@@asksearchknock Thanks a ton for your great suggestions and support! It really boosts our team's spirit! About the storage, we've thought a lot about this. Right now, we're using a switchable USB port so you can plug in your own flash drive. This means you can choose the amount of storage yourself, depending on the drive you use. We're definitely considering adding storage emulation too. It would be cool to have it work at the same time to share storage between the host and the target computer, but that means we'd need a fancier chipset, which could complicate things a bit. Right now, we've got a manual toggle switch to change the use of the usb 2.0 port, and we know it could be better. We're thinking about making it software-controlled in the future, but again, that would need a more complex chip. I love your idea about enabling WiFi hotspot too! For this version, we're sticking with what we've got to keep it affordable, but we're totally planning to upgrade this in the next model. We also get that some folks still need PS/2 connections for older servers and computers. We're on the hunt for a good adapter solution, but haven't found the perfect one yet. We'll keep you posted! Whether we go for a built-in PS/2 option or design a special accessory will depend on how much demand there is. If anyone has any suggestions on this matter, we're all ears. To get a better idea of what everyone wants, we're going to set up a poll on our website where you can vote for your most-wanted features. Stay tuned and make sure to let us know what you think!

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤯 You are in my head!!!!!! I'm also working on it...

Hey! Loved your idea about the magnetic back for the mini-KVM. I’ve just posted an update on our subreddit Openterface_miniKVM about testing it out (can't post a link here). Check it out when you have a moment and let me know what you think or if you've got any more cool suggestions. Cheers! 😃

Great idea, I used to Velcro serial consoles to the frame back in day. Never thought to using magnets. 😅

We’re on it, working hard to bring it right to you! We really need your support to make this happen 🚀

​@@techxartisanstudioHave you considered making this a kickstarter project? If funding is a major roadblock this is an ideal solution to that...

@@sirtra Hi! Its crowdfunding campaign has pre-launched on Crowd Supply now. Need your support to make it happen! Cheers!

​@@sirtra Yes, we're launching it on Crowd Supply! The official campaign will be live soon. Looking forward to your support & Stay tuned! 👏🏻

​@@techxartisanstudio The VGA cable seems to be unavailable to ship to Europe, do you have an alternative link just for this cable?

Hey, thanks a ton for that awesome suggestion! Absolutely, you've hit the nail on the head with that idea! Adding a macro function is actually on our roadmap. Right now, though, our team's a bit stretched thin. We're laser-focused on getting the basics right and ensuring everything runs smoothly for our crowdfunding campaign. Our goal is to get this gadget into your hands as soon as we can! As for the code, once we've got it polished a bit for your eyes, we're planning to go open source. Stay tuned! Plus, we're totally open to having developers join the party, especially those who might run into a bug or two (yep, they're bound to pop up). Let's make some cool stuff happen! Cheers! 🙌

​@@techxartisanstudiothat's an easy feature to add ill recommended to look into rubberducky style of devices, they should be easy to integrate with an smt32 and a sd card by taking inspiration of existing open hardware devices.

​@@subjekt_9142 Thanks for your suggestion! We'll explore how we can make improvements. Stay tuned for updates!

we are working on building the app for Linux and Windows too. Stay tuned!

@@techxartisanstudio could you build something that could run in a web browser/HTML5/JavaScript? (Have it emulate maybe a CDROM or ready only USB drive so the JavaScript payload is on device presented over the USB connection). Web interface could be updated with the firmware. The other option is to emulate a web server and ethernet connection, because browsers can get finicky about running JavaScript on a device locally thru file:// (Google Chrome is this, I have to host a portable GO web-server in the local directory and the local copy works, using file:.// with Chrome results in things greyed out, video as a grey block, etc) - even fi you don't implement full network connectivity, this would allow the techsavvy to open routes if they want to get closer to that PiKVM like experience. Major equipment is going the way of HTML5/javascript as it nearly eliminates most host OS issues (Windows 11 is a dumpster fire, an app might work one week and an update takes it out due to some new kernel restriction) and easily extends to eventually allowing mobile devices to access via USB OTG. I have a SAUNA Qb radioxenon detector coming my way ($500,000 unit) and despite its complexity, the interface is a very lightweight web browser HTML5/javascript, and debugging is performed over SSH/SCP. with Debian images.

PiKVM V4+ fully assembled is over $500 in Canada, I have one (and no time to mess with assembly, so I bought the turn key model). This being a whole heck of a lot cheaper definitely has use cases where a PiKVM isn't needed, and they do have latency. Easily could rig this up to a laptop that itself has a remote desktop server put on it to get to about 80% of what a PiKVM could do. I currently have a mobile multi-laptop setup where I have one of the two laptops, thru a web browser's using a javascript HTML5 player, show a UVC HDMI capture card, to act as a second monitor - because Spacedesk as of late chokes on 1080p video. If the primary laptop goes down or has a gltich, I can flip the roles around as both have the same image and keep downtime to

@dkannegi I am using the V3 kit from amazon for €85 and a pi 4 2gb of €40 for a total of €125. For €500 I would not use pikvm either. That's a lot of money!

Yep, exactly! HP Engage Flex Pro. Ultimately I picked it up just because it was really cheap (£80 or so) for an i5 8500 machine that's small form factor but also had a decent range of PCIe slots (x16, x4 and some x2) with the ability to fit full height cards (with some sort of riser cable) so that I could test high speed network cards in it. Needed a cheap machine to basically use as a test bench.

​@@camerongray1515 I'd watch a video about it. Good deal.

Thanks for you support! Its campaign is live on Crowd Supply now!

Yes, we are working on it! thanks for your extra comment!

We're all about keeping it quality yet wallet-friendly! Your support is key. The more folks jump on board, the better we can manage production costs. Need your support to make it happen! 🚀

Thanks for your support! We're already working on the Android version, but it might be a bit slow since we're still mainly focused on Windows, Linux, and macOS. As for iPad support, we're still experimenting. Our community has found some cool workarounds, and we might be able to support M series iPads. Things are still up in the air, but we'll keep you updated, especially on Discord where we have most of our dev discussions.

Me too. Now I feel old. I remember cursing Microsoft for their ipx stack, and having to install the NetWare version for 4.11 on windows.

Absolutely, you're spot on! We've noticed the shift towards USB-C in laptops and PCs too, which is why we're throwing in this handy USB-C adapter with our cable.

We're working hard on building the app for Win and Linux too :) Stay tuned!

Thanks for sharing. We're still working around this issue as we speak. I will update you guys later!

It's EDID profiles can be customized as well, allowing you to specify custom resolution/refresh rate profile for your specific UEFI/BIOS. Most support 720p/1080p 30hz/60hz, but the PiKVM v3 and below being limited to 1080p50 creates some scenarios where the UEFI BIOS detects a 1080p display and assumes 1080p60 to be valid, causing the PiKVM to be unable to capture anything

We're working hard on building the app for Win and Linux too :) Stay tuned!

I haven't been able to get my AURGA to reliably work - and at that not be so laggy it's frustrating.

Cheers for pointing that out! So, our gadget’s got a little quirk - the video-capture chip in it isn’t great at figuring out the exact resolution of what it's capturing. This means everything gets stretched out to fit a 16:9 screen. Not a good thing... We're thinking of chatting with the chip folks to see if there’s a clever way to fix this. And if that doesn’t pan out, we’re looking into letting users pick the resolution manually, so everything looks just as it should. Keep those fingers crossed!

We're working hard on building the app for Win and Linux too :) Stay tuned!

Absolutely see your point!!! Flipping it back and forth could get a bit tedious... Ideally, switching it through software would be brilliant. But, due to costs and the way we've designed it this time around, we're sticking with the manual switch for this version. We're definitely keen on enhancing this feature in the next release, though! Thanks for your support & stay tuned!

Thanks for sharing! We totally get it - been there, felt that frustration 😤, and that's exactly why we built it! 🤓💫

Thanks for bringing this to our attention! We've designed USB hubs for both the host and target sides. It seems like the computer's BIOS might not be recognising this embedded USB hub properly, which could be why our emulated keyboard and mouse aren't working right at this fundamental level. We're definitely keeping a close watch on this issue.

Thx for the idea! 🧐

In terms of driver support, it does seem pretty standardised. At a hardware level this is essentially just a USB HDMI capture card and the keyboard/mouse emulation is handled via a HID to UART chip connected to a USB to UART chip so it presents itself to the OS as a serial port. These are then connected to pretty standard USB 2.0 hub chips, so nothing particularly complicated from a driver perspective.

Absolutely nailed it! And cheers for the extra insights. We're also working on PS/2 support - it's on our roadmap!

Wow!!!!! We're definitely thinking along the same lines as you, we're not sure why just yet. We have built usb hubs for both host and target's side. We suspect that the computer's BIOS is unable to recognise this embedded USB hub, leading to its malfunction at this lower level and thus preventing our emulated keyboard and mouse from working properly at this level. We will keep our eyes on this issue.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm whipping up some docs as we speak, and I'll be sharing all the juicy details about our development and roadmap soon, for your review 🔍 Stay tuned!

2x thanks

Thank you for your feedback! Currently, with the help of a video adapter, this mini-KVM can support other video sources such as DisplayPort, VGA, etc.

Thanks for the enthusiasm! We're working hard to make our device work with macOS, Windows, Linux, and Android. As for iOS, it's a bit tricky due to its restrictions on external devices. We're still figuring out the best way to support iPads. If any iOS developers out there have tips or advice, we'd love to hear! And I will keep you updated too! Thanks a lot! 😃

@@techxartisanstudioI wonder if they'd allow you to extend the "sidecar" option that already exists?

Thanks for the awesome input! I'll definitely dive into your suggestions and see how they might fit into our plans. It might not be on the cards right away, but maybe for a future pro version. Stay tuned!

You're thinking specifically of a "KVM Switch" - KVM itself stands for "Keyboard, Video, Mouse" so a "KVM Console" such as this is generally a device that provides keyboard, monitor and mouse access to a system, an "IP KVM" provides access over a network and a "Rack KVM" is a pull out monitor, keyboard and touchpad that can be installed in a rack.

We're on it, sir👋-working on making our little gadget compatible with macOS, Windows, Linux, and maybe even Android and web extension. It’s a bit of a challenge juggling all these different OS, but we're making progress. Your support really helps keep us going. Stay tuned!

@@techxartisanstudio❤❤❤🎉My happiest moment in ages!!! Such a problem solver for me!!!

@@hoperules8874 It's so rewarding to hear that! Your feedback really boosts our team's morale! 💪🏻

For that use case you'd be better off with a regular "KVM Switch" or even just use multiple monitor inputs as you did but with an inexpensive USB switch box for keyboard and mouse - A "KVM console" such as this is more designed for managing/setting up servers and wouldn't really be ideal for day to day use - there's a very slight delay to the keyboard and mouse inputs that would potentially get annoying after some time.

Definitely agree! Even something as simple as a drop-down within the client to pick the target machine's configured keyboard layout would be a decent solution.

Absolutely hear you on that one! We're totally on the same page about how crucial keyboard mapping is, especially when it comes to avoiding those pesky character issues. That’s why we’re gathering a group of beta testers from different countries with different keyboard layouts to hunt down bugs! Would love it if anyone's up for testing! Cheers!

Thanks for the great idea! I haven’t tested it thoroughly yet, but I definitely plan to demo using two mini-KVMs to control two computers at the same time and see if it works smoothly. Technically speaking, it should work. Let’s see how it goes. I’ll keep you updated!

Thanks for the feedback! We know how tricky it can be with the tight software rules on work PCs. What if we used a web app for this device instead of needing a local install? Think that might help? Love your idea about sharing the drive for both host and target at the same time - super handy, right? Sadly, it's not in the cards for this version. But, we may built it for a future pro model.

@@techxartisanstudio Thanks for the feedback. I thought about a web app too. The problem, as you know, is that corporate PC permissions differ greatly between companies. I've been in server rooms were no WiFi is allowed, meaning any solution needs to be stand alone. I think, sadly, the best solution is to offer a few solutions to give the end user options. Getting a "low run" application through the IT approval process can be impossible. In my case, for work, I carry a corporate Wintel PC, an Android industrial tablet and a non-corporate Linux laptop. I use Wintel for SAP, Android for email and Linux to do real work ;-). To use the KVM I'd try a thick Windows client on my corporate PC first and see how far it got. I'd then try the Linux laptop and finally Android. Some customers can also get concerned when connecting any non-company device to their equipment, so I still might be forced to use "their" crash cart, which might mean "borrowing" a screen & keyboard from an office desk to get into the server (and then finding a VGA monitor can be a challenge). I don't think there will be a one size fits all solution, sadly. Apple devices are pretty rare in my world so a Windows thick client would be my starting point, followed by a Linux thick client. The issues I mention are not specific to your product, I encounter them every day. One thing I would recommend testing well on the Windows thick client is RDP. I can see scenarios where a computer dies and remote support will ask for another Windows PC to be connected up to the failed computer and your product. Remote support could then RDP into the Windows PC to gain access to the failed computer. This relates to my comment on remote mounting of ISOs on your product and the host Windows PC, it could be very useful on a future Pro version for remote support. I will definitely buy a KVM device when it comes to market. I can buy from Amazon for work so it would be great if that could be a purchase option. Your product reminds me of the Airconsole, which I also carry, which I use when working on Ciscos. Any ideas when the product will be available in the UK?

@@andyc9921 Massive thanks for sharing your insights and how you manage things at work! We're on it, currently working to get CE and UKCA marks so we can ship our product to Europe and the UK. We're hoping to sort this out before the end of our crowdfunding campaign. We're aiming to kick off the campaign before May and are working hard to make it happen. The campaign should last between 6 to 10 weeks. Stay tuned! Really appreciate your support - thanks a bunch!

Absolutely, appreciate your input! Totally get that installing extra software can be a bit of a drag for some. How about we switch things up and introduce a web app for the device, so you won't have to bother with any local installs? Would it make things smoother for you?

Thanks for sharing! we're working on it!

Gotcha! Thinking of bringing the control features to life as serving a VNC on the host computer. This way, you can go wireless and control the target from anywhere via the host. Would it sounds good to you? This is on our dev roadmap. It will take some time for building this feature though. Stay tuned!

Thank you for your comment! We're currently looking into a solution for fixing this bug.

Thanks for your thoughts! We've definitely considered going wireless, but it can get a bit tricky-especially if the wireless network isn't stable. You might end up spending more time trying to connect than actually working on the target computer. We want to keep things simple and fast, which is why we've opted for a wired approach for now. It’s all about plug and play efficiency that fits right into the IT workflow. However, we’re still exploring the latest in reliable wireless tech, and we'll definitely build a wireless version if our experiments prove successful. I’ll keep you posted on our progress!

I know there are still a bunch of older headless computers out there that use PS/2 for the keyboard and mouse. I don't think there's a simple way to split USB HID signals into PS/2 ones yet. I'm still on it, figuring out how we might add PS/2 support to our Mini-KVM. Got any ideas or know something that might work smoothly with our setup? Hit me up. Thanks!

Thank you for your comment! I've noted your suggestion and will definitely look into this specific use case. I'll keep you updated once we have done this test. Cheers!

We're working on it! Need your support to make it happen! Cheers!

Totally get where you're coming from! Everyone's got their own take on what's worth the spend, and we're really trying to keep it as budget-friendly as we can. No worries though, your setup's a lot like our initial proof of concept! We're planning to drop a post on how you can DIY this gear and still make the most of our host app for the same vibe. Just bear with us a bit longer-we're all hands on deck getting this project ready for crowdfunding. Stay tuned!

Thanks for your straight-up feedback and suggestion about the device! Having the USB switch controlled remotely through software would definitely make life easier. Though due to cost and design bits, we're sticking with the current setup for this model. But, we're all in for improving it in the next version! And you nailed it about SysAdmin preferences. We're on it, working hard on Windows and Linux support as we speak. Stay tuned! Look forwarding to having your support! Thx!

We're on it with the Linux and Windows versions, and we plan to make our host app open source too. And yep, you can totally view the capture card output as a standard camera device, so it's all good for OBS and the like. We're all in on making this happen and really appreciate your support! Cheers!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 😊 Totally hear you - our gadget isn't a one-size-fits-all. We're aiming for something lightweight, easy to use, and quick for sorting out issues with headless devices. Appreciate you pointing out the alternatives and where we stand in the mix!

That would be a very different product, this is intended for use purely as a USB KVM for people who want local access to a device. For an IP KVM you'd be best to look at something like the PiKVM project.

@@camerongray1515 maybe you can bridge it over to WiFi with something like a Pi Zero put in front. Of course that way it will not be this compact.

Thanks for your feedback! We'll look into how to improve it. Looking forward to your support on our crowdfunding too! Thanks!

I work at a DC as an intern, we have tight spaces within the racks, with makes it hard to maneuver the crashcart, very real problems.

What Cameron said makes sense, as most servers/switches already have Out-of-band management, HPE has iLOs, Dell's have iDRACs, why would we need a PiKVM, plugged into our management VLAN for a basically redundant solution. This I gotta say, super handy tool, for the initial config of a server, before the out-of-band management is configured.

thanks for your feedback! Supporting PS/2 is on our roadmap. Stay tuned!

The point of this is that it doesn't require any sort of network connection. The PiKVM is great but you're reliant on some sort of network connection between the Pi and your laptop whereas a USB setup is truly plug and play. Realistically the native app is pretty lightweight and I can't see this really requiring any significant driver installation - the video just acts like a webcam and the keyboard/mouse emulation shows up on the host machine as a serial port device.

I imagine the 30fps cap is a limitation of the particular chipset they're using, although it's also a USB 2.0 only device so capping at 30fps probably helps keep bandwidth down while allowing reasonably high resolutions. When I said that it's new, I'm not meaning that this is brand new, never seen before technology, I'm just meaning that this is a new to market product. As for lacking features, what sort of features are you referring to? This is still a very much in-development product and the software is currently essentially at the MVP stage with a lot more features to be added. As for the built in software, how does this work? Do those other devices present some sort of storage device to the host containing the software? That's a pretty nice feature although not really a huge dealbreaker personally.

Thanks for the feedback! 😊 We totally hear you on the Android tablet support-It's on our roadmap! Our team is already diving into some Android app development as we speak. Stay tuned!

Thx! We're working on the Linux version too!

Then maybe this product isn't for you, if your solution works for you then great but it's not really equivalent to this. While small, a portable monitor and keyboard is still a larger setup and sure, it doesn't need a laptop, but do people working in places like datacentres really not have laptops with them? Being USB based also gives other functionality such as being able to "paste" text to connected devices or take screenshots of the output of a machine. This device is small enough to keep in a rucksack/toolbag at all times so that it's always available if needed.

@@camerongray1515 I brought up another solution which, by the way is available NOW, for under $50. You discussed having to go in tight spaces, which I had to do in the past. My solution is about the same size as the USB KVM and weighs less than a pound even with a long video cable. It is OS independant. You are hoping the USB KVM comes in at under $100 at some point in the future. You are hoping that it will work with Linux, at some point in the future. What about routers and other network devices or embedded systems? Yes, the USB kvm and laptop is nicer if you only need to connect to windows machines and there is room for the laptop; when the device becomes available.

The USB KVM will work to control any machine as long as it supports an HDMI video output (or something that can be converted to HDMI such as VGA) and a USB keyboard. It works fine to control machines irrespective of their OS, I just happened to use a Windows machine here to demonstrate. I even demonstrated it with a Linux server at the end of this video. The only time the OS matters is for the machine you're using to run the client application, this is currently MacOS only but that's because this product is still in development and Windows/Linux clients are due to released soon.

@@camerongray1515ok-did I miss it-? Bluetooth keyboard and mouse are a no-go, rn?

Thanks for the tip!!! We will try this trick!

Not sure what you mean, I imagine the client software will receive updates much like any other application. As for the device itself, it doesn't really run any sort of operating system - at a hardware level it's essentially an HDMI capture cart, some USB hub ICs, a USB to UART IC and a UART to UART HID device controller.

@@camerongray1515 ok-just nervous! I've had recent mis-match issues after an update.

Things cost what people are willing to pay, not what they cost to produce. Considering this product could be target enterprises. The price could be 299 USD + tax. At that price, an enterprise could still buy one for every person with access to their datacenters.

You also need to factor in the development time and effort, software development costs, hardware storage and distribution costs, even moreso when it's being made at a very small scale such as this. There is also a level of building in a reasonable profit margin to cover future development work on the software or other products. Those other devices you mentioned are so cheap because they are commodity products that are incredibly mass produced, this on the other hand is a small scale, niche product that can't benefit from economies of scale. When you buy a hardware device, you're paying for a lot more than just the cost of the components in the product!

Absolutely! We can't wait to get this product into your hands, and currently working hard to launch its crowdfunding campaign. Looking forward to having your support to make it happen! Once you have this gadget, we’d love to hear how you’re using it-especially in cybersecurity or hacking scenarios. Stay tuned! 😃

Thanks for your feedback! We are working on building support for Win and linux as well! USB 3 support will be on our next - Pro version! Stay tuned!

Oh!!!!!!!! Sounds like you've stumbled onto our sneaky plans... Ever heard of "OthersideAI/self-operating-computer" on GitHub? Imagine mixing that magic into our little device. Think about it - not only getting your chats but handling all the techie stuff for your devices just by plugging this little gadget in. How cool would that be?