[HN Gopher] Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just...
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Show HN: 5 Years Ago I made the Recovery Kit, I just made the RK2
The Recovery Kit 2 is another cyberdeck that for me is part
computer, part backup device, and part functional movie prop. It's
been fun to build, and the HN community has been great with ideas-
especially around hosting and getting me off Squarespace. I hope
you all enjoy!
Author : back7co
Score : 206 points
Date : 2024-04-12 16:45 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.doscher.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.doscher.com)
| dtx1 wrote:
| I always love these cool cyberdeck style builds but whenever the
| bug to build my own catches me, I end up realizing i'm just
| trying to build a really bad notebook.
| sneak wrote:
| Yeah. This would be great if it could emulate usb storage, do
| transparent bridging via switch vlans, support serial consoles,
| etc, but it is just a case, battery, disk, and bad keyboard.
| fragmede wrote:
| raspberry pi's support USB gadget mode, and can thus emulate
| USB storage with the right connector.
|
| TTL-level serial port pins exist as well.
| pests wrote:
| This is how the PiKVM works. It pretends to be a hub with
| an attached mouse/keyboard (and optionally a flash
| drive/storage)
|
| Then optionally you can connect your motherboards
| power/reset pins so you can reboot or turn off remotely.
|
| Video is a third party HDMI capture card that plugs into
| the Pis camera port.
| andrewaylett wrote:
| There's nothing particularly stopping you implementing at
| least _most_ of that in software if you want. Stick a
| suitably-programmable switch in and you could do the rest
| too.
| sneak wrote:
| Exactly my point - this project seems of limited usefulness
| because it could have done a lot more but didn't add much
| utility that a pi+screen+keyboard doesn't already have.
| ansible wrote:
| Yes, these are cool and fun projects, but not something I'd use
| on a regular basis.
|
| I've bought a few old Chromebooks off of eBay recently (for
| around $20 USD each), and re-flashed the BIOS so that I could
| install Debian on them.
|
| The student-oriented Chromebooks are reasonably sturdy, and at
| that price point, I just don't care if something bad happens to
| it.
| croes wrote:
| Wow, 2019 is already 5 years ago.
| CraigJPerry wrote:
| I feel like this needs a meshtastic or lora or ham radio feature
| of some description but i'm definitely drawn to the concept -
| more as art than function
| WaxProlix wrote:
| The GPIO pins give a reasonable point of interface for a LoRa
| module. Or you could interface it with one of the Lilygo
| offerings and have a programmable
| LoRa/Meshtastic/disaster.radio compatible device.
|
| (https://www.lilygo.cc/products/t-echo?variant=42306295857333
| or https://www.lilygo.cc/products/t3s3-v1-0 maybe?)
| ChrisArchitect wrote:
| I get the cyberdeck naming, but why is this called a "Recovery
| Kit"? What's being recovered? Never really talks about use cases.
| Just a cool way to get online on the go?
| dabluecaboose wrote:
| The original article [1], from 2019, briefly explains the
| concept:
|
| > Building Internet-connected things seems obvious today, but
| what about when there's no Internet?
|
| > The concept often feels like something out of a science
| fiction movie or a doomsday prepper's handbook- and while this
| device can work in both scenarios, it's also about
| understanding resiliency for your projects and being a good
| steward of the systems in place today.
|
| [1] https://www.doscher.com/work-recovery-kit/
| SeriousM wrote:
| Could we please ban this type of response? "[delayed]" is
| just nothing of value here.
| kotaKat wrote:
| [delayed] is an hn feature! it allows a commenter to write
| a response and delay it for a moment or two before it goes
| 'live'.
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=231024
| hgyjnbdet wrote:
| I saw this in my profile but had idea idea what it was
| for, thanks.
| codetrotter wrote:
| Interesting! I remember seeing that field in the profile
| options and not knowing what it was for. And I've also
| not seen any comments by others being displayed as
| [delayed] yet. But if I do see one, now I'll know why :D
| dabluecaboose wrote:
| I have a delay set in my profile because I often edit a
| comment once or twice after posting, and don't want to
| cause issues by someone attempting to respond to a comment
| that's about to change.
|
| I didn't realize the comment showed as [delayed], I thought
| it just didn't post. Sorry for the trouble.
| mulmen wrote:
| I also have a delay set in my profile. I give myself 10
| minutes to edit or cool off and delete. But I have never
| seen a [delayed] comment. That seems to undermine the
| purpose of the delay.
| masfuerte wrote:
| It could be a bug. If the comment is about to become
| visible the code that chooses whether to show it at all
| might think the delay has expired but the code that
| renders it might still think it should be delayed.
| Especially if the rendering happens first.
| pests wrote:
| I've been an active reader on HN for over 12 years and I
| have _never_ seen a comment displayed as [delayed] even
| once. Not on the site nor any of the third party mobile
| apps, and I've tried a lot of them. Weird.
| __jonas wrote:
| Just a guess:
|
| Maybe the person who saw it as [delayed] is using a third
| party HN reader app and the HN website itself filters out
| delayed comments while returning it via the API as the
| [delayed] string and expecting clients to do the
| filtering?
| dang wrote:
| Related:
|
| _Off-Grid Cyberdeck with RPI and Pelican Case_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31402558 - May 2022 (91
| comments)
|
| _Off-Grid Cyberdeck: Raspberry Pi Recovery Kit_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21647398 - Nov 2019 (144
| comments)
| rig666 wrote:
| I like the cyber deck in theory but a project I've always wanted
| to take on that I felt would yield more value is to restore and
| upgrade an old ruggedized laptop. I planned a project to restore
| an old getec v110 gen3 from eBay. They are often sold there with
| no hard drive or extra batteries but best part is most of the
| hardware is backwards compatible. Seemed like a ~$500 project. I
| then found a new gen6 model on eBay for $1400 so I just got that
| instead. (Some pawn shop massively undervalued it)
| matthew-wegner wrote:
| > The big downer is that we can't charge and use this battery at
| the same time- so that "hotwiring" of a USB-C port really helps
| here.
|
| This is the battery bank I carry on trips. It can power
| downstream devices while it's charging, but only at >50% battery
| capacity.
| criddell wrote:
| A 25,600 mAh is a pretty big battery. It's more than 5 iPhone
| Max batteries. This thing should be able to run for days.
| serf wrote:
| I think that the inside should match the motif that the outsides
| set.
|
| what I mean by that : the outside sets a tone of professional
| heavy-duty post-apocalyptic computing, yet the insides are filled
| with fragile wire connects, fragile routes, multiple boards and
| new (read: unproven) non-redundant technologies.
|
| I would expect something that exudes that aesthetic to be wired
| like a NASA project [0], use radiation hardened components,
| redundancy, SOMETHING that speaks to the durability.
|
| [0]:
| https://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2%20books/links/sectio...
| andrewaylett wrote:
| Maybe, but on the other hand this is what the author made and
| they seem quite happy with it. You're more than welcome to make
| something else if you don't like what they've done!
| ctxc wrote:
| They start with "I think..." and it isn't very negative, just
| an opinion. Why the defensive tone? :)
| jraph wrote:
| Yep, I interpreted their message as friendly feedback, not
| a request or negative criticism. The author is free to take
| this feedback and act upon it the way they see fit (which
| can be doing nothing).
|
| It's somewhat how a Show HN post works, you should expect
| such feedback and might even be coming for it. Especially
| when it's not your first one, you know a bit better what to
| expect.
| haswell wrote:
| The reason NASA invests so much in hardened components and
| redundancy is that their hardware has to continue functioning
| in an environment where humans cannot intervene.
|
| The availability of commodity hardware is one of the reasons
| projects like the Recovery Kit can exist. Redundancy and
| durability can be measured in multiple ways, and I suspect it's
| cheaper to keep on hand a stack of backup components that can
| easily be swapped out than to invest the time, energy and money
| on a more bespoke hardened solution that can't easily be
| replicated and would put this project out of reach for many
| people trying to replicate it.
|
| The goal of "Ruggedized Raspberry Pi" seems to have been met
| quite well, IMO.
| tomatohs wrote:
| I made a mini Arduino-powered smart home that was used for
| demos at tradeshows [1]. It had to be shipped first to San
| Fran, then it went to Vegas for CES and a few more places.
|
| I had the same thought at first, "I should really solder
| these wires."
|
| But then I realized that wires coming loose was inevitable
| given the hell this project was going to endure being handled
| by airlines, rolled across different terrain, and poked and
| proded by trade show attendees.
|
| So I opted to use color coded jumper cables and include
| extra. In the manual, I included a simple wiring diagram to
| show how to hook everything up. No solder needed.
|
| In the hands of a consumer, yes, everything should be
| soldered because there's a higher force needed to break the
| connection, but repair is also harder. Consumers typically do
| not repair, so the trade off leans toward solder. I suspect
| this is the perspective that inspires this comment.
|
| In the hands of a hacker looking for durability, it's
| actually better for things to be replaceable. Because the
| hacker can repair, the advantage gained by soldering isn't
| worth the the friction added repair.
|
| 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWcm1S_wAz0
| outworlder wrote:
| While that would be neat, the drawback is a much higher barrier
| of entry for anyone building this (and a higher price).
| rcarmo wrote:
| I like it, but the trouble with ortho keyboards is that they are
| quite expensive and hard to come by. I've resigned myself to
| "mainstream" QMK keyboards like the K7 Max
| (https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2024/04/06/1830), but keep
| wondering if there's something more compact.
| justinlloyd wrote:
| I love functional prop projects like this and reading through the
| build log.
|
| How far are you going for the rugged vs prop aesthetic? Have you
| considered alternative form factor screens? Have you considered
| something else than an RPi that could work with a GPT/LLM such as
| an NVidia Jetson (yes, I know, expensive) or a separate compute
| module? Do you store just things like Wikipedia or a bunch of
| PDFs such as "Where there is no doctor?" and "Wilderness Survival
| Guide?" along with other disaster recovery books?
|
| I missed this project the first couple of times it was posted so
| glad to see if pop up today.
| gaudystead wrote:
| I haven't maintained it like I told myself I would, but
| regarding an offline repository of useful data, I made a school
| project a while back that aimed to fill that very niche. It was
| composed entirely of open source, public domain, and creative
| commons software, documentation (including survival guides and
| whatnot), and blueprints (eg buildings, greenhouses, farm
| equipment, tools, etc) for somebody with no internet
| connection, and it all fit on 16GB. Originally I distributed it
| under the Other -> Other category of PirateBay mostly for kicks
| because it was all free to share and I enjoy the distributed
| nature of torrents.
|
| I've been tempted to go back and do it better, but then a
| career and life hit me.
|
| It can be found at signalbundle.com for anyone interested,
| though I warn you that it's pretty long in the tooth at this
| point, and I eventually opted to host it on Google Drive for
| availability reasons, but it's still there if anyone's curious
| and/or has feedback. :)
| KennyBlanken wrote:
| I love how he has a link to "what is it for?" but never answers
| the question. As far as I can tell this is the technoblogger
| equivalent of end-of-society prepping?
|
| In the event of something so catastrophic happening that the
| internet stops functioning for an extended period of time, you're
| not going to be hauling this enormous brick around with you. It's
| absurd.
|
| In an end-of-society situation you're likely on foot, maybe on
| bicycle (until the bike breaks down in a way you can't fix, or
| gets flats and you can't find tubes), and your available weight
| and space is going to be prioritized towards basics like food,
| shelter, clothing, basic health/tool items, and self defense.
|
| How you get 90% of the way there: a USB solar panel, a bluetooth
| keyboard, and a smartphone with an external storage memory
| device. Maybe a USB to ethernet adapter and a USB hub.
|
| Many modern phones are even water/dust proof to a pretty
| reasonable degree, more so if you put them in a ruggedized case.
|
| I dare him to carry that thing 10 miles...
| pugworthy wrote:
| I get the feeling it's for fun. It's a maker's project, not a
| preppers project.
| tivert wrote:
| > I love how he has a link to "what is it for?" but never
| answers the question. As far as I can tell this is the
| technoblogger equivalent of end-of-society prepping?
|
| > In the event of something so catastrophic happening that the
| internet stops functioning for an extended period of time,
| you're not going to be hauling this enormous brick around with
| you. It's absurd.
|
| Yeah, I've always thought these kinds of things were more of a
| LARP gizmo than any kind of actual "prepping." The priorities
| are all wrong. IMHO, if society collapses, the things you need
| will _drastically_ change from your needs now. You don 't need
| an offline Wikipedia or Youtube, even if you use them all the
| time today, you need something a lot more compact and
| practical.
|
| IMHO, a real post-apocalyptic "recovery kit" is a cubic meter
| of K12 textbooks, plus university-level ones on farming,
| engineering, and medicine locked a away in a time-capsule for a
| century post-event.
| ansible wrote:
| > ... bluetooth keyboard, and a smartphone with an external
| storage memory device. ...
|
| I'd replace this with an old Chromebook with regular Linux
| installed (very cheap, ~ $20 USD), and a 1TB micro-SD card. All
| solid-state (no hard drive), and good battery life.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| This is very cool. Reminds me a bit of my first engineering
| project.
|
| _> (Amazon may be faster but is almost always a scalper or
| reseller, so beware)_
|
| Yeesh. That's a burn (probably correct, though).
| Havoc wrote:
| > I wanted a rugged computer enclosure for my Raspberry Pi,
|
| Is this intended towards like a prepper type scenario? Or what is
| the envisioned use case of a rugged pi?
|
| Or just cool factor?
| ThinkBeat wrote:
| I have discovered over time that I hate screws. No not really the
| concept, but there are far too fucking models.
|
| I started collecting screws to put together for my "workshop"
| were I repair whatever family, friends, enemies want me to look
| at. I am not great at it, not even good, but I am who they bring
| things to, and over time I have learned a bit of skills. (Also I
| fail, sometimes I break stuff and sometimes I hide in my bag and
| take to a pro without telling anyone.)
|
| Back to screws. I often need one. but there are entirely too many
| different sizes and shapes. I have spent decent time sourcing
| various standardized sizes from far and near. Stil I have project
| where I need two screws and I dont have the right one. I also
| keep any screw that I come across. If something is broken I
| harvest the once that are easikly available.
|
| That ends up in a cubbord with lots of different tiny shelves.
| BUT looking through them so see if one of them is right is again
| time consuming.
|
| What does this have to do with anything?
|
| Well the design went from 1 type of screws to multiple sizes.
| (All of well knownm standarized types thank you)
|
| I think it wise to design projects around as few different ones
| as possible. The previous model managed with one. Clearly somehow
| V2 could have as well.
|
| Is there I pray an app I have not seen, where I can take a photo
| of a screw and the app will tell me the exact specifications of
| it, its name, and where to order them?
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