Thanks for sending me the prototype to test; besides the labeling issue, and the fact that I accidentally fried one of the fan power cables (thought I'd burnt up the whole unit!) when I first put it together, it's already a great product. I hope you sell many more thousands, and keep improving the experience!
It says PiKVM has support to press power buttons etc. Does PC hardware also have means for health checks, to determine if this is needed? Could be a useful feature
General microcontroller questions if you don't mind.
Lets say that I prototype something on dev board like something from Raspberry Pi, or ones from STM. Now I want to do a full product, (like the Tiny Pilot) with the microprocessor on a custom PCB board with just the necessary hardware.
I understand that you have to design the schematic and then get the PCB layout done, but in terms of figuring out which pins to connect, is it just a matter of figuring it out from the microcontroller manual? Additionally, how do you end up programming the microcontrollers, do you have to have a separate programmer since you don't have all the stuff on the dev board?
"Keyboard, Video, Mouse" is what the acronym means for anyone wondering. Some IT workers will have one at their desk to switch a single set of monitors, keyboards and mice between multiple computers.
In this context, however, there's an additional expectation that these devices make this happen over a network, so that you can handle things like BIOS configuration fully remotely.
Good to note—I should at least in the video have a little text overlay that shows 'KVM = Keyboard Video Mouse'. You forget sometimes how acronym-laden our industry is, and even the ones you find most basic... better to spell it out for someone who might not operate in the same area.
If there was a rpi hat that had multiple connections I would probably use it, a $300 avocent 24 port KVM w/ html5 interface is much more cost effective than 24 pikvms, etc.
My plan is to connect a single pi-kvm to the aging Avocent in my homelab rack. The Avocent can connect to dozens of devices, but the IP interface for it is old and unreliable. Hopefully the pi-KVM will make that experience painless.
Maybe for some context - although Jeff Geerling does provide it too in his video - most 'server' motherboards have build-in KVM.
I will make the bet that build-in KVM is more responsive and those interfaces are now HTML5 based, so no nasty Java applet stuff.
Motherboards / servers with KVM will consume around 8-10 watt extra, even when powered off, as the KVM solution is basically a tiny computer running Linux + proprietary software, soldered on the motherboard.
Motherboards with KVM support also support IPMI or redfish for remote management. For instance: I use IPMI to force a physical machine to PXE-boot into an automated installer, to provision the OS.
For some more context why such a device is desirable:
Mainboard-built-in KVMs provided by server vendors are usually buggy as hell closed-source horrors, with regular full-compromise holes that make running them over the Internet a complete gamble.
This is why open-source KVMs that are just as secure as other normal Linux servers, and auto-upgradable, are very desirable.
Jeff Geerling just writes "including BIOS/UEFI". In my extremely limited experience without deep insight it works with some computers while on others the BIOS screens remain black (while the Linux console works correctly). We got it for BIOS work, but that plan did not really work out.
I wanted to implement a KVM on my pi (a while back). I had the usb hdmi capture dongle. What prevented my from finishing the project was getting power in and usb out on the pi connector.
It required a custom cable that I didn't want to build myself. Are cables of this type more readily available now?
There are a couple of vendors (including me[0]) that offer a circuit board that splits the Pi's USB-C port into separate data and power ports with reverse current protection.
There are cables that do the same thing, but they don't provide reverse current protection. If there's a voltage difference between the USB port on your target system and the PSU feeding your Raspberry Pi, you can mess up the system's USB port or damage your Pi.[1]
Then 5V USB-C power supply into the USB-C connector and a USB-A to USB-C cable into the motherboard which had a USB-C port. You could probably also find a USB-A male to male cable and use that if your motherboard doesn't have USB-C.
At least the TinyPilot firmware is Open Source https://github.com/tiny-pilot/tinypilot - i don't know Pi-KVM. And it's a normal RaspberryPi with a debian-based os. So you should be able to just attach an LTE modem via USB and configure it via SSH, right?
i used to have one of those "hdmi over ethernet" devices which i captured with ffmpeg and used for his purpose. worked well, about 100ms latency for the capture/conversion
[+] [-] mdevaev|4 years ago|reply
// I'm the author ;)
[+] [-] geerlingguy|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dihydro|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] frozeus|4 years ago|reply
I have some cheap rackable server w/o KVM feature and I was ready to order an ASROCK Paul https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=P... but looks like I will definitely go for a PI KVMs
[+] [-] mongol|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] runnerup|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mtlynch|4 years ago|reply
Happy to answer any questions about TinyPilot or KVM over IPs.
[+] [-] ActorNightly|4 years ago|reply
Lets say that I prototype something on dev board like something from Raspberry Pi, or ones from STM. Now I want to do a full product, (like the Tiny Pilot) with the microprocessor on a custom PCB board with just the necessary hardware.
I understand that you have to design the schematic and then get the PCB layout done, but in terms of figuring out which pins to connect, is it just a matter of figuring it out from the microcontroller manual? Additionally, how do you end up programming the microcontrollers, do you have to have a separate programmer since you don't have all the stuff on the dev board?
[+] [-] aberoham|4 years ago|reply
And do you listen to any of these Covenant Network radio stations that are now under TinyPilot’s control?
[+] [-] downrightmike|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mike-the-mikado|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jldugger|4 years ago|reply
In this context, however, there's an additional expectation that these devices make this happen over a network, so that you can handle things like BIOS configuration fully remotely.
[+] [-] sneak|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] geerlingguy|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nwmcsween|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] crazystar|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 1MachineElf|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] louwrentius|4 years ago|reply
I will make the bet that build-in KVM is more responsive and those interfaces are now HTML5 based, so no nasty Java applet stuff.
Motherboards / servers with KVM will consume around 8-10 watt extra, even when powered off, as the KVM solution is basically a tiny computer running Linux + proprietary software, soldered on the motherboard.
Motherboards with KVM support also support IPMI or redfish for remote management. For instance: I use IPMI to force a physical machine to PXE-boot into an automated installer, to provision the OS.
[+] [-] nh2|4 years ago|reply
Mainboard-built-in KVMs provided by server vendors are usually buggy as hell closed-source horrors, with regular full-compromise holes that make running them over the Internet a complete gamble.
This is why open-source KVMs that are just as secure as other normal Linux servers, and auto-upgradable, are very desirable.
[+] [-] usr1106|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m463|4 years ago|reply
It required a custom cable that I didn't want to build myself. Are cables of this type more readily available now?
[+] [-] mtlynch|4 years ago|reply
There are cables that do the same thing, but they don't provide reverse current protection. If there's a voltage difference between the USB port on your target system and the PSU feeding your Raspberry Pi, you can mess up the system's USB port or damage your Pi.[1]
[0] https://tinypilotkvm.com/product/tinypilot-power-connector
[1] https://github.com/tiny-pilot/tinypilot/wiki/Powering-your-T...
[+] [-] kcb|4 years ago|reply
Then 5V USB-C power supply into the USB-C connector and a USB-A to USB-C cable into the motherboard which had a USB-C port. You could probably also find a USB-A male to male cable and use that if your motherboard doesn't have USB-C.
[+] [-] gruez|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] getcrunk|4 years ago|reply
I'm asking this because the pikvm takes HDMI input so I'm wondering how does ipmi manage the video
[+] [-] whalesalad|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] paranoidrobot|4 years ago|reply
You'd have to figure out how to get inbound connections - perhaps something like tailscale would do the trick.
[+] [-] phaer|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] burnte|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] numpad0|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] osamagirl69|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] deivid|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Ms-J|4 years ago|reply
Is there any other open source IP KVM projects out there? It's been on my mind for quite awhile.
[+] [-] c_o_n_v_e_x|4 years ago|reply
OpenBMC is an option if you're a manufacturer.