I see a lot of complaints about Belkin SOHO-series KVM (keyboard, video, and mouse) switches. I think many of these complaints are warranted; I’ve used two of these KVMs for a long time and have some familiarity with them.
However, one complaint that does have a workaround covers the mapping of the Mac’s Command and Option keys. For the hybrid PS/2-USB KVMs I have used, you must use a PS/2 keyboard and mouse.
That PS/2 terminal requirement assures that your keyboard is going to be labeled for PC/Windows use. If you connect any Macs, you’ll be frustrated by the key layout of Command and Option. Initially, the Alt key will act like Option, and the Windows key will behave as if it’s Command. This is the opposite of what you’d expect from an Apple keyboard — or another keyboard designed primarily for Mac use.
The good news is that this behavior can be changed, and it applies individually to each KVM port. If you have a Mac on Port 1 and a Windows computer on Port 2, they can each have the settings you’d expect. To do so, switch to the port connecting to a Mac and press Esc-A. This puts that port in the “Mac function” mode. In this mode, PS/2 Alt is Command and PS/2 Windows is Option.
Other keys also change, according to a table from an addendum to the Belkin manual. Given that it was a separate sheet in the box, I’m not surprised that many people have apparently missed it.
| PS/2 keyboard key | Mac function |
|---|---|
| Alt | Command |
| Windows | Option |
| Backspace | Delete |
| Delete | Deletes text coming from the right side of the document |
| Scroll Lock | Power key — documented as a shortcut key to Shut Down menu command |
To reverse the setting back to the previous function mode, press Esc-Y to disable the remapping. Again, you have to do this on a port-by-port basis.
If you ever switch the computers connected to the ports, you will need to disable this change for each affected port; it by no means updates itself dynamically. That’s why there’s a problem in the first place.
I owe Greg Madore for this tip, as he's the one who originally found it for me.
Unfortunately, this does not fix another failing of the Belkin SOHO KVMs for my kind of work — namely, the inability to change startup behavior on Macs. (I have not yet seen a KVM with keyboard emulation that consistently allows the use of modifier keys — such as C, T, Option, H, etc. — to change the startup behavior of a Mac. That capability would be extremely handy for KVMs used in technical support scenarios.)