Great review! PiKVM is one of the best projects I've ever seen. The developer is not only incredibly talented, but a super nice guy. He really goes out of his way to help you out, and even add custom features! There is so much you can do with this software, it truly is mind-blowing!
WOW! Where has this been all my life!! I've been waiting for YEARS for someone to make something like this.. I would have even been happy with VGA to composite to make it easier to video capture, but this exceeds all my expectations.. Cant believe I haven't stumbled across this before now. Thanks for bringing this up.. definitely doing this!!
@@developerpranav he's a youtuber, don't you see the youtube milestone on his wall. Doing that much content leaves no time for dev. Youtubing is his job.
Same here. I was looking for a keyboard and mouse emulation using arduino or esp32 just to build this exact thing. I didn't even think about using raspberry.
I did it a couple of months ago the hard way. Trial and error with a esp for keyboard/mouse and screen with a usb-rca & a rca-hdmi via VLC on a rpi 1b. Now I cry because it's sooo slow compared to such solution
Just wanted to say thanks for making this video. 3 weeks ago I googled the hell out of diy kvm over network and didn't find anything helpful. I've ordered the parts to build a couple. Thanks so much.
Holy crap this project has come a LONG way since I first checked it out back around March. I really look forward to the HAT accessory, I'll probably end up ordering a handful of them.
Cool, as a cheapo KVM for my lab (Dell Optiplex 990 on steroids) I was using a Raspberry Pi but taking advantage of the vPro AMT KVM over IP and Manageability Commander/Mesh Commander, but the method only worked for vPro Intel chips by enabling the AMT setup. Still, if you have a vPro Intel processor, you can setup a KVM almost for free, you just need any other computer on the network, even a pi zero. Really like this approach you are posting though, no need for vPro!
Also Dr Don - two cool bits you didn’t mention in this (but which you actually came up with earlier) : - plugging a physical KVM switch into it and wiring that up so you can trigger the switching button from device to device; this would let you plug multiple systems into this configuration and switch between them with a command that switches over the physical connections. So if you have, say, several servers to maintain remotely - all done with one connection - Using a VGA > HDMI converter (about $5-15) to allow this solution to work with older gear, servers, etc. This has been tested by people (in their forums) and apparently works well. Combine this with the switcher and bingo, you can control remotely a cluster of systems; awesome for unattended support. Not just the advantage of more up-to-date software and infrastructure - this can also potentially bet set up and you could instruct a remote user to plug it into a box (so you can do a build, etc.). I reckon this could mean the difference between doing the job remotely and a 4 hour drive each way because of a BIOS screen. It's really hard to over-state how awesome this thing is eh.
My thoughts exactly! Some clients require a long drive to get there. Traffic can be a nightmare. Having one of these devices "layin around" can save tons of time.
@Michael Anthony you can wire that up too by wiring the jumper pins on the board to a relay, I've seen that done before (in that case someone made an IR remote to power their PC on and off). In this case I'd probably be relying on BIOS config for wake-on-keyboard input but if the site were, say, unattended - it'd be a definite option. I'd probably also set up a PXE boot config if possible to allow diagnostics utilities to be bootable for each system (e.g. disk diagnostics sweeps, memtest86, etc.).
Oh awesome! I was going to ask about vga. My ASRock Rack mobo does not have HDMI. Good to know 👍 Do ISO's have to be loaded into the Pi to be mountable? 🤔 It's not a deal breaker but it's always super convenient with the iDRAC & iLO's to just mount it off my desktop thru the browser.
Sounds interesting. Two comments though. 1) Audio quality of this video is rather poor. Lacking in high frequencies. You might want to look into your setup. 2) Could do with a better initial explanation of what the KVM over IP achieves. What plugs into where? A diagram would really help.
1. You are right. I'm looking into new setup as we speak. The lapel mic is acting up and not giving me good audio range. 2. I will be making a follow up video to this to answer alot of the questioned asked. I was explaing this as if people already know what kvm and that's my bad
Goddammit. I hacked something similar together with a Pi ZeroW and a serial to UART level shifter in order to control my remote offsite backup NAS. I just wish this video here was around earlier this year :D Now I am going to rebuild my "IPMI" (how I called it) with this brilliant Pi-KVM. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Nice video but can you elaborate more on the physical build of the 2 options and how you interconnect the Y split cable?? Any plans to to include on this DIY the ATX control? Last but nit least have you considered to Print in 3D a PCI bracket case? Then you can put the pi inside of your tower using like a PCI slot similar to a Supermicro board with IPMI
I was confused as well, as there needs to be a diagram of the wiring. Data (D+,D-,gnd) needs to go from 'server' to PI usb-c. Power supply (5VDC, gnd) wired to PI usb-c. So with the Y cable in the video, he covered 5VDC for the end that goes into the 'server'; dangerous, but it'll work. Here's the only pic I could find. images.app.goo.gl/xBrbzbE3QUAWY75ZA
I'm so excited about this! This might be the most exciting video you have produced. BTW- I have seen some of the items you mentioned in past videos and ordered online from Microcenter. That was cute until I actually drove to their nearest store. OMG! That place is HEAVEN!
I got my Pi-KVM to work, including the OTG, by using only the following parts: - Raspberry Pi 4B 2GB - USB-C to USB-A cable (uses the computer connected via USB-A to control/view connected to Pi USB-C to power it) $5 for a 3-pack on Amazon - HDMI-to-CSI-2 bridge $34.99 on Amazon - HDMI to HDMI cable (from my box of cables) or VGA-to-HDMI ($10.99 on Amazon) - SD Card (SanDisk 128GB that I already had) -- for the Pi-KVM image and ISO images to mount to server It only cost me $40 in additional parts to get the basic functionality working. The VGA-to-HDMI adapter is for VGA output only, which majority of servers/systems utilize. I fully tested both VGA-to-HDMI and HDMI-to-HDMI and they work as expected. Now, I have my own KVM over IP console working, I can move the systems into a data closet or attic and can remotely manage them. All my systems can be remotely powered on via Wake-on-LAN, so no need to be physically in front of the system in order to perform maintenance. Next project is to get a EzCoo 4 port HDMI switch $75 on Amazon and connect the Pi to that (make sure it gets power via the same USB-A to USB-C cable). That is still less than $200 in parts to include the Pi for a 4-port KVM over IP and works using web interface thanks to PiKVM project.
Correct me if I'm wrong: If ALL you care about is the video feed and keyboard+mouse control, seems like the only things you need are the RPi (I'd get the 4), the HDMI-CSI bridge connected ONLY by the ribbon cable, and the power splitter (or jacked up USB cables). Plus power source, of course. No other hardware or wiring is needed, right? (I want to control Macs so the motherboard and power connections don't mean anything to me)
glossing over that USB Y-splitter like that is why poeple will blow up their motherboards. That Y-splitter is what makes or breakes the whole thing and you just glossed over it. They recommend a Type-C splitter with PCB which are much harder to find btw.
I wanted to do this very thing for my cctv, ended up using USB over cat5 adapters and vga over cat5 adapters and ran 2 cables to the nearest TV and just put a mouse there. This seems so much more elegant...
I'm not personally interested in KVM but this is indeed amazing. And it indirectly got me thinking about how close we're to a Raspberry powered OBS streaming box. I believe you have done some tests with OBS, right? Is the performance good or do we need to wait maybe for the next Pi generation?
@@NovaspiritTech If you really want to dive deep on streaming with a Pi, I recommend looking into gstreamer and snowmix. I managed to get a decent 1080p30 stream out of a Pi with that. OBS is unfortunately super slow because of the UI.
This is such an incredibly cool project. Open-source is just so much better than an expensive enterprise-solution where you are subject to the mercy of a company if you need a feature or bug-fix. And it will become much easier to setup with v3.
Whenever I'm away, power goes out or an update breaks my Chrome Remote Desktop. This is great! I had never thought to look for an HDMI to CSI-2 adapter. Excellent video, but some of the cuts where you are moving your hands are a bit awkward. That's OK.👍
Without the use of a KVM-switch it's a 1-1 connection. The developer recommends a KVM switch brand by Ezcoo for use with this product as that can be controlled via the Pi over USB connection without needing to open the KVM case to solder in some GPIO connection points to simulate button presses on the switch input button. For more info, check out the project github or the official discord for the project
There is another very similar project called tinypilot kvm that uses the same usb dongle. They sell this great little device that separates out the power and keyboard from the usb c connector so that you don't have to use tape. I think this ones software looks a little more refined, but tinypilot will install on the standard raspberry pi OS. I'm definitely going to check this one out though. Thanks for the heads up! Also, as a side note, iLo 4 and 5 both have very good html5 consoles now. But as always with hpe, you gotta pay to play.
Ok this is amazing. If I had something like this setup at work I would not be in the office right now on a Sunday morning fixing a panicking build server! Will have to test if it works with a usb vga capture card though.
It is connected like a physical keyboard, mouse and display. It can be used with any computer that supports USB mouse, keyboard and an external monitor. With the ATX extension you can even switch it on and off. It is for desktop computer and servers. Laptops would have very limited functionality.
Woah, this is neat! I'd love to see a multi-system variant (hooking up 2, 3 systems at once) as a means of administering a small serverfarm. Such a cool little product for that price!
Sooo... you mean to tell me I can leave one of these at my parents house and when they start having problems I can just tell them to plug it in!!!!! Mind blown.
Well you'd have to do a good bit of additional setup, but yes. You'd need to set a static IP for the Pi or DHCP reservation for the Pi on your parent's router, port forward whatever ports this needs (I am assuming 80 and 443), then set up DDNS (I recommend DuckDNS) so that you can access it if your parent's public IP address happens to change. This is assuming your parents are not behind CGNAT, if they are things get a bit more complicated but still doable.
@@antikommunistischaktion I am using CloudFlare for dynamic DNS as they are my registrar. As for the VPN bit I can either use the OpenVPN server on my netgate firewall or I think I am more likely going to use Zerotier so I can keep the tunnel down till I need it.
@@antikommunistischaktion you wouldn't open ports on your parents firewall that would be an absolute security minefield. Just set up a VPN client on the device to connect back to a network you control.
Hello, I really love your videos but this time i am a bot confused, regarding to what hardware do I need. I have a spare raspberry pi4 2gb I can use, and I want the cheapest solution, the diy version. Is it enough just the csi bridge and some cable adapter or do i need to buy an extra hat? I am confused if i need the hat as well the csi bridge or not. Your video is very good on the software part, but the hardware for me it is not clear. Thank you.
Don: Did you mention about using pikvm for doing remote support? I need to control and monitor the remote computer which has monitor and kbd/mouse local to the computer. Would I use some kind of HDMI splitter before the pi? How will the display resolution be resolved between what is feed to the pi vs to the local monitor?
Good video and detail. But to be honest, most newer server hardware (iLO's or iDRAC's, etc.) are HTML5 capable now. Java is only a concern with systems that are older than a few years ago. I definitely can see a use for this but as it relates to your statement about server hardware, this really doesn't apply nowadays IMO.
this is going to priceless to hand over a few of these to our field "engineers". One thing that is kinda glossed over, to the point that i'm actually not sure it exists. Aside from offering remote control to a desktop via hdmi. Does it offer a desktop of it's own? It would be lovely to have a workspace where i could store data using utilities such as nmap or samba.
This is really cool! I'm using a AV-access 4kip100-kvm and it works so fast I can actualy game on it. However I'm struggling to get my switch to keep the connection stable. As soon as I send data via the switch I have black screens :( but maybe something to take a look in. It is lossless streaming up to 4k and usb2.0 is fully supported. Very cool this Pikvm my subscription is added ✌️
I actually came across this or at least a project like that a couple of weeks ago but I haven't further look into it yet. Seeing how well it works for you and potentially even on Zeros makes me interested indeed as I have quite a usecase for KVM switches. Both at home and at work.
XWindow has been network transparent from day one. Back in the 80's. It's commonly called a thin-client. Or a remote XWindow client. I set up a thin-client on a 386 PC for my daughter to log into my Dual PII computer back in the late 90's. Only Windows waited until the new millennium to allow remote desktop. But they only allowed one desktop. So if someone connected to your computer with remote desktop, they were driving the same desktop you saw. UNIX and Linux actually had true multi-user login from the beginning.
This is so cool and could be so helpful with various projects, but I was hoping so much for a soild 60fps on the video feed. I wanted to do something where I have my pc in a 4U server style case in another room. then have something like this in the office easily hidden and keeping my desk looking clean. some of the more expensive network kvm claim to do 4k60 so im going to look into that. using this in combination of say steam streaming is also a option
Awesome, thanks to share. Their designed board should have 4G option ! It could be excellent : you send a computer with this device and you can configure it remotely on another network!
Hey, great video. I will be using this for a non-server. Just FYI, Dell iDrac does use HTML5 now rather than java. Since the Dell R620 and R720 servers have been released in 2012 they can support HTML5. You might want to check for the latest Lifecycle controller for your PARTICULAR Model
hey this is awesome. one question i had is if it is easy for clients to set this up on their broken systems so i can remote repair them. it would seem like they would not know how to add these devices to their network to get the internet connection to be established between my workshop and their client systems.
You can add tailscale vpn to the pikvm, he has a write up on it which will give you a remote VPN access without needing the client to do any work like opening ports
@@NovaspiritTech thank you. I like your usbip video except im experiencing some issues, How would i make it so that it auto attaches every startup(server) and have it connected and running without having powershell open (client)? Im not too familiar with this stuffs and having a guiding light is much appreciated.
Probably it will be sold out with all those people making their own diy aliexpress x79/x99 servers but they lack the pmi/idrac/lilo capabilities. My main concern is (having watched creator's presentation of the project) the way it achieves the atx control. It requires cabling between a rasp-intermediate board-and motherboard's internal power connector? This will look like a spider's web of cables and also having to let the server's chassis open in order for cables to make it through the motherboard? Probably I am missing something for the final product . i cant get how you ll be able to power on the server without this abnormal connection
@@NovaspiritTech after so much tinkering the diy cable that I made went bad had another and now is working, thank you so much for answering back and everything you do with the videos ur a legend.
Think this vid applies mostly to DevOps technicians and such working on 'remote' OS installs/ upgrades.. Anything over IP demands wired gigabit ethernet, I would think.. Stick noisy servers in one room and configure then using the IP KVM in another room...
Could I use an additional USB-A male-to-male cable and connect it to one of the other USB ports on the RPi 4 and to a USB port on the computer I want to control?
it's different, guacamole is a remote desktop gateway. it's like a fancy bookmark to retain all your remote connections offered on apache. this is KVM, it's like giving your phsyical access to the machine remotely
Great review! PiKVM is one of the best projects I've ever seen. The developer is not only incredibly talented, but a super nice guy. He really goes out of his way to help you out, and even add custom features! There is so much you can do with this software, it truly is mind-blowing!
WOW! Where has this been all my life!! I've been waiting for YEARS for someone to make something like this.. I would have even been happy with VGA to composite to make it easier to video capture, but this exceeds all my expectations.. Cant believe I haven't stumbled across this before now. Thanks for bringing this up.. definitely doing this!!
Thanks man! It's because people like you, the Linux community is getting better and better everyday! I pay my respects to a generous dev like you.
Bro he's not the dev.
@@MuminovicGoran he's a Dev. I didn't say he's the Dev for a particular software
@@developerpranav he's a youtuber, don't you see the youtube milestone on his wall. Doing that much content leaves no time for dev. Youtubing is his job.
@@MuminovicGoran he has developed some stuff too. What tells you he can't do both?
This is definitely one to watch. When HDMI audio is supported, this will be one of the most popular Pi projects ever.
That is in the works according to the dev
So weird I looked up ways to do this 3 days ago for over 4 hours, and then see this video summing up all my research. Well played.
Same here. I was looking for a keyboard and mouse emulation using arduino or esp32 just to build this exact thing. I didn't even think about using raspberry.
I did it a couple of months ago the hard way. Trial and error with a esp for keyboard/mouse and screen with a usb-rca & a rca-hdmi via VLC on a rpi 1b.
Now I cry because it's sooo slow compared to such solution
Yeah I did as well 😂
Does one rpi support 1 machine only or multiple ?
It was made after you looked for it by AI to fill the void.
Simply WOW! I have been looking for a cheap IP KVM for literally years!!! Man that guy who came up with this idea is a genius,
A RPI Compute Module 4 IO Board for PiKVM ruclips.net/video/aehOawHklGE/видео.html
Just wanted to say thanks for making this video. 3 weeks ago I googled the hell out of diy kvm over network and didn't find anything helpful. I've ordered the parts to build a couple. Thanks so much.
about halfway through I started wondering if I could use this for remote installs (from a custom ISO)... and then at +10m you show exactly that! Nice!
Holy crap this project has come a LONG way since I first checked it out back around March. I really look forward to the HAT accessory, I'll probably end up ordering a handful of them.
Cool, as a cheapo KVM for my lab (Dell Optiplex 990 on steroids) I was using a Raspberry Pi but taking advantage of the vPro AMT KVM over IP and Manageability Commander/Mesh Commander, but the method only worked for vPro Intel chips by enabling the AMT setup. Still, if you have a vPro Intel processor, you can setup a KVM almost for free, you just need any other computer on the network, even a pi zero. Really like this approach you are posting though, no need for vPro!
Also Dr Don - two cool bits you didn’t mention in this (but which you actually came up with earlier)
:
- plugging a physical KVM switch into it and wiring that up so you can trigger the switching button from device to device; this would let you plug multiple systems into this configuration and switch between them with a command that switches over the physical connections.
So if you have, say, several servers to maintain remotely - all done with one connection
- Using a VGA > HDMI converter (about $5-15) to allow this solution to work with older gear, servers, etc. This has been tested by people (in their forums) and apparently works well. Combine this with the switcher and bingo, you can control remotely a cluster of systems; awesome for unattended support.
Not just the advantage of more up-to-date software and infrastructure - this can also potentially bet set up and you could instruct a remote user to plug it into a box (so you can do a build, etc.). I reckon this could mean the difference between doing the job remotely and a 4 hour drive each way because of a BIOS screen. It's really hard to over-state how awesome this thing is eh.
My thoughts exactly! Some clients require a long drive to get there. Traffic can be a nightmare. Having one of these devices "layin around" can save tons of time.
@Michael Anthony you can wire that up too by wiring the jumper pins on the board to a relay, I've seen that done before (in that case someone made an IR remote to power their PC on and off). In this case I'd probably be relying on BIOS config for wake-on-keyboard input but if the site were, say, unattended - it'd be a definite option. I'd probably also set up a PXE boot config if possible to allow diagnostics utilities to be bootable for each system (e.g. disk diagnostics sweeps, memtest86, etc.).
Oh awesome! I was going to ask about vga. My ASRock Rack mobo does not have HDMI. Good to know 👍
Do ISO's have to be loaded into the Pi to be mountable? 🤔 It's not a deal breaker but it's always super convenient with the iDRAC & iLO's to just mount it off my desktop thru the browser.
Sounds interesting. Two comments though.
1) Audio quality of this video is rather poor. Lacking in high frequencies. You might want to look into your setup.
2) Could do with a better initial explanation of what the KVM over IP achieves. What plugs into where? A diagram would really help.
1. You are right. I'm looking into new setup as we speak. The lapel mic is acting up and not giving me good audio range.
2. I will be making a follow up video to this to answer alot of the questioned asked. I was explaing this as if people already know what kvm and that's my bad
Goddammit. I hacked something similar together with a Pi ZeroW and a serial to UART level shifter in order to control my remote offsite backup NAS. I just wish this video here was around earlier this year :D Now I am going to rebuild my "IPMI" (how I called it) with this brilliant Pi-KVM. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Nice video but can you elaborate more on the physical build of the 2 options and how you interconnect the Y split cable?? Any plans to to include on this DIY the ATX control? Last but nit least have you considered to Print in 3D a PCI bracket case? Then you can put the pi inside of your tower using like a PCI slot similar to a Supermicro board with IPMI
Wow! This solves so many problems for me. I can’t wait to try this out.
I'm quite confused how you'd use the linked USB cable exactly. If you have P4 then what would be the proper setup, exactly?
I was confused as well, as there needs to be a diagram of the wiring. Data (D+,D-,gnd) needs to go from 'server' to PI usb-c. Power supply (5VDC, gnd) wired to PI usb-c. So with the Y cable in the video, he covered 5VDC for the end that goes into the 'server'; dangerous, but it'll work. Here's the only pic I could find. images.app.goo.gl/xBrbzbE3QUAWY75ZA
@@jayshomebrew His next video on 24-Nov-2020 (this one is 20-Nov-2020) shows a diagram @ ruclips.net/video/KXn2xRPLfXg/видео.html (at 6:19).
Amazon link to USB hdmi no longer works. Please fix, thx.
I'm so excited about this! This might be the most exciting video you have produced.
BTW- I have seen some of the items you mentioned in past videos and ordered online from Microcenter. That was cute until I actually drove to their nearest store. OMG! That place is HEAVEN!
Hello, is there Somewhere a pic of all connected wiring ? For the pi and pi connected to a pc ?
What is going on? That is an excellent question. I am so pleased that all these dope guys pose the question at the beginning of their videos.
I got my Pi-KVM to work, including the OTG, by using only the following parts:
- Raspberry Pi 4B 2GB
- USB-C to USB-A cable (uses the computer connected via USB-A to control/view connected to Pi USB-C to power it) $5 for a 3-pack on Amazon
- HDMI-to-CSI-2 bridge $34.99 on Amazon
- HDMI to HDMI cable (from my box of cables) or VGA-to-HDMI ($10.99 on Amazon)
- SD Card (SanDisk 128GB that I already had) -- for the Pi-KVM image and ISO images to mount to server
It only cost me $40 in additional parts to get the basic functionality working. The VGA-to-HDMI adapter is for VGA output only, which majority of servers/systems utilize. I fully tested both VGA-to-HDMI and HDMI-to-HDMI and they work as expected. Now, I have my own KVM over IP console working, I can move the systems into a data closet or attic and can remotely manage them. All my systems can be remotely powered on via Wake-on-LAN, so no need to be physically in front of the system in order to perform maintenance. Next project is to get a EzCoo 4 port HDMI switch $75 on Amazon and connect the Pi to that (make sure it gets power via the same USB-A to USB-C cable). That is still less than $200 in parts to include the Pi for a 4-port KVM over IP and works using web interface thanks to PiKVM project.
Awesome!!!!, I also just got the prototype so will be reviewing that this week
Thanks! You just gave me what I needed for my home datacenter :)
Awesome job promoting this. It is much needed. This seems like a great project to support and build.
Correct me if I'm wrong: If ALL you care about is the video feed and keyboard+mouse control, seems like the only things you need are the RPi (I'd get the 4), the HDMI-CSI bridge connected ONLY by the ribbon cable, and the power splitter (or jacked up USB cables). Plus power source, of course. No other hardware or wiring is needed, right? (I want to control Macs so the motherboard and power connections don't mean anything to me)
glossing over that USB Y-splitter like that is why poeple will blow up their motherboards. That Y-splitter is what makes or breakes the whole thing and you just glossed over it. They recommend a Type-C splitter with PCB which are much harder to find btw.
I wanted to do this very thing for my cctv, ended up using USB over cat5 adapters and vga over cat5 adapters and ran 2 cables to the nearest TV and just put a mouse there. This seems so much more elegant...
I'm not personally interested in KVM but this is indeed amazing. And it indirectly got me thinking about how close we're to a Raspberry powered OBS streaming box. I believe you have done some tests with OBS, right? Is the performance good or do we need to wait maybe for the next Pi generation?
shhhh stop giving away my ideass LOL i'm working on OBS streaming using the HDMI-CSI2 bus
@@NovaspiritTech 😄
@@NovaspiritTech If you really want to dive deep on streaming with a Pi, I recommend looking into gstreamer and snowmix. I managed to get a decent 1080p30 stream out of a Pi with that. OBS is unfortunately super slow because of the UI.
@@danielgstohl9993 what about using chromium and obs ninja?
@@danielgstohl9993 That's interesting, did you OCed the Pi? What video quality settings and bitrate did you use?
Rarely do I find a tech video where I actually learn something new. This is one of them :) thanks! 😊
This is such an incredibly cool project. Open-source is just so much better than an expensive enterprise-solution where you are subject to the mercy of a company if you need a feature or bug-fix. And it will become much easier to setup with v3.
Whenever I'm away, power goes out or an update breaks my Chrome Remote Desktop. This is great! I had never thought to look for an HDMI to CSI-2 adapter. Excellent video, but some of the cuts where you are moving your hands are a bit awkward. That's OK.👍
I am unclear on connection between the KVM and the target systems. Is this one pi per server?
Probably could use a kvm switch and then the pi.
I would like to know also.
Without the use of a KVM-switch it's a 1-1 connection. The developer recommends a KVM switch brand by Ezcoo for use with this product as that can be controlled via the Pi over USB connection without needing to open the KVM case to solder in some GPIO connection points to simulate button presses on the switch input button. For more info, check out the project github or the official discord for the project
Great tip! Thank you for sharing!
There is another very similar project called tinypilot kvm that uses the same usb dongle. They sell this great little device that separates out the power and keyboard from the usb c connector so that you don't have to use tape. I think this ones software looks a little more refined, but tinypilot will install on the standard raspberry pi OS. I'm definitely going to check this one out though. Thanks for the heads up!
Also, as a side note, iLo 4 and 5 both have very good html5 consoles now. But as always with hpe, you gotta pay to play.
Ok this is amazing. If I had something like this setup at work I would not be in the office right now on a Sunday morning fixing a panicking build server! Will have to test if it works with a usb vga capture card though.
You could use a vga to hdmi adapter.
Awesome vid. I think I bumped into this project when it was still really rough. This looks amazing now.
Have you used ZeroTier? I wonder how well it would work over ZeroTier.
I also would like to know...
Remote securely behind a CgNAT woul make this more useful than a ipkvm
Good question
Thanks for this video! This is just amazing what we can do just using a RPI 4!! Thanks again, fantastic and really complete explanation.
A RPI Compute Module 4 IO Board for PiKVM ruclips.net/video/aehOawHklGE/видео.html
Can you control windows computers with it as well?
It is connected like a physical keyboard, mouse and display. It can be used with any computer that supports USB mouse, keyboard and an external monitor. With the ATX extension you can even switch it on and off. It is for desktop computer and servers. Laptops would have very limited functionality.
The KVM over IP is not a new idea, but it's first time to implemented in such low cost, good job! it's much better than 4 bay 2.5 inch sata NAS...
Woah, this is neat! I'd love to see a multi-system variant (hooking up 2, 3 systems at once) as a means of administering a small serverfarm. Such a cool little product for that price!
Multiport! github.com/pikvm/pikvm/blob/master/pages/multiport.md
For those confused about the usb connection, a usc-c power/audio adapter splitter works perfectly.
Do you have a video/picture/link of how to connect the cables between Raspberry and the device?
Sooo... you mean to tell me I can leave one of these at my parents house and when they start having problems I can just tell them to plug it in!!!!! Mind blown.
yessss and if you use the same HDMI USB i'm using, it has a HDMI out so you can keep it on there forever with out hem even knowing
Well you'd have to do a good bit of additional setup, but yes. You'd need to set a static IP for the Pi or DHCP reservation for the Pi on your parent's router, port forward whatever ports this needs (I am assuming 80 and 443), then set up DDNS (I recommend DuckDNS) so that you can access it if your parent's public IP address happens to change. This is assuming your parents are not behind CGNAT, if they are things get a bit more complicated but still doable.
@@antikommunistischaktion I am using CloudFlare for dynamic DNS as they are my registrar. As for the VPN bit I can either use the OpenVPN server on my netgate firewall or I think I am more likely going to use Zerotier so I can keep the tunnel down till I need it.
@@antikommunistischaktion Or you just activate tailscale on the Pi and you can just connect to it whenever it's connected to an internet connection
@@antikommunistischaktion you wouldn't open ports on your parents firewall that would be an absolute security minefield. Just set up a VPN client on the device to connect back to a network you control.
For the HDMI CSI Bridge, is that like a seperate hat that has a male hdmi port that allows direct connection to the server?
Hello,
I really love your videos but this time i am a bot confused, regarding to what hardware do I need.
I have a spare raspberry pi4 2gb I can use, and I want the cheapest solution, the diy version.
Is it enough just the csi bridge and some cable adapter or do i need to buy an extra hat? I am confused if i need the hat as well the csi bridge or not.
Your video is very good on the software part, but the hardware for me it is not clear.
Thank you.
you are a legend
Don: Did you mention about using pikvm for doing remote support? I need to control and monitor the remote computer which has monitor and kbd/mouse local to the computer. Would I use some kind of HDMI splitter before the pi? How will the display resolution be resolved between what is feed to the pi vs to the local monitor?
Keep up the good work bro. You are amazing. Your videos always have lots of good information.
Awesome product. It’s amazingly working well. Definitely would buy the hat to test it out.
now just put it on a mini case and ship it to remote clients, amazing!
This is Cool Uncle Don!
Good video and detail. But to be honest, most newer server hardware (iLO's or iDRAC's, etc.) are HTML5 capable now. Java is only a concern with systems that are older than a few years ago. I definitely can see a use for this but as it relates to your statement about server hardware, this really doesn't apply nowadays IMO.
So it is really a KVMP(orts)D(rive)
Nice! Thanks for support on pi4
this is going to priceless to hand over a few of these to our field "engineers". One thing that is kinda glossed over, to the point that i'm actually not sure it exists. Aside from offering remote control to a desktop via hdmi. Does it offer a desktop of it's own? It would be lovely to have a workspace where i could store data using utilities such as nmap or samba.
i guess nothing stops you from installing xfce and xrdp
Clicked for kernel Virtual machine
Stood for Kvmpd
Lol. Same.
Same I was wondering what it was 😂
This is really cool! I'm using a AV-access 4kip100-kvm and it works so fast I can actualy game on it. However I'm struggling to get my switch to keep the connection stable. As soon as I send data via the switch I have black screens :( but maybe something to take a look in. It is lossless streaming up to 4k and usb2.0 is fully supported.
Very cool this Pikvm my subscription is added ✌️
Ou this is so cool :) very nice project
could you make a video about how to connect the ATX controls
How do exactly connect the USB splitter cable? I am unsure what to do with it.
I actually came across this or at least a project like that a couple of weeks ago but I haven't further look into it yet.
Seeing how well it works for you and potentially even on Zeros makes me interested indeed as I have quite a usecase for KVM switches.
Both at home and at work.
XWindow has been network transparent from day one. Back in the 80's. It's commonly called a thin-client. Or a remote XWindow client. I set up a thin-client on a 386 PC for my daughter to log into my Dual PII computer back in the late 90's.
Only Windows waited until the new millennium to allow remote desktop. But they only allowed one desktop. So if someone connected to your computer with remote desktop, they were driving the same desktop you saw.
UNIX and Linux actually had true multi-user login from the beginning.
This is so cool and could be so helpful with various projects, but I was hoping so much for a soild 60fps on the video feed. I wanted to do something where I have my pc in a 4U server style case in another room. then have something like this in the office easily hidden and keeping my desk looking clean. some of the more expensive network kvm claim to do 4k60 so im going to look into that. using this in combination of say steam streaming is also a option
Have you tried getting this working with a VGA based system? I have a few older systems that I need to support that don't have HDMI
And here i thought its going to be covering a Kernel Virtual Machine (KVM) on a Pi.
Thanks for the review. And what about Mic and Headphones? Is there a possibility to hook them remotely as well? Thanks
I know what I am building next! This is awesome.
this is great! thanks for sharing this
Why is the splitter needed? can you just use a different USB for the virtual kb connection?
What are the minimum requirements if I want to make these with a compute module?
you can run this on raspberry pi zero.... so not much requirements
Awesome, thanks to share. Their designed board should have 4G option !
It could be excellent : you send a computer with this device and you can configure it remotely on another network!
Just use a 4G dongle.
Hey, great video. I will be using this for a non-server. Just FYI, Dell iDrac does use HTML5 now rather than java. Since the Dell R620 and R720 servers have been released in 2012 they can support HTML5. You might want to check for the latest Lifecycle controller for your PARTICULAR Model
hey this is awesome. one question i had is if it is easy for clients to set this up on their broken systems so i can remote repair them. it would seem like they would not know how to add these devices to their network to get the internet connection to be established between my workshop and their client systems.
You can add tailscale vpn to the pikvm, he has a write up on it which will give you a remote VPN access without needing the client to do any work like opening ports
@@NovaspiritTech thanks ill have to check it out!
With the 0w is there much lag? I have quite a few of those and I'm tempted to use these on my home labs.
Is there a picture to show where the splitter goes in/out? Not obvious to me. Have pi4
check the Q&A video
would it be possible to include audio streaming also?
Can this KVM be tweaked to act as a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC)? Excuse me if I am being a total noob
Definitely cool. I am assuming a mainstream remote control program could be used...teamviewer/anydesk? Remote to remote....to physical.
Very cool! Great Vid! I have always wanted a device like this. Please make a more descriptive hardware setup video. Particularly the hdmi csi
Does PIKVM support on Raspberry pi compute module?
I like you can control the POWER and RESET buttons of the host computer too
Is there any DIY Raspberry pi project which can be used to connect USB devices via Ethernet?
Don, i think your usb splitter recommendations in description is wrong because you linked splitter power + data+power one. Correct me if i wrong...
Thanks man! amazing...!!!
Woah! such a Cool Idea..
Gaming/workstation kvm over ip? Like usb passthrough too for printers and webcams?
If you follow my other tutorial for usb over network. It is possible
@@NovaspiritTech thank you. I like your usbip video except im experiencing some issues,
How would i make it so that it auto attaches every startup(server) and have it connected and running without having powershell open (client)? Im not too familiar with this stuffs and having a guiding light is much appreciated.
Now that looks familiar!!
thanks dav for showing me
So gonna buy the hat for when I build my next home server. I got an HP DL360 and iLo2 is rough to use.
Very cool project! Rack servers without iDRAC/ILO would need a VGA to HDMI converter as HDMI output is not common on those.
ill be having a few of these !!! server pc and a remote one for parents
So to use this on three remote PCs I need 3 PiKVMs ?
This is so cool, is there a way to let both the piKvm and the local screen connected to the computer being monitored ?
Thoughts on powering the pi from the 5v stand by power rail on the power supply? Is it possible or is it a bad idea?
Is this a 1-to-1 relationship, eg., one RPi&KVM hardware, to one device to be KVM-controlled?
Probably it will be sold out with all those people making their own diy aliexpress x79/x99 servers but they lack the pmi/idrac/lilo capabilities. My main concern is (having watched creator's presentation of the project) the way it achieves the atx control. It requires cabling between a rasp-intermediate board-and motherboard's internal power connector? This will look like a spider's web of cables and also having to let the server's chassis open in order for cables to make it through the motherboard?
Probably I am missing something for the final product . i cant get how you ll be able to power on the server without this abnormal connection
Quick question I am unable to use thew mouse and KB on the PIKVM GUI I can't figure out why? I have set up the HDMI-to-CSI bridge
are you connecting the mouse and keyboard from your USB-C?
@@NovaspiritTech after so much tinkering the diy cable that I made went bad had another and now is working, thank you so much for answering back and everything you do with the videos ur a legend.
Think this vid applies mostly to DevOps technicians and such working on 'remote' OS installs/ upgrades.. Anything over IP demands wired gigabit ethernet, I would think.. Stick noisy servers in one room and configure then using the IP KVM in another room...
Can you pass any usb over? Like a mic or such?
Could I use an additional USB-A male-to-male cable and connect it to one of the other USB ports on the RPi 4 and to a USB port on the computer I want to control?
No
How does this compare to just using Apache Guacamole on Raspberry Pi?
it's different, guacamole is a remote desktop gateway. it's like a fancy bookmark to retain all your remote connections offered on apache. this is KVM, it's like giving your phsyical access to the machine remotely