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Comment by kthxb | Hacker News Reader

I found even these simple USB Switchers to be quite expensive, and sometimes they require drivers that don't work on Linux. I quickly sketched a simple circuit board with USB hubs and a switch and ordered them assembled (!) from one of those DIY-fabs (JLCPCB or PCBWay). They cost 25€ for 5 pcs, each with one 2-to-1 switch. I don't have any experience in circuit design and didn't have to solder anything, and they work perfectly.

These would go pretty well with this software, maybe I'll give it a try.

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They don't require software as everything happens physically. And they go for around 20€ on Amazon, I'd say less expensive than having a custom one made.

That sounds awesome -- Please post the designs somewhere accessible! My experience of kvms is that they're either cheap and don't work in weird ways or expensive and do work, but with quirks. I think no small part of it is earthing and the avoidance of ground loops at different potentials.

After doing a bunch of research I eventually bought a monitor with a KVM built in and I’ve had almost no issues with it. It does imply if you go this route that you are stuck with a single monitor setup, but if that is how you work anyway it’s totally fine and great.

Otherwise some KVM that is decent is as you imply not going to be cheap. The one that I have seen recommended on here before is https://www.store.level1techs.com/products/p/14-kvm-switch-d...

The manufacturer themselves even outright says it’s not perfect, but from what I can tell it’s probably the best one on the market right now

> It does imply if you go this route that you are stuck with a single monitor setup

Not if you use DP-MST (DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport, to "daisy-chain" monitors).

That is so cool!!

Yes I noticed prices had increased a bit over the last couple of years. Perhaps there's a market for yours.

Interesting to hear that some USB switchers don't quite work in Linux. I had assumed they were just very basic USB hubs so no special drivers required. I know some USB switches have fancier things like inter-PC file transfer or mouse sharing like this one (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006202631772.html), and that often requires special software and drivers.

I bought this one [1] for USD 13 in 2019 and still use it with display-switch (which the OP mentions) to this day.

It's as "dumb" as is possible, according to one of the reviews the ports can be a little iffy if you've plugged things into it too many times, but it's still working perfectly for me for my 2x Dell P2419H monitors.

I chose this one due to all the wires being on the back, but I'd also be happy with the one with the remote in the OP's GitHub page.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HV1N674

TA linked to a few that are quite reasonable in price. I’ve owned a couple while searching for a similar set up and not a single one that I researched or bought required drivers.

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