Wyse SX0 

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Overview

The Wyse SX0 is a small and (physically) lightweight thin client. It has a single serial port and lacks any PS/2 ports. There are two USB ports at the front and two USB ports on the rear. It is available in a number of configurations which is reflected in the product ID : S10/S30/S50/S90.

From the marketing blurb:

S10	Featuring the blisteringly fast Wyse ThinOS designed for task-oriented environments.
S30	Windows CE for web browser functionality and terminal emulation for connecting to legacy systems.
S50	Complete with the latest Wyse Linux v6 operating system for fast web browsing, X-based sessions and simple environments.
S90	All the benefits of a Microsoft Windows XP Embedded desktop with fast secure access.

Unfortunately Wyse changed the design of the underlying hardware at some point. You need to look at the part number which will be something like 902105-02 or 902110-02L. The key thing is the presence or absence of the trailing 'L'. With the early models (no 'L') the flash uses a non-standard connector and the RAM is soldered in place. The 'L' version has a conventional 44-pin connector for the flash and the RAM is a SO-DIMM.

I'm not too sure when the Sx0 was launched - I guess it may be early 2005. The earliest manufacturing date I've seen on an L version is October 2006. The EOL dates given by Wyse for the various models (original/L version) are:

S10: August 2008/November 2012.
S50: October 2007/July 2011.
S90: August 2008/January 2010.

Specifications

The basic specs for the SX0 are:

Processor
Type    Speed	AMD Geode GX500 366MHz
Memory
Flash      S10      S30      S50      S90    RAM      S10      S30      S50      S90	0MB 64MB 64MB or 128MB 512MB 128MB 128MB 128MB or 256MB 256MB
Video
Chip      -02      -02L    Max resolution	CS5535 CS5536 1600 x 1200 16-bit colour
Ports
Network    USB    Serial    Parallel    PS/2	10/100 4 x USB2.0 1 none none
Power
Input    Plug    Off    Running	12V 2.5A (from label) Coax 5.5mm/2.1mm 0W 4-6W
Dimensions
W x H x D	17.5cm x 3cm x 12.5cm

CPU

For those to whom it matters here is some detail from Linux's /proc/cpuinfo

vendor_id	:	Geode by NSC
cpu family	:	5
model	:	5
model name	:	Geode(TM) Integrated Processor by National Semi
stepping	:	2
flags	:	fpu de pse tsc msr cx8 pge cmov mmx mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow

PCI

00:01.0 Host bridge: National Semiconductor Corporation Geode GX2 Host Bridge (rev 21)
00:01.1 VGA compatible controller: National Semiconductor Corporation Geode GX2 Graphics Processor
00:0e.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
00:0f.0 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] ISA (rev 03)
00:0f.2 IDE interface: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] IDE (rev 01)
00:0f.3 Multimedia audio controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Audio (rev 01)
00:0f.4 USB Controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] OHC (rev 02)
00:0f.5 USB Controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] EHC (rev 02)

Power Supply

The unit uses a small external power unit rated at 12V @2.5A. It uses a standard 5.5mm/2.1mm coax plug to connect to the SX0.

Expansion

This depends on the model number.

The later model - 902110-02L - is easily expandable.

Flash: This model of the SX0 comes with a standard 44-pin IDE connector.

It says '0MB Flash' in the specification for the S10 and the connector has no flash fitted. The S10 is fitted with a larger BIOS chip which is where the WTOS firmware is stored.

The S30, S50 and S90 have a DOM connected to the 44-pin IDE connector.

The IDE controller is a CS5536.

RAM: The RAM is provided by a standard 200-pin PC2700 SO-DIMM. (Bottom of the photo). I have successfully replaced the supplied 128MB module with a Hynix 256MB module and also a G-TEK 512MB module. The GX500 datasheet indicates that 512MB is the maximum size of memory supported.

The board includes a 44-pin IDE connector (top left in the photo). I connected a 2.5" drive to this which had Tinycore 2.7 installed. With this in place the S10 booted and ran Tinycore Linux from the hard disk in preference to its internal operating system.

There is very little space internally and you couldn't even shoehorn in a 1.8" drive. The S30 and S50 use a DOM. Possibly a cable (or direct) connected Compact Flash card adaptor could be fitted.

Miscellaneous

A purchase in May 2011 included two examples of the early S10s. One of them wouldn't power up. When I removed the top the reason for this was evident (see photo left) - there was a significant gap between the push button and the switch on the PCB and even when the button was fully depressed it failed to make contact with the PCB mounted switch. Neither had bits missing and I couldn't see how this misalignment could happen. I ended up with the lo-tech solution of sliding a small folded up piece of paper into the gap. This fixed the problem.