]

Err... what? You want to use an Apple system and a Windows system concurrently with one input? That's not possible.

 

[R.Perez]

Err... what? You want to use an Apple system and a Windows system concurrently with one input? That's not possible.

No.

I am going to connect the MBP to the monitor via displayport

I will connect the windows desktop to the same monitor via DVI

I simply need an elegant way (hardware or software is fine) to switch one USB keyboard and mouse between the two systems.

I want to know if anyone makes a USB switch just for this purpose, or if there is a way to configure software like Synergy+ with only one monitor.

The other option, but the one I am the least crazy about is using a USB KVM switch, only for the keyboard and mouse and leave the video input switching to the monitor.

 

[miles01110]

I am going to connect the MBP to the monitor via displayport

I will connect the windows desktop to the same monitor via DVI

I simply need an elegant way (hardware or software is fine) to switch one USB keyboard and mouse between the two systems.

You need a KVM. Since you can't view both systems on one monitor at the same time anyways, what's the problem?

 

[R.Perez]

You need a KVM. Since you can't view both systems on one monitor at the same time anyways, what's the problem?

A couple reasons...

They are ugly and add a lot of excessive cables. (I know its stupid but hey?)

I do not want to use the video switching because most use DVI or VGA, and I haven't gotten an answer as to whether you can use a KVM just for the USB switching.

 

[ironruby]

Take a look at Synergy:
http://synergy-foss.org/

I've used it between Windows systems and it works pretty well. I haven't used it on a Mac myself, but according to the documentation it should work.

There's also a graphical front end for Mac OS X:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/synergykm/

BTW, since you'll be using the same display for both systems, you'll want to set it up so that moving the mouse (and thus mouse + keyboard focus) to the other system is a bit more difficult so as to avoid accidentally sending commands to the wrong system. Typically you switch focus by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen; in that case, you can set a longish delay before the switch occurs so it's more likely to be a deliberate act. There might be a way to set it to switch on some specific key combo, but I'm not sure.