HP t510: Hardware 

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A User View

"This is best with Windows XP, Windows 7 or Linux. XP runs great on this model, and since it has serial and parallel ports on it, it's excellent for industrial machine control for things that still need to run XP. We have one doing this where I work and it's been great. Windows 7 and Linux run a little slower on it but are still quite usable." - April, November 2020.

History

Originally I didn't have a t510, but eventually (early 2015) picked up a cheap one on eBay. The original photographs and most of the original information here was provided by Thomas van der Goot. I have since updated the information based on my own experience with the t510.

It took a while for the penny to drop, but the t510 actually shares the same hardware base as the t5570, t5550, t5565, t5570e and t5565z. As well as the obvious visual identification, the t510 carries the same 'Regulatory Model' identification of HSTNC-012-TC. The difference is just in the fitted CPU and heat-sinking arrangements.

The t510 was launched by HP in February 2012.

Specifications

Processor
Type    Speed    Chipset	VIA Eden X2 U4200 (dual core) 1GHz VX900
Memory
Flash    RAM	1GB/2GB/16GB 2GB (Max 8GB)
Video
Chip    Max resolution	VIA ChromotionHD 2.0 2048 x 1536
Ports
Network    USB    Serial    Parallel    PS/2    Video	10/100/1000 6 x USB2.0 1 1 2 (Kybd and Mouse) DVI-I & DVI-D
Power
Power    Plug    Off    Idle    Screensaver    Running	19V 3.42A (label) Coax 4.8mm/1.8mm 0W ~8W ~12W ~19W
Dimensions
H x W x D (mm)	209 x 58.4 x 215 (Excluding Stand)

The embedded operating system is one of:

• Genuine Windows Embedded Standard 7
• Genuine Windows Embedded Standard 2009
• HP ThinPro
• HP Smart Zero Client Service
• Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 (CE 6 Release 3)

depending on the exact model.

Power Supply

The unit requires a 19V DC supply with a 4.8mm/1.8mm coax connector.

The standard PSU is rated at 19V 3.4A. I've happily used mine with a replacement 18.5V 3.5A PSU intended for a laptop.

In February 2020 I heard from Tomas who was quite happily running his t510 from a 12V supply. I did try my one out (briefly) to confirm this. Whether there are any side effects from this I do not know.

CPU

From /proc/cpuinfo:

PCI

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 Host Bridge: Host Control (rev 80)
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 Error Reporting
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 CPU Bus Controller
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 DRAM Bus Control
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 Power Management and Chip Testing Control
00:00.5 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 APIC and Central Traffic Control
00:00.6 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 Scratch Registers
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 North-South Module Interface Control
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 Graphics [Chrome9 HD]
00:03.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 PCI Express Root Port 0
00:03.1 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 PCI Express Root Port 1
00:03.2 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 PCI Express Root Port 2
00:03.3 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 PCI Express Root Port 3
00:03.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 PCI Express Physical Layer Electrical Sub-block
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 Serial ATA Controller
00:10.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.3 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 90)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX900 Bus Control and Power Management
00:11.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX8xx South-North Module Interface Control
00:13.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875/VX900 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:14.0 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller (rev 20)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 01)

Expansion

As usual click on the photo (right) for a larger version of the board.

Flash: The Flash memory is easily replaceable. It will either be a DOM plugged into a standard 44-pin IDE connector or a DOM plugged into a SATA connector depending upon the age of your t510. I have examples of both. The socket for the SATA DOM is mounted vertically on the motherboard with a corresponding plug on the SATA DOM so that it sits parallel with the motherboard. This style of SATA DOM is unusual and it may not be easy to source a drop-in replacement. However there is sufficient clearance for a standard SATA cable to be fitted - see below. Also there are right-angle adapters and cables with right-angle connectors can easily be found and with a little bit of thought you should be able to fit a more conventional SSD.

RAM: The RAM is a standard 204-pin DDR3 SODIMM. The one fitted is manufactured by Hynix and is marked: 2GB 1Rx8 PC3-12800S-11-11-B2. The part number is HMT325S6CFR8C-PB NO AA. (It's a DDR3 1600MHz SODIMM). The memory bus runs at 533MHz so you need 1066MHz parts.

The VIA VX900 datasheet says "The VIA VX900 MSP supports up to 8GB of DDR3 system memory..." which to me implies 4GB per SODIMM socket. A t510 datasheet does say "Up to 4 GB DDR3-1066 SDRAM" but those figures usually reflect what comes as standard from HP, not the necessarily the ultimate capability of the board.

Note: A webpage on HP's site on the t510 does say under standard memory : 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM (4 GB DDR3 1066 MHz maximum system memory using 2 SODIMMs (128 MB reserved for graphics)). Possibly a cut-and-paste error from elsewhere? My t510 has only a single SODIMM socket.

Marlon emailed me to say that he was happily using an 8GB memory part. I also heard from Mitchell who had installed a Kingston 8GB part: "The Bios shows as 2GB installed, but the thinpro OS shows as 8GB total".

I have successfully fitted a 4GB part from Elpida 4GB 2Rx8 PC3-12800S-11-10-F3

I have tried out a Crucial 8GB part (CT10246BF160.B) and a SK hynix 8GB part (HMT41GS6BFR8A) both of which worked. In each case the BIOS reported the fitted RAM as 4GB but the full 8GB was available once I had booted the 64-bit version of Tiny Core.

USB: There are two USB sockets on the front panel, two on the rear and two 'secure' sockets located under the top cover.

Mini PCI-E: The t510 has a Mini-PCIe 1x Slot. Some models have a wlan-card inserted in that slot with an external screwable antenna at the top of the backside of the Thin Client. Thomas asked a HP technician if it's possible to insert a mini-PCIe SSD or mSata SSD into that slot, and he answered:

"the voltage would match, but the slot is too short, it's only half-size mini-PCIe. It could work, but we have not tested it."

The problem is to get the SSD card mounted so that it doesn't fall out.

This photo also shows the vertically mounted SATA socket.

Additional Photos

SATA: At the time of writing (Oct 2012) the HP SATA flash modules were expensive and had low capacities Thomas upgraded the storage with a 22 pin sata extension cable and an ordinary 2.5" SSD.

However he had an unhappy experience trying to use the SATA interface. Whatever he plugged into this SATA socket - be it his SSD or a normal SATA drive (either powered from the t510 or an external PSU) - the onboard Broadcom NIC died. He has no explanation for this behaviour. Having been through a number of replacement units HP have let him return it for a refund.

I've received a number of emails from others who (as one would expect) have had no problems at all using the SATA socket.

However Jura has had a similar experience to Thomas:

"Two days after connecting SanDisk Sata SSD 8GB to the SATA interface my LAN died. It is not visible to the OS at all, not to Windows, not to Linux, and even in the BIOS, the MAC is shown as FFFFFFFFFFF."

See the Using tab for more on this topic where another correspondent had a similar experience but found he could clear the problem by removing the CMOS battery.

IDE/SATA

From the photograph you can see, like other HP thin clients from this era, the board is tracked for a SATA interface to be fitted just above the IDE connector. However as there is a SATA interface fitted elsewhere there is no need to solder one in as Jem Atahan did on the t5540.

Once again my thanks to Thomas for the photographs and the original information.