thin client pc

[daywane]

Not sure where to post this. Probably everything else. I LOVE to tinker. I Just learned about HP thin client PCs After watching Videos of people running batocera and Prime OS on them I jumped to E Bay. I think I lucked out. I found a HP T620 Thin Client AMD GX-415GA 1.5GHz 4GB RAM 16GB Flash SSD Factory Sealed I won the bid for $32.00 free shipping.
have any of you played with a Thin Client?

[javeryh]

Is it just a PC? What kind of performance can you expect out of something like this? Would MAME run games up to early 90s? Because if yes, $32 seems like the way to go...

[daywane]

Yes it is a PC. 10 years old new in box. very Limited. 16 gig m.2 drive, 4 gig of memory. all can be upgraded. I just won the auction and never seen one as of yet. TechDocUK o YouTube shows playing N64 games with Android. It is more powerful than a Raspberry 3 and the Pi3 will run 90s arcades.
The videos I have seen it running Batocera.linux were of console games.
I have multiple raspberry Pi's but during the cough cough  Raspberry PI corp dropped the home market. I am done with them

[daywane]

If I remember correctly any video showing Rom play is a no no.
so here is a video showing just the thi client specks.

[daywane]

It came in today. Still unboxed. I am downloading multi OS systems to try.
tiny window 7, tiny win 10, tiny win 11, androids, Linux, Batocera. to try booting from thumb drive fist.

[daywane]

I just unboxed it. the creases in the old cardboard  was stiff. just like a new book. pics will be coming soon.
yes I am excited about it. from my research . It will be close to a Pi 4 BUT it can run windows!

[daywane]

box in a box

[daywane]

bubble wrap

[daywane]

old box with new PC inside.

[daywane]

old/new stuff

[daywane]

power supply , mouse, literature

[daywane]

still has factory tape

[daywane]

front of PC

[daywane]

top view

[daywane]

back panel

[daywane]

[daywane]

[daywane]

inside

[daywane]

IT HAS A WIFI CARD!!!!
that's not common

[daywane]

memory slots

[javeryh]

$32 for that is insane. I'm curious to see how it works once you've tested it.

[daywane]

A-Tech 8GB RAM for HP Thin Client t620/t620 Plus | DDR3 1600 SODIMM PC3-12800 1.5V 204-Pin Memory Upgrade Module (x2) coming in May 3rd

 SATA to USB 3.0 Adapter, External Hard Drive Converter Cable for 2.5" 3.5" HDD, SSD with Power Supply coming in tomorrow.

USB Hub 3.0, 7-Port USB Hub Splitter with Individual On/Off Switches and Lights, 3.2ft/1m Long Cable Compatible with MacBook, Laptop, Surface Pro, PS4, PC, Flash Drive, Mobile HDD. coming in tomorrow.

USB hub,4 Port 2.0 USB Splitter Expander,USB hub for Laptop,MacBook,Surface Pro,PC, Flash Drive,Mobile HDD.  coming in tomorrow.


 

[daywane]

I will replace the Hard Drive. But to be honest I know nothing about M.2.
I have some studying to do.

Financially this project is stupid. after all the upgrades I could have bought a HP EliteDesk from Amazon for $130. I have one and use it for my main computer.

But I am having a grate time setting this New / Old PC up. all the parts I am putting into it a still Brand new.

 I can not explain it . but keeping everything new , is important to me. And I bet when I am done it might just go on a shelf. But I am having a blast doing it.

[daywane]

12 hrs to download. I got the right M.A.M.E. set
 to test out

[daywane]

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/LowFidelity/100-favorite-arcade-games-for-mame/
looking at this site for my top games to try.
I have looked all day to find a list of ROM names to full arcade games title. NO LUCK AT ALL
so I find a game I like and google Mame rom name. a download site pops up with the MAME name.
so then I search my my file for the MAME name.non-merged set

[daywane]

Mame 2003 works fine. Well all games boot up. But I still have not setup a game pad yet.
PS1 is a no go. not with the 4 gig memory
Snes, TG16, GBA, Genesis boot fine.
16 gig memory just came in
Batocera did not see my WiFi card that is built in. WiFi dongle  works
Display port to HDMI works. Sound works on ether PC speaker or TV
still need to see if Bluetooth dongle will work .
I am having a dickens of time getting Screen Scraper to work. I can Transfer files using internet address.
I can not get the Thin Client to show up on network. I think I need to track down a Ethernet cord.
I did start a new account with Screen Scrapper . Strange I can log in just  fine on my other computers going to ScreenScrapper.fe
I will try again with new account.

[daywane]

Screen Scrapper is working!  something must have been wrong with my old account.  I wasted all day yesterday working on it.

[daywane]

Arcade games sound scratchy. PS1 games are dropping frames.
I am trying android no. Prime OS is running on external drive. I am looking for a way to keep Prime OS on external drive. what instructions I find point t a download called topresize. I can not locate topresize.
I am not ready to install to the only M.2 drive I have.

[daywane]

I just plugged in a second external HD an installed Prime OS to it. The power supply to the Thin Client is not powerful enough to run Prime OS from a USB 3.0 thumb drive. I used a powered sata adapter. Attached  to a ssd 256gb drive

[BlueGhost]

No too bad for the price.  I've been using mini pc's for MAME and console emulation for a while now. 

I think the current bang for the buck deal is 2400g/2400ge thin clients from Lenovo and HP.  You can pick them up on Ebay for around $100, that's not much more than a pi 4 or 5.  They'll run almost anything in MAME and can handle console emulation up to some PS2 games.

[daywane]

son of a gun. This little thing has Bluetooth built in. I did not know this. I bought a dongle for Bluetooth. I did install windows 10 on the 16gb M.2 but after just a few updates it was full. I spent a few days figuring out how to run window 10 from external USB drive. I just got that working. It is updating now. I also went to device manager and saw Bluetooth listed. I paired my ear buds and boom. I have Bluetooth.


Wife was tossing a fit on purchasing a new M.2 drive, Workman's comp has not kicked in yet. I did not mail in paperwork yet, ( well it is in today)
I thought HR did it already. I blew out my knee at work. no Pay for 2 weeks now. were fine. We are preppers and have a HUGE pantry and emergency funds stashed. We will be fine. That's why this project is slow going.

[daywane]

here is the dongle . still in package

[daywane]

screen shot of device manager in windows 10.

the windows I am running is ( tiny10 x64 beta 2 ) (scratch that) it will not update.
switching to en-us_windows_10_enterprise_ltsc_2021_x64_dvd_d289cf96,

[daywane]

Wife gave in today. the 16 gig m.2 is just to small for what I want. A new 256 gig m,2 is on order.
there is 3 programs that I have been using that are very help full for a project like this.
1st is Ventoy2Disk . It will let you put multiple ISO on a single thumb drive and run them. not windows ISO's that  I put in but others Heck yea .
2ns. is snappy driver. HUGE download! 40 gig. in a windows computer it will install all your drivers!
3rd . Hasleo WinToUSB, this is a nice program that will turn a windows ISO into a install thumb drive.
windows 11 was real slow on the thin client.
windows 10 was OK for you tube and internet stuff. game's NOPE
Windows 7 after drivers I ran out of disk space. tiny windows installs was a pain in the but!
Windows 7 looked very promising but I ran out of drive installing direct x9
Prime OS and Batocera, I was not happy with.
Linux Mint looks very promising also. I did not want to install Linux  to my only M.2 drive. ( i do not know how to reformat a M.2 drive after a Linux install) Now I have a second drive coming in I might install .
I did build a junk PC from parts I have around and tossed Mint on it to learn about Linux. Mint is not that bad. every thing like icons , pointer and text  is VERY SMALL! maybe because I am on a 50" TV. I am  working on that now

[Lingwendil]

Which M.2 drives did you order? I have piles of the things in 128GB and 256GB if its M.2 SATA, and a few bigger (512GB, 1TB, 2TB) drives in M.2 PCIE/NVME.

These are interesting for sure, I recently picked up an Intel i3 and i5 NUC for free, and so far the i3 version runs almost everything well except for Xbox(!). Sure beats struggling with a raspberry pi 3 and spotty emulation on harder to run stuff.

Instead of running windows on it I would try a Batocera install- you can easily install it on a smaller drive or USB stick to boot it, and then runn all your games on a separate drive. very easy to use and configure.

[daywane]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KG2KFSX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Transcend TS256GMTS430S 256GB M.2 2242 SATAIII B+M Key MTS430S Solid State Drive

[daywane]

[quote Instead of running windows on it I would try a Batocera install- you can easily install it on a smaller drive or USB stick to boot it, and then runn all your games on a separate drive. very easy to use and configure.
[/quote]

I have tried that. I had sound issues.

[daywane]

Windows 7 came out Oct 22nd 2009 .  end of support Jan 14th 2020
The HP T620 came out Dec 2013
So... I picked MAME 0.149 it came out June 11th 2013
seems like a good match to me.
I know Zuma and Plant Vs Zombies work
I have windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677332 Installed, all drivers are up to date
Snappy Driver is so cool. 

[Lingwendil]

I have tried that. I had sound issues.

What kind of issues? Sometimes you need to switch audio drivers.

I really like Batocera so far. Setting up another machine with it tonight.

[daywane]

snes was sluggish
Mame was scratchy sound.
I have a Pie zero 2 w with Batocera on it
.