Show HN: Multi-monitor KVM using just a USB switch

• display-switch

  123 2,775 6.5 Rust

  Turn a $30 USB switch into a full-featured multi-monitor KVM switch

I’ve been using display-switch[0] for this for a while now. No problems whatsoever. Works on windows/mac/linux.

[0] https://github.com/haimgel/display-switch

• SimpleKVM

  2 774 6.0 C#

  Use multiple computers using the one monitor, mouse and keyboard

• InfluxDB

  www.influxdata.com sponsored

  Power Real-Time Data Analytics at Scale. Get real-time insights from all types of time series data with InfluxDB. Ingest, query, and analyze billions of data points in real-time with unbounded cardinality.

  

• barrier

  616 26,119 0.0 C

  Open-source KVM software

  

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)

• MacroPad

  1 63 6.2 C#

  Replacement configuration software for chinese macropad keyboards (by rOzzy1987)

- DDC commands for monitor input switching

- Stream deck or prebuilt macropads are super expensive (80$+) for what they are - a few buttons. Get a cheap AliExpress macropad, they go for 5-10$ and have all kinds of layouts. Don't use the crappy software they ship with, there are github projects to program them. https://github.com/rOzzy1987/MacroPad

- AliExpress FingerBot (if you already have HomeAssistant/Zigbee, it's faster) or Switchbot (bluetooth, has a bit more delay) to press the USB KVM button.

- Then an AHK switch to watch for keyboard shortcuts, and trigger both the DDC commands and the USB switch button.

It has a few seconds delay, but it's controlled from one PC only, and can be also fully triggered remotely.

• lan-mouse

  3 791 9.3 Rust

  mouse & keyboard sharing via LAN

This is great, but currently very limited; partial support for Windows. Seems inclined more towards Apple.

https://github.com/feschber/lan-mouse

• Lunar

  192 4,323 8.9 Swift

  Intelligent adaptive brightness for your external monitors

I've had good luck with the Lunar app - it manages my Dell and LG monitors on an M2. (No affiliation) https://lunar.fyi

• ddcutil

  47 857 9.9 C

  Control monitor settings using DDC/CI and USB

Apologies. I hate when people do that as well.

In addition to the other links posted, ddcutil.org has some more good info: https://www.ddcutil.com/#introduction

• WorkOS

  workos.com sponsored

  The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS. The APIs are flexible and easy-to-use, supporting authentication, user identity, and complex enterprise features like SSO and SCIM provisioning.

  

• kvm-switch

  4 12 3.6 Go

  Control hardware KVM/Matrix devices when your mouse moves to the edge of the screen (by timgws)

With my COVID obsession of live streaming while writing code, I ended up building something a little more elaborate. https://github.com/timgws/kvm-switch

It doesn't use DDC commands direct to the monitor(s), instead swapping it for a HDMI matrix combined with a traditional KVM for swapping around inputs smoothly when you roll your mouse over the edge of different operating systems.

The switching client runs on Windows, MacOS and Linux (if you use X).

Suggest a related project