MNT Station - A modular, open hardware desktop computer and server

MNT Station is a quiet and space-saving, future-proof open hardware computer for your desktop, homelab, or mounted on a wall as an edge device/router. It’s also a robust enclosure for your existing MNT Reform mainboard and can be turned into a standalone desktop PC, silent home NAS, or low-power entertainment center.

As usual, this MNT Research device is fully open source hardware with all sources publicly available. As a modular, general-purpose computing platform, MNT Station is the most flexible MNT device yet designed!

Your Next Desktop Computer, Router, or Server

Tired of your laptop taking up more space on your desk than it should? Of all the plugging and unplugging because you’ve been using it as a portable and as a stationary device? With MNT Station you get a machine that’s designed to be stationary while maintaining the energy efficiency of a laptop. Connect a monitor and a keyboard, hook it up with a USB Type-C cable for power delivery, and you’re good to go!

MNT Station has mounting holes on the back (standard VESA as well as keyhole slots) to give you the opportunity to install it on your wall, behind a cabinet, or on the back of a monitor. Its external antenna mounts ensures strong radio reception for Wi-Fi or SDRs, no matter where MNT Station is placed.

Love tinkering with Docker containers, Tailnets, or Home Assistant? Add a flexible and uniquely open ARM-based server to your homelab with MNT Station. Test and develop for a broad range of ARM and other SoCs that fit the modular mainboard (including NXP, Amlogic, Qualcomm, Broadcom (Raspberry Pi) or even an AMD/Xilinx FPGA). And thanks to its native charging and battery monitoring technology, MNT Station has battery backup built-in, running for hours off of 8 LiFEPO4 cells, giving you ample time to shut down in case of a power outage. Or, underneath your TV set, MNT Station can pull duty as a streaming box and retro game console, thanks to its low-power design that doesn’t need ventilation.

Features & Specifications

MNT Station is a versatile device: Upgrade your MNT Reform laptop to the latest mainboard version and use your previous mainboard with MNT Station. Or, build your own Station choosing the MNT Reform Mainboard 3.0, a processor module of your choice, the MNT Reform Standalone Keyboard, and more.

It includes aluminum case parts, 1x electronic port cover with cable (JST PH 4-pin; JST PH 4-pin), 1x non-electronic port cover, and M2x5 mounting screws.

MNT Station case features

• Fully CNC milled enclosure from anodized, bead blasted aluminum
• Open design, so you can 3D print or order new case parts yourself
• Can lay flat or stand on the long edge, or be mounted to VESA arms/screens or walls
• Compatible with all classic MNT Reform mainboard versions (2.0, 2.5, 3.0)
  • Please note: Some mainboard versions have a barrel jack instead of a USB Type-C port. To make these work, we included a perforation on the port cover. Gently break the perforated part and plug your cable in.
• Electronic port cover with power button, ATTiny microcontroller that talks to the mainboard, and a bar of 10 LEDs that are controllable from Linux (display, for example CPU utilization or network load)
• 2x holes for SMA antenna panel mount connectors
• 2x wall mount keyhole slots in the back
• VESA mounting holes in the back (FDMI MIS-D, both 75 x 75 mm and 100 x 100 mm)
• Designed to be stacked on future case expansions for batteries/USV, hard disks, GPU with internal cable passthrough holes in the back of the case
• Dimensions: 279 x 133 x 26 mm (10.98 x 5.23 x 1.02 in)

MNT Reform mainboard 3.0 features

• 3x USB Type-A ports
• 1x USB Type-C for USB Type-C PD power input and built-in UART-to-USB converters for convenient access to SoC/CPU serial console and System Controller UART
• Full-size HDMI port
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• TRRS stereo headphone jack with microphone support

Internal connectors

• 200-pin Processor Module connector for CPU/RAM/eMMC upgrades
• 2x 4-pin JST PH connectors with USB 2.0
• 1x 4-pin JST PH stereo speaker connector
• 1x 2-pin JST PH direct power input connector
• 1x 4-pin JST SH connector for I2C sensors/displays (connected to main SoC/CPU, Qwiic compatible)
• 1x mPCIe slot with 1x PCIe 2.0 lane, mainly used for Wi-Fi, but can be used for secondary SSD/RAID (with M.2 adapter)
• 1x M.2 key M slot with up to 4x PCIe 3.0+ lanes, mainly used for SSD
• USB Type-C port for NXP LPC11U24 system controller (open source firmware) flashing
• Optional battery/USV system that support 8x LiFePO4 cells in series with monitoring and balancing and open source Linux driver (reform2-lpc), requires cell holders and cables.

Dual USB Type-C Kit

• Adds 2 USB Type-C ports that support USB 2.0 on all processor modules, as well as DisplayPort Alt-Mode when combined with supported processor modules (for now, RCORE RK3588 and MNT Quasar).
• Includes the necessary internal cables to feed USB 2.0 from the mainboard and DisplayPort signals from the processor module as well as the mainboard's eDP header.

Optional Add-ons

• MNT Reform Mainboard 3.0 (not included with MNT Station case)
• MNT Reform Processor Module (not included with MNT Station case)
  • MNT Reform RCORE RK3588 V2 with heatsink (16 or 32 GB RAM) or
  • MNT Reform LS1028A (16 GB RAM) or
  • MNT Reform CM4 Adapter and Display Adapter
• MNT Reform Standalone Keyboard (black case, QWERTY-US, Kailh Choc brown (tactile) switches)
• MNT Station Dual USB Type-C Expansion (incl. Dual USB Type-C PCBA; internal DisplayPort breakout PCBA; 2x internal USB 2.0; 2x 20-pin flat display cables; M2x5 mounting screws)
• MNT Reform Protected Battery Boards (pair)
• MNT Reform Battery Pack Cable (2x are required for the MNT Reform Battery Boards, 30 cm, Molex 15132-0503)
• Wi-Fi (module, cables, and antennas not included with MNT Station case)
  • Intel Gig+ Wi-Fi 6E Module
  • mPCIe to M.2 Key E Wi-Fi Adapter (required if you want to use the Intel Gig+ Wi-Fi 6E module)
  • Pulse MHF4 to RP-SMA Pigtail, 25cm cable (for M.2 Wi-Fi cards)
  • TE 2.4-7.1GHz Wi-Fi 6 Blade Antenna, Swivel, RP-SMA
• Solid State Drives
  • Kingston SSD M.2 2280 1 TB
  • Kingston SSD M.2 2280 512 GB

Please note: A power adapter is not included but any 65-100W USB Type-C PD adapter will suffice.

Comparisons

Support & Documentation

MNT Research is driven by the idea of a digital future that is open-source, accessible, and modular. With MNT Station, all sources are available. For support we offer the following resources:

• MNT Research Documentation
• MNT Community Forum
• IRC Channel

Manufacturing Plan

Over the last years, through fulfilling our previous campaigns of MNT Reform and MNT Pocket Reform on Crowd Supply, we have gained substantial experience in sourcing, manufacturing, testing, and shipping electronic devices. We produce our computers and a number of related hardware products full-time in our dedicated workshop in Berlin.

Fulfillment & Logistics

After our production run is complete, we will package everything up and send it along to Crowd Supply’s fulfillment partner, Mouser Electronics, who will handle distribution to backers worldwide. You can learn more about Crowd Supply’s fulfillment service under Ordering, Paying, and Shipping in their guide.

Risks & Challenges

As our fifth Crowd Supply launch, we know how to get product shipped to customers. It’s always possible that there could be a sudden component shortage or increase in price. If that should happen, we would have to exchange a part, causing a delay in production.

Should any situation arise that would delay the estimated shipping timeline, backers will be informed promptly via project updates.