Which file for HP T730 Thin Client?

ooompa · February 23, 2021, 5:29am

Assuming I will be flashing an iso file on my USB stick (and installing on the M.2 drive of the client, to be precise).

Thanks!

frollic · February 23, 2021, 8:23am

check out https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/installation/openwrt_x86

ooompa · February 23, 2021, 4:53pm

Thanks!

Should I got with squashfs or ext4 image file?

frollic · February 23, 2021, 6:54pm

the link provides information about the differences.

ooompa · February 23, 2021, 7:34pm

I noticed, but I don't know if I will need the failsafe mode, which is not available with ext4 image (which otherwise looks like a right pick)

mk24 · February 23, 2021, 9:06pm

I prefer the squashfs since all the original files stay in ROM for reference. You can partition the remaining space on the disk as an extra filesystem for storage of large data. That should be preserved through upgrades.

ooompa · February 23, 2021, 10:14pm

What device are you running it on?

I think my T730 came with 16gb M.2 drive. Other specs are here:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04853546

mk24 · February 23, 2021, 10:22pm

Does the BIOS offer "legacy" boot mode? All my experience is with old stuff not UEFI.

To get started you can boot and run directly from a USB flash drive. Then use dd to install on the internal M2 drive if desired.

ooompa · February 24, 2021, 3:43am

Before you mentioned squashfs, I flashed the ext4 version and the client would not boot it at all, which is surprising since it booted both OPNsense and IPfire images just fine.

I just managed to get into BIOS and changed the boot options, so it finally booted fine from the USB stick. Is there an image that leads directly into an install? Looks like I have to do more reading...

Edit: I have a display, keyboard and mouse hooked up to the client and I am logged in as root to booted USB image. What's next?

Thanks!

mk24 · February 24, 2021, 2:39pm

There is no "install" script for OpenWrt. The assumption is you will write an image directly to the disk.

If the M.2 disk is detected as a device (/dev/sda etc) you could load and unzip a copy of the OpenWrt image distribution to the RAM disk (/tmp) then use dd to copy it to the M.2. Then remove the USB and try to boot from M.2.

ooompa · February 25, 2021, 5:19pm

Thanks. I figured it out. Ended up booting from a Pop_OS USB stick, downloaded the OpenWRT image and used dd to put it on the M.2 drive. It's up and running now.

tmomas · February 26, 2021, 2:28pm

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system · March 8, 2021, 2:28pm

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