Pikvm-studio Setup Detail

Documentation and system management guide for the dedicated studio KVM-over-IP appliance (
pikvm-studio).
Repository: link
Hardware Model: PiKVM V4 Plus (Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Rev 1.1)
Target Workstation: 
bmo95 (Linux Audio / DAW Workstation)
1. Video Architecture: 1080p @ 60.000 Hz Pass-Through
PiKVM V4 Plus features a built-in HDMI hardware pass-through port (
OUT2) and a TC358743 HDMI-to-CSI capture bridge. By default, PiKVM V4 advertises a 1920x1200 EDID. When connected to a standard 1080p physical display, the image would be cropped from the bottom.
Applied Video Optimizations
1080p EDID Preset (No 1920x1200 Mode):
Imported and applied the 
v4plus.no-1920x1200 EDID preset to 
/etc/kvmd/tc358743-edid.hex via 
kvmd-edidconf.
Ensures the target host (
bmo95) negotiates uncropped 1920x1080 @ 60.000 Hz for both remote web streaming and the physical monitor on 
OUT2.
GPU Clock & H.264 60 FPS Boost:
Added 
gpu_freq=700 to 
/boot/config.txt to provide sufficient GPU clock headroom for full 60fps hardware H.264 encoding.
Configured KVMD streamer overrides in 
/etc/kvmd/override.yaml:
kvmd:
    streamer:
        h264_boost: true
        desired_fps:
            default: 60
Physical Wiring
HDMI Input (Rear Bottom Right): Connected to 
bmo95 AMD Radeon GPU HDMI output.
HDMI Output 2 (
OUT2): Connected to the local physical studio monitor (pass-through).
USB-C OTG (Rear): Connected to 
bmo95 USB port for keyboard/mouse HID emulation and mass storage drive.
RJ45 Ethernet (Front): Connected to local studio LAN.
2. Configuration Management: Chezmoi
Configuration files across 
/etc (ext4) and 
/boot (FAT32) are tracked in Git using Chezmoi.
Why Chezmoi on PiKVM?
FAT32 
/boot Compatibility: The Raspberry Pi bootloader partition (
/boot) uses a VFAT filesystem which does not support Linux symlinks. Chezmoi uses a Source $\rightarrow$ Target Copy Model, rendering physical files without symlink errors.
Security & Ownership Compliance: Security-sensitive utilities (such as 
sudo and PAM) require configuration files to be owned by 
root:root with strict permissions (e.g. 
0440). Chezmoi preserves exact permissions and system UIDs rather than pointing symlinks to user-owned directories.
Drift Detection: 
chezmoi diff provides instant comparison between Git state and the live appliance filesystem.
Chezmoi Configuration
Located in 
/home/luke/.config/chezmoi/chezmoi.yaml:
destDir: "/"
sourceDir: "/home/luke/git/pikvm_studio"
Git History Structure
The repository at https://git.drheck.dev/luke/pikvm_studio maintains a 2-stage commit baseline:
feat(pikvm): baseline vanilla system configuration — Stock OS overrides, default 1920x1200 EDID, and stock 
/boot/config.txt.
feat(video): configure 1080p60 pass-through, H.264 boost, and GPU frequency — All active studio customizations.
Running 
git diff HEAD~1 clearly documents all modifications relative to factory OS defaults.
3. PiKVM Read-Only Lifecycle & Chezmoi Workflow
PiKVM OS operates with read-only root (
/) and boot (
/boot) partitions to protect flash storage from corruption. When managing configurations with Chezmoi, follow these standard workflows:
A. Checking for Configuration Drift
To compare the Git repository against the live system:
chezmoi diff
B. Editing and Applying Changes
To edit a tracked file and deploy it to the live system:
# 1. Remount filesystem as read-write
sudo rw
# 2. Edit the file in Chezmoi
chezmoi edit /etc/kvmd/override.yaml
# 3. Preview changes
chezmoi diff
# 4. Apply changes to disk
sudo chezmoi apply
# 5. Commit and push to Forgejo
cd ~/git/pikvm_studio
git add .
git commit -S -m "feat: description of change"
gpush pikvm_studio
# 6. Return filesystem to read-only
sudo ro
C. Ingesting Modifications Made Directly on Disk
If a file was modified outside Chezmoi (e.g. via 
kvmd-override or 
kvmd-edidconf):
sudo rw
chezmoi re-add /etc/kvmd/override.yaml
chezmoi re-add /etc/kvmd/tc358743-edid.hex
cd ~/git/pikvm_studio
git add .
git commit -S -m "feat: update kvmd settings"
gpush pikvm_studio
sudo ro
4. SSH & GPG Key Management
Terminal Pinentry: 
~/.gnupg/gpg-agent.conf is configured with 
pinentry-program /usr/bin/pinentry-curses to ensure GPG password prompts display cleanly over headless SSH sessions.
Password Store: Forgejo API tokens (
forgejo/token/*) are managed via 
pass and pushed using 
~/bin/gpush pass.