Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p
Yesterday, I installed successfully StellarmateX on a
Lenovo M99p ThinkCentre
. This is a Thin Client, with Intel-i5 4Core, 256 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM, 2x USB3 at front, one of them always power on, 3x USB3 at rear and one USB2, a serial connector, VGA, display port, GB LAN with WOL. This device has extension ports for a lot of
Since the device had no build in WLAN, I attached a
Cudy WU1300 AC USB-Adapter
, which is Linux compatible. These Cudy devices are very cheap and good. You get these Lenovo devices refurbished for a good price and - what I like most - this is hardware you can add things like swapping disks, adding up to 32 GB RAM, adding a Wi-Fi Card, if you like ... And it's very robust. The i5-4590T quad-core processor is really fast (2 - 3.6 GHZ). It's from 2018, so AM64 (64bit).
I cost me just €100 including original power supply and guarantee (refurbished hardware). More or less, the M93p is a standard PC in ThinClient form factor. Nothing too "ThinClient"-like with sometimes restrictions on power-supply, BIOS, restrictions on installing OS (Dell ARM ... uuuuhhh ... no fun).
Hardware Reference:
psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/ThinkCe...3_M93p_Tiny_Spec.PDF
Considerations
- This device is roughly 175 x 177 x 34mm
- weighs 1 KG
Installation
- Use Belena Ether to put the Smate-Image (xz) onto an USB bootable Stick (8G)
- Disable secure boot in BIOS
- Consider to save the original Windows 10 installation with Acronis, so you could go back (would you go back to win?: no ). You can also use
Clonezilla
, which is Open Source and does more or less the same
That's it
I also ordered a 12-24V mobile power supply for just about €25 (third party type HKY laptop adapter DC 12V-24V). I am very satisfied with the setup, which I can use in the field.
Conclusion
The M93p is a perfect, stable and cheap match for StellarmateX. It is quite heavy, so probably should be mounted on top of the RA-axis or on the tripod.
Everything is attached to the scope and setup, like it had before on the PI, and the system runs stable and very fast (!). No problems so far.
Someone also got me a Dell Whyse 5070 for nothing
. This is very similar, has more USB. I'll report.