I use a KVM switch to jump between my tower and laptop, both placed on my desk. With Ubuntu 9.04 this worked perfectly. In 9.10, when I switch to the tower, then back to the laptop, the mouse is detected (as shown by /var/log/messages) but moving it has no effect. If I use Ctrl-Alt-F1 to switch to the TTY, then Alt-F7 back to Xorg, the mouse starts working.
The tower is running Windows 7, but that shouldn't matter.
Sometimes, but not other times, the USB keyboard on the KVM switch is also not usable and I have to use the laptop's built-in keyboard to switch to the TTY.
The laptop has two monitors, the built-in and an external. It's (obviously) the external panel that is attached via the KVM switch.
Any suggestions? Report to Canonical as a bug?
Best Answer
Ok, I don't have an answer for your hardware kvm question, but I might suggest that you look at synergy as a solution to your 'share keyboard and mouse' between two computers.
Synergy is a lightweight client server app that uses the keyboard and mouse on the server to move the pointer and allow text input on client machines. It also allows cut and paste between machines.
Geometry and location of video screens is configured in a text file on the server, allowing, for instance, the monitor for your tower to be placed 'above' the monitor for the laptop. When you move the mouse pointer off of the top of your laptop, it enters the bottom of the monitor for the tower...
Synergy can be found here: http://synergy-foss.org/. Servers and clients are available for PC, Linux and Mac.