Utility to keep ubuntu Mint 17.3 USB port open?
I have a machine running Ubuntu Mint 17.3 in my office. I primarily use a Windows 10 machine all day long, but have some business operations I run under Mint 17.03. To switch between them I have a KVM unit with a "switch" button. The KVM switches the HDMI to my desktop HDMI monitor, and a USB port. I have a Logitech Unifying USB in a USB port on the KVM. So the KVM switched the mouse and the keyboard and the monitor between the two machines. It if perfect for my desktop. But often when I switch to the Mint machine the HDMI switches fine, but no response from mouse of KB. From all this I assume the USB port on the Mint machine is going to sleep or just plain messing up. If I switch the KVM back and forth a few times it will eventually go to work. Once I am active with the Mint machine, it has never stopped working.
The KVM is connected to a standard USB port, not the USB3 port. I have a memory stick in the USB3 port and it needs to stay there for performance reasons.
So I am looking for some utility that I can run constantly under Mint that, from time to time, touches the USB port, perhaps making it think the KB did something safe, like hitting the ESC key or an F key, to keep it alive. Or maybe there is a setting on the machine I am not aware of (my son set this up; I know little about Linux), but not something I have found.
The KVM is connected to a standard USB port, not the USB3 port. I have a memory stick in the USB3 port and it needs to stay there for performance reasons.
So I am looking for some utility that I can run constantly under Mint that, from time to time, touches the USB port, perhaps making it think the KB did something safe, like hitting the ESC key or an F key, to keep it alive. Or maybe there is a setting on the machine I am not aware of (my son set this up; I know little about Linux), but not something I have found.
ASKER
More: not a KVM issue; I replaced it yesterday just in case; no change.
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Bummer. I have seen that sometimes instead of switching the KVM back and forth I can remove and re-insert the USB to bring it up, but sometimes I have to do that more than once. So bottom line, the USB hardware is just flakey? It must be back at the chip, since both ports do it.
More likely the KVM. I don't have that problem with my KVM, and Mint is one of the operating systems I usually have running on one of the machines. A well designed one will spoof the USB targets so that all machines on the KVM think they always have a keyboard, mouse & monitor attached.
Check with your vendor. You might get lucky and they have a firmware update for you.
Check with your vendor. You might get lucky and they have a firmware update for you.
ASKER
The KVM was only about three months old, and just in case got a new one a couple of days ago. Brand is IOGEAR. I had no idea a KVM is an active device.
I have an unused Logitech USB Unifier; maybe it keeps things alive. I'll put it in the un-used port for a while.
I have an unused Logitech USB Unifier; maybe it keeps things alive. I'll put it in the un-used port for a while.
ASKER