Running Linux on a HP t630 thin client

Linux

Emma wrote:

I originally installed Ubuntu 20.04 LTS server on it to put it through some paces and get the information on the CPU and the PCI devices. I also did a little benchmarking, and also included info from two other hosts on my network, an HP t610 and an HP t620:
Using sysbench on a t610, t620 and t630, here are the results from "sysbench cpu --cpu-max-prime=20000 run

t610 t620 t630

CPU speed:
  events per second
:
62.72
272.42
367.10

General statistics:
  total time
  total number of events
:
:
10.0055s
628
10.0032s
2726
10.0028s
3675

So in a rough sense, the CPU is about six times faster than a t610 and about a third faster than a t620. Obviously the t610 is handicapped by only being dual-core compared to the quad-cored t620 and t630.
I also installed ESXi 6.7u3 after putting the Realtek-8168 NIC driver into the ISO with PowerCLI. It's not the most powerful VM host, but it's low power and fast enough for simple testing of ideas, configuration setups, throwing up a quick server to modify some code for github projects without impacting your production setups, etc. I am pleased with it.

		t610	t620	t630
CPU speed: events per second	:	62.72	272.42	367.10
General statistics: total time total number of events	: :	10.0055s 628	10.0032s 2726	10.0028s 3675

In October 2022 I heard from Sander who had installed Linux Mint. Along the way he had some display issues and ended up having to configure X by hand. You can read about his issues here.

In March 2024 I heard from Mick who had fun and games with Xubuntu:

I purchased 4 x HP t630 to have a play with.
My experience to date with HPs t510/t520/t610 and Wyse has been that installing Xubuntu has been very easy and painless, so I expected the t630 to be no different - Oh boy was I wrong!
Trying Xubuntu 2.04 LTS the install kept stopping at the point of installing Chromium, and then the DPKG process dies to never return. However, 'Try Xubuntu 22.03' running from the USB stick worked fine and is quite snappy. I thought I'd try 20.04 or 23.10 and I couldn't even get to the 'Try Xubuntu' or installer.
OK, I'll be clever then I thought. Let's go for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Server then install xubuntu-desktop. Ubuntu Server installs fine. On installing xubuntu-desktop gets as far as the XFCE log on screen and then crashes to a green screen. Removing the packages then results in it booting OK but ends up with a blank screen. However SSH still works and I can SSH into the machine fine, just not see anything on local display.
I tried various things and the problem appears to be with amdgpu drivers. I tried the AMD repository with latest version of amdgpu-install and still no luck. Reverting to a reinstall of Ubuntu Server and everything is OK. Try dist-upgrade and the 6.x kernel ends up with the blank screen again without even installing a desktop. As before SSH works fine.
With an install of Ubuntu Server without any attempt to run dist-upgrade or install a desktop and it all works nicely. I installed neofetch and samba and it's sitting on the network fine and display is available locally.
At this point I have given up installing Xubuntu. I may have some space and might try something else, like Mint Cinnamon.