Setup ThinLinx on a Pi 4 incl. VMware and Headset

Setting up ThinLinx on Raspberry Pi incl. VMware and Headset usage

It is quite a straight forward process under windows. However, using the Pi 4 [ 2 GB Memory / 32GB SD Card ] with a headset and e.g. video conference software through VMware needs a few adjustments and the right headset.

What you need:

Step 1
Download SD Card formatter and format your SD card. Win32 sometimes gives you an error, so make sure you tick [ Overwrite format ] to avoid it.

Step 2
Run the ThinLinx installer for the Pi [ www.thinlinx.com ]. It should start Win32 Disk Imager and recognise the SD card automatically. Click [ write ] and [ yes ].

Step 3
Insert the SD Card into your Pi and start it. The ThinLinx logo should come up and the chrome browser. Close the browser and press [ Ctr + Alt + C ] go to [ configuration ].

Step 4
In order to make changes you need to have root access to the Pi via SSH key trust. Setup your SSH private key in putty.
Klick [ here ] if you don’t know how.

Step 5
Start ThinLinx [TMS] and connect it to your Pi. The settings are quite self-explanatory - no explanation here.

Step 6
Change or add an SSH key to the Pi… Locate and select the devices you want to upload the public key to. Click on [ Upload ] from menu bar.

Step 7
Select: [ SSH Key ] and locate the public key [ ex. SSHkey.PPK ] then click [ OK ] You will get a confirmation that the key has been up loaded successfully. Once this is completed you will need Putty with the private key to get Root Access to the device.

Step 8
1. Open PuTTY
2. [[Session > Host Name [[ or IP Address ]] ]].
3. [ SSH > Auth > Private key file or Authentication ]: [ Click on Browser ] and locate your [ .PPK] file
4. Click on [ Open ]
5. Click on [ Yes ]
6. Type root [ Enter ]; Passcode: **** [ Enter ]
7. You are now logged in as [ root ].

Step 9
In order to use a Headset with your Thin client you need to make some changes in VMware. You should use a USB-Headset. The microphone and audio quality varies between headsets. I used a [ Jabra Evolve 40 ] and it is also working with a [ Windows LifeChat LX-3000 ].

After log in through Putty and SSH Auth, type the following comments in the shell: 

sudo nano /etc/vmware/config

Change the following: 

sound.backendType=pulse
viewusb.AllowAudioIn=True
viewusb.AllowAudiOut=True

Please note that it might cause severe lock-ups. So probably best to see which Headset works best with the Pi and VMware.

Exit file with:

ctrl-o and then ctrl-x 

sudo reboot