I enjoy derping around w/ virtual machines b/c not only can I revert to a clean snapshot, I can grab screenshots of pretty much any screen in the VM, including on the initial boot screen.

Is there some way for me to get a similar experience to using VMs except instead of a virtual machine, I’d be derping with a spare laptop next to my main daily driver PC? I don’t care about snapshots, I’m mostly concerned about being able to record a video or grab screenshots of the boot screen and BIOS settings without having to use my phone to take the video/photo. In other words, like a remote desktop experience that persists during reboots of the “guest” laptop.

What equipment would I need for this? Should I look into video capture cards or KVM switches? Both the “host” and “guest” systems will be running one of the mainstream Linux distros (Mint, Fedora, etc).

Part of the challenge for me is actually articulating what it is I’m trying to do and knowing what terms to search for on DDG, so please feel free to ask questions to clarify my requirements. Thank you!

EDIT: Thanks to everyone who chimed in. Although your comments definitely piqued my curiosity in devices such as JetKVM, I ordered this video capture card, since in my case, the machine I want to capture images/videos from will be next to my “host” machine. That said, I’ll definitely keep these KVM devices in mind in case my needs change down the road.

  • Grntrenchman@lemmy.world
    7·
    2 hours ago

    You want a physical KVM, like a JetKVM.

    You can get software only ones, but these run as a program in the OS, so you can’t access anything BIOS or troubleshoot if the OS doesn’t load, as then the software KVM won’t.

    • HelloRoot@lemy.lolEnglish
      3·
      2 hours ago

      There is also nanoKVM which is open source and quite a bit cheaper. Should do the job just as well.

  • Scipitie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    5·
    2 hours ago

    If I understand you correctly: You want to be able to record one computer with another one on a system level (the BIOS-party that comes before any operating system is loaded).

    Although this is not Linux specific: your best bet is a video capture card as you’ve suggested already. Anything else would depend on your bios supporting remote access which is not exactly the same (my server bios for example can expose a website where I then can configure it from within a browser.

    The problem with video capture is that you’d still have two controls: one for the client and one for the host.

    Depending on what your final result should be it could be actually easier and cheaper to just get a stand for a smartphone and record it from there and then crop it precisely.

    You then have to only worry about light reflecting.

    • yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      4·
      1 hour ago

      Thanks for confirming. Your understanding is correct, I just want a way to grab some “clean” screenshots or videos of the laptop while it’s in boot or BIOS parts of the system. I have a video capture card in my “cart” but thought I’d put this out there to the lemmyverse before I smash that “Buy” button.

      EDIT: I ordered this video capture card, we’ll see how it goes!

    • paper_moon@lemmy.world
      3·
      2 hours ago

      If you go this route and its a semi permanent solution, would probably be better to get a ip camera or something instead of a smart phone, that way you don’t have to worry about the phone battery going bad from being plugged in 24/7.

    • yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      1·
      1 hour ago

      Thanks for the tip about JetKVM. Does the JetKVM device itself require an ethernet connection to the router or can it connect over wifi? (from what I can tell, it’s the former)

  • bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    1·
    2 hours ago

    Assuming the laptop you’re looking to control has HDMI out and USB input for Keyboard and mouse, I think you’re right with the KVM switch idea, one that supports USB and HDMI input, and can switch between them between two devices. What I would do is get something which can record HDMI on your main PC. Some gamer devices have HDMI passthrough, which you’d plug into the KVM switch, but you could also use an HDMI splitter to have a feed from the laptop going into the KVM switch and to the recorder on your main computer. On your main computer, you could use OBS Studio to record the video from the laptop.