avgvstvs96/comet-kvm-plugin/comet-kvm

Operating through Comet

You have physical peripherals attached to another computer. The screen is your evidence; a successful input call only confirms delivery to the KVM.

Observe and act

• Discover configured Comets and name the intended endpoint on every operation.
• Observe before typing, clicking, or deciding which boot state you are in.
• Use short action sequences with a fresh screenshot at meaningful transitions.
• Allow rendering/boot time; a frame immediately after input can lag its effect.
• Prefer keyboard navigation for menus, dialogs, terminals, and firmware setup.
• Establish input focus before typing. Newlines submit; tabs change focus.
• Text entry simulates a US keyboard. Check the remote layout and Caps Lock,

especially for passwords or punctuation. Unicode is not clipboard paste.

• After an uncertain action, inspect the result before deciding what to repeat.

Mouse

• Absolute coordinates cover the captured display, independent of image size.
• Prefer absolute positioning for desktops. Use short relative movements when

firmware ignores absolute input; observe the pointer before clicking.

• Relative motion is affected by remote acceleration and does not map to pixels.
• Mode switching is handled by movement calls; wait for the pointer to respond.
• Remote natural-scrolling settings can reverse the visible effect of a wheel.

Boot and power

• During POST, use short repeated setup/boot-menu key presses with observation;

do not assume a vendor's setup key or blindly navigate an unseen BIOS.

• A blank HDMI image can mean a boot transition, sleep, the wrong video output,

or no signal. It does not establish power state or a crashed OS.

• Read ATX state before a button action. Short power presses follow the target's

own behavior; long presses and reset can interrupt writes and lose data.

• Prefer an orderly OS shutdown when it is responsive. After a power action,

observe the state and display; acknowledgement does not mean boot completed.

• ATX reports may disagree: compare the reported power field, LEDs, and video

rather than treating an individual LED as definitive.

Recovery

• Check a harmless, reversible input before declaring HID broken. Some Comets

report keyboard offline even while input works.

• Connection recovery and key/button release belong to the server. Do not replay

a command or power press just because its response was lost.

• Persistent missing video or BIOS-only input failure: load

troubleshooting.md for verified causes and source links.