Any news of AOS-5.1 on ASUS PN52 mini-pc or Dell Latitude 3301 notebook?

[Andrew Stephenson]

[Edited 17 Oct, after further talk with Qiet PC]

I'm still trying to rescue my fiction writing / casual C programming / personal paperwork environment.  My needs are simple: mostly text (WordStar-for-DOS in the DOS session aided by old-but-good Win-3.1 tools), plus email and Net commonplaces.  So no gaming graphics, flashy light arrays or 4D sound. :-)  Heritage stuff carried over from eCS-2 will feature.

Researches led me to ASUS, who seem more creative than Lenovo, their comrades across the water.  They suggested I try a UK outlet, "Quiet PC", who assemble quality m/cs of recent vintage, testing and mailing in 7 days in a friendly and competent fashion.  Their website lets you select from menus.  One deal interested me.  Has anyone had experiences with these components?

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15 Oct 2023 -- from UK-based "Quiet PC" (www.quietpc.com) [Edited 17 Oct]

Specification : UltraPN52 Pro 5 (website has more details)
Model : UltraPN52 Pro 5
Option : no OS (thus no Windows Tax, saving around GBP119)
CPU : AMD Ryzen 5 5600H (H == lower power), 6C/12T, 3.3-4.3 GHz, 7 GPU Cores
RAM : 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1x 8GB DDR4 SODIMM
Graphics : AMD Radeon Graphics
HDD : Solidigm 512 GB SSD
Wireless : Intel Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 -- [Edited] Wireless sub-card can be unplugged
LAN : Realtek 2.5G LAN
Side : 1x Kensington Lock
Front : 2x Microphone, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x Audio jack
Back : 1x USB 3.2 Gen2, 2x USB 3.2 Gen1, 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (w/ DP output & PowerDelivery input),
   2x HDMI 2.1 Port, 1x Display Port 1.4, 1x 2.5G RJ45 LAN, 1x pad-lock, 1x DC-in *
Dimensions : 120 x 130 x 58 mm (WxDxH) [FWIW: 1" == 25.4 mm]
VESA mounting bracket : Yes
Weight including SSD and memory : 1 Kg [FWIW: 0.454 Kg == 1 pound]
Warranty : 24 months / 30-day "good condition" return
Price : GBP635.90 -- [Edited] Value Added Tax (20%?) included. (NB: Exports would have no VAT)

*Rear USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C port supports DisplayPort output
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Okay, the price is a little scary; but this is a m/c I'd be relying on.  Quality matters.

Elsewhere in the AOS-5.1 jungle...  Once my main m/c is sorted, I plan to buy another licence for a Dell Latitude 3301 notebook, currently infested with W*nd*ws 10 -- any experiences there?

Thank you for whatever guidance you can supply.  Other questions await (like, how does AOS's higher-4GB RAM disk present itself -- maybe as just another drive partition).  Stay tuned for more exciting episodes.

[ivan]

If you are looking for a small size unit I would recommend the Beelink mini PC - it does have win11 on it but that can be removed with DFSee.

There are also cheeper versions of this range.

[Martin Iturbide]

Hello Andrew.

I don't have much experience with AMD, but I think there is a good chance that ArcaOS 5.1.0 will boot on the machine you are posting. There had been reports of Ryzen 5 booting with ArcaOS. But for sure the wifi will not work.

Regards

[ivan]

Hi Martin,

There should be no problems using Ryzen processors with ArcaOS unless they have done something to the base OS since 5.0.7 which runs on all my ryzen based computers (I tried it on my Linux Mint computers as well just to check the different Ryzen processors - removable drive caddies make doing that easy).

[ivan]

Hi Andrew,

You could also do what I do - build the computer from parts.  In fact it might be the best for you to do that, you only need a few things - a case with power supply, a Ryzen based mother board and processor with built in video, some memory and a hard disk and an optional DVD drive.

I built the 10 computers that I have round the house so I have one available on whichever floor I'm on - saves running up and down stairs at my age (80+ a few).

If you like I can list all the components that I use, Martin has some information on some of the units I built.

[Neil Waldhauer]

I work a lot with the Lenovo computers and ArcaOS. The M900 (I assume you mean tiny) will work well with ArcaOS 5.1. It was a popular model, so plenty of used examples are out there.

I've tried the RAM disk with 8GB and 16 GB models, and I usually just make it drive Z:

I tried the USB-c to DisplayPort adapter with my 4K monitor, and that is satisfactory. I have heard that not all USB-c graphics work, but this one does.

[ivan]

Hi Andrew,

I live over the channel almost on the Spanish border with France.  Almost all of my equipment is bought through Amazon but the latest Ryzen processor was from a French company.

Regarding the 10 computers, 4 of them sit in my office - one is ArcaOS v5.0.7, another is for Linux Mint a third is my data logger for the met station and the last is vanilla OS/2 Merlin.  The others duplicate that on the next floor up and the last two act as NAS boxes with multiple drives in them.

The attached photo is my MSI B550-A - Pro build with a Ryzen 3 Pro 4350G, not a very good photo because my Newfoundland dog always want's to be in the picture.

[Pete]

Hi andrew

Lots of sources for systems and components in the UK

Worth checking gumtree.com - bought a new system off there recently which comprised
AeroCool small tower case, basic - no flashing lights
MSI B450 mATX mainboard
AMD Rysen5 5600G + Cooler
16Gb RAM
Optiarc DVD RW
120Gb SSD
Logitech USB keyboard and mouse
Cost: £250

You can find similar bargains on ebay.co.uk

Both the above are also useful for finding components as are
https://www.scan.co.uk/
https://www.lambda-tek.com/shop/
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/
https://www.mini-itx.com/store/
https://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/

Also worth checking google.com for system/component suppliers near to your location.


Hope the above is of use

Pete

[Dave Yeo]

Hi Andrew, the ramdisk can use all the memory above what the system can use, some 100's of KB on a 4GB system up to whatever PAE can address, 64GB? if you have the ram.
It is presented as a regular disk, has to be FAT32 or HPFS when formed, I reformat it as JFS in startup.cmd as it is faster. Depending on your hardware, it can likely survive a warm reboot and possibly a quick cold boot. My last computer, the ram disk could survive a couple of seconds of no power.

[ivan]

Hi Andrew,
There are several Mother boards available depending on what size unit you would like to build - ASRock B450M Pro4 is a good board , mine is coupled with a Ryzen 3 3200G processor. It can have 4 SATA 3 disks but if you use the M2-2 you lose one of the SATA sockets.

If you are interested you can download the manual from ASRock site.  The wired network socket works but I can't say anything about sound because I don't use it on the computers.

[Andi B.]

....Or maybe a solution would be to scan dates/times of RAM Disk files at intervals and save to (eg) SSD any that become more than a certain amount newer than a reference date/time.  (Hope that makes sense.) ...

I don't think so. Write speed to our RAM drive is slower than to one of my SSDs. Even when formated with JFS. YMMV.

[walking_x]

Write speed to our RAM drive is slower than to one of my SSDs. Even when formated with JFS.

It can be switched to ancient strat1 mode by adding /1 to the HD4DISK.ADD command line. BUT JFS and FAT32 do not support this mode and old (eCS) versions of FAT32.IFS just hang on it. So it`s only for HPFS (or FAT16), but on the other hand it will be fast. Suitable for the swap file, actually.

[Heikki Kekki]

Write speed to our RAM drive is slower than to one of my SSDs. Even when formated with JFS.

It can be switched to ancient strat1 mode by adding /1 to the HD4DISK.ADD command line. BUT JFS and FAT32 do not support this mode and old (eCS) versions of FAT32.IFS just hang on it. So it`s only for HPFS (or FAT16), but on the other hand it will be fast. Suitable for the swap file, actually.

I have hpfs ram drive. Browser cache of Seamonkey and Dooble are on ram disk. I tried /1 switch and browsing feels really much faster.