Recently I got
interested in 'thin clients'. Small PCs with no moving parts. Here
is a really good resource:
I like having
a spare small profile computer to do my Amateur Radio logging
function. The only real requirement (besides a little storage space)
was an RS-232 port (the logging program receives data from my transceiver via RS-232).
I found a HP t5740W
on eBay for $24 shipped, with power supply, 4G of ram and 4G of flash
memory.
The thin client
arrived (as expected) with no OS. I looked online for
advice about the best small footprint Linux and found that my
personal choice, Debian, was one of the top ten. I loaded a Debian
Jessie “Net Install” iso on a USB stick and gave it a try just to
see what would happen with the 4G flash memory. It fit!
But just barely -
there was very little space left, maybe 11% or so after installing the logging program, XLog. That's a little
tight, even for my tiny ham radio app. I decided to attempt the
installation of a disc drive, as mentioned in the “Mods” section
of the 'Thin Clients' website above. Here's the SATA connector on the motherboard.
That's an odd connector. I am very lucky to
have a Goodwill Computer Store fairly close. The knowledgeable folks
there helped me pick out some potential 'donor' cables and the smallest 2.5” SATA drive they had (160Gb).
Another $10 invested. Cheap works for me.
I followed the guide
in the mods section for the HP t5740 (drill down: Home – Details –
HP, etc). The big gotcha is the SATA data and power cables. Both
must be modified to fit the connector on the mother board. Here is
an image of a before and after mod for the data cable. The power
cable will need a similar mod.
Click to enlarge the image. All the Xacto wounds have now healed. Note: Band-Aids are remarkably difficult to apply if the cut is on your thumb...
Photos in the mods section mentioned above show the installation of the drive better than I can. I did move the RAM memory as suggested.
Success! I now have two installations of
Debian Jessie on the t5740, one on the 160Gb hard drive and one on
the 4Gb flash memory. Via Grub, I can boot to either.
Had fun.
cln – Nick
WB5BKL
