HP T5540: Hardware 

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Four HP thin clients share a common hardware base - t5145/t5540/t5545/t5630 - and are covered here under the banner of the t5540.

Originally I didn't have a t5540 and the November 2010 photos and words were kindly provided by Jem Atahan:

"I thought you might be interested in some info on the HP t5540 to add to your excellent guide, as it has something that is increasingly necessary in today's hardware world: a (potential) SATA port!"

In June 2012 I got hold of one which was advertised as "for spares or repair" and zero words of description as to why it was being advertised as such. Unfortunately the brief description was accurate - it didn't work. It cost me less than two pints of beer (inc p&p) so I think I'm up on the 'spares' bit (basically RAM and flash). I also used the opportunity to update the photos and these words.

In October 2012 I got my hands on a t5545 - the Linux variant of the hardware - and have updated the words based on my experience with that. This unit appears to have been manufactured around October 2009.

In November 2012 I got a t5630w (Manufactured April 2010?) which made me realise that the same motherboard was used across a range of models rather than just the t554x ones.

All the models carry the same 'model number' of HSTNC-004-TC on their labels.

In January 2024 I heard from Tomasz who pointed out that the t5145 was actually fitted with an earlier version of the VIA ethernet chip that did not support gigabyte data rates. Not physically having a t5145 I'd assumed that the only way in which it differed was in having 500MHz CPU. Wrong! I've updated the entry to correct this.

Specifications

Model	t5145	t5540	t5545	t5630	t5630W
Processor
Type	VIA Eden
Speed	500MHz	1GHz
Memory
Flash	128MB	128MB	512MB	1GB	2GB
RAM	512MB	512MB	512MB	1GB	1GB
Operating System
	ThinConnect	CE 6.0	ThinPro	XPe SP2	Embedded Standard
Video
Chip    Max resolution    Connectors	Via Chrome9 HC3 1920 x 1440 32-bit colour VGA & DVI-D
Ports
Network    USB    Serial    Parallel    PS/2	t5145: 10/100, others: 10/100/1000 6 x USB2.0 1 1 KYBD & Mouse
Power
Input    Plug    Off    Running	12V 4.16A (from label) Coax: 5.5mm/2.1mm 1 W ~14W
Dimensions
W x H x D	52mm x 210mmm x 216mm

The chipset is the VIA VX800 unified North/South Bridge.

Power Supply

The unit requires a 12V supply with the usual 5.5mm/2.1mm coax connector. The pull-out label gives a power rating of 12V 4.16A. However, in practice, the consumption is much lower. I have run my t5545 quite happily off a 12V 1.5A PSU.

CPU

For those to whom it matters here is some detail from Linux's /proc/cpuinfo.

vendor_id	:	CentaurHauls
cpu family	:	6
model	:	13
model name	:	VIA Eden Processor 1000MHz
stepping	:	0
flags	:	fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic 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. VX800 Host Bridge (rev 12)
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 Error Reporting
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 Host Bus Control
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 Power Management Control
00:00.5 PIC: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 APIC and Central Traffic Control
00:00.6 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 Scratch Registers
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 North-South Module Interface Control
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 Chrome 9 HC3 Integrated Graphics (rev 11)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 PCI Express Root Port
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800 Serial ATA and EIDE 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)
00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 90)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX800/VX820 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)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6120/VT6121/VT6122 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev 82)

Expansion

(Click on the photo for a larger version).

Flash: The Flash memory (top left in the photograph) is easily replaceable. It's a DOM plugged into a standard 44-pin IDE connector.

RAM: The RAM is a standard 200-pin SODIMM. The one fitted is manufactured by hynix and is marked: PC2-6400S-666-13-C0, 512MB, DDR2, 800, CL6. The part number is MT4HTF6464HY-800E1. The VX800 data sheet says that it... "Supports up to two 64-bit DDR2 667 DIMMs (4 GB max)" from which I assume that, with a single DIMM socket, the maximum amount of memory supported is 2GB. In December 2017 Samir emailed me to confirm that a 2GB part does work.

USB: There are 6 USB ports; two on the front, two on the rear, and two 'secure' ports mounted under the top cover. The two on the front are recessed behind the front panel and I find the cheap 1GB pen drives that I use for testing won't fit thanks to the wide skirt.

SATA Port: The board is tracked for a SATA port. This covered under the Mods tab.

Ethernet: The t5145 only supports 10/100 ethernet.