Openterface Mini-KVM also works great [1]

[1] - https://openterface.com/

I use a Cytrence Kiwi myself, really handy bit of kit, I just wish it could do higher resolution, even if it meant dropping the frame rate.

I also have a PiKVM with the switch for network level access which works really well too.

Is there anywhere I can buy a NanoKVM-USB? The page you linked has a 'preorder' page linked, but I'm not sure how long I'd have to wait and whether it's an actual product that people have successfully used.

Is there a VGA "story" for these devices? Most of the Dell and HP servers I'm physically proximate to don't have HDMI video. VGA connectors abound on the gear I work with.

Those both look very nice, but I am disappointed that neither lists support for DP alt-mode as an input despite having a type-c port on the input side. If I were to buy such a device, I'd want it be future-proof while also supporting legacy video input like HDMI, but these are legacy-only. Good for my old raspberry pis and my ancient sandybridge NAS, but these days I only buy computers capable of single-cable operation (with exceptions for power cables for power-hungry devices like desktops).

Came here to endorse the NanoKVM USB. It's a great little device. Wendell made a video[0] on it. The web interface is super handy.

I keep one in my tool bag and I've been meaning to buy a second one for a dedicated crash cart.

I can't speak to the Kiwi or the Openterface as I haven't tried those.

0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAbyQcpR-yQ

I'd definitely be interested in a project like that, but I think customizing a PCB layout and sending it off for manufacturing would be too much for many people that would otherwise be interested in it. I think a project like that would gain more traction if it focused on designing high quality boards for a few popular laptop models (MacBooks or ThinkPads IMO) and making those available via on demand manufacturing and/or crowdsourcing a bulk run.

My son uses the Genki Studio app on his iPad. It works well enough without payment.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/genki-studio/id6466343285

I don't know how Orion compares.

The home page says the one-time IAP unlocks 'AI-powered 4k upscaling', which sounds useful.

I did that just last week to install Linux on a micro-PC I have. Its only display output is HDMI and I didn’t want to unplug it and move it over to my TV just for the short time necessary to install a base system + SSH.

Worked great!

I’ve used the app for other things too. It’s a great solution if you already have an iPad.

Does anyone know anything similar for Android?

Those tiny HDMI monitors are soooooo useful in so many situations, especially if they do pass-through.

I like https://feelworld.ltd/collections/5-6-inch-camera-monitor/pr... or similar, $100.

I use it for projection - then I can run the projector as a second monitor through this thing (or similar) and not have to use binoculars to see what's on the screen from the back of the room.

Larger ones can be used as portable second monitors, too.

Exactly. I do quite a bit of dev on larger SBCs and it's much easier and more reliable to plug in a small HDMI monitor (powered through the USB) than it is to faff around with HDMI capture dongles, let alone networked KVM. The one I bought (on eBay, nothing special) has a wrap-around vinyl case which works rather like an iPad case in that it can function as a stand or as a screen cover, so you can just chuck it in a bag. Admittedly, it cost more than a capture card (I think it was around $70 USD in eBay), but that's still sufficiently cheap that if it and when it breaks I will not be devastated.

USB capture devices introduce latency, get surprisingly hot, can have frame rate issues, and streaming video from them seems much more CPU-intensive than, for example, playing an equivalent-sized h.264 video (I don't know why but presume it's because they encode using something basic like MJPEG). A portable display has none of these problems.

You may be interested in this then https://github.com/mgschwan/viture_virtual_display

Or now that I think of it, just use the glasses with a regular hdmi adapter ( but no 3dof tracking then )

I was stuck in a very remote location trying to update vehicle software. I needed both a monitor and keyboard (long story, serial wasn't outputting, no ssh, partition table was hosed) and I had neither a keyboard nor a monitor.

I now carry a little HDMI screen and not one but two portable keyboards with me for all work travel. One of the keyboards is a larger but rolls up, the other is tiny but also has a mouse built into a touchpad.

These devices have saved my bacon more than a few times. Highly recommend.

> I always thought it would be great to have a "laptop without a motherboard"

That's basically what a rack console is. At 1U it was skinnier than laptops from prior decades. They're not exactly a laptop form factor, but to get them smaller you would have had to accept a much lower screen resolution, which would risk some systems not being able to display (e.g. your server may have booted-up to 1280x1024 while your laptop could only do 800x600), or would have needed to be quite expensive to add an ultra-high DPI screen.

Still, at various times there were briefly devices like that available for purchase at closeout prices... like the failed "Motorola ATRIX lapdock":

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/motorola-laptop-dock-review/

https://www.amazon.com/AT-Laptop-Dock-Motorola-ATRIX/dp/B004...

I'd say the USB-HDMI capture card is a better solution all-around. I even prefer it to USB "crash carts" because you aren't dependent on the manufacturer keeping their proprietary software software updated for each subsequent Windows/Linux/Mac release.

We actually HAD literally that - I don't recall which model it was, but someone found a laptop that internally had PS/2 and VGA I believe, and had rewired it to have cables hanging out of it.

Advantage - battery still somewhat worked so you could get a few minutes (often all you needed) with just that.

I saw a kind-of-laptop that did that.

I think this might be it?

https://gpdstore.net/blog/gpd-pocket-4-kvm-module-explained/

or there is a similar one. It was a tiny laptop, the kind that a devops/sysadmin would carry around in a server room.

> A niche thing, but it shouldn't be expensive to implement, and the ports are already here (usb-c, hdmi).

A Display Controller Board for driving a laptop screen from an external input is going to add at least $20 to the price of the laptop. Considerably more expensive than the $6 USB-HDMI capture devices which do the job (and have more utility).

The HDMI output port on your laptop (if you even have one, many only offer miniDP) can't just be run in reverse. The board would need to be updated to allow switching it between output and input, at considerable extra cost.

I believe some alienware laptops used to do this https://youtu.be/Otln0Ao2z6M (Cathode Ray Dude video)

I owned an Alienware laptop (M17X R4) many years ago that had a dedicated HDMI input.

It was a strange laptop. MXM socketed GPU, 120Hz screen that came with Nvidia 3DVision shutter glasses, and the worst battery life I've ever experienced.

I played all of KOTOR2 on Xbox using a capture card without sound. Good times.

You can also throw together a cheap software KVM switch[0] using an ESP32 or similar.

[0] https://euer.krebsco.de/a-software-kvm-switch.html

That works sometimes. It can be flaky.

That says Linux is supported but apparently only on the input side, not on the viewer side.

There's off-the-shelf semiconductors that perform the conversion in hardware, so all the dongles need is a simple breakout board for the component.

Crazy times

Usually slow

And you have to find a driver compatible with your laptops lcd panel. Not straightforward.

This is so close to perfect except that it doesn't charge over USB-C. I went down the rabbit hole a bit and found the UPerfect "Lapdock" which is just an incredible description of the concept.

So many times I want to dork with a raspberry pi or start mucking with an old computer... the rpi400 is nearly useless "as is" because you generally require a mouse and then everything goes to hell as far as "single device" goes.

The concept of a "mobile crash cart / workstation" in laptop form factor even makes this tempting as a "front end" for a Mac mini or something?!?

Sooo many times I want to bring the K/V/M to the computer instead of the computer to the K/V/M.

You can modify the internal electronics to accomplish this. YouTuber Luke Miani did it a couple years ago. A quick google brings up a few guides including a couple user-contributed-but-ostensibly-QC'd guides on iFixit.

Those USB-C display outputs are real raw GPU output patched through electronically, not like image over USB protocol. They just use the connector, and they can't be captured as USB data.

not really. The video stuff needs explicit hardware support, so the laptop would need to include what's essentially a capture card already. It'd be awesome if vendors did that, but to my knowledge nobody does.

The Minisforum V3 does: https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-v3 .

Some Alienware laptops had an HDMI input: https://youtu.be/Otln0Ao2z6M?t=36

It always used to baffle me that there wasn't support for this (or the historic equivalent) 20 years ago.

GPD Pocket 4

you can just buy a nanokvm