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Wyse Dx0Q (5020): Media Server 

Overview

Anders: Various points

Applications

Here are some descriptions of what others have been up to with their Dx0Q.

Ammon: File Server
Daniel: File Server
Simon: MythTV
Steve: File Server
Craig: Media Server
Krzysztof: pfSense firewall

In December 2021 I heard from Craig from Canada.

I had been looking for a suitable way to serve my media files via Samba when I came across a Wyse thin client on-line for about $85USD. All I really knew when I purchased it was that it was a energy conserving quad-core AMD processor and had USB 3.0 ports with decent processing speed. The one I received did not even appear to have been in service. It had no OS and only WYSE branding on case. Also Dell still made a commitment to continue to support the motherboard with BIOS updates in 2021 so I was all in.

I was trying to figure out how to best attach a SSD when I stumbled across your excellent website. At first I was going to go with Ammon's build and even ordered some of the parts from China to go with a Western Digital 1TB Green SSD that I already bought for the project.

naked Western Digital 1TB SSD
It was while those were being shipped that I saw a video of a Western Digital 1TB Green SSD being disassembled. That's when I decided to void the WD 3 year warranty by removing he SSD from its case. After all, it needed to cool passively like the Dx0Q, and how can it do that in its plastic case?

naked Western Digital 1TB SSD in place
Yes, I went all in with Steve's build but resisted breaking the corner off the SSD board because the SSD seem to sit perfectly on the main board pin post. That said I still followed Steve's route and put some Kapton tape on the unused center peg in case it shorted some micro capacitors or resistors on the SSD board even though the board seemed to sit high enough after careful insertion. Although it seemed secure enough, I also added some Kapton tape to keep the SSD from vibrating out of the socket. I did not put a SSD on the second SATA port like Steve as I no longer needed to do so.

I found it pleasantly surprising that the Sandisk internals of the 1TB Western Digital Green SSD fitted so well.

In the end everything just worked without any issues along the way.

Craig's story is an illustration of how (possibly) cheap thin client hardware can often be easily reused, and it doesn't necessarily require soldering, metal bashing or ingenuity to use them. In this case it was just a matter of discovering that the most convenient way to meet his large storage need was to dismantle a standard SSD[*].


Notes:

* Not all 2.5" SSD circuit boards turn out to be conveniently small. Finding details of what's inside a particular model does remove the element of risk. (In Craig's case it was coming across the video).

Removing the casing of a SSD was mentioned on this site back in 2016.

Another practical example of upgrading a thin client this way is here.

 


Any comments? email me. Added December 2021