Installing ASL3 on a Dell 3040, other Mini PC, or Laptop/Netbook is not hard if you're experienced in building/maintaining PCs. The 3040's have a UEFI-only BIOS that needs a boot file in a specific place. Making a UEFI USB drive is simple: Download the amd64 ISO from debian.org/CD/netinst/, then format the USB drive as FAT32 and unzip the ISO into the root folder (7-Zip is a good program for unzipping ISOs). Do not try to make the USB drive "legacy bootable".

There have been rare cases reported where people were not able to properly copy ISO files to a USB drive but were finally able to get it working using "Rufus", a free program that can create UEFI USBs. It's probably not going to do anything that 7-Zip wouldn't but maybe it has fewer options and thus is more resistant to user error.

To initially set up a 3040 requires a USB keyboard and a monitor/TV with a DisplayPort cable. Plug in the keyboard and DisplayPort cable, and plug in the Debian USB drive. Power up the 3040 and when you see the Dell logo hit F2 to enter BIOS setup. Some 3040's may have a BIOS password which defaults to "Fireport". This can be cleared in the Security section or if some other password was set can be cleared with a button on the PCB. You should then Wipe the eMMC using the Wipe option in the Maintenance section. This is very important to do to ensure that the eMMC is fully functional, and will then also speed up the OS install. If the eMMC wipe fails you should return the 3040. All 3040's I sell have already had the eMMC wiped as part of my refurbishing process. Recommended BIOS settings:

System Configuration
→ UEFI Network Stack: Disabled
→ Integrated NIC: Enabled (NOT w/PXE)
→ USB Configuration: Enable all checkboxes
Secure Boot: Disabled
Performance
→ Intel SpeedStep: Disabled
→ C-States Control: Disabled
→ Limit CPUID Value: Disabled
→ Intel TurboBoost: Enabled
Power Management
→ AC Recovery: Last Power State
→ USB Wake Support: Disabled
→ Wake on LAN: Disabled
POST Behavior
→ Fastboot: Thorough
→ Extended BIOS POST Time: 0
Virtualization Support: Disabled

Do not skip any of these settings - ASL may not function optimally without some of them. Nothing should need to be changed on the boot order page or any other pages. Once you have confirmed the BIOS settings, save and exit, and it is advised to then hit F2 again and double-check that all settings were in fact saved properly. (If the "Secure Boot" setting was enabled it usually has to disabled twice ie. there seems to be a bug where the setting change doesn't take effect on the first attempt.) Then after the unit reboots and you see the Dell logo hit F12 for the boot menu, then select the USB drive. The Debian installer menu will then appear.

The Debian net install image is intended to boot on a removable device and install Debian on an internal storage device (or on a separate removable USB drive / SD Card). This differs from the RPi "appliance" image which goes on an SD Card, into the RPi, and the OS install is done. The Debian install takes about 20 minutes to complete. The default options should be fine but if there is anything you are not sure about, do a web search from another computer and try to clarify any questions you have. The ASL2 image did not have the boot file where 3040's need it to be (/boot/efi/...), requiring an extra step to copy the boot file, but fortunately the Debian installer provides this option.

• Select the "Advanced" non-graphical install option as it will better explain each step and not skip any important details. Other options may not show the "Force GRUB install to EFI path" option which is required for 3040's.
• Install to the internal eMMC drive, overwriting ALL existing partitions.
• Select your preferred Desktop Environment (should be none if the 3040 has only 8GB eMMC or if you do not plan to use the 3040 with a keyboard and monitor, otherwise KDE is recommended), and select "web server" and "SSH server" options to install.
• When prompted to create a user account, do not enable a login/password for the root account (this is more secure), and be sure to write down the name and password you enter for your user account.
• The "Force GRUB install...to EFI..." option is required for Dell Wyse 3040's. Select Yes for this step.

Installing on other Thin Client models or on a Netbook or Laptop should be even easier. (Note however that Chromebooks should be avoided, as ChromeOS is a closed and encumbered platform.)

A Desktop Environment such as KDE can be nice if you have a monitor, TV, or remote desktop app. This can simplify WiFi and network management but does require a 16GB 3040 version to fit everything. However ASL3 recently made an "appliance" version available for Debian 13 that adds a web management interface ("Cockpit") and integrated WiFi manager, which should now make entering WiFi details and selecting networks much easier, just by going to the node's IP/mDNS URL followed by ":9090" in any browser. With this being the case there's no need for a desktop environment, which saves several GB of space and means that 8GB Dell 3040s are more than sufficient.