I finally have my first #cyberdeck and it's not beautiful, but it works.
It's still amazing to me the original conception of the cyberdeck as a collection of cast off parts just isn't practical.
Everything pictured is somehow a bit special. Both screens are sourced from China, and together cost more than a cheap laptop.
The only thing cast off in any sense is the dell wyse 3040 thin client running it.
The knockoff of the pelican case cost more than a used chromebook.
Still a fun project.
The only thing now lacking is wifi and a battery option.
I'm not sure if I really care if it's battery powered, since that's a bit impractical.
But wifi is essential, especially if I actually want to take it with me somewhere.
These wyse thin clients had wifi on an SDIO m.2 slot and those cards are $20 or more. I might as a well split out the usb port and add a usb adapter.
If I do make use of the m.2 slot, I have a PCB that was made to add an SD card to the system. I just have to solder it
That's a great idea. The lack of USB ports made the cyberdeck idea I was working on impractical using the 3040, but for a second iteration, I can certainly see a use for it. They're really not all that slow with sway and Debian. But space was a premium.
OS1337 on the 3040 might pair well with the esp32vga as a terminal emulator. I'm still looking for the right tiny vga screen and ps/2 peripherals though.
I see pi zero on the list. It would be amazing to actually do something useful with these. I have several and they are excruciatingly slow. Hard to believe I used to use Linux on a 386 with 4MB of RAM, but maybe I was more patient then. I'll try building OS1337 when I have a moment.
@lymenzies I know that an #i486SX with at least 16 MB RAM is the absolute minimum you'll need to get the 1440kB prerelease image to go brr...
As for #i386 support, #Linux yeeted that with Kernel 3.4.99 LTS & 3.6.9 respectably
@lymenzies From my own experience I can tell that even the Original #RaspberryPi and #PiZero can run #RaspberryPiOS all day long and will run circles around the orginal #EeePC701, only getting beaten by the #Vaio #P11Z when it comes to #RAM and #IO options.
Granted a #CM4 or #CM5 with > 2GB RAM will shift the tides but those alone cost more than a used #Wyse3040 and #upcycling a #ThinClient into something like a tiny luggable is propably more budget friendly and useful anyway, espechally since built-in Gigabit #Ethernet and #USB 3.0 really kick ass, so you'd propably be better served doing some #PoE / Wide-Range DC-in & battery setup to make good use of the oversized build volume at hand.
Maybe take some "THICC" 21700 LiFePO4 cells or one of those #LiFePO4 motorcycle batteries for a spin? Pretty shure that you can sqeeze battery runtime measured in DAYS out of it without much tweaking.
@[email protected] I see pi zero on the list. It would be amazing to actually do something useful with these. I have several and they are excruciatingly slow. Hard to believe I used to use Linux on a 386 with 4MB of RAM, but maybe I was more patient then. I'll try building OS1337 when I have a moment.
@lymenzies Just make shure to use a #BMS and #RTFM it as well as gauge your voltages correctly.
There's some #OpenUPS project but I'm not shure they have the correct power or price budget and lightweight motorcycle #LiFePO4 do have built-in $BMS so just shoving i.e. 12-15V at ≤5A at the terminals will allow them to charge.
Take your time and choose wisely.
@lymenzies Which is why I recommended to look at said drop-in #LiFePO4 batteries with BMS built-in.
You can get a decent one (Shindo LTX5BS) for like €40 and then all you need is like a 5A fuse (from a car) at the charging port and potentially a DC/DC converter if you want to accept more than just a static 12V DC brick for charging, which would also be fine.
@lymenzies Granted the #Wyse3040 has #DisplayPort and there are cheap driver boards that do #DP -> #eDP.
Worst-Case you just go with #MDA output at 80x25 (or even higher if you feel fancy and/or have something better than some tiny 480x800 screen(s)) as #VGA is 100% backwards compatible with with that.
In terms of hardware there's an M.2 A+E key slot AFAICS and for PS/2 & VGA you can find ample of adaptors to go from USB and DisplayPort respectably: They don't cost much and I'm confident you won't get better DIY results anyway with limited time and budget.
@lymenzies but hey, in the end it's your project and your budget so go wild.
lymenzies
Kevin Karhan 
