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Show HN: TinyPilot – Build a KVM over IP using a Raspberry Pi

(mtlynch.io)
756 points mtlynch | 2 comments | 23 Jul 20 13:56 UTC | HN request time: 0.875s | source
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dukoid ◴[23 Jul 20 15:27 UTC] No.23928345[source]▶
I have given up on KVMs altogether and I am using the following approach now:

- Most monitors have multiple digital inputs. Connect each computer to one of them

- Use a USB switch keyboard and mouse

- Before switching the USB switch, press the "lock screen" key combination and make sure locking the screen drops the video signal

- After switching the USB switch, pressing shift should bring up the login dialog and re-activate video output. Since the monitor has just lost the signal in the previous step, it will scan the inputs and switch to the desired signal.

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_1qd4 ◴[23 Jul 20 15:32 UTC] No.23928396[source]▶
I did this for a while, the problem is that there's really no such thing as a high-quality USB switch. They are all garbage and mess with USB devices in some way (at least at the consumer level).
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1. JeremyNT ◴[23 Jul 20 17:32 UTC] No.23929853[source]▶
> I did this for a while, the problem is that there's really no such thing as a high-quality USB switch. They are all garbage and mess with USB devices in some way (at least at the consumer level).

A lot of these things seem to "help" by inserting their own USB host device that acts as a proxy for attached USB peripherals. This allows them to do (ostensibly) useful useful things such as intercepting keypresses and responding to them (e.g. by switching to another input).

Don't get one of those, get a physical switch that just connects the leads to the correct port when pressed. I got this USB 2.0 switch (all you need for input devices) for $12 [0]. I'm sure there are others available with more ports, but this is all I needed.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HV1N674

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2. weaksauce ◴[23 Jul 20 17:41 UTC] No.23929961[source]▶
Yeah I second this. I have a physical usb switch to move keyboard and mouse over. It works flawlessly.

Though, I also use a KVM to switch over the video but it's separate.