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Wyse Xn0: Hardware 

Wyse X90

The Xn0 is a family of laptop style thin clients fitted with a 12.1" screen. My example (an X90) was very generously sent to me by Russell. It was manufactured in April 2009, is fitted with an AZERTY keyboard and has a defunct battery. However it works and provides all the necessary detail for me to add it to the site. ([Feb 2022] Russell's site http://www.wessexelectricnut.co.uk/ - the web pages have vanished).

Wyse X90 label The Xn0 appears to be far rarer than its big brother the Xn0L. However I do note that the label on the bottom of it does say : MODEL NO : H12V and searching on wyse h12V does bring up a lot of hits on Google and a few hits on eBay. Maybe that's the answer? (In contrast the label on my Xn0L example does give Xn0L as the model number).

Specifications

Processor
   Type
   Speed
VIA C7-M ULV
1200 MHz
Chipset
 VN896
Memory
   Flash
   RAM
2GB
1GB (Max 2GB?)
Video
   Screen
   Chip
   Max resolution
12.1" WXGA Widescreen 1280 x 800
integrated in CN896
up to ? x ? 32-bit colour
Ports
   Display
   Network

   USB
   Serial
   Parallel
   PS/2
1 VGA port 15-pin D-Sub for external monitor (clone mode)
10/100
Integrated Wireless 802.112 b/g
3 x USB2.0 (+1 internal)
none
none
none
Power
   Battery6 cell Li-Ion 4400mAH
   Off
   Running
0W
~20W
Dimensions
H x W x D (mm)31~34.5 x 297 x 210

The operating system is Windows XPe SP2.

A publicity sheet on the X90 and X90e is here.

Power Supply

The external power supply is rated at 19V 3.42A. The plug is a standard coax plug 5.5mm/2.5mm.

The battery for a Wyse X90 thin client

Part of the label on the battery from the X90 is pictured above. I was not too sure whether replacements exist for something this old, but searching on "8735 SCUD" did throw up some possibilities albeit at an uneconomic price of $70-$90.

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 C7-M Processor 1200MHz
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 cpuid 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. CN896/VN896/P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 Host Bridge
00:00.5 PIC: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 I/O APIC Interrupt Controller
00:00.6 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 Security Device
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/VX700 PCI Bridge
00:02.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller (rev 80)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 PCI to PCI Bridge Controller (rev 80)
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. Device 5337 (rev 80)
00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 07)
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 86)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A PCI to ISA Bridge
00:11.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/8251 Ultra VLINK Controller
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102/VT6103 [Rhine-II] (rev 7c)
00:13.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A Host Bridge
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 [Chrome 9 HC] (rev 01)
80:01.0 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller (rev 10)

External connections

Front back and sides of the X90.

Wyse X90 connections

Expansion

I haven't removed the keyboard to see what may be lurking beneath. From pictures on eBay where somebody is selling the top cover for a Wyse H12V there doesn't appear to be a lot to see.

There is large panel on the underneath of the X90. Removing this reveals:

Wyse X90 expansion area

Wyse X90 DOM Wyse X90 mounting bay for IDE DOM Flash: The connector for the flash DOM is a 44-pin IDE connector. However it is unusual in being a female connector. All other thin clients I've seen with 44-pin IDE interfaces have had male connectors on the circuit board - so all my spare DOMs will not plug directly into the X90.

This is obviously a standard laptop motherboard and expects to be fitted out with a 2.5" hard drive. However, in this thin client incarnation, that's not something that can be done immediately as they have added two mounting pillars to support the DOM.

There is also a third taller pillar in the way along with a header (labelled CON32). I was not too sure what might be fitted here, but noted that CON32 does provide an additional USB port. Russell pointed me at eUSB modules (Embedded USB) - something I was not aware of.

The label on the bottom of the X90 showed that originally a 2GB DOM had been fitted. By the time it reached me it had been changed for a 512MB one.

Ram: There is a single SODIMM socket to take the RAM. As above the label on the X90 said '1GB of RAM' and what was fitted turned out to be a 512MB DDR2 667 SODIMM.

A Hynix 1GB PC2-6400S part (HYMP112S64CP6-S6 AB-C) worked, as did a 2GB PC2-6400S part (HYS64T256020EDL-2).

USB: There are three USB sockets on the right hand side of the X90 and a fourth one inside. This is on the header (CON32) in the IDE bay. It's on the odd-number line of pins - the one with the keyway at the end. I connected up a socket and pen drive and the BIOS quite happily found it and booted Tiny Core linux from it. Russell pointed out that CON32 is for fitting eUSB (Embedded USB) memory devices in the drive bay.

Express Card Slot

What looks as though it might be a PCMIA card slot is an Express card slot which accepts either ExpressCard/34 or ExpressCard/54 formats.

Wireless

The wireless card looks like a mini-PCIe card but actually appears as a USB device. This is also something I found in the later X90cw. The output from lsusb:

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 090c:1000 Silicon Motion, Inc. - Taiwan (formerly Feiya Technology Corp.) Flash Drive
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 160a:3184 VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VNT-6656 [WiFi 802.11b/g USB Dongle]
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

The first device is the USB drive I've booted from. The second device is the internal Wireless card.

Smart card reader

My X90 has a dummy CDROM front panel on the right-hand side. This is where the optional smart card reader is fitted.

Acknowledgement

My thanks to Russell for the X90.

http://wessexelectricnut.co.uk/wp/computer_collection/wyse-x90/ (not working when last checked).

 


Any comments? email me. Added December 2018