Image 1 — My 22$ Thin Homelab
Image 2 — My 22$ Thin Homelab
Image 3 — My 22$ Thin Homelab
Image 4 — My 22$ Thin Homelab
▲ 536 r/homelab

My 22$ Thin Homelab

Got this used Dell Wyse 3040 for 20$, Paired it with my old laptop's SSD using an SATA to USB 3.0 enclosure I got for another 2$ & Voila! A 22$ ^(Thin) Homelab.

The Dell Wyse 3040 is a "Thin Client", i.e. it is a small computer used to connect to a more powerful computer ("Mainframe"). This means they are not inherently powerful. The Wyse 3040 itself comes with an:

  • Intel Atom x5-Z8350 (4 core, Base 1.44 GHz with bursts of 1.92 GHz)
  • 2GB DDR3L RAM (Soldered BUT 2GB is the max this CPU can address anyways)
  • 8/16 GB eMMC (Mine has 8 GB) (Can be upgraded if you have the soldering skills)
  • 1x USB 3.1, 3x USB 2.0, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 2x Display Port
  • 1x M.2 SDIO (Internal) which has the WiFi/Bluetooth card but with a little mod you can connect an SD card to it.

Also shoutout to https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/wyse/3040/, who has lovely articles & mods for the Wyse 3040.

Installed Debian 13 on it via a thumb drive, Everything worked out of the box with no issues whatsoever. Installed Open Media Vault on top of Debian 13 (Really didn't want to reinstall everything by using OMV's ISO) & Qbittorrent-nox (Headless Qbittorrent with a web-interface) without any issues either.

Whilst installing Jellyfin, I did face the issue of "/tmp" not being large enough. For whatever reason Their install script requires tmpfs to be atleast 2 GB but I simply modified the script to remove this check & Jellyfin installed just fine.

Finally mounted the external SSD via OMV's web interface, did some tweaks & my ^(Thin) Homelab was up & running.

The RTC battery is dead though, So every time this Wyse guy powers up it first indicates the error code via the power LED & only then it boots up which is a bit annoying but it's fine, I'll replace it soon.

Whilst this computer is not powerful by "modern standards" I think if we had given any thoughts to optimizing software, Hardware like this would be so much more common & Maybe the RAM crisis wouldn't have hit everyone as hard either.

Intel NUCs, etc do exist btw but they are still bigger than this & are more power hungry.

Nonetheless, The Wyse guy is more than enough for my needs & I would've loved to use this as my main PC if only the web was engineered more properly & thus was not bloated at all. Perhaps in another timeline.

My next goal is to design a UPS supply which would sit on bottom of this Wyse guy & power it via Dell's jack, whilst the UPS itself could be powered & charged by a USB brick. That would surely be a fun project!

I've also been wanting to learn FreeCAD, So it would be interesting to create a wall-mountable enclosure for the Wyse guy, with space for the UPS & space for atleast 4 more SSDs on top, All held together nicely.

I'm also saving up for a 2TB HDD, because this SSD is OLD & has just 240 gigs of space which is not enough because I am archiving games & movies, along with storing my own personal stuff.

Edit: As of writing this post, I also stumbled upon this article: https://mcgarrah.org/dell-wyse-3040-emmc-monitoring/, Turned out to be really useful & as it seems, my eMMC is in pretty good state!

root@wise:~# mmc extcsd read /dev/mmcblk0 | grep -E 'LIFE|EOL'
eMMC Life Time Estimation A [EXT_CSD_DEVICE_LIFE_TIME_EST_TYP_A]: 0x01
eMMC Life Time Estimation B [EXT_CSD_DEVICE_LIFE_TIME_EST_TYP_B]: 0x01
eMMC Pre EOL information [EXT_CSD_PRE_EOL_INFO]: 0x01

With just 0-10% of life time used & less than 80% of reserved blocks consumed. I'm also looking into how I can make my eMMC read-only unless I want to update the software or something.

u/FoundationOk3176 — 4 days ago

[Left Hand Traffic] How do y'all make sketchy turns in poor lighting conditions?

Greetings, I'm learning how to drive a car properly. I know the controls & there's still loads of improvements to come but one issue I've been facing is that I live in India where ALOT of roads don't have street lights.

Thus at night, If I'm turning I can't see much in my left or right rear view mirrors. So to make a turn I just have to sort of "get a feel" for it via my head lights, before actually turning.

Today i overshot a left turn (120+ degree) because I was trying to give as much space as possible on my left. Had to reverse and turn then.

How can I fix this?

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago
▲ 33 r/DarK

[SPOILERS S3] Just finished the show

I actually dropped the show few episodes into S3, It was just getting so much confusing but recently I continued where I left off & It was the best decision ever.

I'm happy the infinite pain & suffering they were bound to, ended & I really loved the bond Jonas & Martha had but sadly they were just "a glitch in the matrix".

I really love how Hannah's dream in the end was presented, Makes me wonder just how much stuff I've seen in my dreams was just some connection to an alternative universe, Lol. (it'd be a pretty weird universe given how many times I've dreamed myself being naked around public places & seemingly couldn't do anything about it).

Aside from the:

>"You and I are perfect for each other. Never believe anything else."

quote which was beautiful but I really think about what Tannhaus said:

>"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean."

Our civilization has advanced to the point where we are able to engrave into rocks at nanometer level to create chips that power the world & Yet we probably don't even know 1% of how the universe works.

I really wonder if our civilization will live long enough to know the "ocean".

What an elegant series, I'm so happy to have finished it.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago

Do I need to provide input offset voltage in an comparator configuration of LMV321 (SOT-23-5) op-amp?

I am trying to use the LM321 (SOT-23-5) op-amp as a comparator to turn on my 3.3V LDO when VDD_CORE is greater than 0.8V but in the datasheet of two LM321 (The one I want to use is from TI #C7972 on LCSC and the other one is just an alternative part in-case I can't source the TI one, #C3014306 on LCSC) op-amps they specify input offset voltage.

I looked up online & Found that this is mostly relevant for old op-amps & I shouldn't worry about it, But if not, then what's the point of mentioning this?

u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago

How viable is using JTAG Boundary Scan for finding soldering issues?

Greetings, I'm working on a Arm based Mini PC based on the STM32MP13X microprocessor. The variant I'm using comes in a BGA-289 0.8mm pitch package. The schematic & PCB design is still under work but I intend on getting the MPU & the DDR memory soldered locally by people who repair phone motherboards, etc, because standard PCBA (as required by this part) at JLC is not something I can afford. I will be only doing the economic PCBA for all the resistors, caps, etc.

Unfortunately the guys locally don't have an X-ray machine to check for solder bridges, etc. So can I use JTAG Boundary Scan to find any such issues? What are the shortcomings to this method?

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago

Man I'll miss Reddington so much

I love how James Spader played his character, I've never felt much for characters aside for admiring their efforts in playing a role or admiring the character itself.

But for some reason I really feel Raymond was a real person who I was close to. I've never been attached to any fictional character & I never understood why people did but maybe now I'm understanding what kind of comfort they probably felt.

Lol perhaps this is because of my social life, or rather lack thereof but man I'll miss him so much.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago
▲ 3 r/esp32

Is there any issues with this delay circuit to enter download mode with a single button?

My handheld device is limited to 2 tactile switches, one of which is used to wake the device up from deep sleep & the other one I want to use to enter download mode.

After looking into the datasheet, I found that logic level high & low voltages are 0.75 * VDD & 0.25 * VDD respectively (2.475V & 0.825V).

I came up with the following circuit where after toggling the button, RST goes "HIGH" (above 2.475V) at ~16 ms and after that, IO0 stays "LOW" (below 0.825V) for about ~24 ms.

Here's the falstad circuitjs link if anyone wants to try: https://www.falstad.com/s.php?s=XXFnBH

I want to know if there's any issue with this circuit or if there's a better alternative?

This device will be updated OTA for most of the time, but this is a fallback mechanism to ensure the device isn't bricked in an bad update.

Edit: The MCU is ESP32-S3

u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago
▲ 101 r/debian

Debian 13.6.0 running on Dell Wyse 3040

Got a Dell Wyse 3040 Thin Client for $20. This particular model has a quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8350 with soldered 2 GB of DDR3 RAM & 8 GB eMMC.

With the right skills, you can obviously desolder the RAM and/or eMMC, and upgrade them. eMMC pinouts are standardized so I think it'd be trivial to choose a replacement chip.

DDR's pinouts aren't standardized but particular configurations have unofficial standard pinouts, Like the BGA96 package for x16 configuration. But I'm not sure if anyone has tried this, as compared to the eMMC, which one madlad actually did upgrade: https://sagacioussuricata.com/posts/wyse-3040/

Debian installation was quite simple & with just the base system + ssh server, the whole installation is about 1.2 GB.

One of my plans is to build a Linux system for this mini PC using Yocto as a way to learn Yocto itself. Primarily because I plan on using Yocto for a custom Arm-based Mini PC thing I'm working on right now.

I've also configured it to use a static IP because this will be a test mule of sort for a suite of programs I'm going to write implementing SFTP, SMB, etc protocols. A light-weight git hosting service, A multi-media hosting service like Jellyfin & much more. Primarily because I want them to be efficient for the Arm-based Mini PC thing I'm working on which won't have more than a gigabyte of memory.

u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago
▲ 99 r/KiCad

"Made" a inverted theme for KiCad v9's schematic editor

Wrote a script to generate inverted colors for the schematic view in Kicad as I found myself often using the software in low-light conditions. None of the themes I found were good enough for me so I wrote a simple Nodejs script to load the .json file & invert the colors related to the schematic editor.

You can get the user.json I generated here: https://pastebin.com/raw/CppqmHAg

You can also get the Nodejs script here: https://pastebin.com/raw/nR9M441d

The script was not generated or derived by AI, It's something I wrote in 5 minutes and is in public domain, do anything you want.

Edit: The schematics attached in the screenshot are part of the demo projects provided in Kicad v9.

Edit: Thanks to u/ferrybig for pointing out mistakes in my code & for providing a much more accurate implementation of inverting colors. You can download the script with his changes applied here: https://pastebin.com/raw/iHZX4PUs (You still may need to modify the final background colors to suit your liking.) or you can simply download the theme generated after this change from here: https://pastebin.com/raw/HcqsNr70

In addition to the changes by u/ferrybig, He also pointed out that inverting alpha is pointless thus if you want to still use the original script, please replace return 1.0 - v; with return v; on line 23, for a better colors.

or you can simply download the theme generated after this minor change from here: https://pastebin.com/raw/wYABxbAs

u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago
▲ 2 r/esp32

Is it possible to use ESP32-S3's USB peripheral for flashing & regular communication?

I have a custom ESP32-S3 based device which I want reduce in size further & reduce the BoM by eliminating the USB to UART chip for flashing the device.

I will still expose the pads for RX, TX, GPIO0 & nRST pins for initial flashing of the firmware but is it possible to flash the firmware using the dedicated USB peripheral & also use it for USB communication with other devices?

Perhaps, having an onboard tactile switch pressing which, followed by powering the board would put the device in update mode?

I'll be honest, I am trying to save time by seeing if it's possible to begin with.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 2 months ago
▲ 279 r/hardware

Why can't modern CPUs run at very small frequencies?

Few months back I was trying to underclock my laptop to increase it's battery life, In my case the smallest frequency I could reach was 800 MHz.

Today suddenly it got me wondering why couldn't the CPU just be underclocked beyond a certain frequency? From my understanding of hardware, each clock cycle the CPU does something but then why does it matter how long that clock cycle is?

If anything the timing requirements would be more than lax, DDR should work just fine, The display would update at pretty horrible speeds, but it should work nonetheless?

The only reason I can think of is few peripherals that need higher clock speeds to function, Like maybe the USB 3.0 port, but if we just disregard that...

Why can't modern CPUs run at very small frequencies?

Edit: My question isn't about increasing the battery life of my laptop, The question is pretty much the title.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 3 months ago

How can I learn designing mechanical side of UAVs?

I want to design & build an UAV but my experience is solely limited to designing hardware & software, Thus I was wondering if there's a place I can learn how a UAV is designed so that I can design one on my own.

Particularly I want to learn how to design the mechanical side of UAVs. Like how the frame, wings, etc are designed, what kind of material to consider, what kind of motor to use, what kind of wing types & orientations to use, how to fabricate it yourself, etc.

I haven't designed any quadcopter or any kind of fixed wing aircraft before.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 3 months ago

Is it possible to interact with any one of many USB hosts simultaneously connected to an RP2350?

I have a RP2350 configured as a USB HID (Keyboard) device, In my PCB design I want to have multiple USB-C ports to allow connection with multiple USB hosts and at any given moment I want to be able to send keystrokes to any one of the connected USB hosts.

By many, I mean just 3-4 USB hosts. From what I've been able to gather is that it may be possible using a USB data mux? But I'm not sure if it'll work in the configuration I want to.

Thereby is this possible? If so, please point me in the right direction.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 3 months ago
▲ 3 r/Xpulse210+2 crossposts

How can I tighten bolts without knowing the torque?

My front wheel is misaligned due an recent accident, The forks are twisted & I want to loosen the bottom triple clamp bolts, the stem nut & axle nuts to pump the forks and see if the wheel comes back to it's original position.

The issue is that the manufacturer of my motorcycle does not state torque values for most of the bolts on my motorcycle aside from the rear & front axle.

They do seem to have an internal service manual for their employees only but I haven't even seen a torque wrench at their service center. I doubt they really tighten things to spec.

So how can I tighten my bolts without knowing the appropriate torque?

It's a '22 Hero Xpulse 200 4V.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 3 months ago

Is there a name for this kind of lithium battery? How can I source them reliably?

I've been trying to find such a type of battery for a handheld device I'm working on. 1000 mAH is the minimum requirement. I really like the above mentioned battery as it's easily swappable, easy to install & low profile.

I can't seem to find them anywhere aside from Amazon, etc which is likely a clone. I don't require them in bulk yet but I do want to ensure availability doesn't become a issue if the sales become high.

From what I understand these batteries are certified, so I don't need to certify them myself.

u/FoundationOk3176 — 3 months ago

How to design around (LP)DDR2/DDR3/DDR3(L) SDRAM chip without relying on a particular manufacturer & Can bigger memory than the CPU supports be used?

I am looking into designing a super simple development board around STM32MP13X MPU for learning 4-layer PCB design with BGA chip.

STM32MP13X supports upto 1 Gbyte of LPDDR2/3 & DDR3/3L SDRAM (in single rank configuration). When I was looking into sourcing the actual RAM chip, it seems that there is no standard pinout? So how can I design my board without relying on any one manufacturer because they are in low units on mouser, etc.

It seems that my best way forward is using a DDR3 SODIMM stick which seem to be easily available anywhere, but it seems that the smallest memory size I can find is 2GBytes.

So can I actually use > 1Gbyte DDR3 SODIMM stick with my STM32MP1? Intuitively I think the MPU would simply not address the extra memory but I'm not sure if that's how it would be in practice.

My minimum RAM requirement is 512 Mbytes & physical size is not a huge issue hence why I'm thinking of opting into SODIMM stick.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 4 months ago

Are there any easily purchasable NVMe To USB Bridge ICs?

I am looking for a Bridge IC that can allow me to interface with NVMe drives over USB. Speed is not the primary concern, The primary concern is that it should be easily available on Mouser, Digikey or other similar sites.

Unfortunately the one's I found are not low-volume friendly at all (Looking at you Realtek).

I am using a STM32MP135 based SoM & the cheapest SoM I can find with PCIe controller is twice the cost ($51) of my current SoM ($19), Therefore I was wondering if I can find a bridge IC allowing me to access NVMe drives over USB whilst costing me $10 more at max.

If not, I would appreciate if anyone can let me know which brand might be willing to work with low-volume customers.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 4 months ago

Just finished the show & I'm in tears. Regardless, Share the electronic music you loved the most from POI

I'll go first:

  1. Digitalism - Miami Showdown > "Let's move" > > "No point. The guy who's coming after me? Your men won't be able to stop him."
  2. The Glitch Mob - Fortune Days > "What's the point in saving the world if you can't enjoy it?"
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u/FoundationOk3176 — 4 months ago

Is USB 1.1 Host/Device Forwards Compatible With USB 2.0 Device/Host?

I intend on using RP2350 to interact with:

  1. A USB 2.0 HCI device (with RP2350 as a host)
  2. A USB 2.0 host (with RP2350 as a USB HID device)

But the RP2350 has a USB 1.1 peripheral, Thereby I was wondering if my use-case is possible?

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 4 months ago

How does one even work with FCC, etc regulations as a solo engineer?

I've been working on a device that communicates over USB but also can connect wirelessly via BLE & from what I've read so far is that any wireless device has to be tested as an intentional radiator to ensure it isn't causing interference, etc to other devices.

Now that can be avoided if I use a precertified module but even then it seems that I have to get my device tested as an unintentional radiator.

Which is fair but the cheapest numbers I could find online were $2K to $4K for unintentional radiators testing. HOW THE F AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT??? $2K IS LIKE WHAT I EARN FROM THE INTERNSHIP IN THE ENTIRETY OF THE YEAR! (I'm based out of India, cost of living, etc is much cheaper here & so is average income)

This is insane. As if actually designing a device, saving up to get prototypes manufactured & then assembling them myself, testing, etc isn't enough, Now I have to spend like an entire year worth of salary just to get FCC approval?

How does one even deal with this? I understand the regulations were made to ensure random junk doesn't interfere with devices, etc but it's so demotivating knowing I probably can't even sell my device after putting so much effort into designing it.

It very much encourages one to just skip it entirely & just hope to god that FCC, etc don't notice but obviously that's just in my mind.

It seems my best option might be to just ship my product with an existing FCC certified USB to Bluetooth dongle thing, but even then I'm not sure if I would have to do FCC certifications.

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u/FoundationOk3176 — 4 months ago