Case closed?


levi said:
Well since the last news post, I've noticed the following on the kernel mailing list:
https://www.pyra-handheld.com/pipermail/kernel/2018-April/002396.html
Now I don't know what DRI3 is or exactly how this fits together, but releases from someone with a TI email address we can probably use is usually good news.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for telling us.
Well, it is quite over my head but I read this and start hoping people which use exclusively free software might eventually get 2D acceleration from GC320 (I thought etnaviv would be adapted, but maybe this is another way), even if 3D accel is not used (for my use cases that might just give good fucntionality/battery life if the 3D GPU can be made to not use power).

https://www.pyra-handheld.com/pipermail/kernel/2018-April/002398.html
That said, I think there's still value in a separate X driver that uses
GC320 for 2D and SGX for 3D. I have no numbers, but I would expect that
combination to give much more performance than Glamor.
Click to expand...

Edit:

In fact it seems what I mean would be just
https://github.com/julbouln/xf86-video-armsoc-omap5
It's just that I learnt about its existence through a convoluted way
 
Last edited:
EvilDragon said:
Well, short status is: We're waiting for the mainboards (which are scheduled sometime in MarchMay), the cases have the fixes implemented and I'm waiting for that revision (and will post news as soon as it arrives here) and I'm totally overworked because there's so much other things I need to take care of happening right now.

Is that good enough for some quick news? :)

Sent from my XT1650-03 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Board population scheduled in May (Assuming March was a typo)...
May starts tomorrow. Since this is scheduled, there should be a date - but I'm not actually concerned about exact dates. In one of the earliest board population runs you documented the process - with boards sagging from the weight of components and everything. Other than snapping pictures, I understand there isn't all that much for you to do there. So, were you planning to be present during this process? Pictures entertain us. How many boards will get populated for this prototype run? 20? 50?

After the new round of boards exists, what is the process for analyzing if, 'this is it'? That may be more of a question for @hns?

Cases...
So - to my understanding:
1. Finalized samples approved. Pending another round of cases to ED.
2. Once finalized, the case molds will get hardened at the Greek plastics place.
3. Greek plastics place does a 500 case run.
4. Hardened molds get shipped to the next shop where a larger batch is output.

Of concern - the different shops will have different injection mold machines that may process slightly differently. If the molds are hardened prior to shipment, is there any chance that having the molds already hardened could prevent adjustments needed by the new case company? Molds are hardened for durability in long injection runs. 500 isn't that many in those terms. Would it potentially be better to -not- harden the molds or maybe push that out to post-validation at the new company?
 
What did „Mainboards“ mean ??
CPU / Display/ The big board whit the Keyboard Contacts and the UMTS Module etc on it??

I understand that the Population of the Boards is pretty quick but to ace the traces takes lots of weeks..

So how long will it take to make the first MP Units after the Prototypes are good ??

My Plan was to take my Pyra whit me on the 3 Day Unimog trip mid June, but seems like it’s will still be the Pandora..
I was expecting this, but I’m still optimistic that 2018 will be the year of the Pyra
 
Grench said:
Of concern - the different shops will have different injection mold machines that may process slightly differently. If the molds are hardened prior to shipment, is there any chance that having the molds already hardened could prevent adjustments needed by the new case company?
Click to expand...
Perhaps of more concern is that the first five hundred will be made using simple clear polycarbonate, but the remainder will be made with opaque polycarbonate that's got inclusions for strength (I forget if they're little lengths of fibreglass or carbon fibre chains, but it probably doesn't matter for this discussion). That might affect the flow rate and viscosity, but to a certain extent that's purely the problem of the plastics manufacturer (it only becomes EDs problem when it affects deliveries, but since he hasn't actually committed to a date yet AFAICR that's probably no biggie).
[doublepost=1525113597,1525113139][/doublepost]
matzesu said:
What did „Mainboards“ mean ??
CPU / Display/ The big board whit the Keyboard Contacts and the UMTS Module etc on it??

I understand that the Population of the Boards is pretty quick but to ace the traces takes lots of weeks..
Click to expand...
Well it won't be the display PCB, and to my understanding it's the big board with all the keyboard contacts on one side and the LTE module and most of the ports on the other side. The CPU will be on a daughterboard which attaches to this.

IIRC the mainboard is a common all garden 4 layer job, so shouldn't take long to assemble. The CPU board at last count had 12 layers though, so will likely be a bit more of a mammoth task to assemble with all the vias of different lengths, but I guess they've got machines for all of that.
 
rygD said:
@Grench, lemme borrow your Pyra.
Click to expand...

As you know, I don't have one yet. I have, however, given some thought to the how/if it would be possible to share it around to a few developers. However, it is a very expensive piece of kit. By the time I could set up some form of escrow or collateral for ensuring it's return and the costs involved, etc, it quickly becomes more expedient to invite people to come visit it on their own dime - which isn't practical either.

So, another thought occurred to me. If a person were to set up a Pyra connected to the internet with accounts set up for developers to access it using ssh -X. If the developers blow up the file system, it gets re-imaged. In theory, a Pyra set up this way wouldn't need a case, screen, keymat, etc... Any functional board with a booting OS and a USB to Ethernet adapter could do it.

No, that wouldn't be very fun to play games on. But - if someone wanted to assist in working with the GUI and Pyra specific applications, maybe? And that shouldn't have to wait for a Prototype pre-pre-orderer to figure it out.
 
People have already set up dev boards with ssh access for developers for a while now. Maybe having the real Pyra OS on the other end of the line and supplementary chips like the LTE chip will be a significant improvement, but I'm not sure how much work has been delivered over ssh access already, so it might also not garner too much use either, I dunno.

And I know of one forum member has already booked a world tour just so he can visit sebt's Pyra prototype on the other side of the world, as far as I can tell.
 
levi said:
People have already set up dev boards with ssh access for developers for a while now. Maybe having the real Pyra OS on the other end of the line and supplementary chips like the LTE chip will be a significant improvement, but I'm not sure how much work has been delivered over ssh access already, so it might also not garner too much use either, I dunno.

And I know of one forum member has already booked a world tour just so he can visit sebt's Pyra prototype on the other side of the world, as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...

Right now, more than 2 months out from general production, I can almost understand someone making a pilgrimage if they have something that they -need- to directly handle/interact/work with a prototype. There is a lot of uncertainty in the timeline and those that exist to date are very very few.

In the case of the purchased prototypes, though, I'll probably have that within 1-2 months of general production. At that point the number of units in the wild will increase threefold or fourfold or more. The rarity will be much less. The production issues should be far fewer. The time between then and mass production should be relatively short. So there will be a much lessened value to globetrotting to visit a computer.

I could be wrong though. Lets see where things are at once the prototypes ship out. If a local user group wants to pool together to buy me round trip plane tickets and provide a guest bedroom for a weekend, I could hypothetically bring my prototype Pyra for a visit. That hypothetical isn't overly relevant for the next month or two though.
 
well with how my summer is gong to go, twins being born around the mythical 2 month window of the pyra getting fully built (hopefully) i still will not have time for a bit lol, in my case take your time lol
 
benoitb said:
In these two years I've made a baby, lost my job and will change countries. Still hoping to get a Pyra while alive.
Click to expand...
Someone could probably start a thread to discuss, "Life events since ordering a Pyra." However fun it would be to see the happy/fun/exciting things, there will inevitably be sad things as well. How to have a thread like that without it becoming morose?
 
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