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CHAPTER 7: Operation
recommend that you install a Microsoft IntelliMouse driver on your PC, regardless
of whether you’re actually using an IntelliMouse or not. The Extender will
translate the mouse signals for this driver, and the driver will auto-correct the
synching problem if you let go of the mouse for a second or two.
7.3.3 T
HE
I
NACTIVITY
T
IMEOUT
(D
UAL
-A
CCESS AND
S
WITCHING
E
XTENDERS
O
NLY
)
Because two user stations (one local, one remote) can be directly attached to them,
the Dual-Access and Switching Extenders have “shared access” features, including
Private Mode (see
Section 7.3.4
) and an “inactivity timeout.” While the inactivity
timeout isn’t controlled by a keyboard command per se, it responds to general
keyboard activity.
The two stations attached to the Extender normally contend for access. When
there has been no keyboard or mouse activity on one station for the duration of
the “inactivity timeout” period, the Extender will switch to the first station from
which it detects user activity. On the Switching Extender, both keyboard keypresses
and mouse movements always register as user activity. The default behavior of the
Dual-Access Extender is to register only keyboard keypresses as user activity, but
you can set it to register mouse movements as well if you want to (see
Section 5.2.2
).
The “inactivity timeout” prevents a user at the other station from interrupting
work in progress at the active station. On the Switching Extender, the timeout is
fixed at two seconds. This is also the default timeout length of the Dual-Access
Extender, but you can set it to fifteen seconds if control is being switched too
quickly (see
Section 5.2.2
).
Here’s how it works: A user station is activated by pressing a key on its keyboard
or by moving the mouse. This first keypress, or the first packet of mouse data, is
absorbed by the Extender and is not passed on to the PC. The Extender “latches
onto” this user station; users at the other station can see what’s happening on their
monitor, but can’t control the PC with their keyboard or mouse while the active
station is in use. Once the active station’s keyboard and mouse are idle for the
length of the “inactivity timeout,” the Extender “lets go” of that station, and will
switch to whichever station it next detects keyboard input from.
When the Switching Extender boots up, it gives the local user station control of
the local CPU and the remote user station control of the remote CPU, as long as a
remote PC is attached and powered up. But when the Dual-Access Extender boots
up, it gives control (and its total attention) to the local station for at least a portion
of the inactivity-timeout period. This means that the remote monitor in a Dual-
Access system might be blank, and the remote keyboard and mouse inactive, for up
to several seconds.
