I picked up a DevonIT TC2D "Zero Client" device for about $5.00 on eBay. It came new in the box (or appeared new) with a power adapter, instructions, and a DVI/VGA adapter. Let's look at some specs:
CPU - VIA Eden 1 GHz
GPU -VIA Chrome9 (according to LSPCI)
RJ45 (Wired Ethernet) -Realtek 8169 (from LSPCI)
Sound -Azalia HDA Controller (Intel HDA)
Storage -1GB DOM (2.5-inch IDE riser connector)
RAM - 1xDDR2 SODIMM
USB Ports -4x USB 2.0 (2 on back, 2 on front)
Video Ports - DVI Connector
Power Requirements - 12V, 3A AC Adapter
Other Ports -PS/2 Keyboard connector on back, Kensington slot on back
BIOS: Phoenix AwardBIOS
OS: DeTOS 7.1.1 20120508
Notes: HDD Auto Detection, Provisions for IDE Slave Device, Set Boot Priority, Boot from USB, Azalia Disable Feature, USB Settings (KB/Mouse can be set to USB), Power Management Options.
OPERATING SYSTEMS:
DETOS 7.1.1 (1GB RAM, 1GB DOM) - The device boots to a DevonIT (displayed as "devonIT") and attempts to search for an auto-configuration server.
After that fails, user is presented with an option to boot to DeTOS or ZeroClient. I chose DeTOS.
I was presented with locale selections.
Next, networking options. This includes wired and wireless. Also options for IP configuration, included option to boot with DHCP.
The next screen is "Thin Client Management." This allows setup of managed or unmanaged settings, adding an "agent" password, and whether or not to allow users to take screenshots.
Next up, the tech can set up remote session connection info, if desired.
Then, we are presented with "Local Storage Options." This allows the system to keep (or not keep) certain information on the installed DOM.
Next up, we can choose to save settings to Echo. This basically creates a machine profile for this device on the management server. Since i don't have one, I just clicked "Finished."
After a few moments, I was presented with the DeTOS desktop.
The desktop displayed the time and date (incorrectly) in the lower right along with a couple icons. Once of which (the little blue "devonIT" logo) presented config info. The "Start button" only had a Control Panel option and selections to shut down or reboot.
Control Panel provides a slew of information and possible connections. Each item listed allows the user to add a connection to the certain type (Citrix ICA, VDI-in-a-Box, rDesktop, etc). When I attempted to set DHCP, I received an error screen. Note: I was trying to figure out the wifi. Wired was not plugged in.
I plugged in a network cable and the screen went blank for a moment. When the desktop returned, I had an IP address.
Feb 25 2021: I ran into issues with the system itself after switching over to the "ThinOS" option. I reached out to Clientron in Japan and was sent a link to a reflash utility. I ran the utility, installing the flash software onto a usb drive. After booting the device from the drive, I followed the prompts to reinstall the software onto the original DOM. I recommend NOT having a mouse plugged in. My system screen was filled with connects/disconnects coming from the USB mouse which didn't seem to affect the install process, but made following along difficult. After it finished, the system rebooted. I was greeted with the DevonIT boot screen and then the screen went blank for a bit. I tapped an arrow key and was met with the OS selection screen as above!
Side Note:
I found a squashfs version of Firefox (or hoped that what it was) and
copied it to my own server. I then added the URL to the Package
Manager. I did not realize that Firefox (or Aurora) came with the device.
I rebooted the device to see if Firefox would be installed. Nope. I received an error screen.
I rebooted again to see if the system would simply ignore the file upon reboot. It did not. Attempts to delete the file failed because it was marked as a read-only system file and I could not get any chmod commands to change the flags. I opted to factory reset. I was prompted with a password entry line. I could not find the factory reset password.
After a TON of poking around online, I managed to get the system to boot into what appears to be a factory-reset condition. When booting up, I did this:
- Press the ESC key to bring up grub
- Press e to edit the DeTOS boot line
- Deleted everything after root=live
- Added toram=detos.squashfs quiet
- Press ENTER to save
- Press ESC to get back to menu
- Press B to boot
I enabled local storage (debating if I should clear local storage, but starting with least destructive option first). The Firefox package was no longer listed, so I rebooted. Reboot still tried to load Firefox. Rebooted and repeated steps above. Walked through the setup as before until I got to desktop.
- Open Control Panel
- Launch Terminal
- Type: su then press ENTER
- cd /live-rw-backing/live and press ENTER
- Type: rm 02-firefox.squashfs (or whatever your squashfs is)
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