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If anyone wants to add remote access capability to machines without IPMI you can try with something like the $30 RISC-V NanoKVM[1][2]. It provides HDMI capture

by grw_ 2y ago

If anyone wants to add remote access capability to machines without IPMI you can try with something like the $30 RISC-V NanoKVM[1][2]. It provides HDMI capture (and encoding), Ethernet/Wifi, ATX power control, and runs a normal linux distribution. [1] https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007369816019.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007369816019.html [2] https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM

mananaysiempre 2y ago
Notably, you need the $60 “full” version to get the ATX power control breakout that attaches to the perverse physically-USB-C connector that has the ATX signals (why? why did they make this abomination?..). Or make your own, I guess, that’s always an option (if only USB-C connectors weren’t absolute ass to solder).
- jdboyd 2y ago
  Probably because USBC connectors are really cheap. If this was 5 years ago, they probably would be doing something terrible with a usb 3 A connector instead.
- riobard 2y ago
  I didn't use the ATX aux board because my mini PC does not have such headers. I just use Wake-on-LAN from NanoKVM web UI to power up my PC :P
  - eqvinox 2y ago
    There's no Reset-on-LAN though, sadly…
    - gsa 2y ago
      I use a Zigbee plug to toggle the power off and on, and the bios is configured to boot when power is restored.
      - riobard 2y ago
        Yeah I have this setup too just in case :p
        RamRodification 2y ago
        OT: What emotion/message are you trying to convey with ":P" in your comments? I never really get these.
        gjvc 2y ago
        "my computer is better than your computer" i'm guessing...
        riobard 2y ago
        No no definitely not that… it's more like "my stuff is a bit weird"
        riobard 2y ago
        I don't know if it's common but for me ":p" is basically the text version of this emoji [edit]: oops HN does not allow emoji … go here https://emojipedia.org/winking-face-with-tongue https://emojipedia.org/winking-face-with-tongue
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
snvzz 2y ago
The software side is not OSS, it's no better than the alternatives. Yet another KVM that cannot be trusted.
- TMWNN 2y ago
  I guess the best choice would be something built on Raspberry Pi? Like PiKVM, or TinyPilot (both frequently discussed on HN)?
  - jdboyd 2y ago
    I've been interested in (but haven't yet tried) the BliKVM devices that are a for of PiKVM but are on a PCIeb card to put the device in the server. First generation from them used Pis the second switched to some other Linux SoC.
- justinclift 2y ago
  Is this not the software side? https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM Link copied from another comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41432060 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41432060
  - dugite-code 2y ago
    I was mistaken it seems. Only the front end is open ATM. > the backend will be open-sourced soon (after the GitHub repository reaches 2K stars). https://en.wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/kvm/NanoKVM/system/introduction.html https://en.wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/kvm/NanoKVM/system/in...
    - justinclift 2y ago
      Heh Heh Heh Wonder if they're serious about that? Do they know places are around (or at least used to be) which will inflate the # of stars for a repo for some minimal amount of cash? Like $20 per thousand(?) or so when I was reading an expose about that years ago... ;)
    - 2y ago
riobard 2y ago
I'm playing with one now (the full kit) attached to my toy mini PC. It's a little RISC-V device consuming a couple watts. No WiFi yet, but it attaches to PC and emulates 4 things in addition to capturing HDMI output to a web UI: 1. A USB keyboard. 2. A USB mouse. 3. A USB flash drive (using a partition on its internal SD card) for storing bootable ISO to install/rescure systems. 4. A USB NIC which is very neat. I can use it on the PC to expose management SSH port just on that instead of the primary NIC, so that the PC has a sorta dedicated IPMI interface. Newer versions of the device software come with WireGuard and Tailscale support, so I can just connect to it over VPN. Still have some minor issues, but the developers are working fast to fix them.
Ir0nMan 2y ago
Do we know why AliExpress doesn't have the device available for sale to US customers?

by grw_ 2y ago

mananaysiempre 2y ago

Notably, you need the $60 “full” version to get the ATX power control breakout that attaches to the perverse physically-USB-C connector that has the ATX signals (why? why did they make this abomination?..). Or make your own, I guess, that’s always an option (if only USB-C connectors weren’t absolute ass to solder).

jdboyd 2y ago
Probably because USBC connectors are really cheap. If this was 5 years ago, they probably would be doing something terrible with a usb 3 A connector instead.
riobard 2y ago
I didn't use the ATX aux board because my mini PC does not have such headers. I just use Wake-on-LAN from NanoKVM web UI to power up my PC :P
- eqvinox 2y ago
  There's no Reset-on-LAN though, sadly…
  - gsa 2y ago
    I use a Zigbee plug to toggle the power off and on, and the bios is configured to boot when power is restored.
    - riobard 2y ago
      Yeah I have this setup too just in case :p
      - RamRodification 2y ago
        OT: What emotion/message are you trying to convey with ":P" in your comments? I never really get these.
        gjvc 2y ago
        "my computer is better than your computer" i'm guessing...
        riobard 2y ago
        No no definitely not that… it's more like "my stuff is a bit weird"
        riobard 2y ago
        I don't know if it's common but for me ":p" is basically the text version of this emoji [edit]: oops HN does not allow emoji … go here https://emojipedia.org/winking-face-with-tongue https://emojipedia.org/winking-face-with-tongue
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]

snvzz 2y ago

The software side is not OSS, it's no better than the alternatives. Yet another KVM that cannot be trusted.

TMWNN 2y ago
I guess the best choice would be something built on Raspberry Pi? Like PiKVM, or TinyPilot (both frequently discussed on HN)?
- jdboyd 2y ago
  I've been interested in (but haven't yet tried) the BliKVM devices that are a for of PiKVM but are on a PCIeb card to put the device in the server. First generation from them used Pis the second switched to some other Linux SoC.
justinclift 2y ago
Is this not the software side? https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM Link copied from another comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41432060 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41432060
- dugite-code 2y ago
  I was mistaken it seems. Only the front end is open ATM. > the backend will be open-sourced soon (after the GitHub repository reaches 2K stars). https://en.wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/kvm/NanoKVM/system/introduction.html https://en.wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/kvm/NanoKVM/system/in...
  - justinclift 2y ago
    Heh Heh Heh Wonder if they're serious about that? Do they know places are around (or at least used to be) which will inflate the # of stars for a repo for some minimal amount of cash? Like $20 per thousand(?) or so when I was reading an expose about that years ago... ;)
  - 2y ago

riobard 2y ago

I'm playing with one now (the full kit) attached to my toy mini PC. It's a little RISC-V device consuming a couple watts. No WiFi yet, but it attaches to PC and emulates 4 things in addition to capturing HDMI output to a web UI: 1. A USB keyboard. 2. A USB mouse. 3. A USB flash drive (using a partition on its internal SD card) for storing bootable ISO to install/rescure systems. 4. A USB NIC which is very neat. I can use it on the PC to expose management SSH port just on that instead of the primary NIC, so that the PC has a sorta dedicated IPMI interface. Newer versions of the device software come with WireGuard and Tailscale support, so I can just connect to it over VPN. Still have some minor issues, but the developers are working fast to fix them.

Ir0nMan 2y ago

Do we know why AliExpress doesn't have the device available for sale to US customers?