Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#1

Post by back7co » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 4:45 PM UTC

The Recovery Kit 2 is another cyberdeck that for me is part computer, part backup device, and part functional movie prop. It's been fun to build, and the HN community has been great with ideas- especially around hosting and getting me off Squarespace. I hope you all enjoy!

Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2
doscher.com

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#2

Post by dtx1 » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:15 PM UTC

I always love these cool cyberdeck style builds but whenever the bug to build my own catches me, I end up realizing i'm just trying to build a really bad notebook.

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#3

Post by croes » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:22 PM UTC

Wow, 2019 is already 5 years ago.

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#4

Post by sneak » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:24 PM UTC

dtx1 wrote: post #2

I always love these cool cyberdeck style builds but whenever the bug to build my own catches me, I end up realizing i'm just trying to build a really bad notebook.

Yeah. This would be great if it could emulate usb storage, do transparent bridging via switch vlans, support serial consoles, etc, but it is just a case, battery, disk, and bad keyboard.

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#5

Post by fragmede » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:31 PM UTC

sneak wrote: post #4

dtx1 wrote: post #2

I always love these cool cyberdeck style builds but whenever the bug to build my own catches me, I end up realizing i'm just trying to build a really bad notebook.

Yeah. This would be great if it could emulate usb storage, do transparent bridging via switch vlans, support serial consoles, etc, but it is just a case, battery, disk, and bad keyboard.

raspberry pi's support USB gadget mode, and can thus emulate USB storage with the right connector.

TTL-level serial port pins exist as well.

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#6

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:33 PM UTC

croes wrote: post #3

Wow, 2019 is already 5 years ago.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#7

Post by CraigJPerry » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:35 PM UTC

I feel like this needs a meshtastic or lora or ham radio feature of some description but i'm definitely drawn to the concept - more as art than function

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#8

Post by ChrisArchitect » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:36 PM UTC

I get the cyberdeck naming, but why is this called a "Recovery Kit"? What's being recovered? Never really talks about use cases. Just a cool way to get online on the go?

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#9

Post by dang » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:39 PM UTC

Off-Grid Cyberdeck: Raspberry Pi Recovery Kit - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21647398 - Nov 2019 (144 comments)

Re: Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2

#10

Post by rig666 » Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 5:43 PM UTC

I like the cyber deck in theory but a project I've always wanted to take on that I felt would yield more value is to restore and upgrade an old ruggedized laptop. I planned a project to restore an old getec v110 gen3 from eBay. They are often sold there with no hard drive or extra batteries but best part is most of the hardware is backwards compatible. Seemed like a ~$500 project. I then found a new gen6 model on eBay for $1400 so I just got that instead. (Some pawn shop massively undervalued it)