StarTech KVM Console to Laptop USB 2.0 Portable Crash Cart Adapter with File Transfer and Video Capture

2025-03-04T19:00:00

I've had this Startech KVM for a few years now and it's come in handy when accessing servers locally without remote management setup or working. I use a common VGA to HDMI adapter and it works great. The software is basic but there's not really much you need considering the use case for the device. Used the software on multiple Windows devices with no issues.

Mike52893

Originally posted at

2022-07-16T20:00:00

didn't work when I needed it. Installed software of website, got driver installed after some persistence, but the app just starts, says updating firmware, then stuck in a constant "initializing" loop. this was a poor purchase.

Joe b.

Originally posted at

2022-07-08T20:00:00

It is just irritatingly annoying to touch the item as it is so sticky. it also sticks to anything i place it with. Don't know how to clean it up :(

CaseyG

Originally posted at

2022-06-28T20:00:00

After just a couple of years the plastic housing just turns to a sticky gel like product. The underlying PCB is great but you can't do anything with the entirety as the shell starts to deteriorate and sticks to everything. Gross.

GoldiePDX

Originally posted at

2022-06-04T20:00:00

The adapter works. It works as expected. However, after a few years, the housing has become disgustingly sticky. I no longer like to touch the housing. I know this problem from cheap mice. But from expensive StarTech products?

BorisRaue

Originally posted at

2022-05-01T20:00:00

Although the unit works, keyboard strokes are interpreted as multiple keystrokes.. So Administrator becomes aaaaadmiiiniistraaaaaatooor No matter what settings are chosen, nothing seems to work... pretty useless unless youre on a PC

Mike R.

Originally posted at

2022-03-20T20:00:00

For the price, I'm rather disappointed there is no development to keep up with the ever changing OS and hardware updates updates. Video does cut out randomly and you will have to unplug and reseat the USB to gain video back. It is quickly becoming useless in a data center setting with DELL and HPE equipment. Very disappointing for the price.

Gumby

Originally posted at

2021-07-18T20:00:00

I bought this recently and it really saved me. I was able to use it for secure remote access to troubleshoot isolated computers and servers in a sandbox situation. using the crash cart I can allow 3rd party vendors access to troubleshoot devices which are not connected to the internet or network.

egg76

Originally posted at

2021-05-29T20:00:00

The NOTECONS02 is a great bit of kit. It has saved the day for me on numerous occasions and is without doubt the best <>£500 tool I have personally purchased for use in my day job in may years. I work with Linux based servers and the ONLY negative I have with the NOTECONS02 is the lack of copy/paste between the app and the managed device. It would be prefect if it could copy text command lines from the PC running the Crash Cart app into a "transfer buffer" and have the app type the text onto the managed device command line for me.

mc1903

Originally posted at

2020-06-04T20:00:00

I just bought this adapter, because I thought it would facilitate supporting headless servers and SBCs (Raspberry Pi) while just carrying my usual notebook. The vast majority of the machines I use run Linux, with the occasional macOS and Windows box thrown in. Therefore Linux support on the host is of prime importance to me. Now for the experience: Installing the software on Ubuntu 20.04 works without issues, as long as you download the latest version from the support page - the version delivered on the USB stick is useless, as it includes a libz.so that is vastly out of date and crashes the program right away. Running the program works as advertised - the rendering of the screen is surprisingly crisp and the speed is also ok, as long as you don't have too many 3d effects enabled. Most definitely better than I expected from previous use of other devices. Also: Using a HDMI to VGA Adapter works for attaching to newer boxes - well done! Now for the downside: Being based in Switzerland all of my equipment uses keyboards with the Swiss layout - no US keyboards on any notebook here - and that *completely* fails to work! Letter and number keys work ok, but frequently used special characters like "/", "\", "|", "~", "`", "[", "{" a.s.o. cannot be entered at all (they require a working "AltGr" key, which is missing) - and, because there is no support for copy&paste between the host and the target system and the keyboard layout configured in the host OS is almost completely ignored, there is no workaround available. FAIL! I only noticed the warning that the only supported Keyboard for Linux is the US layout while searching for a workaround for my problem, but it's not only the layout, it's the *physical* keyboard that needs have the US layout! As the Windows software does not seem to have the same restriction, I booted up one of the few laptops that run Windows10, hoping that this would save the day - but, alas, although there are slightly more keys that work (e.g. "/"), the "AltGr" key is not among them, so still no way to enter any of the commonly used characters. Again: the layout configured in the OS only seems to marginally matter. So: Looks like I'm stuck with a device I cannot fully use for lack of keyboard support :-( BTW: I'm also a software developer and noticed that the application seems to be implemented in Python2 + wxWidgets (+ probably some C/C++ code for the video handling). Any chance that I could lay hands on the code to fix the keyboard issues?

Wolf

Originally posted at

2019-10-27T20:00:00

I work for a local government and have used them for years. we had 2 when 1 broke we bought 2 more. We have a number of Computers in Fire stations and servers that do not have a mouse, keyboard, o r monitor attached and we use these to service them. The one problem I have had is with the file transfer I cannot seem to get it to work. I still must carry a usb drive for that.

robert63

Originally posted at

2019-10-01T20:00:00

The Keyboard bouncing is terrible. It makes this adapter useless. Screen capture is OK.

Christian

Originally posted at

2019-04-13T20:00:00

I have used this adapter quite a few times now and it is far more convenient than lugging around a monitor and keyboard! I am extremely pleased that there is a client for Linux and can confirm that it works. This was one of the reasons we chose this particular model over the competition.

DatacenterAdmin

Originally posted at

2019-02-22T19:00:00

I can't copy text from the host PC and place on the remote PC. Very useful feature that you need to add!

DakotaDave

Originally posted at

2018-11-01T20:00:00

I am using this product for a while now and I was always very happy about it. However since the OSX 10.14 update the software is no longer working. Program crashes after inserting USB cable

jackie27555

Originally posted at

2018-06-08T20:00:00

This does work on Max OSX 10.12. Install was fairly painless. In general, it does the job, but there are issues. On the hardware side, my only gripe is the dongles. Those seem liable prone to damage. I would have preferred a female vga and USB jacks and extension coords. I recommend buying a protective case for this investment. The software works, but there are annoyances. My biggest complaint is the tendency of the keyboard emulator to frequently type multiple characters. It happens randomly. Sometimes even with the very quickest of button presses. Worst, it can happen when you hit the return key - so you might accidentally accept multiple dialog window defaults during operating system setup. This issue is the only one that really bothers me. As is, I wouldn't want to use this for very long. Just enough to get things to the point where I can remote in via SSH or Remote Desktop. I wouldn't want to use it to do a full OS install/reinstall. The screen scaling could be better for retina displays. You can't really get it to scale to fill the screen (vertically or horizontally). What scaling options there are, are not intuitive. In general, the whole toolbar at the top feels unintuitive. The icon choices often reinvent the wheel, instead of using standard icons ("settings" icon should be a gear, "drive control" should look like a CD, etc). Disappointing, but not a deal breaker. There also seems to be some sort of jitter on the display. It's constantly shifting up and down. It's just a few pixels worth of movement, so it's usable, but it's another thing that would discourage me from using it any longer than I had to. On a positive note, the file transfer appears to work awesome. You can even connect bootable ISO's, so installing an OS, or running a recovery CD should work great. I am very happy about this. In all, it's a great concept, and it definitely "just works". They could do a lot to make the experience better. There are other cheaper products that do the same thing. I spent the money mainly because this is the only Mac compatible one, but I was hoping the extra money would also mean a more polished user experience. I will definitely be keeping mine, but I hope they can improve some of these things (especially the keyboard issue) in a software update.

jamestalmage

Originally posted at

2017-12-19T19:00:00

Very sporadic. Video cuts in/out making this completely useless.

shareef777

Originally posted at

2014-07-15T20:00:00

This probably one of my favorite products I have ever owned. The convenience along of carrying this with my notebook is a great time saver. The moment my previous generation product dies I will be purchasing another.

RyanR

Originally posted at