IGEL H860C: Hardware 

• Hardware
• Firmware
• Linux

The H860C was launched in February 2021. The publicity read:

Leveraging the powerful AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B processor with Radeon Vega Graphics, the new IGEL UD7 provides a high-performance computing experience for graphics-intensive workloads.

The H860C is a departure from the trend in thin client design which for a while had been following a target of low power consumption. The 'high performance' element noted in the publicity snippet above is reflected in the power consumption of the unit. In my simple test setup with one screen, keyboard and mouse the power consumption reached 28W when I ran a number of simple shell scripts.

As can be seen above mine came without a foot.

My thanks to Adrian from Germany who, having got hold of some H860Cs at a very good price, sent me one.

Specifications

The basic specs are:

Processor
Type    Speed	AMD Ryzen V1605B SOC 2.0GHz-3.6GHz
Memory
Flash    RAM	8GB eMMC fixed 2 x 4GB (max 32GB)
Video
Chip    Max resolution	Radeon Vega 8 4 x 4K
Ports
Video    Network    USB    Serial    Parallel    PS/2	4 x Display Port 1.2 or 1 x DP1.4 via USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 10/100/1000 4 x USB2.0 back 1 x USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (front) 2 x USB3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 1 x USB2.0 internal 1 none none
Power
Supply    Plug    Off    Idle    Running	12V 5A (label) Coax 5.5mm/2.1mm 0W 13W 28W
Dimensions
W x H x D	68mm x 206mm x 204mm (without stand)

The UD7 H860C runs Igel OS.

Power Supply

The IGEL H860C uses an external 12V supply with a conventional 5.5mm/2.1mm coaxial type connector. Mine came without a PSU but the data sheet shows it is shipped with 60W (12V 5A) PSU.

Warning My initial testing was done using a bench PSU and I had difficulties getting the H860C to boot. Eventually I worked out what was going on - as it transitioned from the opening BIOS screen (~13W power draw) to booting (~28W power draw) the current limiter on the PSU was cutting in and the supply voltage dropped. As a consequence the unit usually crashed and then rebooted. Once the current limit was set back at its maximum all was fine. So, if you have to source your own PSU to use with the H860C, bear in mind its power requirements.

Disassembly

Disassembly is straight forward. Remove the two screws on the back of the unit and the side panel then slides back a short way and can be lifted clear.

CPU

The H860C is fitted with an AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B SOC. This has four cores and eight threads. From the /proc/cpuinfo data:

vendor_id	:	AuthenticAMD
cpu family	:	23
model	:	17
model name	:	AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B with Radeon Vega Gfx
stepping	:	0
flags	:	fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc rep_good nonstop_tsc cpuid extd_apicid aperfmperf rapl pni pclmulqdq monitor ssse3 fma cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 movbe popcnt aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw skinit wdt tce topoext perfctr_core perfctr_nb bpext perfctr_llc mwaitx cpb hw_pstate ssbd ibpb vmmcall fsgsbase bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 rdseed adx smap clflushopt sha_ni xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves clzero irperf xsaveerptr arat npt lbrv svm_lock nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold avic v_vmsave_vmload vgif overflow_recov succor smca
address sizes	:	48 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

PCI

00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15d0
00:01.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 1452
00:01.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15d3
00:08.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 1452
00:08.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15db
00:08.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15dc
00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller (rev 61)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge (rev 51)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15e8
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15e9
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15ea
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15eb
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15ec
00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15ed
00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15ee
00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15ef
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation I210 Gigabit Backplane Connection (rev 03)
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Device 15dd (rev 83)
02:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Device 15de
02:00.2 Encryption controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15df
02:00.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15e0
02:00.4 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15e1
02:00.5 Multimedia controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15e2
02:00.6 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15e3
02:00.7 Non-VGA unclassified device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device 15e6
03:00.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 61)

Expansion

Click on the photo for a larger image.

Flash: The flash memory is 8GB of soldered down eMMC memory. It is not replaceable unless you've got a hot-air (de)soldering station and the necessary skills.

RAM: The RAM comprises two socketed DDR4 SO-DIMMs. The fitted RAM was 2 x 4GB 1Rx8 Samsung parts: 4GB 1Rx16 PC4-2666V-SCO-11 (M471A5244CB0-CTD). I tried out two 8GB SK Hynix parts to get a total of 16GB of RAM. The AMD data indicates a max of 32GB is possible.

Wireless: There is a M.2 socket on the board. I find no direct mention of this in the H860C manual but it is obviously intended for the usual wireless/bluetooth card. The spec says:

optional: integrated Intel 9260 Wireless-AC (802.11ac WLAN and Bluetooth 5.1); support for WPA/WPA2/WPA3

Ethernet options I tried are covered below.

Sockets : There are two onboard sockets adjacent to the speaker:

1. A 4-pin socket labelled USB4. I assume this is the connection point for the optional smart card reader. I did connect a USB socket to it and found I had gained another USB2 port.
2. A 5-pin socket labelled J1. I don't know what this is for.

Ethernet Options

There are various ways of networking the H860C.

My first was to purchase an ethernet adapter that plugged into a USB3 port. The one I chose had a type-C plug to match the one on the front panel of the H860C. It cost just under 10UKP from Amazon.

I also purchased a RJ-45 SFP adapter. These seem to vary hugely in price and, surprisingly, seemed to be manufacturer specific - the product details usually included the words 'compatible with ...'. I went with something random off AliExpress that cost ~4UKP. This worked.

I was surprised by the wide variation in price that I found on eBay (8UKP-80UKP) as all this module does is connect the signals from the on-board ethernet chip to the outside world via an interface chip to match the Cat X specifications.

Below are photographs of the top and bottom of the one I bought along with a view of it installed in the H860C. Note that the RJ45 socket does protrude from the back of the H860C