10ZiG RBT-4xx: Hardware 

• Hardware
• Firmware
• Linux

This 10ZiG thin client is a small and neat unit which is also labelled as a Clientron U700. The picture on the right shows it next to a Neoware Capio to give an indication of its diminutive size. There is no date of manufacture on the unit. I can find no dating information on the 10ZiG site or documentation but the Clientron website did have a news release dated April 2009 announcing the release of the U700. While at the time of writing (March 2011) it can still be found on the 10ZiG site it is no longer a current product. Similarly the U700 was listed in the "Older Product" section of the Clientron Website.

10ZiG Technology was formerly BOSaNOVA, Inc. and their literature states that the RBT-402 is "...assembled in the USA".

Clientron (renamed 2007) was formerly Bcom (established 1983). Bcom was a Taiwanese manufacturer who supplied a lot of early thin client hardware - for example Neoware clients which all have BCOM numbers.

The U700 hardware was manufactured by Clientron. 10ZiG installed their own firmware for their version of the product.

I got the first example of this (an RBT-402) in July 2011. In April 2013 I got hold of a RBT-472v. This used identical hardware but there was no sign of any Clientron U700 markings. The label gave the model name as 54xx. Google soon turned up the RBT series that used the same underlying hardware platform. Essentially the following models would appear to have this as their hardware base: U700, RBT-402, RBT-416, RBT-416v, RBT-420, RBT-466, RBT-470, RBT-472v

Specifications

The RBT 402 is an affordable, energy efficient, compact thin client. This unit weighs just over 1lb. allowing flexible mounting options and low shipping costs. The RBT 402 has no moving parts and consumes only 8-9 watts of energy.

Processor
Type    Speed	VIA Eden 400MHz
Memory
Flash    RAM	512MB 256MB (max 1GB)
Video
Chip    Max resolution	CN700 1600 x 1200 32-bit colour 1920 x 1200 24 bit colour
Ports
Network    USB    Serial    Parallel    PS/2	10/100 4 x USB2.0 0 0 1 Kybd
Power
Plug    Input    Off    Running	Coax 5.5mm/2.1mm 12V 2A (from label) 0W 11W
Dimensions
H x W x D (mm)	156 x 36 x 122

According to the literature the embedded operating system is Linux based on the 2.6 kernel. Unfortunately the flash memory in my unit had been wiped clean by the seller so I have no experience of what's actually there.

Interestingly the U700 datasheet (but not the RBT-402 datasheet) mentions two processor options: VIA Eden NanoBGA2 400MHz or VIA Eden ULV 500MHz.

Datasheets:

• U700
• RBT-402

Model Range

The RBT series based on the 5400 hardware appears to encompass:

Model	flash	RAM	Operating System
RBT-420	256MB	256MB	CE.NET 5.0
RBT-470	256MB	256MB	CE.NET 5.0
RBT-402	512MB	256MB	Linux 2.6 kernel
RBT-466	512MB	256MB	Linux 2.6 kernel
RBT-416	512MB	512MB	XPe SP2
RBT-416v	1GB	512MB	Windows Embedded Standard (XPe SP3)
RBT-472v	512MB	256MB	Linux 2.6 kernel

CPU

Having booted Tinycore, /proc/cpuinfo shows:

vendor_id	:	CentaurHauls
cpu family	:	6
model	:	13
model name	:	VIA Eden Processor 400MHz
stepping	:	0
flags	:	fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge cmov pat clflush acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 tm nx pni est tm2 xtpr rng rng_en ace ace_en ace2 ace2_en phe phe_en pmm pmm_en

PCI

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. PT890 Host Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/VN800/P4M800CE/Pro Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/VX700 PCI Bridge
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:10.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.3 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [KT600/K8T800/K8T890 South]
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60)
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 78)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN700/P4M800 Pro/P4M800 CE/VN800 Graphics [S3 UniChrome Pro] (rev 01)

Power Supply

The unit requires a 12V supply and uses a conventional 5.5mm/2.1mm coax connector.

Expansion

It is compact in size so there is little space to fit anything internally. However there is no problem with the memory components:

Flash: The Flash memory is replaceable. It's a DOM plugged into a standard 44-pin IDE connector. In view of the space considerations I would guess that you're stuck with a standard DOM should you decide to repurpose the unit and need more memory.

I do have a CF adaptor that does fit very nicely as a replacement except there is one small problem - pin 1 is at the wrong end! The photograph below shows the CF adaptor adjacent to the DOM it could replace with the red arrows indicating the respective markings for pin 1. All such adaptors (with right angle female connectors) on ebay seem to be to the same configuration and so need to point the other way. If you know of one tracked the other way please let me know.

RAM: When you take the top off there is no immediate sign of any RAM. It turns out that it's a conventional 200-pin SODIMM plugged into a socket on the bottom the board. It turned out to be relatively easy to access:

Remove the four screws below the four screws that you removed to take the top off the unit. This frees up the sides and lets you open them up slightly at the rear. Looking down on the PCB undo the two bright chromium-plated screws - one in the corner by the IDE interface, the other by the VGA connector. You can then lift the board out.

The SODIMM is marked DDRII 256MB-667 (aka PC2-5300). The part number is SSW232M16-F6E.