I have a PC with 2x GPU, 2x monitors, 2x HDMI cables. Yesterday I have purchased a KVM switch “KVM Ugreen CM664 HDMI switch”, I have never had such a device, and when I first used it, I was amazed how well it fits my needs. My happiness did not last long though, as soon the second monitor went black. While restarting the device, I noticed there is a power supply port - indeed, the device requires power, supposedly only for USB (it’s HDMI+USB switch), but I thought hey, maybe that’s why monitor went black, maybe device doesn’t have enough power. I connected the power, and was able to use the device for a bit - I though all is well, until the second monitor, yet again, went black. Long story short, after much debugging (2x GPU/monitor/hdmi +/- kvm, I had lots of combinations to go through), it looks like my HDMI cable is burned - it doesn’t work anymore - I have that cable for 1 month, it was working just fine, it’s also a very expensive one (it’s 10m cable so I bought the best one available to not have issues), and now after adding kvm to the mix, suddenly the cable is not working…
I mean, I am very confused - I never though a CABLE can get burned? Now I am wondering, I of course will return the cable under warranty, I think I will also return the KVM as it scares me - but the functionality offered by a KVM in general, is something that I need. Is this behavior common? I.e. - if I purchase a different KVM, do you think there is a real chance of something like this happening again?
Cables can burn if the devices attached to them exceed their current limits. Think about it, all conductors have a resistance. That resistance turns power into heat. This is why there are amperage limits for all circuits. Its not just regulation, its to protect the cables from melting the insulating plastic and shorting out, causing a fire.
Granted, that kvm switch needs to be operating far outside the specs to cause a fire.
Ive honestly never trusted ugreen. They seem to be one of those sketchy brands that just appeared out of nowhere offering hardware at prices that raise an eyebrow.
Strictly speaking, yes. I was just trying to understand your set up and why a KVM was connected to the same computer.
Maybe it is because I haven’t had my coffee this morning, but why did you use a KVM instead of a video switcher. When you switch VMs, did it automatically switch your mouse and keyboard?
Not trying to crap on you using a KVM, just a video switcher seems more appropriate and less expensive
When you have multiple VMs on a machine, you typically pass through a USB device along with the GPU, so the input devices don’t switch automatically, that’s the purpose of the KVM.
A video switcher would be appropriate for something like connecting multiple game consoles to a TV, but the KVM is the proper device for this use case, because it provides USB switching as well as video switching.
That’s extremely unlikely. I’ve been using a Level1 KVM since… probably 2017? to run that exact setup. No problems whatsoever (except a ground loop on the 3.5mm audio jack)
