Proxmox 8 installation

I just got a Zimaboard and I want to install Proxmox 8 onto a 250Gb USB that will occupy one of the USB ports on the Zimaboard. I do not want to touch the CasOS installation on the 32Gb eMMc chip so it’s available if I ever want to use it in the future. The problem is that unless you have a KVM, it looks like there is either no information on how to do it or it cannot be done. At this time I have attempted nothing. I haven’t even powered up the Zimaboard for the first time yet. I think I need at least 4 USB ports to do the install without a KVM.

1st port for the bootable 256Gb USB to hold Proxmox VE.
2nd port for the keyboard.
3rd port for the Proxmox ISO USB.
4th port for a mouse.

I have some ideas on how to do it but I’m not sure any of them will work.
Idea 1: Buy a USB hub with at least 4 USB ports on it and plug it into one of the Zima USB ports. Question here is will the driver for the hub load into the Zimaboard BIOS when I power up?
Idea 2. Plug in two ethernet to USB adapters or get a keyboard with built-in USB ports. The same question here as for idea #1.
Idea 3. I also bought a PCIe to 4-Port USB adapter card but it comes with a mini-CD that has the drivers that need to be installed first. The questions are: Is the install doable through the BIOS? Do I need to SSH in and to an install the drivers that way? Do I need to open CasaOS first, do the install, and then reboot into BIOS? Any details on how that’s done? If anyone out there has installed Proxmox onto a bootable USB plugged into Zimaboard (without a KVM) how did you do it? HELP!!

Thanks!!

So, there were 23 views so far and nobody in this forum has any idea how to install Proxmox on a Zimaboard without using a KVM? Not even the moderators??

According to my experience, you can use the USB hub/PCIe-to-USB directly at the booting stage.

Looking forward to your feedback.

Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated. That PCIe to USB board came with a mini CD that has drivers to install. So, you were able to use the USB ports on the board when booting into BIOS with no drivers installed first?

In most cases, PCIe-to-USB won’t need any drivers to work.

Why not choose a product without mini CD? And consult the seller for more info about whether the accessory will work without the mini CD.

Good question. I bought the PCIe to USB card from IceWhale. Here. It is an accessory card that can be used with Zima products. Then I came here to the Zimaspace community for advice from someone with install experience because there’s no instructions in the box and the included CD threw me for if I need it or not. You’d think they would mention in the “What’s Included” section that there is a driver mini-CD for the card and why it’s there. The overview says Plug-and-Play Support and then when you open the box there is a mini-CD with drivers. So I’m thinking, “Which is it, plug-and-play or not?” I figured my question is not that complicated so I thought I’d ask. Then I get crickets. I’m just not set up for easy ethernet access near a tabletop where I can do the Proxmox install so I’m trying to not fail on the first session and then having to try again another day. I’ll give the install a try this weekend.

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Look forward to your success!