Today whilst at work we had a bit of a problem printing the labels that go on the front of patient notes, This is done though a bit of software called Patient Centre. After a little troubleshooting it seemed that the service printed normal documents fine. I did a windows test page and that all came out fine so the issue wasn’t the desktop pc, server or printer… The printing of the bar-code label goes through a small device called a BarStorm, I gave that a check and it didn’t seem to be turned on, gave the switch a press and nothing, swapped the power supply over with one we have sitting next to it and it still didn’t turn on so it seems the device was dead. I decided to give open it up quickly just incase there was an internal fuse or any obverse sign of damage so I could pop it in the incident note…anyway I couldn’t see anything but was interested in the device itself…
The device turns out to be a Micro PC based on an AMD Geode CPU. On the bottom the the device is labelled as a SUMO Technologies ST166, I believe the one we have is a version 2 . The St166 V1 is allot different, starting with on-board memory and a completely different board design as shown in this Flickr page. As you can see the device we have has 4 USB ports, 2 on the front and 2 on the rear aswell as a Ethernet socket and Video connection to the back. When removing the board from the case there where a couple of 3.5mm jacks on the front that weren’t visible from the front of the case (it turns out the holes are cut in the case but there is a thick sticker covering them with the company logo on it). The case itself is made from aluminium.
The device is fitted with 128Mb of DDR400, it seems there are 2 memory slots but only one is being used. Apart from the USB, video, CPU and 3.5mm jacks the only other noticeable thing on the board was a Realtek chipset, RTL8139DL which is used for the Ethernet connection (click here for the RTL8139DL data sheet), click here for the makers website. I presume the cooling of the CPU is undertaken by the case as there is a thermo pad attached to it that aligns with the CPU. According to the website the device is a low powered thin client that runs at an average of 4.4watts. The device is a 32bit system.
I would love to have a play with one of these and see what kinda of system it runs, I presume its a Linux based system, I just wonder what it can handle or what other services. As I am looking to build as much of an automated home as possible without breaking the bank I am wondering firstly how much they are and also what I could use them for in-house.
According to there website, “Support for Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows XP Embedded, Microsoft Windows CE 5.0 and Linux operating systems”. Other features also include “The built in VPN capability makes the SUMO ST166 an ideal solution for the extension of the office to home and provides flexible worker location combined with secure corporate access”. Under the other features it states “The legacy free USB interface supports keyboards, mice, local printing and other USB-based devices including storage, bar-code readers, touch screen input devices and smart card readers”
Whilst having a Google I stumbled across this page which list quite a few different thin clients running a Linux systems. Also on the good old Google stumble I came across this Reg hardware article from 2006, the SUMO website doesn’t seem to have anything on a new Atom system so I believe this is the newest in there range so far…
To round this article up I have just copied and pasted the spec from there brochure on this product below, all information is available from the makers product page, clicky
Operating Systems
- Windows CE 5.0:
- AMD Geode GX 533 (Flash 64 MB / RAM 128 MB)
- Windows XP Embedded:
- AMD Geode LX 800 (Flash 512 MB / RAM 512 MB)
- Windows XP Professional:
- AMD Geode LX 800 (HDD 40 GB / RAM 512 MB)
- (More system options available on request)
Display
- 1600 × 1200 Display Resolution (85 Hz)
Controls and Connectivity
- Power On Button
- Power LED
- 4 × USB 1.1 (GX) or 2.0 (LX)
- Audio-In Jack
- Audio-Out Jack
- 12V DC-In Jack
- 10/100 Base-T Ethernet
- VGA
Physical Dimensions
- H × W × D
- 35 × 140 ×130 mm
- 1.4 × 5.5 × 5.1 inches
Weight
- 0.40 Kg (0.88 lb)
Power
- Adapter: AC/DC
- Input: 90-240V AC
- Output: 12V DC, 3.5A
- Power Plugs: UK, EU, or USA
Operating Environment
- Temperature: 0° – 55°C
- Humidity: 0% – 90% non-condensing
Regulatory Compliance
- FCC B and CE
