[GUIDE-SERVERING] Beelink GTI14 + Ex Pro Docking Station

fgohan · 发表于 4 day(s) ago

Edited by fgohan at 2025-04-28 02:13

Hello !

I am a software engineer and I made the acquisition of a mini pc Beelink GTI14 with the Ex Pro Docking Station.
My goals wasn't to be able to use the mini pc only with Windows OS. It has great specs for making a decent homelab.

This guide will help you to fix some issues that I encountered.

Proxmox Virtual Environment version 8.x topics :

1. Loosing network connection after adding or removing the Ex Pro Docking Station. [COMPLETE]
2. GPU Passthrough settings. [INCOMPLETE]

Vmware ESXI version 8.x topics :

1. Loosing network connection after adding or removing the Ex Pro Docking Station. [INCOMPLETE]
2. GPU Passthrough settings. [COMPLETE]
3. PURPLE SCREEN during installation due to CPU "HW feature incompatibility detected; cannot start". [COMPLETE]

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This post will be regularly updated by myself as I am guessing I will encountered new issues or ways to manage this bundle as homelab.

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PROXMOX VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT VERSION 8.X :

1. Loosing network connection after adding or removing the Ex Pro Docking Station :

Did you wonder why after turning on/off your mini pc with or without the GPU you are loosing sometimes the internet connection to your proxmox server ?
It is a common issue related to the pcie lanes changing. In fact your NICs actually having their names changed that is why you have no longer the connection to the server. Your etc/network/interfaces file is coming obsolete with the new names.

I made this script to be able to fully use the possibility to powering ON/OFF the docking station to save some energy.
Caution to powering ON/OFF the mini pc must be shutdown first.

For a simple interface configuration like this :

This is basically the default interfaces configuration after installing proxmox in /etc/network/interfaces.

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
iface enp173s0 inet manual
auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
address 10.27.27.30/24
gateway 10.27.27.1
bridge-ports enp173s0
bridge-stp off
bridge-fd 0
iface enp174s0 inet manual
iface enx6c1ff7047945 inet manual
iface wlp174s0f0 inet manual

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Remember of your actual private lan. Mine is 10.27.27.0/24. Be aware to adjust all the references inside this section by yours.

You can manage it like this in your proxmox shell as root user :

apt-get install sudo -y

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you need the sudo command and it is not installed by default.

mkdir scripts
nano /scripts/update_network_interfaces.sh

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you can choose any directory name you prefer.

Define the script as below :

#!/bin/bash
# Backup the current /etc/network/interfaces file
cp /etc/network/interfaces /etc/network/interfaces.bak
# Get the list of current network interfaces
interfaces=$(ip link show | grep '^[0-9]' | awk -F: '{print $2}' | sed 's/ //g')
# Initialize the configuration template
config_template=""
# Add loopback interface configuration
config_template+="auto lo\niface lo inet loopback\n\n"
# Identify the primary network interface for the bridge
primary_iface=""
for iface in $interfaces;
do
if [[ $iface == enp* ]]; then
primary_iface=$iface
break
fi
done
# Add configuration for the primary interface and bridge
if [ -n "$primary_iface" ]; then
config_template+="iface $primary_iface inet manual\n\n"
config_template+="auto vmbr0\niface vmbr0 inet static\n"
config_template+=" address 10.27.27.30/24\n"
config_template+=" gateway 10.27.27.1\n"
config_template+=" bridge-ports $primary_iface\n"
config_template+=" bridge-stp off\n"
config_template+=" bridge-fd 0\n\n"
fi
# Add configuration for other interfaces, excluding the primary interface, loopback, and bridge
for iface in $interfaces;
do
if [[ $iface != $primary_iface && $iface != "lo" && $iface != "vmbr0" ]]; then
config_template+="iface $iface inet manual\n\n"
fi
done
# Write the new configuration to /etc/network/interfaces
echo -e "$config_template" > /etc/network/interfaces
# Restart the networking service to apply changes
systemctl restart networking
echo "Network interfaces configuration updated successfully."

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this script will be able to manage any NIC names changes if your initial looked like the initial interfaces configuration I displayed previously.
If you have a slightly different one. No problem you can manage to modify this one with the help of AI (ChatGPT, Deepseek, Mistral, etc ...).

Now you have to configure the script to be able to be executable automatically on reboot regardless of whether you are logged in or not.

chmod +x scripts/update_network_interfaces.sh

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Create the Systemd service file :

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/update-network-interfaces.service

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Define the service as below :

[Unit]
Description=Update Network Interfaces
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/scripts/update_network_interfaces.sh
RemainAfterExit=yes
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

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In ExecStart put the location of your script.

Then :

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable update-network-interfaces.service
sudo systemctl start update-network-interfaces.service
sudo systemctl status update-network-interfaces.service

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This is it you have now your script solution to fix the issue I mentionned. Everytime you are deciding to toggle yout docking station everything will be fine !

2. GPU Passthrough settings :

In progress ...

VMWARE ESXI VERSION 8.X :

1. Loosing network connection after adding or removing the Ex Pro Docking Station :

In progress ...

2. GPU Passthrough settings :

In progress ...

3. PURPLE SCREEN during installation due to CPU "HW feature incompatibility detected; cannot start" :

In progress ...

Support-03 · 发表于 3 day(s) ago

Thanks for your sharing