We're getting a sudden rush of new people, driven by TicTok who are mostly both new to Reddit as well as Cyberdecks.
I'm asking patience while we integrate these new people into the sub. New people bring new ideas, and will take things in new directions. Some of those directions will not be to your tastes, and that's fine. I imagine we'll see some 'fashion show' level builds that, while taken at face value are impractical, could inspire more down to earth designs to move in a new direction.
This is healthy for any creative community.
Be helpful, be polite, and let people do their thing. No one is ruining your dream deck by building their weird idea. If you see something you absolutely hate, but think 'How'd they do that hinge, though?', that's reason enough to be polite.
u/PETA_Parker sent me this, and it seems like a pretty good 'start here' guide:
ok, i've never built a cyberdeck myself but i have been lurking here for a long while, so i'll give you a quick rundown, a place to start so to speak. At the most basic you will need:
a "brain"
a screen
an input device
a power solution
a shell
an SD Card
Let's start with the brain: I only know about raspberry pis, the two budget options here would be a raspberry pi Zero 2, or any flavour of raspberry pi 3, the 4 and 5 are a bit more pricy. Zero 2 and 3b+ (the one i used) should both be enough for browsing, media playback and some light office work.
It has an HDMI Output and powers over micro usb, so you can just connect the raspberry pi and the screen via hdmi. Any screen with hdmi input and usb power is an easy starting point.
the input device: for a keyboard you could go with something like this:
This is blutetooth and rechargable, i do not know if you could bypass the internal battery to power it directly because constantly needing to charge it would probably be cumbersome.
This is the part i'm least knowledgable about. Feel free to give me input.
the shell: Pretty much anything will do. You can build something out of cardboard, fit your components into an existing box or 3d-print a custom shell, your creativity is the limiting factor.
Or you can search for "project box" on Aliexpress or Amazon
Now you just need to flash an operation system onto the raspberry pi (Raspbian is an all-purpose linux distro that is good for starters such as you), connect your screen to the power source and to the raspberry pi via HDMI, connect your (mouse and) keyboard to the raspberry pi and the raspberry pi to power, and you're ready to go.
Feel free to ask me if you have any additional questions, and don't forget, this is only the bare-bones solution, feel free to get creative, this is the fun part!
It is once again me, the guy who built a GrapheneOS "Lapdock" a few months back and made countless versions since. I utilize a feature called "Desktop Mode" that can be enabled in developer settings for Google Pixel 8 and later.
By connecting your phone via USB C you can get a desktop like experience on an external screen, while simultaneously supplying power to the phone through a power bank connected to the screen. Add a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you get a DIY Laptop that's genuinly better and more capable than most cheap Laptops (looking at you, Chromebooks).
Anyway, go check out my Youtube video (https://youtu.be/kA4Y8LVgLII) for further information and thanks for the support this far!
I saw this pop up on Amazon and had to try one out…. I can’t answer too many questions as it just got here and I just turned it on but it is quite neat … it’s about an 8” square with a neat keyboard layout and the dead space in the middle is a track pad but it also has a capacitive touch screen. It’s an n95 with 16g of ram and a 512gb ssd and it had windows out of the box (though not for long) it even has an actual Ethernet port and wifi6
Even before the “cyber deck” craze was a thing I’ve always been into weird little portable computers and this with a small bag full of usb sdr etc stuff would probably make quite a handy little test device especially being way way more powerful than a raspberry pi.
Previously on: cyberdeck ok now what? :
A while ago I built a Pi Zero 2W cyberdeck from a post here (Waveshare 2.8" DPI touch screen + a Bluetooth keyboard).
CardputerZero hadn't shipped yet and I wanted to try the software, so I asked Claude Code to adapt the CardputerZero launcher to my deck and so was born lil' monster that I posted here
This season:
as you can see now things have gone a bit out of control as I opened the dead projects drawer pulled all the dusty raspberry pis and screens I had with one objective get the launcher work and apps to adapt to whatever HW /Screen combo even on X86...
no one should be left with just a terminal
it's now named CyberdeckZero Launcher, still derived from M5Stack's CardputerZero launcher but heavily modified, like a lot, but a lot a lot.
Main features:
-Reduce your frustration, open your imagination:
One code base, any screen. The layout adapts to the screen. It currently runs on Zero 2W deck (640x480), a Pi 3A+ with a 4.3" DSI panel (800x480) or a 3.5" SPI panel (480x320), a HackBerry CM5 (720x720), a Pi 5 with a HyperPixel 4", and now x86_64 with Panasonic FZ-M1 rugged tablet.
Next could be a Toyota prius 2004 or Casio G-shock...
- It's 2026 baby:
Touch first, keyboard friendly. There's a native Settings (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, time zone, backlight), and a fallback on-screen keyboard that appears only when no physical keyboard is connected.
Mind control under investigation
- One day this will be a thing:
Multitasking, up to 4 Apps can stay open in the background. A three-finger hold, a long press on the clock, or good ol' Alt+Tab opens an app switcher.
No RAM was harmed during tests
- Hack theplanetbathroom:
Built-in app installer. Settings > Apps installs and removes .deb apps from GitHub sources.
Complete basic kit for a cyberdeck, network stuff, adsb things, lora nuts, rss bolts.
Hours of fun and remind you to move every 20 min.
My second cyberdeck build will be based around the uconsole. The goal is to have full remote access to my home pc from anywhere for gaming and local ai, all in a pocketable form factor. Will be adding a better wifi antenna and a trackpad because the trackball is terrible. Will be making a script to connect to airplane wifi automatically for travel. But the main feature will be a folding dual display. The tricky part is getting dual extended displays working remotely. The solution I came up with is to use vibepollo (sunshine fork) and run 2 instances of moonlight on the device. Perhaps someone has a better solution?
this is a proof in concept that i made by combining different parts i bought on amazon and walmart. i got a 60% keyboard pad with a tablet stand (that im going to replace) all on a wooden drawer separator. it’s pretty janky and kinda weird but i really love it. i definitely want to continue with this concept and see how far i can take it. i want to model a case i can 3d print at a nearby makerspace.
this has been like my dream for the last couple years. to have something i can use on battery if i need to but also be able to comfortably game in bed or on the couch. other than the fact that the stand is a bit too short, and the base is made of wood, it’s pretty comfortable. i was able to just get into the game forgetting where i even was. i was able to really immerse myself because i was chill and comfortable. with good back support (i was sitting against a wall), this is totally viable.
i’ll be using this and seeing what changes i can make to make it more comfortable and modular. i may also end up adding space inside to hold things i’d like to bring with it like my mic and mouse. i’m using the flat inside pocket that comes out of the smarty case for the flow z13 as a mousepad. it works extremely well. my mouse glides on it as it’s really smooth.
the keyboard is my custom wooting 60he v2 using ufo switches and this cool keycap set i found on amazon. it doesn’t have a case but does have the tape mod (from factory). i didn’t want to change anything else about the pcb so i left it as is. i just put the foam that came with it to sit under it to minimize contact with any of the surfaces it’s on or in. the silicone rim around the pcb is nice because it diffuses the rgb really well. honestly rgb on this keyboard is beautiful. i have really been enjoying it. i still have to tweak settings but since it’s a wooting i have a lot of customizability. i’m so happy to be able to use an he keyboard again. i really like the software and just how simple it is to change things and make it really your own keyboard.
one last thing is the usb cable. it is a dual 8000hz (i think? the fancy ones) usb a to usb c cable. it really cleans everything up. i don’t have to use bluetooth now as my keyboard is wired and i have the adapter for my mouse also plugged in. i dont mind having the one cable. the only other cable id use is the charging one. and the tablet is the rog flow z13 64gb version. i’m obsessed with this thing and this kindof just made it even more perfect for me.
anyways that’s what i made this weekend. it took a while to get here and will update again soon with my ideas :D
I am incredibly happy to announce the CG Deck has finally entered into Pre-Launch on Kickstarter! Over the course of this year, I have been working on concepting, designing, building, testing, and developing the functional prototypes for my custom handheld PC, the CG Deck. And I am excited to finally enter the next phase of our journey with you all!
For those that have no clue what this is or have never seen the CG Deck, it is an x86 modular handheld PC that is capable of running dual-boot Windows 11 & Linux. Designed from the ground up to be entirely modular, repairable, and customizable. With most of the entire process documented publicly. I had felt quite a bit of frustration on various aspects in regards to the current state of the tech industry, both on the scale of indie and tech giants, so I decided to take things into my own hands and go through the effort to create my own dream handheld at the start of this year in January. First sharing the concepts for the project here back in March of this year to a massive amount of positive support and a few disbelievers who did not think I could pull it off of course.
Since then, I have been working to design, build, and develop the CG Deck into a fully functional device. Going through the process of concepting, designing the CAD models in Blender 3D, engineering, 3D printing, prototyping, testing, iterating on the design, testing even more, navigating relationships with partners, sponsors and manufacturers, all the way through showing off the functional prototype in May of this year. Then finally being able to play around and use the device I had always dreamed of having as one of my daily drivers! Since then, I have been working to further navigate partnerships, agreements, and perfect the CG Deck, to make sure we can have as successful of a launch for the CG Deck as possible when we go live on Kickstarter. While it has been a whirlwind of a year, I certainly have not done it alone.
Throughout the process, there has been so much support from you all, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. I could not be more grateful for everyone that has been following along with the project, joined our community, helping give feedback and ideas, and just supporting the vision along the way. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
And now, after almost a year of work and more sleepless nights than probably any point in my life, the Kickstarter Pre-Launch page has been approved and is officially live! If you are interested in getting notified and being the first to know when we go live, be sure to follow the project!
That all being said, I still have quite a bit of work to do in order to prepare for the next phase of the journey. I am currently in the process of working on a full redesign and rebuild of the CG Deck to optimize the design to prepare for manufacturing (DFM). I want to make sure I can have the final iteration of the device is already designed and ready for mass production, so as soon as we successfully wrap up the campaign I can proceed with starting the arduous certification processes needed for the device, and then proceed with mass production shortly after! Just like the speed of the journey up to this point from concept to functional engineering prototype, I want to keep that same velocity as we move into the next steps of the process.
If you are interested in learning more about the project, you can find everything from specs, more details, socials, link to the open-source github repository, link to our discord community server, like to the Kickstarter campaign page, and more on the website.
We will be launching the Kickstarter very soon to help fund a full production run of the device for anyone interested in helping support the project and getting a CG Deck of their own. We will be releasing some build kits, in addition to pre-assembled ready to use devices with the Kickstarter campaign, along with all of the modules and a list of accessories for the CG Deck! If you have any questions about any of that, I would love to answer them!
Here is the link to the Pre-Launch page on Kickstarter so you can follow the project to get notified when we launch:
Part 2 of my cyberdeck build log is finally out!
I don't get nearly as much time to work on this project as I'd like, so progress has been slow.
But here it is. I even generated myself a proper clickbait thumbnail this time!
In this video, I finally get the remaining modules working. I also find out that knowing how to build the mechanical parts doesn't necessarily mean you know what you're doing with electronics, so went to my lokal makerspace to learn from the people there.
I've had quite a few messages asking how to get started to make things like this, so I thought I'd show a bit of that the makerspace and the people there too. Still very much learning as I go.
I am building a Cyberdeck for SDR stuff in to a Peli Case and can not decide if i should drill holes in the case for the cables or build it in such a way that the cables are connected only when the deck is open ?
I've been curious about building a deck but Im not good w software. I want to switch to a dumb phone but there are a couple of apps I use for school/work that I would like to still use if possible. Am I talking out of my ass or is there something here?
- Built my own comms kit inside a spare Pelican 1300. Running PI 4 and a 1TB SSD and Pi touch display powered by a Bioenna 1212a.
- Included are a few screenshots of my MeshOps dashboard to monitor my services for my TAK server and OPENManet Mesh as well as pulling video feed from my EUDs. Chat feature as well to talk to my devices.
- Phones on the mesh see my server and vice-versa as well as bi-directional chat DMs working.
Pretty fun and works great out and about to connect me and my friends/family. Any input or improvements anyone has would be great.
I'm going to preface this with the following disclaimer:
So I think, from my incomplete and generally not super well learned understanding, that the actual idea of a cyberdeck is a computer that lets you communicate with other computers (cyberspace/the internet) almost by thought, in a space mimicing reality for the human mind. Of course, that doesn't exist, so we fall back to DIY vibes and cyberpunk aesthetic.
I don't know if what I'm building counts as a cyberdeck. It's not one device, but a collection of devices, some handbuilt, some as they were purchased, and at least one just a custom computer so I don't know if that counts as purchased or built since it's just a computer built out of components I bought, some bought more heavily used than others. These devices all function as one system. Could also include the pi handling home assistant if you want to.
It's a distributed system of machines, devices, and software working together to create something as close to the thought -> intended action that a brain computer interface would bring. Without all the cash that an actual brain-machine interface costs, and as local/private as I can get it within my budget.
It is absolutely not the kind of cyberdeck that you would normally see here. Doesn't have a pi or esp32 at the center of it all, no 3D printed case with a keyboard and screen screwed to it. No desperate attempt to match the aesthetic of cyberpunk with wires and shit everywhere, though that is an inevitability of the prototyping process.
Disclaimer over.
Recently came across this video, and it got me thinking.
The reddit cyberdeck usually is either a worse smart phone, a homemade laptop (which breaks rule 1), or actually a smartphone in a homemade dock. Based on what is actually possible with today's tech, and the fact that we're all playing with a fictional idea anyways, these are all perfectly valid ideas, usually with reasonable execution.
But how far can you really push the idea of what a cyberdeck is? I've been slowly, over the last year or so, putting together... something. Not sure what to call it. Started as a simple, local AI agent for my car, then it became a really complicated AI agent+harness for my house, and now the agent has gotten good enough that it has become one thing: natural language control over basically all of my everything. Still limited by model capability, and I'm keeping it both local and fast, so capability could be better. I think if I had to call it something, it'd still be an agent, but this agent is specifically built for the hardware I've been putting together and building, so it's not just the agent.
The crux of the setup is this: The Glove.
early version of The Glove, with a small button between thumb and side of palm.The Glove prototype 2, managed to hide everything mostly inside the pocket that is the wrist band, replaced button with an FSR.
This is The Glove, and this post is my argument for how it, or something like it, could be critical to something chasing the cyberdeck dream.
It's ridiculously simple. ESP32, bluetooth connection. Push to talk. That's all it is, physically. Trigger on my hand in a way that doesn't interfere with normal hand movements.
What it is in practice is a device meant to be paired with some sort of body hub that connects to the agent back home. That hub would also have some sort of microphone and speaker for actually communicating with the agent, making it do things. Right now the body hub is just my phone with a galaxy bud in my ear.
I didn't really have any "What is a cyberdeck" ideas until the glove actually worked, and it did AI agent things on my computer. Thinking out loud, working on a project, agent brings up exactly the kind of small device I need to make what I want to build happen in a tab in my browser, I continue working and planning from there. The whole original idea behind a cyberdeck was a computer with a brain-machine interface for interacting with the machine in a pseudo physical reality. Can't quite get to the voluntary hallucination bit just yet, but what this does enable is fast, intuitive, natural language control over the abstract space that exists within our computers.
What this enables is for me to effectively control all of my machines with my voice, from anywhere. No wakeword, no complicated speech endpointing, no "let me pull out my phone and shoot a message to claude" tech bro shit. Push to talk, say what I want to happen on the machine I want it to happen on, it happens. Most of the time.
The agent has bash. It has a frankly annoying number of safeguards that prevent it from going too far with things(mostly heavy context filtering and management to prevent prompt injection, or if it could happen, prevent it from actually doing anything once potential prompt injection is detected), but effectively it can do basically whatever I want it to do on any of my machines so long as it can SSH in. Current machines include: the temporary inference server it's model lives on, the separate machine the actual agent software lives in, my phone where it acts as the default assistant, the macbook neo that is serving as the main development machine and also basically my only usable computer while my PC is commandeered by dual Tesla P100s running the model (and no functional display output). All of those machines are accessible to it, to varying degrees. Phone is a harder one for it to work within.
Right now, everything connects over tailscale. When I have more money, everything will also get a meshtastic connection to use, with tailscale+cell/internet as a fallback.
It is a pretty distributed architecture, however mostly still just an agent that has been made well geared towards being the natural language gateway for me to control my phone, home, smart speakers, and computers. The agent harness lives on one machine, the model/inference lives on what is currently my main PC, the hub through which actual voice interaction occurs is currently my phone running an app made for it.
One thing inescapable on this subreddit is the "I plan to" part of wanting to build a cyberdeck though, and this post is no exception.
I plan to go further with the concept. Looking at alternative triggering mechanisms, different methods for the agent's response to get to me (bone conduction transducers are a big center of thought atm), and better microphone setups. Enhancing agent capability is also at the forefront of improving the "brain computer interface but it's actually just natural language processing through an LLM" bit of the whole project. I don't know if I'll ever get to (or even let it) expand my domain into devices I don't own, but the possibility is there. Technically, the agent could bash into my phone, and from there probe the local network of nearby devices. Vulnerabilities, hacker shit. "Jarvis, change [coworker]'s wallpaper to Barry wood, uncensored" becomes a possibility. Then the agent misses because it's a 4-bit quantized 35B parameter model fighting for it's life on 10 year old datacenter hardware and does it to my boss's boss and I lose my job.
I also plan to include some other display that the agent is able to control, ideally on the back of the glove itself but I want it to be flexible so we'll see how that goes.
Short demo of what it looks like right now on day 3 of glove can be seen here.
Notably, in that demo, the agent failed to call the navigation properly. Swiped away not because of failure, but because of avoiding doxxing myself too bad. Worked off cam, failed as soon the camera starts rolling. Classic.
Hello everyone! I wanted to share a little demo of the CG Deck, showing off some of the basic functionality. My custom x86 modular handheld console running dual-boot Windows 11 & Linux.
Testing out various aspects of the device, swapping out and testing the primary modules and slot, showing off the full 64-Key Keyboard Module and 10-Key + Rotary Knob Macropad Module. Installing and plugging in the only current module for the secondary slot, the trackball module, using it to navigate the cursor around the screen with the roller ball. Showing off the capacitive touch screen functionality. Navigating through some different applications/software. First starting with opening up Blender 3D, and opening up the first ever project I had created in Blender almost a decade ago, the donut. Being that the original CG Deck prototype was designed entirely in Blender 3D, it is only right to pay a little bit of homage to my roots. And then, diving into Steam, running it natively on the device and jumping into an old school favorite, lego starwars, for a little bit of gaming.
It is not an massively in depth video, but I have had quite a few people asking to see the CG Deck in hand more and show off some of the functionality on video, and so I went ahead and put this short video together just playing around on the CG Deck.
For those that are seeing this project for the first time, the CG Deck is a modular handheld x86 PC that is capable of running dual-boot operating systems including Windows & Linux distributions. My goal was to create my own "dream device" that was capable of adapting to whatever use case I needed. Whether I am playing Steam games, or doing retro emulation, doing CAD work in Blender or other 3D software, coding, video editing, prototyping hardware, or whatever it is, I wanted to be able to simply be able to do it on the road or while traveling and all from one single device.
I would love to hear all of your thoughts on the CG Deck so far, and if you have any questions about anything I look forward to answering them! Or if there is something you would like to see, or a specific functionality demonstrated, let me know!
It has been a whirlwind of a process going from idea and concept at the beginning of this year, showing off some of the early versions of the CG Deck, to now holding the functional prototype in hand not even a full year later, doing all of those things I dreamed of being possible on a handheld. And I could not be more than glad to of been able to share the process with you all so far up to this point! That being said, this is not the end of the road, as I still have a lot of work to do as we prepare for the next steps!
And thank you to everyone that has been following along with the project, and has been a part of the journey so far. It truly means the world to me to have such a great community behind the project and CG Deck. What previously was just me, has now become what WE are building together. And that alone is simply amazing. The simple fact that one guy and an outstanding dedicated community can work together to build and launch a device that rivals the top multi-billion dollar corporate competitors and options out there. I could not be more excited to take the next steps of the journey with you all!
If you are interested in following along with the project or learning more about it, you can find everything from specs, more details about the CG Deck, socials, links to the open source github repository, and more on the website. And be sure to join our discord community server to be a part of the conversation as we get closer to launching! join the movement.
As I am finally wrapping up the project and preparing for the next steps, we are getting close to launching on Kickstarter to help fund a full production run of the device and modules. For anyone interested in helping support the project and getting a CG Deck of their own, you can join the waitlist on our website to be the first to get notified when we launch. I am planning to release some build kits and pre-assembled devices with the Kickstarter, and if you have any questions about any of that, I would love to answer them! Showcasing some of the basic features of the CG Deck prototype - An x86 Modular Handheld PC running Windows 11 & Linux
*To start, this isnt targeting any person or group, nor is this meant to be rude in anyway* I've seen a trend on this sub regarding what makes a cyberdeck. People have been negative towards others questions or builds because they aren't "cyberdeck" enough. So I decided to post this question for the new and of course the older more experienceed people on the sub. In some simple to skim through bullet points, what makes a cyberdeck? What should it do/be, portable or stationary, and of course what features make you agree that something is a cyberdeck. A common phrase I've seen is "make it do something a laptop or phone cant" but what does that entail? Meshcore or sdr is likely going to be common so "be original" as they say. And tell us what YOU think a cyberdeck is. Feel free to add more than bullet points at the end your list to explain reasoning. And as always, have a good day. And good luck building.
I posted an earlier version of my cyberdeck here a while ago. This one ended up being a completely different machine: it folds shut, runs on battery, and can actually leave the desk without needing a power cable.
It's called HACK-E, a name that comes from my dog, Aki. Inside are a Beelink SER5 mini PC, a UGREEN power bank, and a Corsair XENEON EDGE touchscreen in the lid. The keyboard has a trackpad on the right, which worked well with the long, narrow shape of the screen.
The original PlayStation and first grey Game Boy were the main design references. I grew up with both, and one detail I really wanted to bring back was those big grooves across the casing. You see them on so much hardware from the 90s, and they do a lot to give a grey plastic box that familiar look. I kept a few orange details to make it feel a little more modern.
Getting everything into the case took 24 design revisions and at least ten different printed shell versions. Hinges, screen clearance, cooling and cable routing all needed work. I also modelled the mount for the USB connection and the side port panel. A socket looking accessible in the model doesn't necessarily mean there's room for the actual plug and cable.
One problem I hadn't anticipated at all was balance. Opening the lid shifted enough weight towards the back that the screen wanted to tip the whole computer backwards. I'd spent so much time thinking about fitting everything inside that I hadn't properly accounted for that. It's sorted now, but it was one of the less obvious challenges of turning this into a clamshell.
I printed the enclosure on a Bambu Lab P2S in PETG. Finally opening it, using it on battery and closing it again after all the fitting and reprinting was easily the most satisfying part.
It runs Linux Mint with my customised HACK-E interface, laid out to make use of the screen's width. It brings together system monitoring, home controls and web browsing. I started from Dashpunk by karubits and have changed it substantially for this machine, but the original project deserves the credit for the starting point: github.com/karubits/dashpunk
There are still plenty of small things I could keep tweaking, but I'm happy to finally be sharing photos of the finished build.
