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It does share similarity to a rebranded Sipeed NanoKVM model already sold in China. Would have to dump the flash with proper tooling, and load up a clean OS on

It does share similarity to a rebranded Sipeed NanoKVM model already sold in China. Would have to dump the flash with proper tooling, and load up a clean OS on a blank chip to even begin checking for issues. Mostly, these gadgets are purposely built like garbage for a number of reasons. If I needed a DIY KVM install for a home-theater, I'd just setup a https://pikvm.org/ https://pikvm.org/ install. =) https://github.com/pikvm/pikvm/ https://github.com/pikvm/pikvm/

trenchpilgrim 1y ago
For those prices I could buy an old PC to do out of band management and have over half the money left over. The appeal of JetKVM/NanoKVM is they're price competitive with an extra PC for a tiny fraction of the physical and power footprint.
- gcommer 1y ago
  For feature parity, the old PC will require USB OTG, HDMI input, wiring for ATX control, and a software stack.
  - Joel_Mckay 1y ago
    Sipeed makes a PCIe KVM card for around $80 that drops into standard PC cases. I'd assume it runs off the 5v standby power when the primary ATX supply is sleeping. =3 https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM?tab=readme-ov-file https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM?tab=readme-ov-file
- Joel_Mckay 1y ago
  A pi4 is $35 + parts, and can do a PXE server as well... but it is the OS/kernel upkeep that always hits proprietary devices. Small recycled PCs can certainly work too, and reminds me of the https://guacamole.apache.org/ https://guacamole.apache.org/ project. =3
philjohn 1y ago
The firmware is open source and you can compile and flash your own. You can even run your own version of their cloud access offering https://github.com/jetkvm https://github.com/jetkvm
- lloeki 1y ago
  Also you can SSH into it: https://jetkvm.com/docs/advanced-usage/developing#developer-mode https://jetkvm.com/docs/advanced-usage/developing#developer-... And the serial console is available over USB UART (SBU) If it's attempting to be a covert op it's doing either a terrible job or a very advanced one.
  - Joel_Mckay 1y ago
    It is similar to NanoKVM-Pro, and indeed one may also install PiKVM on that commercial hardware. Given that very distinctive "JetKVM" shape, I am now 99% sure I've seen this gadget someplace last year, If I recall the Mandarin Chinese name (difficult for me), I will post the hardware URI. One may be surprised how much hardware includes unsigned firmware OTA updates. And someone will need to audit the stack to check if it has that common problem, and predict if it also has SoM specific Linux kernel requirements. The Raspberry Pi foundation isn't just hardware, but comes with a proven 10 year OS lifecycle. =3
    - philjohn 1y ago
      It's been on KickStarter for about a year at this point - could that be where you'd seen it?
      - Joel_Mckay 1y ago
        The item was promoted on a China e-store site for awhile, and caught my eye given a video encoded streaming kvm at that price point seemed like "optimistic" marketing. I spend a lot of time sourcing electrical parts, optical components, and metric 304 steel fasteners on these sites. It might be possible something popped up that looked very similar to the Kickstarter ad. Could also just have been a 4th container product run common with China CM exports. =3
lloeki 1y ago
> similarity to a rebranded Sipeed NanoKVM That NanoKVM is RISC-V, the JetKVM is ARM Cortex-A7. Unlikely to be a rebrand. That said the UI looks somewhat similar so Sipeed might have aped the JetKVM software part (which is FOSS)
- Joel_Mckay 1y ago
  The NanoKVM-Pro uses a AX631 2xA53 1.5G, which can apparently also support the PiKVM software. The JetKVM uses RockChip RV1106G3. =3

trenchpilgrim 1y ago

For those prices I could buy an old PC to do out of band management and have over half the money left over. The appeal of JetKVM/NanoKVM is they're price competitive with an extra PC for a tiny fraction of the physical and power footprint.

gcommer 1y ago
For feature parity, the old PC will require USB OTG, HDMI input, wiring for ATX control, and a software stack.
- Joel_Mckay 1y ago
  Sipeed makes a PCIe KVM card for around $80 that drops into standard PC cases. I'd assume it runs off the 5v standby power when the primary ATX supply is sleeping. =3 https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM?tab=readme-ov-file https://github.com/sipeed/NanoKVM?tab=readme-ov-file
Joel_Mckay 1y ago
A pi4 is $35 + parts, and can do a PXE server as well... but it is the OS/kernel upkeep that always hits proprietary devices. Small recycled PCs can certainly work too, and reminds me of the https://guacamole.apache.org/ https://guacamole.apache.org/ project. =3

philjohn 1y ago

The firmware is open source and you can compile and flash your own. You can even run your own version of their cloud access offering https://github.com/jetkvm https://github.com/jetkvm

lloeki 1y ago
Also you can SSH into it: https://jetkvm.com/docs/advanced-usage/developing#developer-mode https://jetkvm.com/docs/advanced-usage/developing#developer-... And the serial console is available over USB UART (SBU) If it's attempting to be a covert op it's doing either a terrible job or a very advanced one.
- Joel_Mckay 1y ago
  It is similar to NanoKVM-Pro, and indeed one may also install PiKVM on that commercial hardware. Given that very distinctive "JetKVM" shape, I am now 99% sure I've seen this gadget someplace last year, If I recall the Mandarin Chinese name (difficult for me), I will post the hardware URI. One may be surprised how much hardware includes unsigned firmware OTA updates. And someone will need to audit the stack to check if it has that common problem, and predict if it also has SoM specific Linux kernel requirements. The Raspberry Pi foundation isn't just hardware, but comes with a proven 10 year OS lifecycle. =3
  - philjohn 1y ago
    It's been on KickStarter for about a year at this point - could that be where you'd seen it?
    - Joel_Mckay 1y ago
      The item was promoted on a China e-store site for awhile, and caught my eye given a video encoded streaming kvm at that price point seemed like "optimistic" marketing. I spend a lot of time sourcing electrical parts, optical components, and metric 304 steel fasteners on these sites. It might be possible something popped up that looked very similar to the Kickstarter ad. Could also just have been a 4th container product run common with China CM exports. =3

lloeki 1y ago

> similarity to a rebranded Sipeed NanoKVM That NanoKVM is RISC-V, the JetKVM is ARM Cortex-A7. Unlikely to be a rebrand. That said the UI looks somewhat similar so Sipeed might have aped the JetKVM software part (which is FOSS)

Joel_Mckay 1y ago
The NanoKVM-Pro uses a AX631 2xA53 1.5G, which can apparently also support the PiKVM software. The JetKVM uses RockChip RV1106G3. =3