Old NTI KVM Setup

Older NTI KVMs are a great way to have a high density of a wide variety of older machines. The older (pre-USB) models of NTI KVMs supported Sun Type5 interfaces, PS/2, and ADB keyboard & mouse, as well as a wide variety of video inputs. However, I have found very little information about them online. This document serves to consolidate my knowledge of them. I haven't found an actual manual for these KVMs, only the newer ones. The information presented here is from a combination of experimentation, and piecing together bits of information from what manuals are available.

Different models

I currently have two different models of essentially the same kvm:
ST-8U-XR:

ST-8U-R:

NTI made 2, 4, 8, and 16 port versions in this generation of KVMs, some are in a matrix configuration allowing multiple consoles access to any of the attached CPUs. They also came with HD15/VGA or 13W3 video connectors. I believe there is also a DB15/mac video connector version.
The -R indicates rackmountable.
The -X designation appears to indicate it has the LCD screen as seen above.

DIP Switches

The DIP switches configure what keyboard/mouse protocol to use, as well as configuring the daisy chaining of KVMs.
To configure the Keyboard/Mouse:

Switch	7	8
PS/2	off	off
Sun	on	off
ADB	off	on

Daisy chaining/Cascading:
To configure the KVM for daisy chaining, the KVMs are arranged in a master/slave relationship. The master will need to know how many slave KVMs of how many ports it has, and the slaves need to know what their unit number is, all configured via the DIP switches. Additionally, slave KVMs need to have their output connected to the master's inputs, in order. For instance, the first slave gets connected to the master's CPU1 input, second slave gets connected to the master's CPU2 input, etc. After the slave video/keyboard outputs have been connected, the remainder of the master's inputs can be used normally.
DIP switch 1 indicates master/standalone or slave status:

Switch	1
Master/Standalone	off
Slave	on

For Master operation, switches 5 and 6 indicate how many ports the slaves have. For Standalone or Slave operation, these should be off:

Switch	5	6
Slave/Standalone	off	off
4 port Slaves	off	on
8 port Slaves	on	off
16 port Slaves	on	on

Finally, the master needs to know how many slaves are attached, and the slaves need to know what their unit ID is. This is done the same way. If the KVM is operating standalone, all switches should be off.

Master	Slave	Switch 2	Switch 3	Switch 4
1 slave	Unit 1	off	off	off
2 slave	Unit 2	off	off	on
3 slave	Unit 3	off	on	off
4 slave	Unit 4	off	on	on
5 slave	Unit 5	on	off	off
6 slave	Unit 6	on	off	on
7 slave	Unit 7	on	on	off
8 slave	Unit 8	on	on	on

Key mappings

Since the KVMs allow different Sun/ADB/PS2 keyboards to be connected, and not all of these have the same keys, some keys need to be mapped.

PS/2	ADB	Sun
L-Alt	L-Opt	L-Alt
R-Ctrl	R-Ctrl	Compose
R-Alt	R-Opt	Alt-Graph
SB+Alt or Win Logo	Cmd	Meta
SB+RT Arrow	Power	Power

Cables

The NTI KVMs have female Sun connectors, and use specialty cables to connect to ADB and PS2 systems/keyboards/mice. Sun equipment can connect straight to the KVM. Below are the pinouts of my cables.
Male connectors:

 Sun      ADB
1 2 3     1 2
4 5 6    3   4
 7 8       -