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Q: How to use multiple Macs with a single display

I'm running 2 Mac Pros, a Mac mini, and an older G5.  Right now I'm using an Adder AV4PRO-DVI-DUAL but I want to switch to one large single display as my two Apple Cinema displays are beginning to fail.  Is there another way to connect 4 different Macs to one display and switch between them all with a single keyboard and mouse.  I assume that it would be some type of KVM switch?  I am running 2 Mac Pros, a Mac mini, and an older G5.  Mostly using dual DVI.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), 48 GB 1333 MHz DDR23 FB

Posted on Sep 25, 2016 7:42 AM

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Q: How to use multiple Macs with a single display

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  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Sep 25, 2016 8:15 AM in response to rosindabow
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    Sep 25, 2016 8:15 AM in response to rosindabow
  • by rosindabow,

    rosindabow rosindabow Sep 25, 2016 8:22 AM in response to lllaass
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    Sep 25, 2016 8:22 AM in response to lllaass

    Have you ever used this?  I owned something from this company and it seemed to be built a little on the flimsy side.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Sep 25, 2016 8:45 AM in response to rosindabow
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    Sep 25, 2016 8:45 AM in response to rosindabow

    No, I have not used it.

    Googleing shows that all 4-port KVMs are expensive

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Sep 25, 2016 9:30 AM in response to rosindabow
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    Sep 25, 2016 9:30 AM in response to rosindabow

    Most Macs allow screen sharing. This would mean the display is connected to ONE Mac, and you bring up the screens of each of the others in a window on that Mac. It will work for everything EXCEPT the data rate is generally not fast enough for full motion Video (video editing) across the link(s).

     

    The faster your connection between computers, the faster the display updates. I use Gigabit Ethernet, and make an occasional connection to my home Server in the basement. The screen updates as if I were sitting at the sever computer, and mouse-tracking is excellent.

     

    And the price is right (free).

  • by rosindabow,

    rosindabow rosindabow Sep 25, 2016 9:47 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
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    Sep 25, 2016 9:47 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Screen-sharing is an interesting idea.  I have never done it.  How would the computers be connected to each other, just via the ethernet cable.  How do you turn each one on and off?  When I switch to let's say my G5 would everything be fully functional there?  I compose and would need to be able to change sounds and use all the hard drives that are connected to that G5.  Is it fast enough to allow that?  And lastly, I also use ethernet via a program called VSL Vienna Ensemble Pro to digitally move my audio around.  Do you think these two programs could co-exist?  Thanks for the idea ...

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Sep 25, 2016 10:00 AM in response to rosindabow
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    Sep 25, 2016 10:00 AM in response to rosindabow

    Per this it appears that Screen Sharing does not included audio from the remote computer

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1813562?tstart=0

  • by rosindabow,

    rosindabow rosindabow Sep 25, 2016 10:17 AM in response to lllaass
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    Sep 25, 2016 10:17 AM in response to lllaass

    Like I posted, I do the audio part with VSL Vienna Ensemble Pro https://vsl.co.at/en/Vienna_Software_Package/Vienna_Ensemble_PRO.  I was just wondering if I could use screen-sharing alongside the VSL application.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Sep 25, 2016 12:37 PM in response to rosindabow
    Level 9 (61,083 points)
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    Sep 25, 2016 12:37 PM in response to rosindabow

    You can use your Ethernet connection to your Router for a multitude of uses simultaneously. There is no conflict in doing this. The experiments cost you nothing, as you already have the infrastructure in place.

     

    To shut down a remote Mac, choose Shutdown off its  menu (in the window representing its screen). Shortly the window goes dark because the connection is broken when the remote machine shuts down.

     

    If the remote Mac is sleeping with "wake for network access" set in its energy saver, you can wake it up by accessing it, provided you have an device that can act as a sleep proxy, such as an Apple base station or an Apple-TV.

  • by kahjot,

    kahjot kahjot Sep 25, 2016 7:22 PM in response to rosindabow
    Level 4 (1,347 points)
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    Sep 25, 2016 7:22 PM in response to rosindabow

    What ioGear device did you own?

     

    I have a 4-port KVM from ioGear. It is similar, but it is not the dual-link model. I currently have 4 computers connected via the ioGear switch to my wide-gamut NEC display. I have been using KVMs for years, and the ioGear that I currently have is by far the best of the ones I've owned. There is nothing flimsy about it. The cables are high-quality, and the switch has been rock solid for 5+ years, with the minor quibble that the front USB port stopped working at some point. Eventually, I will upgrade to a larger display, and I intend to get the ioGear dual-link KVM to connect the new display to my Macs.

     

    It's expensive, but with KVMs, I think you get what you pay for. The first, relatively inexpensive one I had was a finicky instrument of torture. I can't recall the brand, but I don't believe that the company still exists.