ATEN US-421 User manual

User Manual
US-221
US-421
Read this guide thoroughly and follow the installation and operation
procedures carefully in order to prevent any damage to the units and/or
any devices that connect to them.
This package contains:
1 US-221 or US-421 USB 2.0 Peripheral Switch
1 USB Cable
1 CD (software)
1 User Manual
If anything is damaged or missing, contact your dealer.
Copyright © 2004-2006 ATEN® International Co., Ltd.
Manual Part No. PAPE-1245-101G
Printing Date: 03/2006
ATEN and the ATEN logo are trademarks of ATEN International Co., Ltd. All rights
reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Note: This equipment has been tested and found to
complywiththelimitsforaClassBdigitaldevice,pursuant
to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference in a residential installation. This equipment
generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy,
and if not installed and used in accordance with the
instruction manual, may cause interference to radio
communications. However, there is no guarantee that
interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this
equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or
television reception, which can be determined by turning
the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to
correct the interference by one or more of the following
measures:
Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna;
Increase the separation between the equipment and
receiver;
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit
different from that which the receiver is connected;
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television
technician for help.
This product is RoHS compliant.

- 3 -
System Requirements
A USB Host Controller installed on the computer
An OS that supports the USB specification
Win98 SE or higher for optional switch program and hotkey
options

- 4 -
Overview
The US-221 / US-421 is a two (US-221) / four (US-421) port USB
2.0 Switch that allows up to two / four computers to share the use
of a single USB peripheral device (such as a printer, scanner,
modem, etc.) on a one-at-a-time basis.
The peripheral focus can be given to a computer manually, with
hotkeys, or a Windows®based program.

- 5 -
Features
USB 2.0 compliant
Fully backward compatible with USB 1.0 and USB 1.1
Bus powered - no external power supply necessary
Up to two (US-221) or four (US-421) computers can share a
single USB device
Supports transfer rates of 1.5/12/480 Mbps
Plug & Play
Hot pluggable - USB devices can be plugged and removed
without having to reset the system
LED status indicators
Hotkey (Windows OS only) or manual switching for easy
computer selection
Overcurrent protection
Beeper confirmation when switching
Windows based program for easy status monitoring/switching
Simple to install - No driver needed

- 6 -
Installation
The US-221 / US-421 provides two / four Type B USB ports for
computers to connect to, and one Type A USB port for the
peripheral device (printer, scanner, modem, etc.) that the
computers will share.
To install the USB 2.0 Switch:
1. Plug the Type B connector end of a USB cable into the
peripheral device's USB port; plug the Type A connector into
the US-221 / US-421's Type A port.
2. Plug the Type B connector end of a USB cable into any
available port on the US-221 / US-421; plug the Type A
connector into the computer's USB host port.
Repeat Step 2 for any other computers you are connecting.
1
2

- 7 -
Manual Operation
US-221
To toggle the peripheral focus between the two computers, press
and hold the port selection switch (located on the top of the unit)
until you hear the beep or see the next port’s LED light illuminate.
US-421
To switch the peripheral focus to another port, press the button
which corresponds to the port you want to give focus to.

- 8 -
Hotkey Operation (Windows Only)
Press [Num Lock] twice to bring the peripheral focus to your
computer.
Press [Scroll Lock] twice to move peripheral focus from the
current port to the next port (US-421 only). You must enable
the Next Port Hotkey to use this function (see p. 12).

- 9 -
Program Installation
To install the USB 2.0 Switch program:
1. Insert the installation disc included with your switch into the
CD-ROM drive. Double-click the USB 2.0 Switch icon and fol-
low the installation wizard.
2. When the installation completes, an icon labeled USB 2.0
Switch appears on your desktop and another icon appears in
the system tray.
Note: The program provided with the USB 2.0 Switch is
compatible only with Windows operating systems.

- 10 -
Program Operation
Basic Mode
To use the program to switch the device focus:
1. Right-click the USB 2.0 Switch icon (located in the system
tray). The Standard Mode pop-up menu appears:
2. Select Switch to take control of the peripheral device.
Note: Performing this action will take away control of the
peripheral device from any person who currently is
using it. If this may cause problems, we recommend
that you enable Switch and Reserve (see p. 13).