WarpKVM DIY Kit
Community Edition. Open-hardware KVM-over-IP with true 4K30 hardware-encoded capture.
The DIY Kit runs the full WarpKVM software stack on open hardware: a 1 GB Luckfox Aura (Rockchip RV1126B), our custom RK628H carrier board, and a pre-flashed microSD card. It captures HDMI over MIPI CSI, encodes H.264 or H.265 in hardware, and drives the target's keyboard, mouse, and mass storage over USB. The daemon and the browser console are the same ones our own hardware runs, and both are open source.
Firmware is in bring-up
The hardware works and the numbers below are measured on it. The firmware port to the RV1126B is still being finished; the guides below describe the software as it runs today and track the image as it stabilises. Pre-orders are charged now and are refundable any time before the kit ships.
What's in the kit
| Board | What it is |
|---|---|
| Luckfox Aura | The compute: Rockchip RV1126B, quad Cortex-A53, 1 GB LPDDR4X, Wi-Fi 6, Gigabit Ethernet. Unbranded. |
| WarpKVM carrier board | Our RK628H capture board, linked to the Aura over dual 22-pin MIPI CSI, with HDMI in, a 1080p60 HDMI out, and the PoE stage on the PoE variant. |
| microSD card | 8 GB, pre-flashed with the WarpKVM image. The only storage; there is no eMMC. |
The full board-level reference, including the two-USB-C port layout, power, and thermals, is the hardware guide. The image also runs on an Aura paired with the standalone 22-pin HDMI to CSI Adapter instead of the carrier: one CSI link, HDMI input only, no PoE. The carrier is the recommended build.
You supply the case, an HDMI cable to the source, a USB-C cable to the target, and power. The Standard kit powers over USB-C or 5 V DC; the PoE kit takes power and network from a single 802.3af/at cable.
What it does
- The same software. The open-source Rust daemon and browser console that run on our own hardware, unmodified.
- Hardware-encoded 4K30. The RV1126B captures HDMI at up to 4K and encodes on-chip, so the capture path never touches the CPU.
- Real HDMI capture, with EDID control. A MIPI CSI bridge, not a USB dongle. The console reads and rewrites the EDID it presents, so you tell the source exactly what to send.
- Keyboard, mouse, and mass storage over USB. USB HID gadget through the Aura's USB-C port, plus mounting an installer image over the network.
Measured on this hardware
Every figure is measured on the kit itself, not carried over from another board:
| Mode | Glass to glass | Internal | Encode rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p, 120 Hz capture / 60 encode | 18 ms on a LAN | 16 ms | 60.00 fps |
| 4K30 | not yet measured | 60 ms | 30.00 fps |
Capturing at 120 Hz and encoding at 60 is the single biggest latency lever, and it costs nothing on the encoder: a frame is at most 8 ms old when it is picked up, instead of 17. Where the source will negotiate 120 Hz, the kit uses it by default.
Two limits, stated up front
- Local monitor out is 1080p 60 only. The kit can drive a local monitor, but the local output stays at 1080p 60 whatever the source sends. The full-resolution path is the KVM stream; native-resolution passthrough is a feature of the commercial WarpKVM units.
- 4:2:0 colour at 4K. At 4K the encoder outputs 4:2:0, so small, saturated text can fringe slightly on hard edges. For text-heavy work the console offers a 1080p high-detail mode that recovers full-resolution colour, and you can switch between them live.
Assembly, in outline
The build is five steps, none of them soldering:
- Seat the two 22-pin FPC cables between the carrier board and the Aura's camera connectors, latches closed, contacts the right way at both ends.
- Connect the HDMI source to the carrier's HDMI input.
- Connect a USB-C cable from the Aura's OTG port to the target you want to control.
- Insert the pre-flashed microSD card.
- Power the Aura: USB-C or 5 V DC on the Standard kit, or a PoE switch on the PoE kit.
The card boots into the WarpKVM daemon, which serves the console on your network. The device ships with no default credentials; the first visit creates your account. The full walk-through, including the standalone-adapter build, is Getting started.
Specifications
Compute
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| SoC | Rockchip RV1126B, 4× Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6 GHz |
| Memory | 1 GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 8 GB microSD, pre-flashed · no eMMC |
| Video encode | 4K @ 30 H.264 / H.265, hardware |
| Multi-stream | 1× 4Kp30 + 1× 1080p30, hardware |
| NPU | 3 TOPS INT8, unused by WarpKVM |
Capture
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Bridge | RK628H, on our carrier board |
| HDMI input | Up to 4K @ 60, YUV420, HDMI 2.0 |
| CSI link | Dual 4-lane, both RK628H CSI ports routed |
| High-refresh mode | 1080p @ 120 capture, 60 encode |
| Colour | YUV422 capture; 4K encodes 4:2:0, with a 1080p high-detail mode for text |
| EDID | Read, write, and preset control from the console |
Latency, measured on this hardware
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| 1080p, glass to glass | 18 ms on a LAN, capturing at 120 Hz |
| 4K30, internal | 60 ms, capture to encoded frame |
| Encode rate | Locked 30.00 fps at 4K · 60.00 fps at 1080p |
| Measured on | Luckfox Aura RV1126B with our carrier board |
Host & control
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| USB | 1× USB-C 3.0 OTG for HID and mass storage · 4× USB-A 2.0 host |
| Keyboard & mouse | USB HID gadget, absolute and relative pointer |
| Mass storage | USB gadget, mount an image over IP |
| Network | Gigabit Ethernet · optional PoE · Wi-Fi 6 · Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Display out | Local monitor out, 1080p @ 60 only |
| Expansion | 40-pin header, partly Raspberry Pi HAT compatible |
Software
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Daemon | Open-source Rust, runs on the device |
| Console | Browser-based, served by the device itself |
| Browser support | Every modern browser, including Safari and Firefox. No plugin, no app |
| Auth | Local account, argon2id password hashing |
| Base OS | Debian 13 or Buildroot |
| Firmware | In bring-up; ships when complete |
In the box
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Compute | Luckfox Aura, 1 GB, RV1126B, unbranded |
| Capture | WarpKVM RK628H carrier board |
| Storage | 8 GB microSD, pre-flashed |
| Power | PoE variant powers over the network; Standard over USB-C or 5 V DC |
| Not included | Case, HDMI cable, USB-C cable, power supply |
The guides
- DIY Kit hardware: every board in the kit, the two-USB-C port layout, power and thermal measurements, the CSI cabling, and the standalone-adapter build.
- Getting started: assembly, wiring, first boot, and creating your account.
- The image, flashing, and recovery: what is on the card, rewriting it, the serial console, and why the board cannot be bricked.
- Capture modes and EDID: how the kit tells the source what to send, and which mode to run when.
- Security posture: what the shipped image does and does not do, stated as commitments.
- Troubleshooting, limitations, and roadmap: what to check, what the kit will not do, and what is coming.
Reference
- HDMI to CSI Adapter: the capture bridge behind the kit, with its full measured mode tables, the high-refresh device tree note, and the driver's known limitations. Also usable on its own with an Aura as the minimal build of this kit.