Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

doscher.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 88 posts

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

#21

Post by andrewaylett »

serf wrote: post #18

I think that the inside should match the motif that the outsides set. what I mean by that : the outside sets a tone of professional heavy-duty post-apocalyptic computing, yet the insides are filled with fragile wire connects, fragile routes, multiple boards and new (read: unproven) non-redundant technologies. I would expect something that exudes that aesthetic to be wired like a NASA project [0], use radiation harden…

Maybe, but on the other hand this is what the author made and they seem quite happy with it. You're more than welcome to make something else if you don't like what they've done!

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

#22

Post by hgyjnbdet »

kotaKat wrote: post #15
SeriousM wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[delayed] is an hn feature! it allows a commenter to write a response and delay it for a moment or two before it goes 'live'. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=231024

I saw this in my profile but had idea idea what it was for, thanks.

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

#23

Post by codetrotter »

kotaKat wrote: post #15
SeriousM wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[delayed] is an hn feature! it allows a commenter to write a response and delay it for a moment or two before it goes 'live'. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=231024

Interesting! I remember seeing that field in the profile options and not knowing what it was for. And I’ve also not seen any comments by others being displayed as [delayed] yet. But if I do see one, now I’ll know why :D

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

#24

Post by andrewaylett »

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.

There's nothing particularly stopping you implementing at least most of that in software if you want. Stick a suitably-programmable switch in and you could do the rest too.

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

#25

Post by criddell »

matthew-wegner wrote: post #11

> The big downer is that we can't charge and use this battery at the same time- so that "hotwiring" of a USB-C port really helps here. This is the battery bank I carry on trips. It can power downstream devices while it's charging, but only at >50% battery capacity.

A 25,600 mAh is a pretty big battery. It’s more than 5 iPhone Max batteries. This thing should be able to run for days.

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

#26

Post by haswell »

serf wrote: post #18

I think that the inside should match the motif that the outsides set. what I mean by that : the outside sets a tone of professional heavy-duty post-apocalyptic computing, yet the insides are filled with fragile wire connects, fragile routes, multiple boards and new (read: unproven) non-redundant technologies. I would expect something that exudes that aesthetic to be wired like a NASA project [0], use radiation harden…

The reason NASA invests so much in hardened components and redundancy is that their hardware has to continue functioning in an environment where humans cannot intervene.

The availability of commodity hardware is one of the reasons projects like the Recovery Kit can exist. Redundancy and durability can be measured in multiple ways, and I suspect it's cheaper to keep on hand a stack of backup components that can easily be swapped out than to invest the time, energy and money on a more bespoke hardened solution that can't easily be replicated and would put this project out of reach for many people trying to replicate it.

The goal of "Ruggedized Raspberry Pi" seems to have been met quite well, IMO.

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

#27

Post by ctxc »

andrewaylett wrote: post #21
serf wrote: post #18

I think that the inside should match the motif that the outsides set. what I mean by that : the outside sets a tone of professional heavy-duty post-apocalyptic computing, yet the insides are filled with fragile wire connects, fragile routes, multiple boards and new (read: unproven) non-redundant technologies. I would expect something that exudes that aesthetic to be wired like a NASA project [0], use radiation harden…

Maybe, but on the other hand this is what the author made and they seem quite happy with it. You're more than welcome to make something else if you don't like what they've done!

They start with "I think..." and it isn't very negative, just an opinion. Why the defensive tone? :)

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

#29

Post by justinlloyd »

I love functional prop projects like this and reading through the build log.

How far are you going for the rugged vs prop aesthetic? Have you considered alternative form factor screens? Have you considered something else than an RPi that could work with a GPT/LLM such as an NVidia Jetson (yes, I know, expensive) or a separate compute module? Do you store just things like Wikipedia or a bunch of PDFs such as "Where there is no doctor?" and "Wilderness Survival Guide?" along with other disaster recovery books?

I missed this project the first couple of times it was posted so glad to see if pop up today.

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

#30

Post by KennyBlanken »

I love how he has a link to "what is it for?" but never answers the question. As far as I can tell this is the technoblogger equivalent of end-of-society prepping?

In the event of something so catastrophic happening that the internet stops functioning for an extended period of time, you're not going to be hauling this enormous brick around with you. It's absurd.

In an end-of-society situation you're likely on foot, maybe on bicycle (until the bike breaks down in a way you can't fix, or gets flats and you can't find tubes), and your available weight and space is going to be prioritized towards basics like food, shelter, clothing, basic health/tool items, and self defense.

How you get 90% of the way there: a USB solar panel, a bluetooth keyboard, and a smartphone with an external storage memory device. Maybe a USB to ethernet adapter and a USB hub.

Many modern phones are even water/dust proof to a pretty reasonable degree, more so if you put them in a ruggedized case.

I dare him to carry that thing 10 miles...

Post reply on HN