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ViewSonic SC-T46: Hardware 

Viewsonic t46

The ViewSonic SC-T46 is quite a small thin client standing some 15cm/6" high. There is no room for adding anything internally. It looks like it was announced in May 2014. A data sheet I downloaded carries a date of 12/08/2014, a label on the inside of the side panel of my example has '2014/07/07' on it (as the date of manufacture?), and the CMOS backup battery on the motherboard is dated '11-03-08'. Elsewhere I see the N2930 CPU was introduced in Q1 2014 which puts us in 2014 territory.

[I can't explain the ancient date on the CMOS battery - but it is still working OK in 2022!].

The SC-T46 would appear to be a rebadged Atrust t180 but they are configured differently:

 CMOS batteryFlash
Atrust t180  noneeMMC soldered in
Viewsonic t46  presentmini mSATA

Specifications

The basic specs are:

Processor
   Type
   Speed
Quad core Intel N2930
1.83GHz
Memory
   Flash
   RAM
  8GB
  2GB
Video
   Chip
   Resolution
Intel HD Graphics
Upto 1920 x 1200
Ports
   Video
   Network
   USB
   Serial
   Parallel
   PS/2
1 x DVI-I, 1 x DVI-D
10/100/1000
3 x USB2.0, 1 x USB3.0
0
0
0
Power
   Plug
   Off
   Idle
   Running
Coax 4.8mm/1.8mm
0W
5W
6W
Dimensions
H x W x D (mm)143 x 39.5 x 103

As delivered it was running the Viewsonic version of Linux.

Power Supply

It came with a small 12V 3A PSU. The power 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. In my case, with an 'as new' example, one of these screws is covered with a viewsonic sticker. 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.

Viewsonic SC-T46 case opening

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. I started this is by the screw which was covered with the label. Subsequently, checking the edges of the panel and the case, I can't see any helpful recess to help you get started.

When it came to replacing the side panel 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 N2930 is a quad core processor.

vendor_id:GenuineIntel
cpu family:6
model:55
model name:Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N2930 @ 1.83GHz
stepping:8
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 rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts xtopology tsc_reliable nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer rdrand lahf_lm 3dnowprefetch epb tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid tsc_adjust smep erms dtherm ida arat

PCI

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series SoC Transaction Register (rev 0e)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display (rev 0e)
00:13.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Atom Processor E3800 Series SATA AHCI Controller (rev 0e)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx, Celeron N2000 Series USB xHCI (rev 0e)
00:1a.0 Encryption controller: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Trusted Execution Engine (rev 0e)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series High Definition Audio Controller (rev 0e)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Atom Processor E3800 Series PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 0e)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Power Control Unit (rev 0e)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Atom Processor E3800 Series SMBus Controller (rev 0e)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 0c)

Expansion

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Removing the side panel gives access to the flash. 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.

The flash memory is easily replaceable. The RAM would appear to be soldered in place.

Flash: The flash is a small horizontal mSATA DOM which plugs into a mSATA socket. It is top-right in the photo and is covered by a bit of brown plastic to isolate it from the internal metal shield. Note: The board is engineered to take the smaller mSATA mini format where the board length is 26.8mm long rather than 50.8mm. There is space to fit the longer board but you have two issues to deal with:

  1. The existing mounting pillar will have to be removed.
  2. There is no mounting pillar to hold the 50.8mm card in place.

RAM: As far as I can determine the RAM is soldered to the motherboard and so is fixed at 2GB. Peering through the cover it looks as though the top of the motherboard is covered almost completely by a heatsink. I could see no evidence of a SODIMM socket.

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.

Viewsonic T46 optional foot
Wireless: There is an optional wireless interface. This is actually a USB wireless dongle that's mounted in a deeper foot. You can see how it is fitted in the Atrust T180 entry. It would appear to be a factory-fit option as it requires a re-worked case and internal metalwork to expose the connector for it on the motherboard.

The standard foot

Viewsonic T46 foot
One neat(?) thing is that the foot doubles up as a vesa mounting bracket should you wish to mount the SC-T46 on the back of a monitor. All the necessary screws are provided within the foot itself.

 


Any comments? email me. Added April 2022