Building a serial and VGA “everything console”

构建一台串行与 VGA“万能控制台”

Saturday, June 13, 2026. Some of our recent (and some upcoming) projects are oriented to systems with serial consoles, but it’s been getting pretty old dragging around old CRT terminals or tying up Mac laptops with a serial port. I’d like something that’s self-contained, a little more portable and a bit less heavy. I’m sure there’s any number of all-in-one setups you can buy to do this, but I’m cheap, so I’m going to DIY it. 2026年6月13日，星期六。我们最近（以及即将开展）的一些项目都针对带有串行控制台的系统，但总是拖着老旧的 CRT 终端，或者占用 Mac 笔记本电脑的串行端口，实在让人感到厌烦。我想要一种自给自足、更便携且重量更轻的设备。市面上肯定有不少现成的多合一设备可以实现这一点，但我比较抠门，所以打算自己动手 DIY。

We’ll start with this used, slightly abused IBM 1U console that I got for $120 (shipped) from eBay, add a terminal emulator, and put all the fixin’s on. Nearly every server company produces one of these. They slide into a regular 19” rack and provide a flip-up LCD screen and keyboard in 1U. This was an IBM 7316-TF3 with a 17” screen and a combo keyboard-mouse slimline keyboard. IBM apparently manufactured these from 2004 to 2014, so it’s almost on-topic for this blog, even. 我们从这台在 eBay 上以 120 美元（含运费）购得的二手、略有磨损的 IBM 1U 控制台开始，为其添加一个终端模拟器，并装上所有必要的配件。几乎每家服务器公司都生产这种设备。它们可以滑入标准的 19 英寸机架，并在 1U 的空间内提供翻盖式 LCD 屏幕和键盘。这是一台 IBM 7316-TF3，配有 17 英寸屏幕和组合式键盘鼠标超薄键盘。IBM 显然在 2004 年到 2014 年间生产了这些设备，所以它甚至还挺符合本博客的主题。

I chose it because it was a little banged up and the LCD had some areas of damage (probably improperly closed on something), and the seller had priced it accordingly, but the screen was still sufficiently legible and the keyboard looked fine. Naturally you can do mostly what we’re doing here with any of the similar Dell or HP or etc. units that can also be easily found. 我选择它是因为它有些磕碰，LCD 屏幕也有一些损坏区域（可能是因为闭合时夹到了东西），卖家也因此降低了价格，但屏幕依然清晰可见，键盘看起来也没问题。当然，你也可以用市面上容易找到的任何类似的戴尔、惠普或其他品牌的设备来完成我们这里所做的大部分工作。

The keyboard is an IBM “USB Travel Keyboard with UltraNav” SK-8845RC, the variant with an extra-long cable. This is part of a family of such keyboards including a PS/2 variant (SK-8840), the short cable regular version (SK-8845), and the larger SK-8835 with a numeric keypad. I actually rather like this keyboard. It’s decently space-saving and has a not-horrid tactile feel given its thickness, and of course the lower tray is customized to fit it. 这款键盘是 IBM 的“带 UltraNav 的 USB 旅行键盘”SK-8845RC，即带有超长线缆的版本。它是此类键盘系列的一部分，该系列还包括 PS/2 版本 (SK-8840)、短线常规版本 (SK-8845) 以及带有数字小键盘的较大版本 SK-8835。我其实挺喜欢这款键盘的。它相当节省空间，考虑到其厚度，手感也不算太差，当然，底部的托盘也是专门为它定制的。

Also, being an UltraNav, the fact it gives you a choice of pointing device is rather nice: if you like TrackPoints (I don’t hate them), you can use that, or if you prefer trackpads (I don’t hate them either but I’d rather use the TrackPoint), you can use that. The keyboard and UltraNav are implemented as HIDs on a single hub which also offers two more USB ports. The keyboard’s USB cable comes out on the other end carried by an extensible folding arm which is how everything stays connected when you pull the assembly forward from the rack. The other cable carried on this arm is the VGA connector. 此外，作为 UltraNav，它能让你选择指点设备，这一点非常棒：如果你喜欢 TrackPoint（我不讨厌它），你可以使用它；或者如果你更喜欢触控板（我也不讨厌，但我更倾向于使用 TrackPoint），你也可以使用它。键盘和 UltraNav 作为 HID 设备实现在同一个集线器上，该集线器还额外提供了两个 USB 端口。键盘的 USB 线缆从另一端引出，由一个可伸缩的折叠臂支撑，这就是当你从机架中拉出组件时，所有设备保持连接的方式。该折叠臂上承载的另一根线缆是 VGA 接口。

The screen is “fine.” Like I say, there was some damage, probably because it got closed improperly on something and messed up the display, but it’s sufficient as a simple terminal or here connected to the M1 MacBook Air with a USB-C dongle. The only drawback is that it gets a little daft with non-60Hz rates; it’s rated to 75Hz, but 60Hz had fewer artifacts. The panel’s maximum resolution of 1280x1024 is sufficient for my purpose. 屏幕表现“尚可”。正如我所说，它有一些损坏，可能是因为闭合时夹到了东西导致显示异常，但作为简单的终端，或者像现在这样通过 USB-C 转接器连接到 M1 MacBook Air，它已经足够了。唯一的缺点是它在非 60Hz 刷新率下会有点“傻”；虽然标称支持 75Hz，但 60Hz 下的伪影更少。该面板 1280x1024 的最大分辨率足以满足我的需求。

Although the keyboard can be lifted up clear of the tray it sits in, it is only tethered by a single bolt and clip. This is fortunate because of … … what we chose for the terminal emulator. Assuming you don’t want to build or program this yourself from scratch (and I didn’t), there are a few homebrews here that will take a USB keyboard and a VGA screen and a serial port and do the needful, and what you need to do is pick what is the most convenient for you and has the right features. 虽然键盘可以从托盘中抬起，但它仅由一颗螺栓和卡扣固定。这很幸运，因为……我们为终端模拟器选择了特定的方案。假设你不想从零开始构建或编程（我也不想），市面上有一些自制方案可以连接 USB 键盘、VGA 屏幕和串行端口来完成任务，你需要做的就是选择最方便且功能最符合你需求的那一个。

There are slightly more such devices which use a PS/2 port, but I decided to stick with USB since it would be more flexible and if I really needed something else, I could use an active converter like a ps2x2pico for PS/2 or a Wombat for Macs with ADB. I eventually selected this one from Tattler Solutions (not affiliated) because it ships from the United States (damn you UPS, you still owe me $600 on that tariff you stiffed me on), comes in a nice self-contained case and can be USB-powered, runs up to 115200bps, and has demonstrably good VT100 terminal support. All up it cost me $86 shipped. 使用 PS/2 端口的此类设备稍微多一些，但我决定坚持使用 USB，因为它更灵活。如果我真的需要其他接口，我可以使用像 ps2x2pico 这样的有源转换器来转换 PS/2，或者使用 Wombat 来转换 Mac 的 ADB 接口。我最终选择了 Tattler Solutions（无关联）的这款产品，因为它从美国发货（该死的 UPS，你们还欠我 600 美元的关税退款），自带一个不错的独立外壳，可以通过 USB 供电，运行速度高达 115200bps，并且拥有经证明非常出色的 VT100 终端支持。总共花费 86 美元（含运费）。

However, it also has a big drawback: its USB controller does not support combo devices like our IBM keyboard, which he does warn you about, and believe me, I tried really hard to get that to work because I really like the keyboard. Unfortunately, it truly is (and in fairness, as described, a fundamental hardware limitation that can’t be programmed around, so that means we can’t use our nice UltraNav. 然而，它也有一个巨大的缺点：它的 USB 控制器不支持像我们这款 IBM 键盘那样的组合设备，卖家确实对此发出了警告。相信我，我真的非常努力地尝试让它工作，因为我真的很喜欢这个键盘。遗憾的是，这确实是一个无法通过编程解决的根本性硬件限制（公平地说，卖家描述中也提到了），这意味着我们无法使用我们心爱的 UltraNav。

I looked at slimline keyboards on Amazon and found two by Perixx (not associated, not affiliated) that looked like they might fit ($20 and $25) and also had a PrtScr key to open the terminal’s setup screen. The $25 keyboard would fit but did not sit in the little tray area, so we’ll go with the $20 one and I’ll find something else to use the $25 one for. 我在亚马逊上查看了超薄键盘，发现了两款 Perixx（无关联）的产品，看起来可能合适（分别为 20 美元和 25 美元），并且都有用于打开终端设置界面的 PrtScr 键。25 美元的那款虽然能装下，但无法放入小托盘区域，所以我们选择 20 美元的那款，至于 25 美元的那款，我会找其他用途。

After a quick whirl through the keys to ensure that all the necessary function and control keys could be used and worked with the terminal emulator box, it’s time to modify the lower tray. My expert and exceptionally precise measurements showed that its thinness was just enough to fit in the cleft against the screen, so I got out the silane metal glue and some black painted mending braces to serve as supports. However, we’ll come back to this point. 在快速测试了所有按键，确保所有必要的功能键和控制键都能在终端模拟器盒上正常工作后，是时候修改下托盘了。我专业且极其精确的测量显示，它的厚度刚好可以塞进屏幕边缘的缝隙中，所以我拿出了硅烷金属胶和一些喷了黑漆的修补支架作为支撑。不过，我们稍后再回到这一点。

Measure twice … and glue once (after scuffing the undersides with some steel wool and marking everything with silver Sharpie). Ignore what the tube says: this needs to cure for days. The first time I tried it, I tested it out after 24 hours as suggested and while the excess silane glue exposed directly to air had cured, the silane between the metal had only partially done so and the whole thing peeled right off. The second time I let it sit for a week. That seemed stable. As insurance I also put some Flexseal tape over each support for extra rigidity and to hide the excess glue. 测量两次……粘合一次（在此之前先用钢丝绒打磨底部，并用银色记号笔做好标记）。别管胶水管上怎么写：这东西需要固化好几天。我第一次尝试时，按照建议在 24 小时后进行了测试，虽然直接暴露在空气中的多余硅烷胶已经固化，但金属之间的硅烷只固化了一部分，整个东西直接剥落了。第二次我让它静置了一周，看起来很稳固。为了保险起见，我还在每个支架上贴了一些 Flexseal 胶带，以增加刚性并遮盖多余的胶水。

The appearance on the other side. One got a little crooked but it’s fine. To hold the keyboard in position, I then added some Velcro strips left over from another project, with the sticky side out. The sticky side adhered to the keyboard, and then the Velcro kept it in place. This was nice for 另一侧的外观。有一个稍微有点歪，但没关系。为了将键盘固定到位，我添加了一些从其他项目中剩下的魔术贴条，粘性面朝外。粘性面贴在键盘上，然后魔术贴将其固定住。这对于……来说很不错。