New life for the Acer Aspire easyStore H340
Acer H340 Windows Home Server (WHS) – circa 2011
Model: AH340-UA230N
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Processor/Cache | Intel® Atom™ Processor 230 (1.6 Ghz) with Intel® 945GC Express Chipset + ICH7R |
| BIOS | 256 MB flash ROM |
| Memory | 2 GB DDR2 667MHz unbuffered SDRAM |
| Device Bays | Up to 4 3.5″ hot-swappable SATA HDDs |
| Expansion Slot | PCI-express 4x |
| Video | Requires a cable |
| Network Interface Controller | Gigabit Ethernet |
| Floppy/CD-ROM Drive | None |
| Expansion Slots | None |
| I/O Connections | Front – 1 USB 2.0 port Rear – 1 RJ-45 LAN port, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 e-SATA port, 1 recovery/reset pinhole |
| Power Supply | 200 W, 100-240 V AC |
| Operating Systems | Microsoft® Windows® Home Server |
| Network Controller | Gigabit (10/100/1000) Marvell Yukon 88E8071 |
| Embedded Memory | SMI 256 |
| Chassis Specifications | Height: 8.34″ (212mm) Width: 7.87″ (200mm) Depth: 7.08″ (180mm) Approximate Weight: 9.9 pounds (4.5Kg, without HDD) |
| Regulatory Compliance | Nemko (CB & Bauart), MET, CE, FCC, BSMI, CCC, VCCI |
This could have been something – like all products from Microsoft – they start of with a big bang of excitement – and in some thing revolutionary (hear me out) and then they stop development.
Wait.. before anyone thinks I’m a fanboy – my background is in AIX and Solaris operating systems, but give me a break they don’t make consumer hardware.
The other issue is there are so many option in the Linux/*nix distro’s. I’m also getting tired of falling in love with a distro only to see it fall apart as ego’s and politics fall in.
So why WHS?
- It backed up images of MS system (Windows 7 – no issues) and would restore it.
- bit block backup
- Streaming video with codec
- Did I mention streaming video?
- DNLA setup
- Simple Client interface for users to access shared resources
- MS Server 2003
- Easy to configure
- $299 for a bare system with 4 cages
The bad
- Claims of software RAID
- Duplication is not RAID – WTF?
- It’s also not a backup… Well, I guess marketing could…
- Primary OS on a Hard drive – WTF?!?
- Duplication is not RAID – WTF?
- Windows 2003 – lots of functionality reduced on an atom processor
- Not really a con I guess it is for “home” use
- 2 GB ram – really?
- 64Bit processor and the motherboard is limited 🙁
- Duplication raid – hello? – Software Raid is built in to Windows 2003 server – Just sayin’
- why re-invent a fracked up version of duplication with a flat file database?
- There is virtually no real way to recover from a corrupt file
- why re-invent a fracked up version of duplication with a flat file database?
Even with the bad listed above it fit my needs. I could have family members systems backed up at night and restore a full image if needed; I could stream video to my Sony PS3 without any issues with any container; Windows Server 2003 is pretty stable in the background.
All and all it had promise. I was even able to bridge through DHCP. for VOIP access for my cicso phone. In my view it was just too easy to setup.
You can say the “unraid” approach is somewhat flattery to LimeTech… At the same time I can see the community laughing as it really didn’t execute what was on paper.
Anyway, time to move on.
Resources to read:
- http://www.happybison.com/reviews/installing-freenas-on-acer-aspire-easystore-h340-6/
- http://www.adams-edge.com/2010/12/in-depth-look-at-running-freenas-on_06.html
- http://draaggolf.blogspot.ca/2013/01/acer-aspire-h340-nas4free.html
Keep in mind FreeNAS current distro will not fit in the onboard 256M memory. Nas4Free on the other hand will.
Next post will be on setup since the material is now pretty weak.
The Setup
Grab the ACER Support Manual
- ACER Website H340 Service manual (SG_Aspire_easyStore_H340_BOOK_20080226.pdf)
- If the file is missing: Direct Download
To start you will need video output:
- Use up the expansion slot – PCI-express
- Use the onboard connector
From ymboc @ mediasmartserver.net which includes the pin out for VGA/PS2
[ 01 03 05 07 09 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 ] "CN2" [ 02 04 06 08 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 ]
01 5V 0-203Ω 5V 02 5V 0-203Ω 5V 03 0 G GROUND 04 0 G GROUND 05 ~.69V PS2 MOUSE DATA 06 ~0.6V PS2 K/B DATA 07 1.4mV PS2 MOUSE CLOCK 08 1.5mV PS2 KEYBOARD CLOCK 09 5V --> VGA12 (DDC DATA) 10 0 G GROUND 11 5V --> VGA15 (DDC CLOCK) 12 1.8V 0-88Ω 1.8V 13 5V SERIAL OUT 14 0.43V --> VGA01 (RED) 15 ~.62V SERIAL IN 16 0 G --> VGA05 (GROUND) 17 0 G --> VGA06 (GROUND) 18 ~.65V --> VGA02 (GREEN) 19 16.5mV --> VGA14 (VSYNC) 20 0 G --> VGA07 (GROUND) 21 0 G --> VGA08 (GROUND) 22 ~.69V --> VGA03 (BLUE) 23 2.9V --> VGA13 (HSYNC) 24 0 G --> VGA10 (GROUND) 25 5V 0-100Ω --> VGA09 (5V) 26 5V 0-99Ω 5V
VGA Pinout from happybison.com
| Signal | Acer H340 | VGA connector |
| DDC Data | 9 | 12 |
| DDC Clock | 11 | 15 |
| Red | 14 | 1 |
| Ground | 16 | 6 |
| Ground | 17 | 5 |
| Green | 18 | 2 |
| Vertical Sync | 19 | 14 |
| Ground | 20 | 7 |
| Ground | 21 | 10 |
| Blue | 22 | 3 |
| Horizontal Sync | 23 | 13 |
| Ground | 24 | 8 |
| VGA +5V | 25 | 9 |
The parts themselves can be bought from digikey.
Taken from happybison:
- DigiKey 455-1178-ND (26-pin housing)
- DigiKey 455-1313-1-ND (Terminators)
- DigiKey H2261-ND (26-pin housing)
- DigiKey H1504-ND (Terminators)
- DB 15 Fenail VGA connector / monitor VGA cable
Cost of the parts are less than $5 and takes about 10 minutes to put together a rough working VGA connector.
Or buy a VOVtech cable.
I started to make the cable and then I knew it would also mean I would be making a few iterations / prototypes – tweaks to make it right. I wouldn’t be able to just have a video cable – why else would I have a KVM? I sent an email to Charlies and 5 days later I have a working unit.
Debug mode
| Name | Location | Settings |
| BIOS recovery jumper | JP1 | 1-2 Normal (default) 2-3 Clear CMOS |
| System type select jumper | JP2 | 1-2 Aspire system (default) 2-3 Altos system |
| Debug/user mode jumper | JP3 | Open User mode enabled (default) Closed Debug mode enabled |
JP3 needs to enabled for the bios access
- Change the boot order otherwise you’re stuck with booting from ATA1
BIOS Update
- BIOS_Acer_P03_A_A.zip
- I haven’t figure out how to load the firmware without the ACER software that searches for a WHS.