Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[starhawk]

Hi! I'm starhawk and I'll be your "weird n00b trying to do something strange" tonight.

H'okay. I'm --get this-- trying to convert a thin client into a proper desktop PC.

I'll have a VIA Eden CPU of speed somewhere between 600MHz and 1GHz. (Unfortunately, the company that made the thin client didn't bother to say how fast it went...) RAM is 256MB PC133 (an upgrade, sadly), and the "HDD" if you can call it that, is going to be a CF card with adapter to IDE. I'll be using at least an 8GB CF card, possibly 16GB. I know I'm crazy... you don't need to tell me.

So... will Puppy run on this thing? How well? Should I use a variant of Puppy? (A "Puplet", I think you guys call them...?)

Thanks!

[rjbrewer]

If it will run Linux it should run a Puppy okay.
Wary 098 would be a good version to try.
Probably not too good for streaming video but should be fine for
internet, video files, etc.
A swap partition of 256mb to back up the ram wouldn't hurt.

With a 1 watt processor, a small hamster in a spinning wheel
generator should be a good power source.

[starhawk]

Pardon my n00bishness, but a linky to this Wary 098 would be helpful.

...and that CPU's a touch more than 1W could be as much as 7W
but that's only if it's actually a full 1GHz!

EDIT: I forgot to mention in my first post, but I'm pretty sure that this thin client has no ACPI capability. Power to the mobo is a 2pin connector. +5V and GND.

[rjbrewer]

A link;

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=466934#466934

Do you know the make and model of this device?
Does it have a cd drive or way to install an os?

[starhawk]

It is an Esprit 300-TCE... their website is here:

http://www.sourceforterminals.com/

The 300-TCE has been superseded by a newer model, the 300-TCE/G. Unfortunately, I have been able to find out very little about either one... basically what's on that website is what I know. The fellow I'm buying this thing from has been able to give me some pictures of the insides, so that has helped a little as well... not very much tho.

It has no internal CD drive, or, in fact, anything containing a motor(!) it's entirely solid-state, and I'm planning on keeping it that way.

I do have an external optical drive (Samsung TrueDirect, 'fraid I don't recall its exact model #) but I expect I'll be booting from a USB stick on this one.

FWIW, I get some money on Wednesday, and that's when I'll make payment to the dude I'm buying this thing from... a week or so later (yay USPS parcel post ) I'll have it in my hands and be able to say more.

If all else fails, I should be able to rig up a netinstall -- it has a wired NIC. If it comes down to that, I'll ask for directions at that time. I don't need them now, though.

Here's the link to the sales thread. It's on [H]ard|Forum, and I have the same username there...

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1562777

EDIT: hurr durr de derp. Forgot to ask: I'm one of those weird people who has to have actual Firefox... does Wary 098 have that?

EDIT2: What the bleep is a *.sfs file...? Never seen that one before...

[Dewbie]

[starhawk]

Oh cool.

Also: IMADERP

I've seen squashfs mentioned before... just never really knew what it was.

EDIT:

It's ~3:20 AM here in beautiful Raleigh, NC... I think it's time for bed see ya'll in the morning.

[nooby]

I guess this link confirm it is a x86 type of CPU and that most likely makes it work for puppy because if it ARM then the current code does not work on it.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/eden-n/

I like what you are doing. A totally silent computer using passive cooling is my kind of computer but I am too lazy and not bright enough to combine things.
But I love the concept. So good luck tells us the result.

I dream of when one can use those cheap Android like Huawei 8100 and similar from Smart phones from HTC and Samsung and have an external full keyboard and external 19" screen and external mouse too and that way one have a totally silent puppy linux computer but the ARM makes that very difficult. Debian has code for ARM but then one need to be good at such set ups. But the cool thing is that one can have the computer in the pocket and it only weigh 139Gram and are totally silent.

[starhawk]

Yes, it's x86... VIA CPUs are actually descendants of the Cyrix CPUs... which isn't saying much, because Cyrix's processor design was so bad that it actually put the company out of business.

[rjbrewer]

Parts and info for via eden;

http://www.itxdepot.com/xcart/product.php?productid=1100&cat=32100&bestseller=Y

I think the eden is 533mhz.

[starhawk]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but there's more than one VIA Eden... and they all come in multiple flavors of slow

http://via.com.tw/en/products/processors/specs.jsp

Look at the 2nd chart down from the top; header is VIA Eden ESP. That's my best guess as to what CPU we're dealing with.

...and if someone put a less-than-600MHz CPU in this thing, there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[rjbrewer]

[starhawk]

IMADERP sry bout that

[rjbrewer]

[starhawk]

"I'm A Derp". It's the one South Park reference I know and love (I have a deep-seated loathing for that show, by and large...).

Copied from UrbanDictionary:

A simple, undefined reply when an ignorant comment or action is made. Brought to life in the South Park series, when Mr. Derp made a guest apperance at South Park Elementary as the chef for a day, followed by hitting himself in the head with a hammer and exclaiming "Derp!"

In this case, it means that I didn't understand your previous post and am trying to communicate this in a humorous manner.

My apologies, I have Asperger's Syndrome and occasionally have difficulty communicating... it's usually not this bad.