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PC Off, Not working or Cables Unplugged

By PJ @tp4me
    2022-10-03 17:00:47.206Z

    Is it possible to tell from the logs if the remote PC is off, not working, or if the cables are not plugged in?

    Scenario:
    We have a server that we are trying to upgrade the RAM in and using remote handles that aren't technical and we only have them for limited amounts of time.

    Before we started, everything worked fine (via Tiny Pilot).
    We discovered that the first RAM we tried the computer wouldn't boot (from the onsite persons perspective it looked like it was power on).
    The first RAM modules we tried did't work (wrong speed) and the computer wouldn't boot, but I don't remember if the screen was (all) black or if it had the "no signal" message.

    RAM was replaced with modules that should work, but we are getting the black "No Signal" on the video section of the Tiny Pilot.

    Log messages include:

    • Failed to forward mouse event: Failed to write to HID interface: /dev/hidg1. Is USB cable connected?
    • ERROR [24.627 stream] -- Persistent device timeout (unplugged)

    Want to narrow down the issue to simplify things for the remote hands.

    Is it possible to tell from the logs / screen if the issue is

    1. the cables are not plugged
    2. the computer is not on
    3. the computer is not sending any output / accepting input?

    thanks.

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    • 1 replies
    1. David @david2022-10-05 10:29:09.211Z

      Hi @tp4me, thanks for your question.

      Is it possible to tell from the logs if the remote PC is off, not working, or if the cables are not plugged in?

      Unfortunately, it's not possible to determine the exact state of the target machine from TinyPilot's logs. For example, those two log messages you provided can suggest both that the target system is off, or that the HDMI and USB cables are not connected (or even broken). And there's no way for the TinyPilot to know which it is in that situation since those conditions look the same to TinyPilot.

      One test you can do if you're seeing both of those messages is that you can type on your keyboard (physical or on-screen) and see if the logs contains:

      hid.write ERROR Failed to write to HID interface: /dev/hidg0. Is USB cable connected?

      If it does appear, then the keyboard is also not connected. But if the log doesn't contain that message it suggests that the keyboard is connected and usable as an input to the target machine - which would imply that you have a USB connection, and that the target machine is powered on.

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