Building a KVM switch?

[jamerslong]

ok i have a simple question for you folks, does anyone here know of a method to build a custom KVM switch that will switch just a PS2 keyboard and USB/PS2 mouse? i dont feel the need to spend 100$ for something simple, i have my 21 inch trinitron which accepts 2 Inputs and can be changed at the flip of a switch, so all i need is a Keyboard and mouse switch to switch between the computers.

any findings would help alot

[snessiram]

Is a software KVM an option?

I use synergy, a free software KVM, to share a keyboard and mouse between my thinkpad and macbook. It works through the network, I've used the wireless network at home, a direct ethernet connection and a direct firewire connection... all working fine.

[syedj]

Speaking of software solutions, VNC is another option. I use TightVNC, REALVNC and other flavors constantly both at home and at work to use multiple computers from one laptop. Works like a charm.

[gator]

Another recommendation for TightVNC. I use it at school to connect to our department's unix server.

[jamerslong]

the synergy sounds good, but how would i split the connections?

[snessiram]

You plug the mouse/keyboard into one of the two (or more) computers. You set synergy on that computer to be the "server" and you set the "layout" (I have multiple screens so I can tell there screen x is left to screen y, so the "layout" is how the screens from the different pc's are layed out). On the other computer you set synergy to be a client (just enter the ip/hostname of the server computer), the server will see the client is connected. You then can just move your mouse from one screen on another like you would when you had one pc with dualscreen (move the mouse to the edge of the screen, it appears on the screen next to it).

If I understand it right, you only have one physical screen, but it will be one logical screen on every computer. Thus you would have a virtual dualscreen (using the same screen). You could be working on pc1 and when you want to switch to pc2, just move the mouse to the edge of the screen as if you would switch to a screen standing next to it, then switch the screen input to pc2 and your mouse will be there.
There might be a possibility to use shortcuts for it, I'm not sure.

Take a look at this youtube video which shows 2 pc's (one running windows, the other one running linux) sharing a keyboard and mouse.

Note that it's possible to copy text from one pc to another (just copy/paste, no special things).

If you would be switching constantly I would suggest looking at the suggestions of gator and syedj, where you would see the desktop of pc2 on pc1.