I’m working on my desk setup again this year. I’d get huge quality-of-life benefits from finally buying a CalDigit Thunderbolt dock, but the thing that’s holding me back is the fact that I use KVM to move my display/keyboard/mouse between my laptop and 2018 Mac Mini server.
The Mini basically runs headless, EXCEPT there are occasional times when it just goes unresponsive. Something crashes, the OS decides it won’t allow Screen Sharing (usually coincides with software updates for some reason), etc. This happens maybe once every couple of months or so, but when it happens I need to get things back up and running. I don’t want to have to dismantle my desk to get monitor/keyboard/etc. cables over to the Mini.
I can absolutely buy an extra keyboard/mouse for it. But I’m wondering what to do about a screen.
In my ideal world, I’d want a screen that takes HDMI that I could tuck into about a 13" wide space that I have available. I see a bunch of options on Amazon, but a number of them are somewhat-sketchy-looking stuff and are “frequently returned items”.
To be absolutely clear, this thing doesn’t have to be huge. 10-12" would be fine. And it doesn’t have to be great. I don’t need IPS and high refresh rate or anything. I just need something to give me enough visibility into what’s going on that I can get in, shut things down, and reboot.
Has anybody else done this before? Any product recommendations?
if it’s running Tahoe you probably don’t need a separate keyboard/mouse.
You can now unlock it on reboot over ssh. I’ve done that with my studio a few times and works well.
It’s not running Tahoe because it’s on the other side of the cutoff.
At least part of the challenge though is getting in and initiating the reboot gracefully. The power button is a pretty “nuclear” option, especially if there are processes that aren’t actively crashed that are still able to run.
The other thing I have is a logi bolt connecter in the studio which my MX Master 3 and mx keys will attach then a HDMI cable with an adapter to plug into an iPad and using Orion it it acts as a monitor.
Now that’s super-interesting. So if I’m understanding this correctly, I plug a plain vanilla HDMI cable into the Mac, plug the other end into a HDMI-USB C dongle, and then plug the dongle into my iPad? And the Mac doesn’t need any drivers or anything?
That would be just about perfect. I have an order in for a capture card to try it out. Thanks!
With any USB C hub you can unplug it from your laptop and plug it into your Mac Mini. With little to no interruption so long as the Mini is accessible.
I found a “novel” solution that works for me. I use a tiny HDMI monitor (6" or 7") designed to be used with a video camera. They run around $100.
The display image is really small, but it does what I need and takes up very little room.
I like that it is super reliable - just an actual HDMI monitor - no special USB-C capture dongles, hubs, or apps to worry about.
Since I usually only need a minute or two to reboot the recalcitrant Mac, I don’t want to spend a 1/2 hour getting some Rube Goldberg alternative working at the worst possible time.
For me, spending a reasonable $$ to have a rock-solid KISS solution has been worthwile.
Something like the following. The brand I have is no longer available, so shop around,
Keep in mind most of these run off a standard “cinema/camera style” battery or AC adapter. Neither of which is included unless you find a bundled listing.
FYI, for stuff like this, I try to always buy from Amazon given they have a very generous “try after you buy” return policy
I use a single monitor, mouse, and keyboard shared across my Mac Studio, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini (which serves as my server).
The monitor is a 32" LG with two HDMI ports and a USB port. The Mac Studio and Mac Mini are connected via HDMI, while the MacBook Pro connects via USB. Switching between screens is straightforward using the LG’s menu button.
For input, I use a Logitech keyboard and mouse, both of which allow me to easily switch between all three devices.
Thanks!