Checking Out The Teensy Tiny RISC-V NanoKVM!

[@JeffGeerling]

Ooh, I have one to test too, can't wait to get to it-there's a tiny future ahead for IP KVMs. Maybe a future KVM switch could just have a row of these in the back, instead of having a switch with a single IP KVM in front :P

[@LtdJorge]

I see what you did there

[@dasiro]

these are so tiny, if someone made very short usb and hdmi-cables (or even an hdmi-plug with 2 usb cables) they could just hang at the back of each machine even nicely inline cable-managed at each U

[@Dan-vi5jp]

How did you make this comment "5d ago" when this video came out "8 hours ago"?

[@JeffGeerling]

@@Dan-vi5jp _Time travel_ ;) No but more seriously sometimes these videos are posted earlier for Patrons, I just see them in my feed and if I see L1Techs I click play, no questions asked!

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

You're the competition, you're not allowed here!😡 🤣😁😜

[@GreenFox1505]

I'm a game dev. I have to interface with console devkits constantly. With work-from-home, it'd be way easier for me and my team if we could keep a farm on console devkits at the office and dial into the ones we want as needed. We would need game controller support, or really, arbitrary USB devices since each console has a slightly different controller protocol.

[@Prophes0r]

yeah that's WAY outside the scope of these. You would need a way to get your code onto the dev consoles. You would need session switching. You would need not just controller support, but to translate your local controller inputs, transport them, translate them again, and to spoof official controller HIDs. This is an order of magnitude more complicated than just pushing USB through a network since these devices don't really share USB, they take keys as input and emulate a HID keyboard.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

@@Prophes0r USB-IP protocols have existed for a while, that will tunnel whatever USB over network. It will lag because network, but it will work

[@Prophes0r]

@@marcogenovesi8570 No you don't understand. These devices don't "pass through" USB. They ARE USB. They aren't simply passing the USB packets like a USB over IP connection. They receive (essentially) a unicode character 'H', then they say "Hey computer. I'm a keyboard. My user just pressed key 48. Now they released key 48." Doing a remote controller is totally doable. But it would be a whole (software) project of it's own that is outside the scope of a micro-ipKVM. These aren't for remote desktop use. They are for rebooting a machine remotely, and accessing it during the boot process. Half of what Wendell did was outside the scope of the device. We are all just tossing out "what if..."s here.

[@deano1699]

​@@Prophes0r not outside scope at all. KVMs are absolutely intended to do more than reboot a machine. The intended purpose is to chain multiple devices to a single key/mouse/monitor combo - or, in the networked case, a single network endpoint. If you only need to reboot, you're better off having a solid boot/fallback chain, and a networked PDU switch.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

@@Prophes0r Yeah I know this device is not using USB/IP but it's not the only implementation of the concept. There are also devices called "usb IP ethernet extender" that do this tunnelling at hardware level, and appear as a USB hub to the PC. (the cheaper are just using an ethernet cable and stronger USB signal, which is not the same thing) You only need to VPN their traffic.

[@faeranne]

Reading through these comments, I think a few people have missunderstood how the nanokvm works. It seems like some people think this uses the host system to do the actual streaming, or otherwise relies on the host for power maybe? Based on my reading of the github project, this is a fully independent device, capable of running completely on it's own. The full version includes a usb port for powering it from the wall (and the lite has exposed 5v pads for powering it, but this seems more intended for integration), and the ethernet port hosts a fully independent webpage for streaming the host and sending keyboard inputs. One can plug this into any host system, and from the host being in a powered off state, install a fully operating system from scratch onto that host.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

yes it's meant to be powered and run independently, for obvious reasons as this is a IP/KVM device.

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

@@marcogenovesi8570 Steal the standby power from a PCIe slot 🙂 Would be nice to see one that was an actual PCIe card IMHO.

[@paulstubbs7678]

Yes, the start of the video had me thinking it was a USB peripheral somehow run from the target PC, but no it's the 'real deal', and being a stripped back 'linux' it's hopefully less hackable by intruders.

[@jonathanbuzzard1376]

@@paulstubbs7678 that's what VLANS are for. If a hacker is even able to connect to your out of band management then it is game over anyway.

[@conorstewart2214]

@@jonathanbuzzard1376 I believe I saw that they are working on a PCIe version on their twitter account, they post updates and polls on all their products there.

[@michaelgleason4791]

Hand them out like candy? I need to trick or treat at Wendell's house!

[@sportsfamily77]

I have to admit, I rather like your usage of multiple camera angles and the way you look towards the off-axis camera. It makes your videos feel more like a conversation between you and the viewer. Awesome work Wendell!

[@TerracraftGaming]

Just got mine in last weekend. Using it to remotely control a modded PS4 for remote debugging. Really cool this device can boot up the console, use keyboard to navigate and remotely plug in the modded flash drive to kick start the whole process.

[@jja2000]

How are you booting up the console? Wake-On-Lan? I have a thinkcenter tiny that doesn't have the obvious atx connectors and I'm not entirely sure how I'd get one of those running on there.

[@phizc]

​@@jja2000if I understand it correctly the front panel cables insert between the front panel connectors on the motherboard and the real wires fron the front panel. If the user sends a "power button command" over the network to the device, it simulates the power button being pressed. As long as the thinkcenter tiny has a momentary switch power button, the wires from that to the motherboard should be possible to hook into.. It would be harder to accomplish if the power button is not of the momentary switch type, or it's not connected to the motherboard with wires.

[@carceron1]

I just ordered mine. How long did yours take to deliver?

[@yingste]

Supposedly Caesar Wu from Sipeed said that they have a build of PiKVM running on the NanoKVM but the delay is quite high at the moment (around 1000ms)

[@joshxwho]

Great start though!

[@BrentRWong242]

Thanks for this detail!

[@MikeKirkReloaded]

For that price I'd add KVM support to almost any system I touch! Also a good use for old cheap 1Gbps switches you have collecting dust: instant management network!

[@Prophes0r]

Probably better to use a single SBC as a front-end webserver, connected to your LAN and also to your completely isolated KVM-LAN.

[@tin2001]

I'm thinking the same. Which then leads to the question.... Are these safe? Is there some Chinese spyware embedded? Or are they just really cheap to make now that everything is digital?

[@ThylineTheGay]

@@tin2001 it's as safe as anything with remote access capabilities i mean, steam has full remote access, being worried about 'chinese spyware' but not US, UK, or EU spyware is just racist

[@ThylineTheGay]

@@tin2001 (also, he discussed that at the end of the video)

[@rexsceleratorum1632]

@@ThylineTheGay That's hilarious. Worrying that a non-democratic rival foreign nation has control over your equipment that they can potentially use to sabotage your country (in case of a conflict) is now "racist"? The West is truly circling the drain

[@khaledshokry9223]

The thing I love the most about these videos is seeing Wendell losing weight and getting healthier

[@Th3Rom3]

Slimdell is in the house!

[@Terran.Marine.2]

I wonder if he is lifting weights or anything 🤔?

[@thebinkbink6349]

He is intensly sparring with the tick.

[@Dan-Simms]

Yeah, that tick kicked his butt so hard he can't eat meat anymore.

[@valen961]

​@@Terran.Marine.2 IIRC he said he is doing a lot of cardio work.

[@MarquisDeSang]

Risc-V SBC is my daily driver for watching the web and programming. I have the first Sipeed SBC and now moved on to the VisionFive 2

[@Prophes0r]

I have literally been working on a cost optimized ipKVM for about 3 weeks now. I was working on a board layout for a few hours today, and took a break to watch some KZbin. And then I see this... Ooof This has several different design decisions than mine though. And the price is a BIT higher than mine is planned to be. I'm targeting $25 for 1080p60 + PoE + USBGadget + ATX control. NOTE: I had considered going EVEN cheaper though. My first thought was to base this off an ESP32 ethernet platform + HDMI input. These would be limited to like...720p30 mjpeg streams? I honestly think 720p would be fine for accessing boot settings, a console, or an OS installer. They wouldn't really have the grunt to do the web portion, but my BoM was looking to be about $8 each. I feel like there could be a place for something like a SBC front end running the web portion, connected to the LAN, and ALSO connected to a switched private network of ultra cheap ESP32 based ipKVM devices. If you only needed 1, it would obviously be more expensive. But if you wanted 3?

[@ParkerTyler]

I wouldnt worry too much about this. Sounds like they still have a way to go and if you are able to hit that price point you are still almost half what they are charging! I say keep it up! Do you have a way for us to follow your progress?

[@Vhalikuporamee447]

I hope it goes well! I just got a BliKVM v4, which is a lot more expensive, but I love how it's rack mountable and PoE. If you include the ability to use even one rack ear on your device, I think that will be really attractive.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

Don't stop, there is plenty of untapped demand even if you are not going after the crazy Wendells that want 4k 60fps in their KVM

[@Prophes0r]

@@marcogenovesi8570 I plan to keep working on it. The point of the project was to make a thing. The problem it was going to solve was less important than actually making a thing and learning.

[@Chaos666Theory]

PoE would be so badass, I'd love that!

[@PainterVierax]

9:12 That's a weird missleading phrasing. Linux limitations aren't because it's Risc-V but because it's a much smaller chip and a small eMMC compared to the hardware of a RPi.

[@briancmoses]

I pre-ordered a whole bunch of these a couple weeks ago hoping that I'd find out I could run Tailscale on it. I'm stoked to hear that confirmed, thanks for sharing!

[@Xamy-]

Do you know where one might find more info on how to do this? I’m assuming you are going to do wake on lan via tailscale on this device and I couldn’t find anything. Need it for a FOSS group project where I need to make a database and storage available to my team without us having to pay out the wazoo for a server as tricked out as mine (and also not requiring me to be constantly turning it on)

[@briancmoses]

​@@Xamy- You replied to me--but I'm not sure if you meant to? Installing Tailscale is briefly mentioned/demonstrated in the video and Sipeed's Wiki is the number one Google result for "nanokvm tailscale." Your assumption about my use is incorrect, sorry.

[@ipaqmaster]

Finally a KVM that isn't a whole rack unit or spider-web with non-html5 proprietary UIs that need flash or something.

[@bwloawesome]

Wendell, been watching your content here and there since the TS days. Looking like a Beefcake, these days. Keep up what you're doing, man.

[@Ziggurat1]

It looks like Wendell has healthily lost some weight. Keep up the good work handsome

[@halodriver1362]

That's been the one thing I post on this channel. It's pretty amazing how well he's done. He's getting close to my shape. Time to cut.

[@Prophes0r]

I think he has been getting more fit. But you all know that his weight loss wasn't consensual right? He was forced to be a vegan overnight. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-gal_syndrome

[@Marc.Google]

@@Prophes0rI had NO idea! Glad he’s doing well now 💪🏼

[@inflatablemicrowave8187]

A warning to those wanting to get a vga to hdmi adapter for something like this: THEY HAVE A MINIMUM SUPPORTED QUALITY. It is impossible to find one that will properly handle the stream while booting. I have looked everywhere for one that can handle the super low resolution bios and boot screens reliably but have found no good option. If you know of one, please let me know.

[@myne00]

They don't support 740*400@70hz That's the magic number you have to look for. Been down this rabbit hole.

[@myne00]

720*

[@pleappleappleap]

There are full distros based on BusyBox. Linux does not necessarily mean Coreutils.

[@john_in_phoenix]

I use a Raritan KVM at home, and "software from the dawn of time" is an accurate description. I need to replace it with the PiKVM.

[@slightlyevolved]

My "Java 6 required" Avocent DSR has entered the chat.

[@Trick-Framed]

Mr. Wendell. I really enjoy the videos with you in them. You speak well, use words we can all understand and only get as technical as the video requires. I've followed and watched for years and it's only now that I am seeing the tremendous value in the platform you and your teammates have created. Thank you.

[@mestadtler]

Great review on the nanookvm! I particularly like that you took the time to provide the update (covering late developments). Honestly surprised this took so long for someone to finally just get done, nothing wrong about the pikvm, just a little overkill when what you need is something like this.

[@Zarathustra-H-]

Wow. There have been times I would REALLY have loved this. Now, all of my servers are on Supermicro boards with integrated IPMI/BMC. Still, having a box with a couple of these in it might be very very useful.

[@acquacow]

The thing I like most about this is that I can ssh to it, and it has the GPIO pins exposed in the OS, so you can turn your PC on or reset it from the terminal. You just need to cd to the directory for the GPIO pin of interest and echo a 1, quickly followed by a 0 to the value. So if I want to turn my PC on remotely, I can ssh to my bastion, then ssh to the KVM and do the following: # cd /sys/class/gpio/gpio503 # ls active_low device direction edge subsystem uevent value # cat value 0 # echo 1 > value && sleep 2 && echo 0 > value This will turn your PC on and is easily combined in a script to do whatever you wish updates/backups/etc.

[@SirReptitious]

You can hand them out like candy. Whelp, guess we know what all the kids in Wendell's neighborhood are getting in their bags this Halloween...... ;-)

[@dylans2669]

lol - went up by 5/10$ (lite/full) since this video, but 37/63$ (Lite/full) shipped to US currently not counting any other hidden charges like taxes or import fees. But i will probably get one soon as this is just what i need for my home server.

[@ClairePullan]

The ants enjoyed the barbecue more than the family.

[@bosstowndynamics5488]

These IP KVMs are cool in theory, but in practice I'm really wary of them because they're cheap embedded devices that are extremely security critical since they effectively give you physical access to a machine over a network (yes I know you can limit them to internal networks only but even then that doesn't fit with the increasingly important zero trust approach to network security)

[@kibabyte]

Wouldn‘t that also mean that no modern company going after zero trust would use ipmi ports? I don’t think that will happen this fast.

[@bosstowndynamics5488]

@@kibabyte I expect that such companies could set up a separate hardware network where only trusted devices were connected, if the IPMI is correctly designed then it should be intrinsically resistant to attack from the rest of the attached system and the only real threat would be malicious network clients

[@Chris_Cable]

It would be nice if an option for a single PCI slot package was available. Having it installed cleanly in a single slot would look clean.

[@ThisOldChris]

I work for multiple clients and I use their laptops to connect to their systems over VPN. For security reasons, they deactivate RDP... (I do not have an admin user on the laptops). What I would like, is a device that connects to a laptop by USB-C or Ethernet port, to send an RDP compatible signal over my local network so I can control the laptops with Remote Desktop without RDP being active on the laptops... I want to be able to control the remote PC in a multi monitor setup like I would with RDP active...

[@autohmae]

Just check out PiKVM and this product and you'll see it works pretty darn good. That said, PiKVM has VNC support.

[@froggle611]

This is very promising. I recently built two PiKVM v2s (with the v3 image) for my work computers. I need audio out on one of my work computers which I have not seen info on regarding the NanoKVM. That being said, the price on these is wildly cheaper than even my diy PiKVMs, so hopefully the hardware is in place for audio support, as I would love the lower power draw of these devices.

[@Kurukx]

I agree devices are getting smaller and smaller and faster. It is so impressive. Whole systems for a device the size of a usb stick is also scary (update wise). My big hunkin Desktop has a machine running in its mouse, keyboard and ug smart OLED TV for a start.

[@Prophes0r]

That clearly isn't the point of these minimal KVMs. I've coincidently been designing one myself for several weeks now. This video is both crushing, since they "finished" it before me, but also motivating because they didn't hit NEARLY the price point I'm shooting for. The point of these is to get access to the machine while booting. BIOS, console, maybe install media, as cheaply and simply as possible. I have 6 different "servers" without IPMI, and if I could get a remote 720p30 stream with keyboard and remote media access for $10-$15 I'd be totally set. If you want to get into a machine with a GUI after it is booted and use it, there are PLENTY of remote desktop options.

[@froggle611]

@@Prophes0r Remote desktop is great, if you have full control of a device. If you are using a company computer, you may not, and likely remote desktop is blocked. IPKVMs are more hassle than remote desktop, but use less power than a monitor, take up immensely less space, and give you similar (but worse) functionality to remote desktop. Also I do agree that my use case must not be the target market for these little devices, as they don't seem to include audio, but if they did, it could expand their reach. A lot of the CSI modules can do audio over I2S, which is what I ended up going with in my PiKVM devices. If this device cant compete with the PiKVM on features, and cant compete with yours on price, then it may simply not succeed. That being said, I am also interested in your device for non GUI devices like you mentioned, do you post updates anywhere or plan to sell it?

[@Prophes0r]

​@@froggle611 It's still in the loose design phase. When I finish it I'll be releasing it as open hardware. Might sell it. Might not. I've been working on it in very limited free time but I'm also swamped with tons of other hobby projects too. Honestly, after digging into nanoKVM and seeing what it's actually made with I might stop working on it for a while. NanoKVM just uses 2 off the shelf parts and software. I could buy the 2 boards right now for $13 shipped. At that point it is just a software issue. And I'm not a software guy(nor do I have any interest in being one. I write scripts to make my life easier. I have zero interest in real software development.) Also, you know about the i2c audio on those HDMI bridges, and the LicheeRV-Nano-E has i2c pins available, so it should absolutely should have support. Though support might be absent in the software. And as I said before, I don't think that is really the right use-case for these tiny-ipKVMs.

[@thraxarioustailchaser158]

They raised the price. was $20 and $40, now $25 and $50. Aliexpress shows them far more expensive.

[@bretdk]

I've been very much enjoying my unit! Though, the storage on it is actually a microSD card (mine was a KIOXIA Exceria) rather than eMMC which is "nice" I suppose in case the eMMC kicks the can later down the road. Installing Tailscale to access it remotely on a Tailscale network makes it even better!

[@torgrimt]

One problem with "only" 100mbit, is that alot of switches dosent support that. For instance 10gig copper ports. Then you have to use an tp sfp to be able to support it. I have that problem with for instance older dell drac controllers and ubiquiti edgeswitch es-16-xg

[@Prophes0r]

If a switch is compliant with 1G ethernet, it must support 100M ethernet. It's part of the same standard. Why would you waste a 10G port on something like this? If you have a 10G switch, you also need a 1G switch for all the small stuff that has no business being on an expensive 10G port. Heck, a 1080p60 stream is under 10Mbit. 100M is overkill for even a 4k camera. Stuff only gets 1G ports because it is cheap. Except in the case of microcontrollers where there isn't enough room on the silicon at these price points. 100M is WAY more than enough, except for the tiny corner case where you are transferring files to an emulated USB drive, which I would argue is outside the scope of what this device is even for anyway...

[@phizc]

A 1080p60 is only less than 10mbit if it's compressed to less than 0.3% of the original size. Uncompressed 24bit 1080p60 is just under 3Gbps.

[@Prophes0r]

​@@phizc Sure, but that is raw pixel rate over multiple links. That's the kind of thing you carry over a 3m HDMI cable. Everything is compressed over a remote link. Heck, even HDMI is compressed at higher frame rates/resolutions. An Ultra HD Blu-ray running 4k at the maximum bitrate is 144Mbit/s. M-JPEG is standardized to about 92Mbit/s for 1080p60, and that is basically "unprocessed" for these devices since the image processor can output JPEG directly. H.264 will usually stream "live" content at 1080p60 at 10-15Mbit/s. H.265 will do it at 8-12Mbit/s. And those are considered "high quality" streams. A 4k60 KZbin video that most people are used to is crushed down to 15-20Mbit/s. Most 1080p60 KZbin content is under 5Mbit/s These bitrates are obviously not Big Screen Movie Theater quality. But that isn't the point. As long as you can read what is on the screen it is good enough. These devices aren't for Remote Desktop use. They are for configuration.

[@Prophes0r]

@@phizc Oh. For reference, THIS video bitrate for 4k30 is 9368kbit/s. And the 1080p30 video stream is only...wait really? 683kbit/s for the webm VP9 stream?!?!!?!?? That feels...low... Note: Wow. I downloaded the 1080p30 stream just to see if it was horribly overcompressed. It looks just fine. It makes sense when you think about it. There are lots of flat static areas in these videos. Exactly the same thing you would have when you were looking at a desktop, UEFI config, Console, or even a web page. I'd bet the average bitrate for a perfectly readable 1080p60 desktop is like 500kbit/s or less with h.265. Note2: I just looked up the SoC datasheet for one of the 4k ip cameras I'm helping a neighbor install. The chip easily handles the 4k video stream and the h.265 encoding. The maximum bitrate that the chip itself can handle is only 48Mbit/s

[@kyubre]

Darn Wendell, you done knocked it out of the park again with this exceptionally cool tool reveal, thank you - again!

[@CoolSilver]

There have been many KVMs I have looked at before that I can remotely use. Most are flippin expensive. I been debating on one of your KVMs for my desk.

[@pixelfairy]

Whats the use case for a 4k kvm?

[@Level1Techs]

it's scaling 4k to 1080p; remote game testing has been handy this way

[@wooviee]

Been waiting for these, preordered 5 lites to manage my development homelab!

[@CoryMT]

When I first heard about this the software wasn't open source yet, and I was wondering if there were any arm SBCs that had HDMI input that could serve a similar purpose (not that I have the confidence of actually getting the software to work). I found the Orange Pi 5 Plus, which has HDMI in (so no dongle needed), and way more powerful, but probably overkill. I'm really tempted now.

[@Prophes0r]

Think about going in the other direction. You want this to be a dedicated device. You want the cheapest/smallest device capable of getting the video in and streaming it out. There is no avoiding the HDMI to SCI bridge. But they can be had for $6 if you keep your eyes out. At that point you only need a microcontroller with CSI. If an ESP32-CAM can stream video... well you get the idea.

[@conorstewart2214]

This is just basically an adapted version of their LicheeRV Nano dev board, so if people wanted they could probably buy one of these and just use it as an SBC and write their own open source KVM software for it. Sipeed are generally pretty good about open sourcing things though.

[@zwerko]

1080p is perfectly fine. I use my KVMs to either set up the system or to troubleshoot when it won't boot - once the system gets to its OS, I have far better ways of remote access than KVM.

[@mjmeans7983]

I wonder if it supports HDMI-CIC and EDID. And I wonder how well it handles changing the computers desktop resolution for computers with all different display output types, VGA, DVI, HDMI, DP, etc. Clicking your link and then their preorder button and then their aliexpress button goes to "Sorry, the page you requested can not be found:(". Checking their github it's only firmware. It doesn't have the pcb and bom so anyone can go to jlcpcb (or other diy pcb fabs) to make one diy style. However their wiki page does have links for two schematics. So, maybe someone can do a pcb layout and make it available on jlcpcb.

[@AllanSitte]

IMHO - The software supply chain question you mentioned raises a concern about risk of this device becoming a keystroke logging mechanism for a malicious actor. It is cool devices like this where I wish there were some form of an independent assessment service that could establish trust of the platform through independent testing from a security risk standpoint. The nightmare scenario for me is where the OS is rigged up by via upgrade to become an silent key logger mechanism that quietly phones home (if it can) to clandestine services. Maybe I am just paranoid.... No, I am not paranoid - I know someone is out to get me. 😆

[@Sama_09]

does it pass sound ?? not getting sound through hdmi !! though for mine !

[@johndododoe1411]

Sadly, I was looking for an alternative to an ATEN local KVM for a high res screen, not a remoting kit with data compression and limited resolution . I make better remote kits myself and need a local KVM to test it, switching my physical screen between test systems . For a network solution like the NanoKVM, I would prefer uncompressed video over 10gbps Cat7 . For mixing multiple USB function, just use or emulate a USB2 hub with separate keyboard, mouse and storage plugged in . Also, busybox doesn't reduce the power of the Linux kernel, it is just a smaller alternative to the bunch of basic boot tools installed on large distros . Many regular distros use busybox for the boot steps that activate access to hard drives etc .

[@sebastien79a]

I've had issues with VGA to HDMI Adaptors and KVMs generally. Might be some resolutions but it's a significan't issue. Worth checking if you plan to order a load.

[@jyvben1520]

does it have infrared, my kvm has ir remote control

[@Level1Techs]

not that kind of kvm

[@wkc073406]

Just what I needed. Thanks, Wendell.

[@Toby_Q]

Candy you say? I need to go Trick-or-Treating at Wendell's house!

[@Symbiiote]

Wendell, you look great. Nice job on the health journey.

[@Prophes0r]

You may or may not know, but he had no choice. Tick bites can cause a condition where you become violently allergic to animal protein. (Other nasty side effects too) It can last for a few years, a decade, or be permanent. Wendel basically had to become a full vegan overnight.

[@vipast6262]

I ordered this months ago... can't wait for mine to come in...

[@Fractal_32]

These are pretty interesting, hopefully the community and support continues to grow healthily.

[@s_s-g4d]

this isn't just a KVM, this is a KVM over IP, isn't it?

[@autohmae]

Yes

[@levoniust]

Do you have a link to the kvm you are using with the pikvm?

[@AppliedCryogenics]

I thought a KVM was a box that lets you share one KB and monitor among multiple PC's? (Those usually have a separate USB and Video-in per shared PC, and then one video out, and connection for one keyboard and mouse.) Is this little box really a thin client and you have to run a remote desktop server on every box?

[@tin2001]

KVM stands for Keyboard Video Mouse. A KVM switch lets you switch between systems. But this is still "KVM", just not the switching part. It gives you a Keyboard Video and Mouse on a different machine.

[@BerniceReade]

Letting go is not the end of the world; it is the beginning of a new life.

wow thats alotta cables 5:32 what is this all for ??

[@VelcorHF]

Dude you were so ahead of the curve on this.

[@bmozumder]

Any idea if 4k is going to be supported?

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

I bought a device that had CSI, and it kept making this "Donk" sound every few minutes, to the point I couldn't stand it!🤣

[@carceron1]

I just ordered 1 lite and 1 full. Fingers crossed!

[@carceron1]

Mine came in on Friday

[@ibonitog]

Sorry for going completely off topic. But damn Wendell has some biceps!

[@kashgarinn]

Wait.. so you plug the keyboard, video and mouse of a computer you want to connect TO into this thing, it gets an IP address, and as long as you're on the same LAN, you can connect to the computer? What software are you using to connect to it on linux/windows? Or are you setting up some other KVM switch on your end?

[@AndersEinarHilden]

You connect to it using a stock standard web browser. All the "software" for controlling the attached machine is a web page.

[@mcury85]

bought one, this is the only affordable alternative for me. thanks for reviewing it !

[@kwinzman]

This looks like it definetely made some compromises that I could not live with. There is such a thing as too cheap.

[@SampsonMorris-v1t]

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere

[@JKos-cz9lj]

not able to order, is aliexpress only place?

[@musiqtee]

The “it’s only risc-V…” will be less of an issue with time. In a bygone era we had the same narrative on ARM… Indeed, who knows when & by whom - but the “whom” is key in the times we’re in (ref Level1 Show episodes last 5 years…😅).

[@conorstewart2214]

Except it isn’t. It is both RISC-V and ARM. As it’s main core it has a C906 RISC-V core and an ARM A53 core at 1 GHz but only one core can be used at a time. Then it has a second 700 MHz C906 core and a 25-300 MHz 8051. So really the chip has three different types of core in it, the C906, the A53 and the 8051.

[@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece]

Hope the driver situation is not a dumpster fire like it is on the HDMI inputs for the Raspberry. Where you need the right release and patch state of a certain distro and all planets in the system aligning during setup. Because as of right now I think I am gonna accept the high delay of the cheap sticks. Because they just work with standard stuff.

[@jowarnis]

could this be used to access BIOS/UEFI of a remote machine?

[@DigitalzombieDev]

Yes

[@jowarnis]

@@DigitalzombieDev nice, thanks!

[@Prophes0r]

Yup. That's the point.

[@СусаннаСергеевна]

A bit disappointing it doesn’t run an actual distro. My use case for something like this is managing the server in my apartment from my summer home. I can use WireGuard with ssh and xrdp to do that if the server is already booted, but obviously I can’t do something like enter the ZFS password if the machine were to reboot or something. PiKVM would handle that fine, I can just run wgquick and add it to my peers, but for the NanoKVM I would need to tunnel everything through a separate SBC anyway.

[@oj0024]

You can run an actual distro, it's the same processor as on the mangopi mq pro, there are a few videos about it on youtube.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

they have already added support for Wireguard and Tailscale (which uses wireguard) to the stock firmware, and it's just a "linux from scratch" buildroot firmware for embedded devices so they can also add more tools as people ask them

[@faeranne]

Wendel did mention that the nanokvm supports wireguard (and tailscale) natively now, and is running a busybox distro, which means adding new software is possible. It should be possible to make another distro on top of this, but all the pieces are there.

[@СусаннаСергеевна]

Very well, I stand corrected. Might be worth getting one, then.

[@JayEliot]

I always dreamed about being stranded on a desert island until it actually happened.

[@markushahnenkamm]

The Price Point seems great. I would have many pcs, but so far it is only on preorder and i would need it to be integrated in an OEM Network - not sure if they will like this device

[@w3isserwolf]

Does the nanokvm work with an ezcoo 4 Port kvm Switch? Like the PiKVM does?

[@EQuivalentTube2]

If they added Yggdrasil support, that'd be great.

[@conorstewart2214]

It is just based on a RISC-V/ARM SBC that they also sell so there is probably nothing stopping you from using it like an SBC or developing your own image for it or running whatever you want on it.

[@pr0jectSkyneT]

Is this able to run ISO files so you can install any OS remotely like you can using PiKVM?

[@kingyachan]

Waiting for my preorder, ordered over a month ago, hopefully its on its way soon

[@toddh3774]

Selecting Pre-Order suggested I would have delivery by mid July 2024???

[@sl06bhytmar]

For oscilloscopes to remote in those?

[@marcogenovesi8570]

Does the oscilloscope show the screen on HDMI and accept USB keyboard and mouse?

[@Loggus66]

I wonder if it can be hacked remotely. Root shells left dangling on tty because "dude it's IPMI lol, no one but us can access that" is a goldmine. For that reason alone, don't give it internet access, don't VPN it to your $1 VPS somewhere on OVH. Separate VLAN seems like a good idea, standard for enterprises, but this here is for SOHO.

[@tin2001]

Chinese code too. At least it appears to be open source, but has anyone read over it? I'm a poor, so even these prices, while very attractive, are making me hesitate since I don't have an immediate use.... But the Chinese nature of it when it basically has root access is a bit off-putting too.

[@conorstewart2214]

@@tin2001 write your own code for it then, it is just a different form of their LicheeRV Nano dev board.

[@807800]

$20 for the lite version and $40 for the full version? Finally!

[@peterjansen4826]

A pity of the 1080p 60 FPS, otherwise it would be a nice device.

[@Trick-Framed]

I have a few KVMs but I have no real need for them anymore. This one is lookin good for the price and features.

[@Username_CC_]

1080p is the dealbreaker

[@CampRusso]

Did anyone already ask if you power it from the server USB, what of you power off the server? Loose power tk the nanoKVM? 🤔

[@AndersEinarHilden]

The Lite version will loose power (unless you manually attach something to the 5V power lines). The Full version has a separate USB power connector built in so you can use it with the computer off.

[@middle_pickup]

Pretty cool solution.

[@brtkcs]

Finally 😍 I can't wait to test this!

[@ReginaHopkin-b4c]

He found his art never progressed when he literally used his sweat and tears.

[@hypercube33]

What's the difference between Lite and not Lite other than $20

[@AndersEinarHilden]

Extra USB power (so it works when the computer is off), easy inline board for hardware power (on/off/reboot) control, tiny screen for debug info, and a case.

[@tuttocrafting]

Hopefully it will run OpenBMC one day.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

there is no real value in porting OpenBMC on it, as it's not connected to the motherboard like a real BMC would so it has no sensors or other stuff

[@Prophes0r]

That is totally unneeded. OpenBMC is useful when you need remote access to bus data like all the various temperature/fan/psu/etc sensors. An external device arguably SHOULDN'T have access to board-level stuff. These minimal devices need to do exactly 4 things. 1. Host a web frontend(arguable, a single SBC connected to a private network of KVMs would be better) 2. Get HDMI input and stream it. 3. Inject keyboard/mouse input into the attached machine 4. Power cycle the attached machine.

[@TheobaldIsabel]

Remember that failure is an event, not a person.

[@gunnargu]

IPv6 support?

[@ampex189]

Those look awesome!

[@GilFrog60]

I hope you are proud of yourself, now I'm gone have one also.

[@LabiaLicker]

Checkout the openterface mini-kvm. Its open hardware, and allows for usb over kvm for controlling headless systems through a laptop. So you get the headless systems display out and input controls virtualized on your laptop.

[@AndersEinarHilden]

Sure, the mini-kvm looks nice. If you are within usb cable reach of the computer you need to control. And if you want/can install the host app. Longer than that, NanoKVM or PiKVM via network, controllable from a standard web browser, thanks.

[@NextHeart]

You said EMMC card. Does this not use an SD card?

[@AndersEinarHilden]

-More like a soldered emmc chip, not a card, but yeah, no SD.- Ignore this, I was wrong, thanks @NextHearth. Using a SD card over emmc probably helps keep the price down? Even not shipping it with the Lite, most people probably have several already.

[@NextHeart]

@@AndersEinarHildenjust asked the seller, both models use an SD card. Maybe the early version they got for this video had on board storage, but the ones that are soon to be available definitely use a standard SD card

[@conorstewart2214]

You say this is less than $100 for the full kit? The image you show on screen shows it is $40 for the full kit and only $20 for the lite version, so much less than $100. You could get five of the lite version for $100 and I believe that is just it without the nice case and screen.

[@Its-Just-Zip]

Well, this is going in the old shopping cart for when I get my storage server slash jellyfin server slash home nas thing up and running. This would be great to have sitting running off of like an AMD APU while I have multiple graphics cards dedicated to different containers and VMs.

[@novafiddler1712]

ive been looking to a pikvm alternative!

[@MrRmeadows]

Exciting times. I wish it supported 3440x 1440. I need a better KVM. Limping along with just a 4 way USB 2 switch.

[@phizc]

Can't you switch to software KVM once the system is up and running? I use Moonlight/Sunshine with my secondary system at 4k/60.. Of course, I can't see or do anything until the OS has started, but except for that it's great.

[@JoannaBerkeley]

Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.

[@wokecenterleft7473]

That price is really appealing, I love the PiKVM, but not the price....

[@CyberWolf755]

Just what I need for my new NAS/Server :D