Affordable Mini PCs

[Ben Hjelt]

Got myself two more thin clients

The first is the HP T5740, an Atom N280 based machine which was very easy to get running 100% with ACPI too. The only pitfall was choosing the right USB port (one on the back) for the ArcaOS installer drive unless you wanted the 'can't find ARCAINST.ISO' error message. A nice feature is the rather loud internal speaker for system sounds.

The second is the Dell/Wyse Z90D7 sporting an AMD G-T56N processor (not hyperthreaded?). Haven't had much luck with this one as it seems to be a UEFI machine (with CSM though), very limited BIOS options and buggy ACPI - even in linux as it won't soft power off! After disabling AHCI and P-states I start the ArcaOS install but the filesystem gets corrupted in phase 2...

Attached hw info from the HP.

[Martin Iturbide]

Thanks Ben for sharing the details.

I had created this Wiki page for the HP Thin Cilent. https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/HP_T5740_Thin_Client

Regards

[Martin Iturbide]

Hi Ben

The second is the Dell/Wyse Z90D7 sporting an AMD G-T56N processor (not hyperthreaded?). Haven't had much luck with this one as it seems to be a UEFI machine (with CSM though), very limited BIOS options and buggy ACPI - even in linux as it won't soft power off! After disabling AHCI and P-states I start the ArcaOS install but the filesystem gets corrupted in phase 2...

I was checking the specs of the Dell/Wyse Z90D7 .Do you think it can be related to the storage? Do you get to the installaton part where you select the HDD? Do you see the 16GB storage disk?

BTW, I also create a wiki page in case things improve.

Regards

[Ben Hjelt]

Do you think it can be related to the storage? Do you get to the installaton part where you select the HDD? Do you see the 16GB storage disk?

My Z90 unit came without any storage but there are two SATA slots within, unfortunately nothing shows up in AHCI mode but I'm able to start the installation in regular IDE mode.
I'll do more testing to finish Phase 2 of the install, dump the logs as the problems seem to be connected to ACPI / number of cores enabled / aggressive power management...

[Paul Smedley]

I've wondering if something like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002642282828.html would work. Would more than likely need AOS 5.1 foe UEFI support....

[Neil Waldhauer]

I'm using this tiny computer. I don't care about DOS and WinOS2, but full screen sessions work well. NVMe with M2 drive makes this pretty fast, and there is space for a SATA drive, too. Sound is slightly better than other brands.

https://www.blondeguy.com/computer/garbopeep.html

[Ben Hjelt]

Would more than likely need AOS 5.1 foe UEFI support....

That's Intel Gen11 from last year so most likely? Industrial and business machines tend to stick with regular BIOS, just look at Blonde Guy's example.

[Ben Hjelt]

OK, after countless reboots, failed re-installs and hair pulling I had a broken desktop and could read some errors from pci.exe before locking up again and trashing the filesystem:

table entries 0 and 2 refer to the same Bus=0/Device=1
connectivity mismatches for link value 04
The ROM PCI IRQ routing table appears to be faulty

This is on the Z90

[Dave Yeo]

I've wondering if something like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002642282828.html would work. Would more than likely need AOS 5.1 foe UEFI support....

Sure a good price

[Paul Smedley]

I've wondering if something like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002642282828.html would work. Would more than likely need AOS 5.1 foe UEFI support....

Sure a good price

Just ordered - a have a suitable M2242 SSD spare, so got the one without an SSD for $A240 delivered.

It would be nice if it was powered by USB-C, but oh well.

Cheers,

Paul

[Ben Hjelt]

Martin,
attaching hw info for the Z90D7 and some findings:

• ACPI is currently unusable - with or without workarounds - as it kills AHCI and corrupts filesystem in IDE mode
• ACPI turned off makes this machine fly! (AHCI, Ethernet and even USB3 works) but disables 2nd cpu core & power management

[Martin Iturbide]

Hi Ben

Thanks for sharing those report files, I will be updating the Z90D7 wiki page.

Some question so see if I understood correctly.
- 1) If you turn off the ACPI on the ArcaOS pre-boot menu, it allows you to install ArcaOS 5.0.7, Right? Or is it some change on the Z90D7 Bios?
- 2) The Z90D7 has a UEFI or normal BIOS?
- 3) Is Audio also working with UniAud?
- 4) Does your model came with wifi or not?

I checked some similar Wyze machines on YouTube and it seems to have an additional port inside. I'm not sure if that is M.2 or a MiniPCI for wifi? I'm attaching a picture to see if it is the same model.

Regards

[Ben Hjelt]

1) If you turn off the ACPI on the ArcaOS pre-boot menu, it allows you to install ArcaOS 5.0.7, Right? Or is it some change on the Z90D7 Bios?

Pre-boot, yes. (There is no such option in the bios) I had to disable ACPI to even install ArcaOS.

2) The Z90D7 has a UEFI or normal BIOS?

UEFI for sure. (It defaults to it on hybrid linux distros) Has very flaky BIOS/VGA emulation, you get a black screen 50/50 on Air-boot.

3) Is Audio also working with UniAud?

No, it might with ACPI enabled though.

4) Does your model came with wifi or not?

No, that's what the empty mPCIe socket is for.

I checked some similar Wyze machines on YouTube and it seems to have an additional port inside. I'm not sure if that is M.2 or a MiniPCI for wifi? I'm attaching a picture to see if it is the same model.

Not quite. Here's an overview of my model: https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/wyse/z/z90d7/

[Martin Iturbide]

Thanks Ben

I created this page on the WIki: https://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/Dell_Wyse_Z90D7_Thin_Client

Since you tell me this machine has UEFI, it might be interesting to test this out once ArcaOS 5.1 comes out.

Regards

[Ben Hjelt]

Since you tell me this machine has UEFI, it might be interesting to test this out once ArcaOS 5.1 comes out.

The default UEFI mode on it is much more stable than the BIOS emulation that may give you a black screen. It reminds me of Apple's Boot Camp that enabled a mediocre dual boot, limiting you to 32bit Windows XP/7 on a 64bit machine