Hello all.
First off, let me say, this is a wonderful sub full of wonderful people, and I'm beyond inspired by all of the projects I have seen here. Your creativity, ingenuity, and expertise are nothing short of mind blowing.
I've been thinking about a cyberdeck for YEARS, but never really had any reason to build one.
Until now.
I am not new to pc building, but I am brand new to cyberdecks.
Initially, I was hoping to build a compact, RPi based unit, mostly because that's all I've ever heard about over the years. But I very quickly decided that wasn't going to be powerful enough for my use case, so I opted to go a different route.
BUILD PURPOSE
These are the objectives I laid out for this project:
- offline/local LLM device
- a wide variety of pentesting features/operations
- web browsing/documents
- media playback
- physically disconnect any RF components (WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, et). I could just use USB adapters/antennas and unplug them, but I'd prefer to put a physical toggle switch on the chassis if at all possible to disable them individually without having to carry around plug in accessories/take up a USB port.
- physical power switch that actually disconnects the power. I don't want a soft power off that drops the device to low power mode, I want it to actually shut down
- passthrough power/charging (I'd like to be able to run this off battery, or plug it into a wall outlet without having to power down the devices, remove the battery, and connect it to power. And charging the batter while using the device would be awesome. It would also be great if I could charge the battery just by plugging the deck into the wall, rather then pulling the battery out for charging. Basically, just like a normal laptop)
I don't expect to edit 4K footage on this or anything, I have dedicated devices for high power purposes like that. But I wanted this to be able to playback high level media without struggling, handle complex computing tasks, run a high level LLM (13B-20B) without struggling, and multitask well (LLM running in the background, several web browsing tabs open, etc). I also wanted a well stacked I/O to be able to interface with any pentesting tools I may throw at it.
I/O
These are what I wanted it to include, but have not necessarily been finalized yet
- 2 x USB A
- 2 x USB C
- 2 x Ethernet
- 1 x 3.5mm Audio Jack (not built in speakers)
- GPIO Header (probably controlled by an internally mounted RPi Pico 2, connect to the pc via internal USB)
- Maybe an SD Card slot, though not a deal breaker (could easily be accomplished with a mounted USB hub that has SD/microSD slots)
PARTS LIST
I decided to use a mini pc as the base, rather than a SBC, aiming for more processing power than I'd find of a RPi or something similar. I settled on a Ryzen mini pc, and built the rest of the unit around that
- MINISFORUM UM890 Pro Mini PC AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS Processor(up to 5.4GHz) Barebone
- Crucial 32GB (2 x 16GB) 262-Pin DDR5 SO-DIMM DDR5 5600 Laptop Memory (will probably upgrade to 64gb later for LLM purposes, but with the price of memory/storage rn, I had to make some compromises)
- SAMSUNG 990 PRO SSD 1TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 SSD (will add a secondary drive later, this is just to get the deck to boot for now)
- 96% Semi-Custom Mechanical Keyboard (I really like having a numpad, and I wanted it hardwired so I don't have to worry about batteries. I also figured that by using a keyboard PCB and keyswitches vs. a prebuilt, I could mount it/integrate it into the chassis better. There are some decent prebuilt options I have found that would suit my needs, and would save some money, so I'm not opposed to going with a prebuilt and just working around it)
- USB Wired Trackpad
- 12.6" Surface Pro LCD (plus HDMI controller board for display functionality)
BONUS WANTS
These are not currently in V1 of this deck, but I'd like to op option to add them later, the I need to future proof the design to accommodate the upgrades without having to build an entirely new chassis down the road.
- Second Display (this would fold, slide, or otherwise be mounted in a way that would allow for a dual screen setup without creating a massive surface area when deployed. I don't want to just flush mount two displays, as the chassis would have to be massive to support the width)
- Small, narrow auxiliary screen (mounted right above the keyboard) for displaying various sensor readouts, widgets, etc. Not at all necessary, but would be a cool feature to have.
- Possibly some kind of built in router for generating a WiFi network. I could always just carry one with me an connect is to one of the Ethernet ports, but it would be great if it was internally mounted so it's one less thing to carry around
WHAT I NEED HELP WITH
Chassis Design - I have zero CAD experience, and this seems like an incredibly ambitious project for a newbie. I'm hoping to find someone willing to help me with the design files for the chassis. I'm happy to pay for the service, I don't expect anyone to take time out of their day for free. I'd prefer some kind of custom chassis; partly because this is a very specific deck with unique needs, and partly because I just don't like the aesthetic of a pelican case. But if I have to build it in. pelican and just use custom inserts/mounting brackets, it won't be the end of the world.
POWER DELIVERY - I have looked at a few different options of power banks/ups boards, but this will draw much more power than a simple RPi build. I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out the best solution for this, and I'm hoping the creative expertise of this sub might be able to help me find a way to power this device with a decent enough runtime to make it practical. I'm not expecting 18 hours of battery life or anything, but it won't be a very practical device if it dies after an hour of use. I'm not married to the idea of a power bank. I would absolutely consider using a laptop battery (they are able to run high powered laptops for much longer periods, so it should theoretically work here, right?), but I don't even know where to begin when it comes to those.
If anyone is able to help point me in the right direction with this project, I would be extremely grateful. If there's anything you have suggestions on (not just the chassis/power), please let me know. You guys are the experts, and I would love to hear as much input as possible so I can make informed decisions. Most of the components I have picked are based on my pc building experience, and I know things get a little different in the cyberdeck world, so I'm not under the illusion that what I have come up with so far is the best design. Please feel free to correct my on anything I have done wrong, or suggest alternatives that might be better for me. I'm very open minded at this stage in the project.
Thank you in advance. I know this sub has been flooded with newbies recently, and I apologize to the long standing builders for annoying you with what are probably very basic questions. I appreciate any help you can give me, and I'll be sure to share updates along the way.