inputexec VS barrier

I recently put something together similar to this, to switch between my personal PopOS/Windows machine and my work Macbook Pro.

I used one of these manual USB switchers, (https://sabrent.com/products/usb-sw30), and connected it's switch to a Raspberry Pi 4B via GPIO (4B is overkill by wanted hardwired network). There's a small separate keyboard (which will later be a macro keypad of some sort), connected to the Pi. Using inputexec (https://github.com/rbarrois/inputexec) to detect keypresses and then firing off a specific script to send a network request to the LG TV I use as a monitor to switch the source, and then set the GPIO connected to the USB switcher to high or low to switch the keyboard/mouse to the other machine.

I can also turn on/off the TV using the same WebOS API (and Wake-on-lan) as used during the source switch. A Kasa smart outlet also gets toggled to turn on/off a BenQ ScreenBar Halo (https://www.benq.com/en-us/lighting/monitor-light.html).

So with 4 different keypresses, I can switch to Work, to Personal, turn off monitor and light, and turn on monitor and light.

I used to and still do use and recommend Barrier for sharing a mouse and clipboard and keypresses across OS's. It works for Mac, Windows, and Linux. They have a fork input-leap... it doesn't work, and there is a paid on from the same original developers called Synergy that works well too.

Desktop - Barrier

For software KVM you can use https://github.com/debauchee/barrier

I use it between a Windows PC & a Macbookpro (Linux version available but I don't have Linux)

libei looks useful. But IDK why libei is necessary to run Barrier with Wayland?

For client systems, couldn't there just be a virtual /dev/inputXYZ that Barrier forwards events through

And for host systems, it looks like xev only logs input events when the window is focused.

Is xeyes still broken on Wayland, and how to fix it so that it would work with Barrier?

With Barrier, when the mouse cursor reaches a screen boundary, the keyboard and mouse input are then passed to a different X session on another box until the cursor again crosses a screen boundary rule.

Barrier is a fork of Synergy's open core: https://github.com/debauchee/barrier

libei:

I have a similar gaming/WFH setup (2 monitors at 1440p 144hz) and I’ve been using Barrier instead of a physical kvm, and it works really well. Not sure if you’re open to a software kvm but if you are, I’m happy to answer any questions about it if you have any.

Have you tried Barrier? I casually used it to swap between my main rig and my MBP. Took a minute to get it setup but once I sorted it all out it worked pretty well. It has some settings and tweaks built in to address some of the layout issues you mentioned...

Barrier appears to handle PC switching only for the keyboard and mouse.

Sorry, probably not entirely on topic and can't answer anything reliable about the multimonitor stuff, but a tip regarding the 2 mice and 2 keyboards for the 2 different computers: use this: https://github.com/debauchee/barrier It's oss multi-os software that lets you use one mouse and keyboard (server) on several PCs (clients) easily over your LAN.