Comet Pro and Lapdock USB Access

KVM
1

One of my most desired features for the Comet Pro is the HDMI passthrough, I like the idea of using my lapdock (essentially a device that looks like a laptop, but only has HDMI inputs and acts as a USB-C mouse/keyboard - a quick search on Amazon will show some variants) when I'm local to the machines, but the web access when I'm not.

However, looking at the Comet Pro image I'm wondering which ports do what. The HDMI IN would come from the PC (in my case KVM), the HDMI OUT would go to the Lapdock. But does the keyboard/mouse port go to the PC and the USB-C keyboard/mouse from the lapdock go to the USB 2.0 port?

I guess a more generic question is that the HDMI-OUT seems obviously able to connect to a monitor, does one of the USB ports allow for a local keyboard/mouse to access the host system?

2

If the lapdock you mentioned is use locally to control the PC, its KB/Mouse port should directly connect to the PC, the USB-A port of Comet pro doesn't have the funciton of passthrough as HDMI Passthrough.

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4

Thanks, I think that should be able to work. I've ordered two and can't wait until they ship!

5

Confirmed! The current Comet works well in parallel with the Lapdock using an HDMI splitter and a 2-port USB hub. The Comet Pro will not only look more slick, but eliminate the need for the HDMI splitter.

6

Thanks for your confirmation!
May I ask that the Comet connected to a 2-port USB hub, one port connect to the controlled PC and another connect to lapdock. Then the lapdock can control the PC locally?

7

Here's a quick Miro showing the setup, hope it helps! The HDMI splitter and the USB Hub are connected to the KVM switchbox as a host, then both are connected to the Comet and the Lapdock. The best part is that by disabling mass storage on the Comet I can still use hotkeys from both to switch KVM inputs!

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8

I'm curious, after connecting to this HOTKEY KVM SWITCH, will the mouse still work?

9

It does for both! Even though the port is labeled for a keyboard and there's a dedicated mouse port (along with a "hub" port), both the Comet and Lapdock allow both keyboard and mouse access to my Windows machine (the other three are Linux machines and I don't use a GUI on them).

In case it helps, this is the KVM I have:

10

THX for your sharing

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11

You guys should consider selling a Comet Pro with a built-in KVM switch. Make it rack mountable with 4 or 8 port flavors and Iā€™d be the first one on the Kickstarter!

2 Likes
12

Thanks this was exactly what I needed to know.

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