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DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

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Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

#151

Post by hijinks »

dsr_ wrote: post #147
samstave wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cant believe I am only learning about this now. Darn - I've needed this for over a decade. Also, havent heard Full Sail in a really long time... Had a friend from growing up that went there and became famous... THanks for the link - Ill be installing this around my place today :-)

https://github.com/debauchee/barrier is the still-open fork.

barrier is basically a dead project now. The active members of the project forked it and are going to release when ready but

https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap

Keep an eye on that for anything new

Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

#152

Post by drakenot »

hrvach wrote: post #62
nulld3v wrote: post #52

I have a similar project inspired by another similar project ( https://github.com/jfedor2/screen-hopper ). My own version of this consists of two programs. One program runs on a Linux desktop and listens to input events from the Linux input subsystem (evdev). When you press a specific key, it will start consuming all events and sending them over USB serial to a RPI Pico. Pressing the key again will toggle back into p…

That's an awesome idea, man. I wish I thought of that. I learned about about that screen hopper project only yesterday, and it just confirmed my theory - whatever I try to do, somebody smarter than me already made, only better, smoother running and with nicer features :) I play no games whatsoever so absolute coords would be perfectly fine, but one of the items on the to-do list is to make it configurable.

I’m trying to grok the absolute coordinate issue.

Does this mean your solution would break if someone was playing a FPS/game?

And is the solution to use relative coordinates but lose the auto transition feature? Meaning that you would have to manually switch?

Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

#153

Post by camhenlin »

Nice work! If DeskHop could be made to work with a Bluetooth mouse, it would be even better. FWIW I was looking for a similar solution recently. I've got a magic trackpad, keyboard, bluetooth mouse, and monitor. I'd like to swap between 2 computers somewhat easily.

Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

#154

Post by rewgs »

ccakes wrote: post #8
mariopt wrote: post #6

I bought 4 USB hubs just to switch the keyboard and mouse, it's just so annoying how most devices are so terrible. Randomly you have to physically detach the hub several times a day. If you plug webcams and/or USB mics, it only gets even worse. I'm using Synergy software and it works well, but I still want a proper KVM that can allow for webcams, mics, audio, etc. Features like moving only a group of plugged devices…

> KVM users are underserved for sure. 100% I want to share keyboard, mouse and monitor between a PC and a MacBook. A KVM with DP+USB on one side and Thunderbolt on the other doesn’t seem to exist.. I feel like this has to be a common use case :( I know I could break out on a dock first, but I have a particularly high-res monitor which most of the docks baulk at, or only support at 30Hz

> I want to share keyboard, mouse and monitor between a PC and a MacBook. A KVM with DP+USB on one side and Thunderbolt on the other doesn’t seem to exist.

It does if you use the built-in KVM in a recent Dell Ultrasharp display, and change Thunderbolt to USB-C.

My setup is a MacBook Air plugged into the USB-C port, a Windows PC plugged into the Displayport/USB port. Mouse and keyboard are plugged into the display.

I switch inputs via a StreamDeck. The StreamDeck just sends a key command; on macOS, BetterDisplay handles input switching, and on Windows, the Dell Display Manager app does the job.

Switching is a touch slower than I'd like, but beyond that, it's flawless.

Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

#156

Post by epakai »

I've used a similar commercial implementation. They're sold as USB or KVM Synchronizer. Some will control 4 machines. The one I had was limited to 2x2 or 4x1 arrangements for the edge switching. Not ideal for a multi-monitor setup, but still pretty cool. I have future plans to combine it with an HDMI multi-viewer to setup a compact gaggle of machines.

They were quirky in their implementation, but it still felt cool to have it all done in a little USB switch device.

For my actual setup I still find barrier (forked as input-leap) excellent. I use Linux, Mac, and Windows machines without issue. I even play games with with my input going over the network this way.

Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

#157

Post by green-salt »

Waterluvian wrote: post #73

How do modern KVMs address OSes thinking an HDMI or USB device is unplugged when switching? I’ve never found a solution that actually works because of this issue. It seems this only addresses KB/Mouse by keeping them enumerated on the host PCs at all times and just sending no inputs to one. So that feels fairly solved. But what about monitors?

I've found this really depends on the monitor. My Samsung gaming monitor hates this, while the plain Dell ones I have will switch around decently.

Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

#158

Post by wrigby »

vaidhy wrote: post #155

Where can you get these parts in US? I can probably order the pico, but others seems hard to find. (or is the answer AliExpress)?

For the electrical components, Digi-Key[1] and Mouser are the two go-to’s. I didn’t read 100% of everything, but unless he’s selling the PCB’s you’ll have to get them fabricated from the Gerber files in the repo. JLC is the go-to for this - expect to pay $5-$10 for a single-sided design like this, and you’ll probably get free shipping if it’s your first order.

1: ADuM1201 - https://www.digikey.com/en/products/base-product/analog-devi...

Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching

#160

Post by jbverschoor »

tiku wrote: post #81
tapland wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very nice to not require the computers to connect over the network.

This was a concern for me, that is why i've used Synergy over VPN and it worked quite well. It also works on networks where you can't reach the other pc's that way.

You should check out https://pikvm.org/
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