Praim Compact Dual Core Series: Hardware 

• Hardware
• Firmware
• Linux

This Praim thin client is a neat unit. The pull out label identifies it as a c22 model which doesn't align with any official datasheets. However on the Praim Website in the FAQs there is a passing mention in a FAQ to do with a Honeywell barcode reader being incompatible with the Compact devices. There we find the words:

...Praim Compact Dual Core (Cxxxx) devices. This devices are also identified with Praim C22 harwaremodel. [sic]

Handily there is a label on the motherboard under the RAM which shows it is a L700 which is actually manufactured by Clientron. I did locate a datasheet for both the L700 and the Praim Compact Dual Core Series. The Praim range are numbered C9XXX, with the different model numbers covering the different configurations of flash, RAM and OS.

The datasheet for the range is V1.12 dated March 2016.

Specifications

Processor
Type    Speed	Via Eden X2 (Dual Core) 1GHz
Memory
Flash    RAM	1GB-16GB 2GB/4GB (max 4GB?)
Video
Chip    Max resolution	VX900 1920x1200 32-bit colour
Ports
Network    USB    Serial    Parallel    PS/2    Video	10/100/1000 5 x USB2.0 0 0 1 1 x DVI-I, 1 x DVI-D
Power
Plug    Input    Off    Idle    Running	Coax 5.5mm/2.1mm 11W (datasheet) 1W 10W 15W
Dimensions
H x W x D (mm)	198 x 42 x 140

The datasheet mentions:

Model	OS	RAM	Storage
C9010	ThinOX	2GB	1GB
C9050	ThinOX	2GB	2GB
C9200	ThinOX	2GB	2GB
C9400	Win XPe	2GB	2GB
C9700	WES7	2GB	8GB
C9080	WES8 64-bit	4GB	16GB
C1000	PXE boot	2GB	0GB

Disassembly

This is straightforward and is the same as described for the 10ZiG 58xx.

Power Supply

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

CPU

Having booted Tinycore, /proc/cpuinfo shows:

vendor_id	:	CentaurHauls
cpu family	:	6
model	:	15
model name	:	VIA Eden X2 U4200 @ 1.0+ GHz
stepping	:	13
flags	:	fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall nx lm constant_tsc rep_good eagerfpu pni monitor vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr sse4_1 popcnt rng rng_en ace ace_en ace2 phe phe_en pmm pmm_en lahf_lm ida

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]
00:01.1 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. Device 9170
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. VT82xx/62xx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xx/62xx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xx/62xx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.3 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xx/62xx 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)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 06)

Expansion

As usual, clicking on the photo (right) will take you to a larger scale photos of the circuit board.

The case is fairly compact in size so there is little space to fit anything internally.

Flash: The Flash memory is replaceable. It's a DOM plugged into a 22-pin SATA connector connector. The disassembly instructions show you how to access it. The Vx900 data I have seen just refers to two 'SATA ports' so I assume they must be SATA 1 ports. There is nothing in the BIOS for configuring the ports and, looking in the dmesg output, the port appears to be mapped as an IDE port.

....
ata1: PATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x1f0 ctl 0x3f6 bmdma 0xfc00 irq 14
ata2: DUMMY
....
ata1.00: ATA-8: KingSpec KSM-HS.5-002SJ, 120202, max UDMA/133
ata1.00: 3928176 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
ata1.00: limited to UDMA/33 due to 40-wire cable
ata1.00: configured for UDMA/33

RAM: The RAM is a conventional DDR3 SODIMM plugged into a socket fitted on the top of the board. The fitted 204-pin SODIMM was a 1GB Transcend part 656657-0396. This is a DDR3 1333 part. I also tried out a 4GB part (4GB 2Rx8 PC3-10600S-9-10-F2) from Elpida that worked.

USB: There are two USB sockets on the front panel, two on the rear, and one in a concealed panel on the top of the unit. These are all USB 2.0 ports.

Mini PCI: There is an internal mini PCI socket where you could fit a wireless card. You can see from the photos below that it's not the easiest to access.

SATA: There is another on-board SATA socket with a power socket next to it. The pin furthest from the SATA socket carries +5V.

The USB compartment on the top of the thin client.

The Mini PCIe connector on the left. This at the top and partially under the side panel. Just about visible bottom left is a white connector with red/black wires. These come from the heat-shrink wrapped backup battery that sits underneath the motherboard - more disassembly work is required if you ever have to change it.

On the right you have the second SATA socket with a two-pin socket next to it. This has +5V on the pin furthest from the SATA socket. Beyond that is a small four-pin socket whose purpose I don't know.