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Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

mtlynch.io

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Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#61
post #41

Oh nice I will have to look into this as I was considering Using a dual pc set up for streaming and this would be great for controlling the second pc (mac mini) I want to have main pc for running ROLLd20 and a daw - then use a mac mini to run the processed audio from my DAW into hangouts. This is so I can properly play in audio and , music cues as well as altering my voice to suit the character eg a galdos style for…

You could probably do this with the loopback features of a podcast style interface and not need a second computer. The one I use is the MOTU M4, the M2 is a little cheaper. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IKjKymjc_R8

Yes I have looked at virtual loop back like Voicemeeter and might be able to do it with the routing aspects of the focusrite software.

It is of course the sort of thing that should be baked into the OS.

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#62
post #37

I have given up on KVMs altogether and I am using the following approach now: - Most monitors have multiple digital inputs. Connect each computer to one of them - Use a USB switch keyboard and mouse - Before switching the USB switch, press the "lock screen" key combination and make sure locking the screen drops the video signal - After switching the USB switch, pressing shift should bring up the login dialog and re-a…

That's handy for the KVM part, but this is mostly about KVM over IP.

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#63
The hardest part of this seems to be the V in the KVM and the solution of the author's is pretty neat. But I think things could still be improved by dropping his keyboard/mouse setup and just switching to the standard: barrier/synergy, https://github.com/debauchee/barrier

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#64
This is pretty cool (for managing servers cheaply), but I remain disappointed that remotely controlling computers over a network with low latency is still a difficult task. I've been trying to find a way to use a bunch of machines remotely over my LAN (for gaming / media playback on multiple devices), and have been somewhat disappointed at the quality / latency of the various options I've played around with. It's especially disappointing when you have 10gbps networking, and sending uncompressed 1080p60 video over over the network with a couple ms of latency should be trivial, from a bandwidth perspective. Obviously this is a different problem than what you're trying to solve (remote management, so you have to do HDMI + USB stuff in hardware, adding some latency), but it's still annoying that there aren't great lower latency software options.

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#65
post #24

Sorry to ask but what's it cost to buy a KVM over IP device?

You're not going to find a decent one sub $500. Used devices can be had for less, but most of the older ones I've seen use terrible Java-based clients that are a major pain to get running on modern browsers. For multi-device KVMs you usually have to figure in the prices for the individual interface module dongles that plug into each computer, too. StarTech makes a USB-to-KVM that looked promising to me, but it's stil…

Thanks and that StarTech doesn't have HDMI. Maybe its cloud VMs that are removing the need for KVM over IP. I still want it.

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#66
post #56
post #23

This looks awesome. I was looking for a solution like this last year. I budgeted a few hundred bucks but couldn't find anything. Ideally would have a way to handle a few different boxes. I did see something called Intel AMT, part of Intel vPro. https://www.howtogeek.com/56538/how-to-remotely-control-your... Does anyone have experience with this? (I have AMD box so doesn't help me) - actually looks like AMD has simila…

It works, however you need a non-free special client called VNC Viewer Plus [1]. Afaik it is Windows only. You can enable regular VNC protocol capabilities for AMT[2], but then you can't use the interesting stuff anymore. [1] https://www.realvnc.com/en/products/viewerplus/ [2] https://blog.michael.kuron-germany.de/2011/10/using-intel-am... //edit: link [2] added.

This seems to show a reasonable option from Linux: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/remotely-access-intel-amt-kvm-...

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#67
post #50

Oh nice I will have to look into this as I was considering Using a dual pc set up for streaming and this would be great for controlling the second pc (mac mini) I want to have main pc for running ROLLd20 and a daw - then use a mac mini to run the processed audio from my DAW into hangouts. This is so I can properly play in audio and , music cues as well as altering my voice to suit the character eg a galdos style for…

Thanks for reading! I'm not an audio guy, so I can't comment on how well it would suit that scenario, but it sounds like a neat pipeline, and I'd love to hear about it if you end up building it.

I was more a better way of remote controlling the mac vnc works but its a bit crap.

The main idea was for GM's to use mood music to set the tone or for audio effects the classic red alert should for a sf based game.

What I wanted it for was real time voice changing for character voices - basically the flanged goa'uld or the glados formant shifting robot voice or the classic Dalek voice

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#68
post #37

I have given up on KVMs altogether and I am using the following approach now: - Most monitors have multiple digital inputs. Connect each computer to one of them - Use a USB switch keyboard and mouse - Before switching the USB switch, press the "lock screen" key combination and make sure locking the screen drops the video signal - After switching the USB switch, pressing shift should bring up the login dialog and re-a…

I feel like the ideal here would be for there to be a Thunderbolt/USB4 display which has multiple Thunderbolt "source" ports, and also USB-C connectors for peripherals, where the display itself is acting as a USB controller available over Thunderbolt-PCIe, with the USB-C sockets attached to said USB controller. Change the input on the monitor, and the USB-controller PCIe card in the display would be hotplugged out of one computer and into the other.

Even more ideally, the display would also have a built-in Bluetooth controller that stays active regardless of the USB controller's attach state, such that Bluetooth peripherals could be paired to the display itself rather than to the OS (i.e. you'd manage the pairings through the OSD of the display); and then these devices would be presented through the display's USB controller as always-on direct-attached USB devices — much like VM hypervisors present host-attached Bluetooth HID devices to their VM guests. (As a side-benefit of that, as long as the computer's BIOS understood Thunderbolt well-enough to display anything during boot, then even Bluetooth peripherals would also work during boot.)

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#69

The hardest part of this seems to be the V in the KVM and the solution of the author's is pretty neat. But I think things could still be improved by dropping his keyboard/mouse setup and just switching to the standard: barrier/synergy, https://github.com/debauchee/barrier

Thanks for reading!

I'm not familiar with Barrier, but is my understanding correct that it requires software running on the target computer? If that's true, it wouldn't work for things like installing a new OS or managing BIOS because you'd have to wait for the computer to boot up fully before you're able to enter keyboard or mouse input.

Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

#70

Fantastic project. Amazing how you overcame each obstacle, and very well written to boot. Kudos. Quite funny how you brought 1000 ms latency down to 200 ms. I wonder how this compares to iDRAC and that Raritan device.

I manage a machine that has an AST2500 (competitor to iDRAC in smaller vendors like Gigabyte, it rocks), and I didn't notice latency, so it's probably under 200ms.
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