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[Grench]

8 years ago my Pandora worked perfectly fine, it did everything I needed it to with it's 512MB of RAM.
Today, it still does almost everything I need it to, but if I were granted one wish to upgrade a component it would be more RAM. It is almost impossible to use the internet to any substantial degree on such a small amount any more. You get 2, 3, maybe 4 tabs, and it's all gone. I've encountered such interactive websites that just suck it all up entirely and my Pandora comes to a grinding halt as Firefox or Chromium struggle to compress or swap or whatever it is they do. If would've asked me whether I thought I'd be needing more RAM to browse web pages 8 years ago I would've said no. The web changed drastically in ways I didn't expect.
2GB is plenty for today, sure. It's probably plenty for most tasks in the future, but we have no idea of knowing what paradigm shift is going to happen that may make it more obsolete than it ought to be.
That is why I want 4GB: even if I don't need it now, even if I just shut off half of it to save battery, the extra cost is well worth the attempted future proofing in my mind and wallet.
That isn't to say we should just throw everything we can into it "just in case": RAM is a special case in that more can always be used even if it isn't strictly needed, if for nothing else than just caching.

And for an upgrade board a year after release, it would have been awesome. Where the RAM doubling went wrong for the initial release was when 1. The community pushed for a pre-sale specification that 2. Had no working/operational example and 3. Was not necessary for launch units and 4. Has no current sane need/use.

Claiming that 4GB gives "future proofing" fails if there is no known present state.

Pyra could initially ship at 2GB and save 4GB for an upgrade board some day if it can then be reliable.

I know of no examples of working devices that reliably use 4GB or 8GB of RAM on an OMAP. Does anyone?

If they solve it, fantastic. But, personally, I don't see only 2GB as a show stopper. 4GB only exists as an order option because of irrational hype & fear driven by a few and followed by too many.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

Honestly, I wanted 4GB for one reason, and that was modded Minecraft. But if it's delayed the Pyra too much, I'm regretting that. I also want lots of RAM for having a Google Keep electron app running in the taskbar, because I use it to set reminders, but I could always use something less memory hungry that does the same thing. Although it wouldn't sync, but I could just only set reminders on the Pyra itself.

In short, I think 2GB would have also been enough.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

I know of no examples of working devices that reliably use 4GB or 8GB of RAM on an OMAP. Does anyone?

Soon, we'll do. Maybe with the exception of you, for you simply won't have it.

 

[benoitb]

I ordered a 4GB version as others have said not to feel limited byt the 2GB option down the lane. But I don't care either way, to me the most important is to get a Pyra with 2GB or 4GB. The sooner the better.

 

[ClockworkCoder]

Honestly, I wanted 4GB for one reason, and that was modded Minecraft. But if it's delayed the Pyra too much, I'm regretting that. I also want lots of RAM for having a Google Keep electron app running in the taskbar, because I use it to set reminders, but I could always use something less memory hungry that does the same thing. Although it wouldn't sync, but I could just only set reminders on the Pyra itself.

In short, I think 2GB would have also been enough.

I don't see any reason why it should hold up the 2GB version. If that doesn't have any problems, just ship it out for those that want it.

Good things come to those that wait (just a little longer)

I'd settle for 2GB. If I needed to.

 

[shaddim]

But how expensive would that be? If 10x the insulation performance comes with 10x the cost, then it's not exactly worth it.

it is cheap (even sold on amazon ) widely used in electronics as substrate, e.g. as PCB which transfers the heat better away

 

[AndiTheBest]

If the 4GB issue is the last thing that retains the pyra from shipping i would set a deadline for finding the issue, let's say 6 weeks.
If its not possible to find, just sell the 2GB edition.
But actually i think its not the last issue as the OS is still not finished.
Should we do a poll which preorders wouldn't buy a pyra if it has 2GB instead of 4GB?

 

[Bernd]

I wanted the 4GB for two reasons.
1.: To be able to run Firefox or other memory hungry programs.

2.: To be able to run some sort of ram disc to reduce the wear of the SD cards.

It would be sad if the 4GB get dumped.

I would wait another two months to get the 4GB version

 

[Bosbeetle]

If it is a software or driver issue I am interested in knowing how a 4GB unit works with only 2GB enabled. It would be a nice midway sollution to sell 4GB units that can access 2GB up to furter notice.

 

[Bokkertoff]

Honestly, I wanted 4GB for one reason, and that was modded Minecraft. But if it's delayed the Pyra too much, I'm regretting that. I also want lots of RAM for having a Google Keep electron app running in the taskbar, because I use it to set reminders, but I could always use something less memory hungry that does the same thing. Although it wouldn't sync, but I could just only set reminders on the Pyra itself.

In short, I think 2GB would have also been enough.

If Minecraft is a single process, then you might be out of luck even with a 4GB version.
The maximum size a single app can be on a 32bit CPU under linux is 2GB, unless things has changed.

 

[shaddim]

If Minecraft is a single process, then you might be out of luck even with a 4GB version.
The maximum size a single app can be on a 32bit CPU under linux is 2GB, unless things has changed.

a little bit old but http://www.cs.montana.edu/~halla/aos/ "In linux the top 1GB of each 4GB virtual address space maps kernel data, the rest is user space." -> 3GB

even windows has 3 GB for 32bit systems (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20040805-00/?p=38233 )

 

[jeeks]

hehe, i smell the "possible christmas release" panic coming i'd wait for a 4GB fix, too.

 

[ahahah]

same here. i prefer wait longer (how long i can wait? i don't know yet ) and have a 4GB fix too, rather than having a 2GB sooner.

In any case, a fix is always a good thing for the global stability (a bug can involve an other one) and the credibility of the device.

 

[dracmas]

Maybe wait until everything else is ironed out to discuss the RAM? If it ends up being the only problem left at the end then it'd be a major issue.

 

[levi]

In project planning, leaving an unknown major issue till the last minute is not often considered the best strategy. Normally, people spend enough time on such issues early in the R&D phase to figure out at least what they'd need to do to fix it, and only delay the actual work. In this case, the actual work is likely to be trivial compared to the figuring it out, so it's usually considered better just to do that before it blocks anything else

 

[Yuji Sakai]

8GB please?
how often there would be new cpu-board?

 

[the_marshal]

I am not sure why there is so much concern with the 4GB issue.

It is actively being worked on and it *already* works with a slightly higher voltage.
Progress might not be as fast as some people would like but it does not seems like a major show-stopper.

I don't think the 4GB issue will be the cause for delay at the end because of other delay.
In particular the case should have already be finished. Unfortunately the Greek company does not seem able to meet deadline.

I am pretty sure it work out at the end even if the mold have to be moved to another factory.
It would definitely love to see the final case being produced in the near future.

 

[Mr_Loon]

Uhh... making it out to sound like "Hey, it's the community's fault, great job holding it up guys, if only you would've picked 2GB this would've been easier" is pretty rude of you.

A little bit of background to these sentiments can be found here

the 72% of the community that wants a 4GB unit

By my calculation approximately 92% of pre orders are for a 4GB unit

there is no currently known work-around that makes 4GB stable on more than one board.

What do you mean by more than one board? 1 revision? 1 particular board but others of that revision do not work?

1. The community pushed for a pre-sale specification that
2. Had no working/operational example and
3. Was not necessary for launch units and
4. Has no current sane need/use.....


4GB only exists as an order option because of irrational hype & fear driven by a few and followed by too many

1) & 2) Where did the community push for this? I personally requested that tests be done before pre ordering that would give an idea if 4GB of Ram would be a worthy / sensible option. I'd still love to see the results of such testing but I guess that will depend on whether the 4GB issue is solved and (if it is solved) it is decided that it is worth producing the 2GB model (as only 8% of orders are for the 2GB version).

3) Yet 92% chose the 4GB version

4) Running an Android VM with 1GB dedicated, and doing some multi tab browsing or high resolution image editing at the same time would tax 2GB IMHO (utterly insane!). Again, without knowing swap performance I've no idea if 4GB is 'necessary'. But what I do know is that in my 40 years I've spent around computers I've never heard the phrase 'I wish I had a bit less RAM' (until now, I guess).

 

[Linux-SWAT]

I know of no examples of working devices that reliably use 4GB or 8GB of RAM on an OMAP. Does anyone?

My IGEPv5 works fine with 4GB RAM.

 

[Grench]

My IGEPv5 works fine with 4GB RAM.

https://www.cnx-software.com/2014/0...lopment-board-is-now-available-for-149-euros/

So you would have the ISEE version then? 2Ghz & 4GB RAM & Ubuntu support & git repository?
"The company provides support for Ubuntu, Open Embedded, Android as well as others operating systems via IGEP Community Wiki, which currently includes a quick start guide and a link to IGEPv5 hardware reference manual. You can also have a look at the git repository for Linux, U-boot, and more, and access IGEPv5 CE support forum for any questions."

Does it run stable at 2Ghz with 4GB RAM under Ubuntu?