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I wish there was a KVM out there that didn't need HDMI, where it sat on PCIe bus and presented a really dumb framebuffer/kb/mouse to the BIOS/OS, but sent it ou

I wish there was a KVM out there that didn't need HDMI, where it sat on PCIe bus and presented a really dumb framebuffer/kb/mouse to the BIOS/OS, but sent it out over the network

ohnoesjmr 11mo ago
Teradici is that, but too expensive for home users.
- nerdsniper 11mo ago
  It looks like I can find Teradici card for $50-200 (used to new), which is in a similar range as the JetKVM. However, according to the installation manual that I found [0], you still need to plug in the DisplayPort connector on the Teradici host card to the GPU output port(s). 0: https://anyware.hp.com/web-help/pcoip_remote_workstation_card/22.04/installation/ https://anyware.hp.com/web-help/pcoip_remote_workstation_car...
brokensegue 11mo ago
or that just connected over usb and acted as a usb display adapter
- spogbiper 11mo ago
  afaik usb isn't an option for bios/preboot display. so only useful if the thing is booting up OK enough to run a usb display driver
  - wtallis 11mo ago
    USB-C in DisplayPort Alt mode plus USB 2.0 signalling for the keyboard and mouse inputs is starting to be a pretty common option on consumer systems. Capturing that would allow remote control of a PC including the BIOS using a single cable (though a second cable would still be needed for connecting to a desktop motherboard's header for power and reset buttons). I think there just aren't as many options for DisplayPort capture chips as for HDMI/DVI capture.
nullify88 11mo ago
Something like Intel AMT? Some prosumer motherboards like ASRock Rack have out of band management controllers in them.
- fotta 11mo ago
  annoyingly, AMT still requires me to have a dummy HDMI dongle plugged in to work
- nerdsniper 11mo ago
  Yes - but a bolt-on solution for nearly any motherboard with an extra PCIe or NVMe slot.
  - mbreese 11mo ago
    I’ve seen raspberry pi based kvms that do just this - draw power from PCI to operate. Except they still usually require a cable to HDMI/USB ports on the computer. I suspect you’d like to have the whole thing to be on card without cables. Example: https://geekworm.com/collections/pikvm https://geekworm.com/collections/pikvm (but I think this still requires separate power) To do this, wouldn’t you effectively need to make a graphics card (VGA would work) where a separate chip could read the screen buffer? And somehow get this card to display preferentially over the on-board video card? I’m sure the all in one card version exists, but honestly a cabled version seems more robust (w/o vendor support that is).
    - toast0 11mo ago
      > To do this, wouldn’t you effectively need to make a graphics card (VGA would work) where a separate chip could read the screen buffer? And somehow get this card to display preferentially over the on-board video card? If you do basic VGA (and UEFI), that'd be plenty for most. If it had a local output it'd be great for systems without video on the cpu (am4 non-apus, but also others)
    - somanyphotons 11mo ago
      I have a desktop that I'm using as a server box, I'd like to avoid plugging in a GPU just to change BIOS options or debug a boot failure
nerdsniper 11mo ago
Yeah there are sort of some BMC/IPMI options like [0] but all of the ones I've seen still require some kind of special (generally proprietary) internal connector on the motherboard, which might not be "HDMI" exactly, but still violates the spirit of your requirements. 0: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/thinkcentre-and-thinkstation/thinkcentre-and-thinkstation_bmc/4xh1q60514 https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/thin...
downrightmike 11mo ago
Lights out kvm
tencentshill 11mo ago
That seems to be one of their products https://jetkvm.com/products/atx-extension-board https://jetkvm.com/products/atx-extension-board
- dymk 11mo ago
  That’s not what that is
numpad0 11mo ago
Looks like standalone AST2400 PCIe x1 cards exist and are sold on AliExpress, but none of them has the Ethernet port for some reason, strange.
deivid 11mo ago
I've had this project idea in my list for a while, I even implemented thr software side (an option rom for the pci card) but the hardware side is quite difficult to get started. My plan was to get an FPGA with a hard pci core to do this, but I don't even know what to buy. I got a cheap Tang Mega 238k but I never managed to even get the PCI examples working (and couldn't even adjust BAR settings)
cimnine 11mo ago
I'm thinking similarly, but not via PCIe, but via USB: There are plenty of USB->VGA and USB->HDMI adapters that contain a dumb graphics card. So, embedd one of these and grab the video signal internally. Thereby, plugging in just a single USB cable would deliver the power needed, keyboard, video and mouse. And bonus for an emulated USB-Stick/DVD drive. What I don't know if these USB video cards are initialized during early boot and usable during the UEFI/BIOS phase. Is that why they grab the HDMI?

I wish there was a KVM out there that didn't need HDMI, where it sat on PCIe bus and presented a really dumb framebuffer/kb/mouse to the BIOS/OS, but sent it out over the network

ohnoesjmr 11mo ago

Teradici is that, but too expensive for home users.

nerdsniper 11mo ago
It looks like I can find Teradici card for $50-200 (used to new), which is in a similar range as the JetKVM. However, according to the installation manual that I found [0], you still need to plug in the DisplayPort connector on the Teradici host card to the GPU output port(s). 0: https://anyware.hp.com/web-help/pcoip_remote_workstation_card/22.04/installation/ https://anyware.hp.com/web-help/pcoip_remote_workstation_car...

brokensegue 11mo ago

or that just connected over usb and acted as a usb display adapter

spogbiper 11mo ago
afaik usb isn't an option for bios/preboot display. so only useful if the thing is booting up OK enough to run a usb display driver
- wtallis 11mo ago
  USB-C in DisplayPort Alt mode plus USB 2.0 signalling for the keyboard and mouse inputs is starting to be a pretty common option on consumer systems. Capturing that would allow remote control of a PC including the BIOS using a single cable (though a second cable would still be needed for connecting to a desktop motherboard's header for power and reset buttons). I think there just aren't as many options for DisplayPort capture chips as for HDMI/DVI capture.

nullify88 11mo ago

Something like Intel AMT? Some prosumer motherboards like ASRock Rack have out of band management controllers in them.

fotta 11mo ago
annoyingly, AMT still requires me to have a dummy HDMI dongle plugged in to work
nerdsniper 11mo ago
Yes - but a bolt-on solution for nearly any motherboard with an extra PCIe or NVMe slot.
- mbreese 11mo ago
  I’ve seen raspberry pi based kvms that do just this - draw power from PCI to operate. Except they still usually require a cable to HDMI/USB ports on the computer. I suspect you’d like to have the whole thing to be on card without cables. Example: https://geekworm.com/collections/pikvm https://geekworm.com/collections/pikvm (but I think this still requires separate power) To do this, wouldn’t you effectively need to make a graphics card (VGA would work) where a separate chip could read the screen buffer? And somehow get this card to display preferentially over the on-board video card? I’m sure the all in one card version exists, but honestly a cabled version seems more robust (w/o vendor support that is).
  - toast0 11mo ago
    > To do this, wouldn’t you effectively need to make a graphics card (VGA would work) where a separate chip could read the screen buffer? And somehow get this card to display preferentially over the on-board video card? If you do basic VGA (and UEFI), that'd be plenty for most. If it had a local output it'd be great for systems without video on the cpu (am4 non-apus, but also others)
  - somanyphotons 11mo ago
    I have a desktop that I'm using as a server box, I'd like to avoid plugging in a GPU just to change BIOS options or debug a boot failure

nerdsniper 11mo ago

Yeah there are sort of some BMC/IPMI options like [0] but all of the ones I've seen still require some kind of special (generally proprietary) internal connector on the motherboard, which might not be "HDMI" exactly, but still violates the spirit of your requirements. 0: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/thinkcentre-and-thinkstation/thinkcentre-and-thinkstation_bmc/4xh1q60514 https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/thin...

downrightmike 11mo ago

Lights out kvm

tencentshill 11mo ago

That seems to be one of their products https://jetkvm.com/products/atx-extension-board https://jetkvm.com/products/atx-extension-board

dymk 11mo ago
That’s not what that is

numpad0 11mo ago

Looks like standalone AST2400 PCIe x1 cards exist and are sold on AliExpress, but none of them has the Ethernet port for some reason, strange.

deivid 11mo ago

I've had this project idea in my list for a while, I even implemented thr software side (an option rom for the pci card) but the hardware side is quite difficult to get started. My plan was to get an FPGA with a hard pci core to do this, but I don't even know what to buy. I got a cheap Tang Mega 238k but I never managed to even get the PCI examples working (and couldn't even adjust BAR settings)

cimnine 11mo ago

I'm thinking similarly, but not via PCIe, but via USB: There are plenty of USB->VGA and USB->HDMI adapters that contain a dumb graphics card. So, embedd one of these and grab the video signal internally. Thereby, plugging in just a single USB cable would deliver the power needed, keyboard, video and mouse. And bonus for an emulated USB-Stick/DVD drive. What I don't know if these USB video cards are initialized during early boot and usable during the UEFI/BIOS phase. Is that why they grab the HDMI?