I own 3 JetKVMs, of which two of them stopped working, one of which doesn't boot at all and the other that never connects to network. The third I took out of service because the keyboard wouldn't send input when it was connected for more than a couple months. I'm sure the newer hardware is better, but I'm very unhappy with my JetKVMs.
I've had good experiences with mine, only thing is that wifi and ethernet claims the same IP which causes my Unifi controller to freak out and send alerts
FWIW, I have two JetKVMs from the original Kickstarter campaign, and both have been in continuous use since the day I received them without a single issue. So the experience definitely varies.
I have two and one stopped working, but they were great and sent me a replacement motherboard and a toolkit to swap it over. Did you try reaching out to them?
Using one for couple of months so far. I need it once a month for a couple of hours or so, but it saves me 3x more time, so money well spent. But wow, at 3x less price tag it a deal!
It not exactly a KVM switch, which allows you to have one set of keyboard, mouse, monitor connected to multiple PCs and switch between them. This is an IP KVM, which lets you send keyboard and mouse inputs and view display output remotely over the network.
Wait, do I understand correctly that you can only boot ISOs off a microSD card that I have to pre-load? I can’t just put in a card and load ISOs over the web interface? That makes the use case of full remote control (after plugging it in for the first time, of course) kinda moot…
Otherwise, this seems to be a great product for homelab stuff :)
i am not sure i would trust a two month old project "based on a three month old proof of concept" over a product that has been around for years, but it is good to know it is there
I have an ATEN KVM [1] that gets a solid "it does the job" from me. Occasionally a connected computer won't pick up the K, V, or M, and I'll have to reconnect a few times.
I use it to switch between my work laptop and my personal PC, and for this situation 4K is a must have. That, and the choice of HDMI instead of DisplayPort, and things that would keep me from getting a JetKVM.
I use Aten KVM switches too, but they are a different type of product. JetKVM is for remote KVM access, not for switching between multiple computers. Both are orthogonal to each other. You can in principle combine a JetKVM with a KVM switch (and some people are doing that, though there are some technical pitfalls).
What’s a decent quality IP KVM solution that’s not too expensive? We’re looking to put a dozen of mac minis in a collocation, and currently investigating solutions for remote access.
The big “tail” on the original gives you something to build an enclosure around, and the ports are all on the face opposite the display. That shape makes it easy to 3d print a mount for a 10” rack.
This one has stuff on four out of six surfaces (display, button, card slot, ports), and the two free surfaces are at a right angle to each other instead of being on opposite sides, so this gives you little to no leeway for mounting semi-permanently without some adhesive.
I don't quite trust this class of devices to be programmed in China by who knows who. KVMs are among those things that need authentic, business-registered suppliers that hold a trackable reputational responsibility.
It is really hard to find on the site what kvm stands for. Guess people going there knows what it stands for but think it could be spelled out once at least.
Warning: Don't browse their documentation site, it's filled with domain-specific jargon like FPS, BIOS, LAN, HDMI and other things, and not a single one is explained first! They should clearly read "Product Websites for Dummies" again.
Not to be taken in a bad way but, so many people wondering "what is a KVM" is telling a lot about HN reader base evolution.
It used to be a time that any proper geek/hacker would obviously know what a KVM is. More the normal KVM than the IP-KVM that could be considered a marvel of our time in the end.
Because it was so common to have just a single screen and keyboard but multiple tower desktop computers. Especially at school and home.
Nowadays we mostly all use laptops so it is well irrelevant and I guess only a few young reader ever saw one in the field.
The worst part is that there's two different KVM concepts that are pretty different. One is to bridge keyboard/video/mouse over the network to a target computer (IP KVM), and the other one is to quickly switch keyboard/video/mouse between multiple computers (KVM switch).
Are there any good KVMs for gaming? Right now, I use a capture card for video, connect the mouse directly to the destination, and use a piece of software called Deskflow to transmit my keyboard. But Deskflow occasionally crashes, so it'd be nice to have a hardware solution (also that can be used for BIOS/etc). And Deskflow also won't work if I install SteamOS, once Nvidia works.
I looked at making a solution myself, but for some reason, simulating a USB client device in software is extremely annoying, and requires specialized hardware that is also very expensive. So at that point, why not just get a KVM...
I frequently switch between 1080p and 4K for gaming since I don't like resampling artifacts. Never found a KVM that can handle 4K properly even for productivity. The mistake can be as basic as assuming a 100% scale factor.
KVMs are for rebooting and recovering servers without needing physical access. Maybe you would have some chance with HDMI splitter connected with an EDID dummy plug and an HDMI-Ethernet capture encoder thing, and some dedicated KVM for just keyboard and mouse, but idk.
For me, I want to access my physical desktop without having to keep a physically separate monitor and keyboard than my MacBook. I have the physically separate monitor and keyboard, and I actually kept it co-located with my laptop for the longest time, but it's just more convenient to not have to swap it out with the laptop to maintain good posture, etc. (I use the laptop in bed due to chronic pain/disability)
The practical answer for right now is that I don't want software screen capture, but it also does not do any of the things I wanted to be able to do by having remote inputs directed to the hardware rather than simulated in software. Namely it requires software installation on the server, which means OS support becomes a thing, you can't use it in BIOS/firmware, etc.
Sunshine works on linux and windows, screen capture uses parts of the gpu meant to do that as result you get lower latency than separate capture and encode.
KVM is useful for when you need to be able to control earlier stuff in the boot process too, or even simple stuff like entering the password for full-disk encryption, or choosing a boot entry in GRUB, or changing BIOS settings... Many use cases for KVM and remote KVM.
The part where I want wired ethernet to that SBC, not some funky proprietary wireless chip as in ESP32. I almost found a solution, but I've been unable to get my picoprobe to properly flash and reset the board for some reason, so I haven't been able to use it for development. I'll have to troubleshoot that again sometime if I enter another bout of caring.
I don't really understand your setup, but if you throw enough money at ATEN they will be happy to give you a KVM that handles 4K @ 240Hz. Supporting high refresh rates is the main thing that would keep me from using most KVMs for gaming.
Ah, I neglected to mention that my keyboard isn't separate hardware. I'm using the built-in keyboard and display of my laptop, and would like to continue doing so. So hardware switches that depend on dumb monitors and keyboards don't work for me (and that's why I said KVM, not switch).
Most KVMs that fail at 4K get the EDID wrong. They either send their own fixed one (often maxing out at 1080p or 4K30), or they reconnect the display on every switch, so the OS thinks it's a new monitor and resets your scaling. Look for one with EDID emulation.
For high refresh 4K you also need HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort with DSC support, and a lot of "4K" KVMs don't have it.
Also, 1080p divides evenly into 4K, so turn on integer scaling in the Nvidia or AMD settings and 1080p will look sharp instead of blurry.
I do use integer scaling. That's what makes 1080p bearable on my 4K display, and not other resolutions that don't divide evenly into 4K.
An annoying quirk is that I have to use the Nvidia control panel specifically to get Windows to send a 1080p signal as otherwise, it will just upscale 1080p to a 4K signal. It makes no fucking sense to me why that would be the default but whatever.
Can't you do the same thing in Windows' own Advanced Display Settings, by toggling the resolution in list of modes? (I might be remembering the naming wrong). That seems to work to change the "Active Signal Resolution" or whatever it is. But perhaps the Nvidia method is faster.
I agree that it's insane it works this way though.
Meh. The challenge is 4k+ at high display frequency that doesn't cost the same as a small boat. There are gazillions of KVM switches that do 1080. That's easy.
I learnt this first myself from HN, a few months ago.
(I agree that they should spell it out on the website.)
https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-dev-kits/en/latest/e...
I use it to switch between my work laptop and my personal PC, and for this situation 4K is a must have. That, and the choice of HDMI instead of DisplayPort, and things that would keep me from getting a JetKVM.
[1]: https://www.aten.com/gb/en/products/kvm/desktop-kvm-switches...
https://sipeed.com/nanokvm-go
Which solutions perform well?
The big “tail” on the original gives you something to build an enclosure around, and the ports are all on the face opposite the display. That shape makes it easy to 3d print a mount for a 10” rack.
This one has stuff on four out of six surfaces (display, button, card slot, ports), and the two free surfaces are at a right angle to each other instead of being on opposite sides, so this gives you little to no leeway for mounting semi-permanently without some adhesive.
It used to be a time that any proper geek/hacker would obviously know what a KVM is. More the normal KVM than the IP-KVM that could be considered a marvel of our time in the end.
Because it was so common to have just a single screen and keyboard but multiple tower desktop computers. Especially at school and home. Nowadays we mostly all use laptops so it is well irrelevant and I guess only a few young reader ever saw one in the field.
Except it’s an initialism
Don't even need the HDMI or video the AI will prefer serial console.
I looked at making a solution myself, but for some reason, simulating a USB client device in software is extremely annoying, and requires specialized hardware that is also very expensive. So at that point, why not just get a KVM...
I frequently switch between 1080p and 4K for gaming since I don't like resampling artifacts. Never found a KVM that can handle 4K properly even for productivity. The mistake can be as basic as assuming a 100% scale factor.
Pretty much any off-the-shelf SBC can present itself as a USB HID device like a keyboard. You can buy a very capable rp2040-based board for <$5.
What part of this equation requires expensive hardware?
In that case the path of least resistance becomes something like a $22 NanoPi NEO (has onboard ethernet, widely used in PiKVM setups)
Maybe I'll look into that, wouldn't require messing around with the picoprobe. Thanks!
For high refresh 4K you also need HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort with DSC support, and a lot of "4K" KVMs don't have it.
Also, 1080p divides evenly into 4K, so turn on integer scaling in the Nvidia or AMD settings and 1080p will look sharp instead of blurry.
An annoying quirk is that I have to use the Nvidia control panel specifically to get Windows to send a 1080p signal as otherwise, it will just upscale 1080p to a 4K signal. It makes no fucking sense to me why that would be the default but whatever.
I agree that it's insane it works this way though.
Not high frequency though, tops out at 45Hz