Day 4 of Building a Homelab With ZERO Experience

With the rapid growth of my homelab and everything I've been learning along the way, I've decided to tackle cable management and organization before it becomes a major problem.

My thinking is pretty simple: once I get everything running exactly how I want it, the last thing I want to do is unplug everything later just to reorganize the rack.

So I started looking online for all the bells and whistles for a 10-inch rack: cable management, brackets, mounts, shelves, organizers, and all the little pieces that make a rack look clean.

Then I realized something.

Buying everything I wanted would cost about HALF of what a 3D printer costs.

So naturally, I spent twice as much money.

But there is some logic behind it.

Instead of buying a bunch of individual parts, I can invest in a tool, learn a completely new skill, and eventually design and print exactly what I need for the homelab. In the long run, I should be able to save money on parts and potentially even sell some of the things I make to help recover the cost of the printer.

So the newest piece of equipment in the homelab isn't technically going in the rack: Its going to build it.

A Bambu Lab P1P 3D printer with an AMS.

Now I just have one tiny problem...

I've never 3D printed anything in my life.

Part of the reason I chose the Bambu was the price, but more importantly, it seems to remove a lot of the traditional learning curve. I'm still going to have to learn modeling, slicing, filament types, supports, print settings, and everything else, but the machine handles enough of the process that it seems like a good place for a complete beginner to start.

The first mission is simple: start printing parts for the 10-inch homelab rack. Using files from thingaverse.

After that, I'd like to learn how to design my own parts instead of relying entirely on files other people have made.

Someone once told me something that has always stuck with me:

"One day you'll reach a level of success where money has no value, only time will."

I'm definitely not at the "money has no value" part.

But I'm starting to understand the value of spending money on tools that can save time, teach you something new, and give you capabilities you didn't have before.

Day 4: apparently the homelab has now acquired a manufacturing department. ...there must be away to connect Williow to the printer lol.

Installing Proxmox on a Lenovo ThinkCentre M715q: What Finally Worked

This took me 9 hours, I’m brand new to Proxmox/Linux/homelabs, and getting my Lenovo ThinkCentre M715q to boot the Proxmox installer turned into a much bigger project than expected. Posting the process and fixes here in case another beginner runs into the same thing.

Hardware

• Lenovo ThinkCentre M715q Tiny
• AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 2400GE
• 16 GB RAM
• ~256 GB Micron SSD
• UEFI BIOS
• Two USB flash drives

The original problem

I created a Proxmox installer USB, but the Lenovo simply would not show it as a bootable device in the F12 boot menu.

USB HDD was enabled in BIOS, but the Proxmox USB still wasn't appearing.

1. Update the Lenovo BIOS

The machine was running an older 2019 BIOS.

I downloaded Lenovo's BIOS update using the machine's serial/model information and updated the BIOS.

After the update, the BIOS had additional boot/UEFI options available.

I set the system to use UEFI and confirmed USB HDD boot was enabled.

This was worth doing, but it turned out not to be the entire problem.

2. Test with an Ubuntu USB

Instead of continuing to change BIOS settings blindly, we created an Ubuntu bootable USB as a test.

The idea was simple:

If Ubuntu boots from USB, we know the Lenovo and its USB boot configuration work.

Ubuntu successfully appeared in the F12 menu and booted.

That was a huge troubleshooting step because it proved:

• USB boot works
• The rear USB port works
• UEFI boot works
• The Lenovo itself isn't preventing USB boot

At that point, we knew to stop blaming the BIOS and start looking at the Proxmox installer USB.

3. Check the Proxmox ISO

While running Ubuntu, we inspected the Proxmox ISO.

This uncovered the big problem:

The original ISO was the ARM64 version.

The M715q uses an AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 2400GE, so it needs the normal x86-64/AMD64 Proxmox image, not ARM64.

We deleted the ARM64 ISO and downloaded the correct Proxmox VE ISO.

4. Write Proxmox from Ubuntu

Rather than continuing to fight with the Windows USB-writing process, we used Ubuntu's built-in Disks utility.

In Ubuntu:

1. Open Disks
2. Select the USB that will become the Proxmox installer
3. Open the menu
4. Choose Restore Disk Image
5. Select the correct Proxmox x86-64 ISO
6. Double-check the destination USB
7. Start restoring the image
8. Let the process completely finish

Be extremely careful here because selecting the wrong destination can overwrite another drive.

5. Use the USB port already proven to work

After Ubuntu finished writing the Proxmox USB:

1. Shut Ubuntu down
2. Remove the Ubuntu USB
3. Move the newly created Proxmox USB into the same rear USB port that successfully booted Ubuntu
4. Turn on the Lenovo
5. Repeatedly press F12

And finally:

USB HDD / Partition 1 appeared.

Selected it and the Proxmox installer immediately loaded.

6. Install Proxmox

From the Proxmox boot screen I selected:

Install Proxmox VE (Graphical)

Then:

• Accepted the EULA
• Selected the internal ~238 GiB Micron SSD
• Used EXT4
• Created the administrator password
• Entered an email
• Selected the wired Realtek network interface
• Assigned a static management IP
• Set the hostname
• Completed the installation

After rebooting, Proxmox successfully started and presented the root login prompt.

From another computer on the same network, I opened the Proxmox web interface using:

https://<PROXMOX-IP>:8006

The browser warned that the connection wasn't private because Proxmox initially uses a self-signed certificate. After proceeding to the local server, the Proxmox web interface loaded successfully.

Biggest troubleshooting lesson

The most useful thing we did was stop changing multiple things at once.

We used Ubuntu as a known-good test.

Ubuntu boots? Great. That proves the computer, UEFI settings, USB boot, and USB port can work.

That narrowed the problem down to the Proxmox media itself, which ultimately led us to discovering the wrong ARM64 ISO.

So if your M715q refuses to show your Proxmox USB in F12:

Update BIOS → verify UEFI/USB boot → test with a known-good Linux USB → verify you downloaded the x86-64 Proxmox ISO → rewrite the installer → try the USB port you already proved will boot.

That troubleshooting approach saved us from endlessly changing BIOS settings without knowing which part was actually broken.

Where I'm at now

Proxmox is successfully installed and running on the M715q.

Next step is configuring the repositories/updates and then actually building the homelab.

Hopefully this saves another first-timer a few hours of staring at an F12 menu wondering where the hell their USB went.

TODAY I BUILT MY OWN LOCAL AI ASSISTANT: WILLOW

I started today knowing basically nothing about Linux, Proxmox, or building an AI assistant.

Several hours, a ridiculous number of terminal commands, and more than a few arguments with ChatGPT later...

WILLOW is alive.

Today we built a local AI voice assistant running inside my homelab.

What we accomplished:

• Set up the Linux VM in Proxmox
• Passed my Corsair headset and microphone through to the VM
• Got microphone recording and audio playback working
• Installed Whisper so Willow can convert my voice into text locally
• Installed Ollama to run the AI locally
• Installed and configured Qwen 4B as Willow's local AI model
• Installed Piper for local text-to-speech
• Set up the Amy female voice for Willow
• Connected the entire voice pipeline:

MY VOICE → WHISPER → QWEN AI → PIPER → WILLOW'S VOICE

And it actually works.

I can talk to Willow, she understands what I'm saying, sends it through the local AI model, generates a response, and talks back to me.

Most importantly, the core AI conversation is running locally on my own hardware instead of sending every conversation to a paid AI API.

We also started turning the original prototype into an actual assistant instead of just a Python script that talks.

The new Willow system is being built around:

• Wake word: "Willow"
• Automatic speech detection
• Silence detection so she doesn't respond when nobody is talking
• One-hour conversational context
• Long-term memory framework
• English responses by default
• Smart, sarcastic, funny, slightly flirty personality
• "Willow stop" to interrupt her
• "Willow sleep" to put her back into standby
• Keeping the AI model loaded in memory to improve response times
• Confirmation before performing potentially dangerous computer actions

The long-term plan is much bigger.

Eventually Willow will connect to:

• Google Calendar
• Live internet search
• Proxmox
• My homelab
• Servers and virtual machines
• Cameras
• Home automation
• Reminders and alerts
• Other systems around the house and network

Basically, I'm building my own locally hosted personal AI assistant instead of relying entirely on Siri, Alexa, or cloud services.

CURRENT STATUS:

Willow works, but she's definitely version 0.1.

Qwen is currently running CPU-only, so some responses take around 30 seconds.

Her speech detection still needs tuning because sometimes she decides I'm finished talking about two seconds into my sentence.

Her voice playback is also choppy right now. We tested the audio separately and found that even a prerecorded WAV file is choppy, which means the problem is probably somewhere in the VM/USB audio path rather than the AI itself.

So that's going well.

But at the end of Day 1 with AI:

Willow can hear me.

Willow can understand me.

Willow can think locally.

Willow can answer me.

Willow can speak.

And the entire foundation is running on my own homelab.

Next:

Fix the audio latency.
Improve speech detection.
Speed up the local AI.
Improve interruption/barge-in.
Have Willow automatically start with the VM.
Connect internet tools.
Connect Google Calendar.
Start giving Willow controlled access to the homelab.

Homelab Build Update

Yesterday was a big step forward on the homelab. I think.

I’m building this setup from the ground up while learning Linux, Proxmox, networking, virtualization, Docker, cybersecurity, and self-hosting along the way.

Computer #1 is officially becoming the dedicated homelab server.

Yesterday we:

• Booted back into Proxmox and verified the existing setup
• Completely removed the old MVRKUS/AI VM
• Cleaned up the machine for its new role
• Created a brand-new dedicated homelab VM
• Assigned 6 CPU cores
• Assigned 10 GB RAM
• Created a 100 GB virtual system drive
• Configured VirtIO networking
• Enabled the QEMU Guest Agent
• Installed Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS from scratch
• Installed OpenSSH Server
• Got remote SSH management working from my main PC
• Updated the fresh Ubuntu installation
• Built a custom one-file installer for the homelab stack
• Transferred it directly to the server over the network
• Verified the installer before running it
• Started setting up secure remote access with Tailscale

The stack we’re building includes:

• Docker
• Portainer
• Plex
• Nextcloud
• AdGuard Home
• Uptime Kuma
• Homepage dashboard
• Netdata
• Cockpit
• Samba file sharing
• SSH
• Tailscale
• Kali/security tools

I also have a 12 TB external HDD ready to become the main storage drive. I intentionally kept it out of the initial installation so the operating system and core services could be built and verified first.

The basic setup is becoming:

Computer #1
Proxmox
→ Ubuntu Server
→ Docker
→ Self-hosted services
→ Secure remote access
→ 12 TB storage

Computer #2 is staying separate as the dedicated machine for my local AI assistant project, Willow. Honestly it is taking everything that computer has to run it. I will be upgrading the computer as soon as I can. With the AI " jarvis" my work flow will speed up once.

Next up: finish deploying the stack, verify everything is working (find out what everything does and how to use them), add the 12 TB drive.