--- 
canonical: 'https://mwop.net/blog/2026-02-24-headless-boot-beelink-eq14.html'
title: 'Headless boot for Beelink EQ14'
author: "[Matthew Weier O'Phinney](https://mwop.net)"
created: '2026-02-24T10:09:08-06:00'
updated: '2026-03-23T14:06:08-05:00'
tags:
  - linux
  - til

---
A few months back, I purchased a Beelink EQ14 mini server for my homelab. One thing that has frustrated me has been that rebooting or even powering on... has required I have either my keyboard or my monitor plugged in (I haven't been able to determine exactly which one yet). This has made me reluctant to reboot, as I then have to switch my keyboard from my workstation over to the server, and plug the HDMI from one of my monitors into it. I hate it.

In browsing a number of forums, I saw one recommendation to switch the BIOS to use FastBoot.

~~Can confirm, works!~~

#### Update

While FastBoot helps, it doesn't entirely fix the issues. What I discovered was that the server was requiring my keyboard in order to boot; I tested this by rebooting the machine without cables, and plugging in only the keyboard.

Unfortunately, there are no BIOS settings to override this behavior. I dug up an old USB dongle for a presentation pointer, plugged that in, and voilá — it boots now. I suspect any USB HID dongle will likely work.