ViewSonic SC-T45: Hardware 

• Hardware
• Firmware
• Linux

The ViewSonic SC-T45 is quite a small thin client standing some 15cm/6" high. There is no room for adding anything internally. I don't know exactly when the SC-T45 dates from. All I note is that a user guide carries a date of '09-02-11', a label on the inside of the side panel has '2013/07/10', and the CMOS backup battery on the motherboard is dated '11-03-08'. Elsewhere I see the N2800 CPU was introduced in December 2011 which puts us in 2012-2014 territory.

I subsequently got hold of an Atrust t180L which made me realise that this thin client is a rebadged Atrust 170W.

Specifications

The basic specs are:

Processor
Type    Speed	Dual core Intel Atom N2800 1.86GHz
Memory
Flash    RAM	4GB   2GB (max 4GB?)
Video
Chip    Resolution	Intel NM10 Upto 1920 x 1200
Ports
Video    Network    USB    Serial    Parallel    PS/2	1 x DVI-I, 1 x VGA 10/100/1000 4 x USB2.0 0 0 0
Power
Plug    Off    Idle    Running	Coax 4.8mm/1.8mm 0W 6W 9W
Dimensions
H x W x D (mm)	143 x 39.5 x 103

As delivered the flash had been wiped clean. The datasheet gives Windows Embedded Standard 7 as the usual OS.

Power Supply

No power supply came with this so initially I used a universal one that I got many years ago from Maplin - switchable output voltage and changeable tips. Subsequently I got a small PSU with the right connector. The datasheet gives 12V 3A for the standard PSU. I measured the power consumption at ~9W max.

The PSU connector is a 4.8mm/1.8mm coax plug.

Getting Inside

A single screw will let you remove the stand (if fitted). You'll find there are two screws on the bottom that you need to remove. There are also two screws on the back panel that you may not need to remove, however I found that it made things easier if you removed these as well.

Having removed the screws you'll find you are not any further forward as the removable side panel is still held firmly in place by a number of small internal clips. I gently used a flat-bladed screw driver to work slowly around the edge persuading the side panel to part company from the main case.

When it came to replacing it it was another case of being patient and not hurrying the process. It was at this stage I decided that it was a little easier to do with the two screws removed from the back as this allowed the back panel to flex a little more.

CPU

For those to whom it matters here is some detail from Linux's /proc/cpuinfo. The N2800 is a dual core processor with Hyperthreading.

vendor_id	:	GenuineIntel
cpu family	:	6
model	:	54
model name	:	Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N2800 @ 1.86GHz
stepping	:	1
flags	:	fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm dtherm arat

PCI

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Atom Processor D2xxx/N2xxx DRAM Controller (rev 04)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Atom Processor D2xxx/N2xxx Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0b)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation NM10 Family LPC Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 09)

Expansion

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Removing the side panel gives access to the flash and RAM which are mounted on the bottom of the circuit board. I didn't disassemble things further to see what might be fitted to the top of the board. After removing four screws it is not obvious about how to proceed further.

Both the flash memory and the RAM are easily replaceable.

Flash: The flash is a small horizontal SATA DOM which plugs into a mSATA socket.

RAM: The RAM is a 204-pin DDR3 SODIMM. The one fitted is a 2GB Kingston part: KVR16S11/2. The Kingston datasheet describes this as: 1Rx8 256M x 64-bit PC3-12800 CL11 SODIMM. It is a 1.5V part. A Transcend 2GB 'L' part worked as did a 4GB Elpida part. I'm not sure of the maximum RAM capacity as I don't have any 8GB parts to try.

As you can see in the photo there are no other sockets on the bottom of the board. As noted above I have not dismantled things further to see what if anything is on the top of the board.

The datasheet does mention about an optional wireless interface, but the publicity photo of the SC-T45 does show a small dongle plugged into one of the USB ports - maybe that's how they do it?

The foot

One neat(?) thing is that the foot doubles up as a vesa mounting bracket should you wish to mount the SC-T45 on the back of a monitor. All the necessary screws are provided within the foot itself.