ADDERView USB Manual

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 102. Installation2.1 What you will need  A suitable USB-enabled operating system running on each of your computers.
Suitable operating systems are Windows 98 release 2 or later and Mac OS 8.6 or
later. Earlier operating system versions are not recommended and may cause
occasional problems. Other operating systems such as Windows ®
 2000, HP-UX®
,
Linux®
, SCO®
 UNIX®
, and Novell®
 NetWare®
 have USB support or are likely to add
it soon. DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95 and Windows NT either do not support
USB or are not recommended for use with the AdderView.  Cables to connect the AdderView to a USB and video port on each of your
computers. Cable specifications are given in appendix A.  A monitor with a standard VGA/SVGA (15 pin) connector that will work when
connected directly to each of your computers. AdderView supports low and high
resolution monitors.  Suitable USB drivers for all the USB peripherals that you wish to connect to the
AdderView. Common drivers, such as those for keyboards and mice, are usually
included with the operating system. If you are connecting to both PC and Apple
Macintosh computers then you should ensure that you have drivers for both
platforms.  If you wish to connect more than three USB peripherals to the AdderView then
you will need additional USB hubs. These may be bus powered or powered with
their own independent power supplies. All USB hubs should be at least USB 1.0
compliant and should preferably be USB 1.1 compliant.  A suitable keyboard and mouse. If you have AdderView model AV4USB-MAC
then these must be USB devices. If you have the AdderView model AV4USB-PC
model then these may be USB style devices or traditional PS/2 style devices.  If
you are connecting to both PC and Macintosh machines then it is recommended
that you use a PC keyboard and mouse because the PC keyboard and mouse
have more keys and buttons than the Macintosh keyboard and mouse. If you wish
you may connect both types of keyboard or mouse for convenience. 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 11You may connect standard 2 or 3 button PS/2 or IntelliMouse compatible mice to
the PS/2 mouse port on the AdderView model AV4USB-PC. The AdderView
supports ‘Internet Mice’ that are compatible with the Microsoft IntelliMouse. These
are fitted with a wheel or other scroll control and sometimes have additional
buttons.
Examples are:
Microsoft IntelliMouse
Logitech Pilot Mouse +
Logitech MouseMan+
Genius NetMouse
Genius NetMouse Pro
If you are using an AT keyboard with a 5 pin connector you may connect this to
the AdderView using a standard AT to PS/2 keyboard adapter. If you do not wish
to use a keyboard and mouse then the AdderView will operate without these
devices connected. If you wish to use the PS/2 style mouse to switch the
AdderViews channel then you will need a three button mouse or an IntelliMouse.
2.2 Mounting the AdderView
The AdderView has been designed for use on a desktop or shelf in close proximity
to the user’s monitor and peripherals. The optional remote controller may be used if
you wish to locate the AdderView on a desk or shelf that is some distance from the
monitor and peripherals.
2.3 Connecting your devices
Ensure that the power adapter is disconnected from the AdderView and that all the
devices which are to be attached are switched off. Connect your keyboard, mouse
and monitor to the connectors at the rear of the AdderView (see figs 1, 2 and 3).
Your user and peripheral devices should plug directly into the AdderView.
Next connect each computer system unit in turn with a USB and a video cable. The
USB cable has different connectors on each end. This ensures that it connects to
the correct ports. The type A connector (rectangular) plugs into the computer and 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 12the type B connector (square) plugs into the AdderView. USB cables should be no
longer than 5 metres but this distance may be extended with the use of USB hubs.
You should use tri-coax video cables to achieve a good video picture (the type of
thick cable that you see on computer monitor connections). Lower quality ‘data’
cables will function correctly but will generally give relatively poor video pictures and
are only suitable for screen resolutions of 640 x 480. Any unused computer
connections can be left unconnected.
If you are using an Apple Macintosh computer and you wish to use the on/off key
function on the keyboard then you must connect the keyboard directly to the
AdderView’s peripheral port A. If you are using this on/off key function then you will
also not be able to use an additional USB hub to extend the cable run between the
computer and the AdderView. This is because the Macintosh on/off key function is
not supported through a USB hub. 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 13Figure 4 - a typical AdderView USB installation whereby a range of peripherals
are shared between four computers 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 142.4 Configuring the AdderView
The AdderView USB is supplied pre-configured with factory defaults which are
suitable for most applications. A row of option switches on the underside of the
AdderView may be used to select various other configuration options as follows: 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 152.4.1 Setting the USB enumeration guard time
(option switches 5 and 6)
A USB-enabled computer detects and configures USB peripherals when they are
connected to or disconnected from its USB ports. This process is called
enumeration. You can often see when the enumeration process is in progress as the
computer will usually display a timer or hourglass for a few seconds after the
connection of a USB peripheral whilst the device is being enumerated.
This enumeration process will take place each time that the AdderView locks on to a
new computer port. Unfortunately computer software is not generally robust enough
to cope with the connection between the computer and peripherals being broken
during this enumeration process. If the connection is lost part of the way through the
enumeration process then the computer software or the peripherals can hang.
To overcome this problem the AdderView is fitted with an enumeration guard timeout
system. Once the AdderLink has locked on to a channel it will remain connected to
that channel for at least the enumeration guard time. This ensures that the
enumeration process is complete before further channel changes are allowed and
consequently ensures robust and reliable operation.
The enumeration process takes longer if more peripherals are connected. Select an
enumeration time that is longer than the longest observed enumeration time. The
enumeration time can be judged by the length of time that the hourglass or timer
remains on the computer screen after a channel change (normally a few seconds).
Alternatively you may select the shortest enumeration guard time (2 seconds) and
remember not to change the channel whilst the hourglass or timer is displayed.
2.4.2 Setting the autoscan dwell time
The AdderView may be made to autoscan the connected computers. During
autoscan the AdderView displays the video signal from each computer in turn for a
selected time period. This time period is known as the dwell time and may be
selected to be 2 or 5 seconds using option switch 7. Ports are scanned in ascending
numerical sequence and all the ports or just the active ports will be scanned
according to the setting of option switch 8. 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 162.4.3 Setting the AdderView to scan all ports or just the active ports
The AdderView’s front panel button may be used to select the required computer. To
avoid the need to press the key more times than necessary the AdderView may be
set to scan just the ports that have powered computers attached. When the
AdderView has been set to scan these ‘active’ ports, only these ports may be
selected using the front panel button. If you wish to be able to select all the ports,
regardless of whether the connected computers are powered on or not, then the
AdderView may be set to scan all ports. The scan strategy is selected using option
switch 8. This setting also controls the ports that are scanned during autoscan and
the ports that may be selected using the keyboard hotkeys+TAB or a 3-button
mouse (model AV4USB-PC only).
The AdderView determines if a port is active by monitoring the signals presenton the USB interface cable. The AdderView is not able to detect an activecomputer if a USB cable from that computer is not connected to theAdderView.2.4.4 Setting the keyboard hotkey combination
(model AV4USB-PC only)
The AdderView’s channel may be selected by pressing keyboard hotkey
combinations on the keyboard attached to the PS/2 keyboard port. Keyboard hotkey
combinations consist of three keys that are pressed together to activate the required
function. For example, pressing CTRL and ALT and 2 together would select channel
2 (assuming the default hotkeys). Certain hotkey combinations may sometimes be
used by other systems or software so various different hotkey combinations may be
selected. Options switches 1 and 2 are used to select the required hotkey
combination or disable the hotkeys.
2.4.5 Enabling and disabling mouse channel switching
(model AV4USB-PC only)
A three button PS/2 mouse or an IntelliMouse can be used to switch channels on the
AdderView. To switch to the next channel, the user simply holds down the central
button or wheel button and presses the left hand button to change channel. If the 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 17user does not wish to take advantage of this feature, it can be disabled using option
switch 3. If the third button is being used to switch the AdderView then it is not
available for use with PC software although the function of an IntelliMouse wheel is
not affected. If you wish to use the full function of a 3 button mouse or IntelliMouse
for your PC software then you should disable mouse channel switching.
2.5 Powering on the AdderView
The AdderView is powered from the supplied mains power adapter. There is no
on/off switch on the AdderView so it will start to operate as soon as the power
adapter has been connected to the AdderView and plugged into the mains supply.
2.6 Configuring your computers
We recommend that you configure each computer in turn for operation with your
USB devices without changing the AdderView’s channel. Configure your computers
as if the USB devices were connected directly to the computer.
Some PC compatible computers may not recognise a USB keyboard or mouse until
a suitable driver has been loaded. It may only be possible to load these drivers if you
have keyboard and mouse control and so consequently you may need to connect a
traditional style PS/2 keyboard and mouse to load the USB drivers. Once these USB
drivers have been loaded the PS/2 keyboard and mouse may be disconnected.
Remember that you must be using a suitable operating system such asWindows 98 or Mac OS 8.6.If you are using a version of Apple’s operating system earlier than 8.6 thenyou must upgrade to a later version. This upgrade is available on Apple’swebsite. If you use an earlier operating system then your peripherals will hangafter typically 25 channel changes. 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 182.7 Re-enabling a disconnected PS/2 mouse (AV4USB-PC only)
If you disconnect the PS/2-style mouse from the AdderView by accident during
operation then the mouse operation will be lost when the mouse is plugged back in.
To avoid having to reboot the entire system in this situation the AdderView is fitted
with an automatic mouse recovery system.
With the PS/2 mouse disconnected, change the channel using the front panel key or
keyboard hotkeys. The AdderView detects that the mouse has been disconnected
and triggers the automatic recovery system. Plug in the PS/2 mouse and the
AdderView will re-initialise it. 
						

							AdderView USBInstallation and UsePage 193. Using the AdderViewThis section explains the general operation of the AdderView. We recommend that
you read this section before starting to use the product.
3.1 Power on status
At power on the AdderView selects computer number 1 and displays 1 on the front
panel numerical display.
3.2 Front panel key
The front panel key is used to select which channel (1 to 4) is currently connected to
the user ports (coloured green on the rear panel) and which is currently controlled by
the shared keyboard, mouse and monitor. Pressing the key during normal operation
will cause the next computer channel to be selected.
Depending on the position of option switch 8, pressing the front panel key will either
select the next active computer channel or the next computer channel in numerical
sequence (1,2,3,4,1,2,3 etc.).
Using the front panel key you may cycle through the available computer channels
until you find the required port. When the AdderView detects that no new key
presses have occurred for a second it will start the channel lock-on process. During
the lock-on process the display will flash to indicate that the AdderView is currently
waiting for the enumeration guard period (see section 2.4.1).  The channel may not
be changed again until this process is complete and the display stops flashing.
The front panel key may be used to select autoscan mode. Autoscan mode is
activated by holding the key down for more than 5 seconds until the display starts to
show a rotating segment. Autoscan mode may be cancelled by pressing the front
panel key whilst within autoscan mode.