Front Mounting keyboard/mouse question
 

I've been building a few systems lately, and I've managed to get some of the important stuff thrown to the front of the case (usb, joystick, audio), but one thing I'm finding that doesn't seem to wanna go in the front it the keyboard/mouse connector. I realize this may sound a littly silly, but I'd like to be able to keep as many of the connectors on the front of the box as possible, so I'm wondering if anyone's seen a Mainboard or conversion kit to set this up?

And I know I might be able to do a USB keyboard, but I was just wondering if it's been done or possible.

Thanks!

nope, the most I've seen is a speaker connector, game port connector, USB, firewire, and mic. usually those are johnny-rigged too (the case comes with connector wires that you simply run to the back of the case into the ports). I wouldn't really want the mouse and keyboard wires in the front though! seems liek they would get in the way.

Well, the thing is, I've got a bunch of machines that are sitting under desks/on shelves, etc at work. I've got a small KVM, but (as usual) not enough to go around, so it would be easier to jack in the Keyboard.mouse on the extras from the front.
I've thought about DIY'ing it (run a cable to a full height front plate from the back, going around the motherboard), but if I could get one outright, it'd be eaiser.

ok, now I get why you need it.

I wonder if buy a bigger KVM switch or purchasing a couple more would be cheaper than extending those cables though?

maybe you should invest in a cheap USB keyboard and mouse, and just switch those back and forth. the USB are better because you won't have to restart to use them if you plug them in and out a lot.

I'm thinking that another Omnicube may be in the near future, true. This wasn't a crisis thing, just wondering if anyone had seen one.

Thanks for the assist & info!

no problem. I wish they made gigantic KVMs like they do for just the monitor ones. At the local Staples, they had a video box thing that put an image on one computer and projected it onto 30 other monitors. It was awesome. I wish you could do the reverse effect and have a gigantic KVM :)

Why not just get a few extension cables for PS/2 devices, then run the wire from the back to the front?

I was also thinking why not just get a usb kb and mouse. The only issue I'd see is that the KVM might not come up right when the USB stuff loads, but who knows, it's worth a shot and if it doesn't work, you got a USB keyboard =p

That was my original thought, take the extenders, run them through/around the box, to plugs glued into a faceplate for a full height or half height slot.

Instead of expensive KVM equipment and cables, what about VNC?

I use this to admin all my boxes, it works great and the only cables I have to worry about are ethernet cables.

linky