This looks great. To be useful in the datacenter environments I work in such a device would need VGA capture, though. Most servers don't have HDMI ports in my experience. Anybody know of a good, cheap V4L2 USB-based VGA capture dongle?
Could always add another dongle with something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BKYBKGP maybe?
Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
171–180 of 284 posts
Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#172Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#173Author here. Happy to answer any questions or take any feedback about this post.
This isn't an area I know anything about but I really enjoyed your write-up (I still don't know what KVM stands for! But I get that you wanted to act as a physical keyboard and display over IP). From a quick skim of your site it looks like you've worked at large companies and now are doing some independent projects. Do you think you'll go back to working for a company (perhaps a smaller one?), or do you see yourself…
>I still don't know what KVM stands for!
Oh, keyboard, video, mouse. The article does define it, but it's a little buried.
>From a quick skim of your site it looks like you've worked at large companies and now are doing some independent projects. Do you think you'll go back to working for a company (perhaps a smaller one?), or do you see yourself working independently for many years?
I'd love to continue working for myself forever. My ideal would be if I could find a business sustainable enough that I can hire 2-5 developers and other teammates to work with me. If I did have to go back to being an employee, I'd probably lean toward something smaller.
It's very much about your temperament, what type of work you enjoy, and how much you value flexibility and autonomy. A good way to test the waters is by building a side business and see if you enjoy it more than your job. You can also read/hear more about the lifestyle in places like Indie Hackers[0], Starter Story[1], and WIP[2].
But I agree with you that you pass up certain kinds of growth by working on your own. I'm happy that I had ~10 years of experience with big companies before doing my own thing. I learn a lot on my own, but I don't think I could have learned a lot of my software "craftsmanship" kind of skills (e.g., designing for maintainability, creating repeatable, well-documented processes) had I not worked for Google and Microsoft.
[2] https://wip.chat
Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#174Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#175I 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…
(I'd guess their newer models work similarly but I haven't confirmed.)
Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
Steam link does it, and fast enough to play games with no noticeable latency. Not sure what the magic is, though.
I haven't tried Steam Link yet, but I might give it a shot. I was originally looking for purely remote desktop stuff for a combination of managing computers and gaming, so I was mostly testing stuff not specifically marketed to gamers. Ideally I'd also like something that does software hardware (at higher latency obviously), so I can stream older computers or game consoles to a variety of devices as well. I did end u…
Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#177Author here. Happy to answer any questions or take any feedback about this post.
If this just requires USB and HDMI, it should theoretically work identically a for Mac Mini or even something like a Fire TV, yes? Is there an upper limit on resolution and frame rate for the dongle?
I believe so, but with the caveat that I haven't tested it. Does Fire TV take USB keyboard input?
I have successfully captured video from a Roku Premiere[0], even though it's HDCP protected. The LKV373A couldn't capture anything out of it, but the $11 dongle did just fine. But that was just video capture. I didn't have a way of sending input to the Roku.
>Is there an upper limit on resolution and frame rate for the dongle?
Yes, the limit is 1280x720px @ 30FPS.
[0] https://twitter.com/tinypilotkvm/status/1277994838210875392
Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#178This 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…
Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#179This 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…
1) https://www.adder.com/en/kvm-solutions/adderlink-digital-ipe...
Re: Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi
#1801. A relay to reset the PC like iDRAC/iLO
2. 2 dual pole relay to move a USB flash drive to and from the PC it's connected to, in combination with (1) you could then boot ISOs remotely by dd-ing the ISO to the flash drive and then connecting it to the host PC with a relay