Preparing for a Prototype
- Thread starter Grench
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Kev2442
Still French
1) Make a dart stylus
2) Make an app which uses the touchscreen as a dart board
3) Have fun ^^
2) Make an app which uses the touchscreen as a dart board
3) Have fun ^^
Grench
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The tungsten dart version of the stylus is heavy enough that thrown at the screen might even go through it... Instead I have been using that set to play darts.
These ones that I'm making using quadcopter standoffs are more practical - and if I loose one not nearly as expensive to replace. Hopefully they will fit/work in the Pyra. We'll see.
Grench
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So, I was looking around at prices and brands for 512gb microSDXC and SDXC cards. I'm still forcing myself not to shell out the money to buy any cards for the Pyra before the Pyra is actually 'in the mail'.
Lingering questions started rolling around in my head - I'm not sure if these have already been answered somewhere. Since this is kind of my bloggy thread for my prototype pre-pre-order experience, I thought I could lay them out here without derailing the main threads.
Is the internal microSDXC slot currently bootable?
Is the internal microSDXC planned to be bootable?
Prototypes on development software all seem to be using left SD card slot as the boot device - which is fine. To my understanding the right one is not a valid boot target.
I recall in another thread that the final pieces were in place to be able to boot from the eMMC - is this all set?
As I recall, the internal microSDXC is duplexed off of the same data lines as the eMMC. The original thought was that users could have one or the other 'active', then at some point I think HNS said that he thought they could both be mounted/on during the same session. Any progress on this?
The Holy Grail on this topic would be a video of a Pyra prototype booting off of the internal eMMC with a 'home' folder and/or additional programs installed onto the microSDXC card, playing a song/movie/other from the left SDXC slot while copying more songs/movies/other from the right SDXC.
Yes, I know that throughput is going to suffer when using the eMMC with the microSDXC (common data lines) or the left SDXC and right SDXC (common data lines - maybe?) simultaneously and that somewhere inside the Pyra there is a little train conductor flipping the track levers after every car passes. Not so worried about throughput for this dream example - more just a general, 'Yes, the Pyra has been sorted out to the point where it can route signals to all of the onboard physical targets while all of the targets are available/mounted.'
In theory, the USB ports could be lumped into this too - but those are a bit more standard-mapped and known bits. I'm more interested in knowing that the data lane switching is all sorted and solid.
Back to waiting.
Lingering questions started rolling around in my head - I'm not sure if these have already been answered somewhere. Since this is kind of my bloggy thread for my prototype pre-pre-order experience, I thought I could lay them out here without derailing the main threads.
Is the internal microSDXC slot currently bootable?
Is the internal microSDXC planned to be bootable?
Prototypes on development software all seem to be using left SD card slot as the boot device - which is fine. To my understanding the right one is not a valid boot target.
I recall in another thread that the final pieces were in place to be able to boot from the eMMC - is this all set?
As I recall, the internal microSDXC is duplexed off of the same data lines as the eMMC. The original thought was that users could have one or the other 'active', then at some point I think HNS said that he thought they could both be mounted/on during the same session. Any progress on this?
The Holy Grail on this topic would be a video of a Pyra prototype booting off of the internal eMMC with a 'home' folder and/or additional programs installed onto the microSDXC card, playing a song/movie/other from the left SDXC slot while copying more songs/movies/other from the right SDXC.
Yes, I know that throughput is going to suffer when using the eMMC with the microSDXC (common data lines) or the left SDXC and right SDXC (common data lines - maybe?) simultaneously and that somewhere inside the Pyra there is a little train conductor flipping the track levers after every car passes. Not so worried about throughput for this dream example - more just a general, 'Yes, the Pyra has been sorted out to the point where it can route signals to all of the onboard physical targets while all of the targets are available/mounted.'
In theory, the USB ports could be lumped into this too - but those are a bit more standard-mapped and known bits. I'm more interested in knowing that the data lane switching is all sorted and solid.
Back to waiting.
AFAIK it is planned that first uboot + small kernel + initrd will be booted off the eMMC (or Left SD Slot when holding some Key so you can't brick the Pyra). This kernel will then boot the "real" kernel from wherever you like (all SD slots, USB, eSATA, iSCSI over WiFI, NFS over ssh over LTE to your Home Server 
)
Note that the Right SD Card Slot can only do 48Mb/s (If I read the Schematics and OMAP5 Reference correctly).
I think the microSD / eMMC multiplexing is never going to be "good" so my Setup probably will be 256Gb microSD + 256Gb SD-Card in left Slot and LVM on top from where I can carve out all my Volumes.
)Note that the Right SD Card Slot can only do 48Mb/s (If I read the Schematics and OMAP5 Reference correctly).
I think the microSD / eMMC multiplexing is never going to be "good" so my Setup probably will be 256Gb microSD + 256Gb SD-Card in left Slot and LVM on top from where I can carve out all my Volumes.
Grench
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AFAIK it is planned that first uboot + small kernel + initrd will be booted off the eMMC (or Left SD Slot when holding some Key so you can't brick the Pyra). This kernel will then boot the "real" kernel from wherever you like (all SD slots, USB, eSATA, iSCSI over WiFI, NFS over ssh over LTE to your Home Server
Note that the Right SD Card Slot can only do 48Mb/s (If I read the Schematics and OMAP5 Reference correctly).
I think the microSD / eMMC multiplexing is never going to be "good" so my Setup probably will be 256Gb microSD + 256Gb SD-Card in left Slot and LVM on top from where I can carve out all my Volumes.
Remembering back to when we were discussing the microSD / eMMC multiplexing, the eMMC is capable of something like 190MB/s and the microSD should run at 'up to' 100MB/s - when the switch holds solid to one or the other. During multiplexing, both get cut in half - assuming 'real world' use, it might more or less get 'cut in half' again. In theory, with both running and multiplexed, using the above relatively conservative guesstimates, each should still be able to move ~25MB/sec of data to/from each other (worst case scenario for speed). That is still more than the Pandora could do from either port on any good day. For 'normal use' when the user is calling for data from one or the other - my theory is that the multiplexing will be nearly invisible. For example:
Boot - only using eMMC. Boot completes, microSD mounted, but no serious data transfer.
Programs/media/whatnot launching and use - only using the microSD for data in motion - eMMC gets referenced, but not abused.
I am looking forward to that theory being tested.
We still need something that we can all standardize on for benchmarking file system targets on the Pyra so we can understand how the different targets respond to different media (make/models of cards, etc...). That way we can relive the fun from the Pandora Card Wars where everyone was benchmarking SD media to figure out which ones were the fastest under which file system etc...
ClockworkCoder
Chaotic Neutral
Yes, and more specifically I'm waiting for a post from you to let us know it's on its way!
Actually I'm a little concerned for ED and his other half. Hope she's been okay over in Florida.
I can also sympathise as my wife's been away for a few days too so far, and originally I thought I could get a lot done that I've been wanting to for a while. Now I realise how much she does for me, as I've been spending all my non-work time doing washing, cooking, feeding pets... no time left for any projects as such!
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Grench
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Today's weather in Florida...
The Panhandle will have some light breezes out of the Northwest with a bright sunny day.
The West coast will have a bit of wind and some intermittent rain.
Miami and the southern islands will have some strong waves today. Surfs up!
The East coast will - oh @#$! - ok - everyone run west. Now.
The Panhandle will have some light breezes out of the Northwest with a bright sunny day.
The West coast will have a bit of wind and some intermittent rain.
Miami and the southern islands will have some strong waves today. Surfs up!
The East coast will - oh @#$! - ok - everyone run west. Now.
ClockworkCoder
Chaotic Neutral
That's great news! Congratulations!
Only think I'm wondering is, I thought ED had tried sending you an email a week or two ago (he was asking if your address had changed)?
Grench
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That's great news! Congratulations!
Only think I'm wondering is, I thought ED had tried sending you an email a week or two ago (he was asking if your address had changed)?
As far as I can tell, that single email two weeks ago was randomly consumed by the ether monster.
Grench
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A bit more information around the recent correspondence with @EvilDragon. The email was regarding confirming shipping address and which of the available cases and board revisions we have all seen, what would we like our prototypes to have.
I confirmed my mailing address - it has not changed so that should be simple.
Of the cases we have seen, I do like the granite grey cases like this:
However, I would like it to have the most recently updated shoulder buttons in black - or orange, or red, but preferably black please. I'm confident that this combination could 'pass' in a business environment. Black screws would be a plus too - but I'm not overly worried about it. I'm fine with the crazed or mottled heat shrink on the plastics - in fact I kind of like them. So long as the plastics are structurally and mechanically sound (shoulder buttons), it's good.
For board revisions, the most current 4GB RAM SoC card with US 4G LTE modem main board. It sounds like the display board may be getting one more revision before main production. I have opted to get the current display board version and ED would send me the updated version when it becomes available - which is customer service above and beyond.
Yes, I still think that 4GB is likely overkill, but after all the hoops and loops they had to go through to make it happen, may as well. Who knows, it may be accessible to Debian as write-cache some day when we might have the ability to use the eMMC and microSDXC in a 'dynamic switching' mode.
The US 4G LTE modem - I plan to test and try to use this on a US 4G Google Fi data SIM. If that works, I will likely try it on a voice/data SIM. Yes, I know that the Google Fi network is not GSM for voice on 2G/3G. We'll see what I come up with in testing it.
So, I suspect that I may very well be in the < 2 Months time frame now. Cheers to ED and everyone working on the Pyra for making it happen!
I also found a really good deal on an Avegant Glyph via Ebay - or what I hope will be a good deal on one. It's Ebay, so no knowing until or if something arrives. It is a thing that looks like a big set of headphones. Pull the headband down over your eyes and it beams a 1280x720 display into each eye, projecting it onto the retina. It feeds off of any device with an HDMI output. In theory, where it resolution matches to the Pyra, this should be a pretty good match. Hopefully I'll find out in the coming month or so.
But - all in all a very positive update in progress. I am really looking forward to having a working Pyra in my hands. I'll take pictures of the 'unboxing' and post them up in this rather blogish thread. I'm not set up to do proper video.
I am planning to -use- my prototype. This isn't going to be a museum piece and I do not plan to sell it. How useful it will be will continue to evolve over the months and years - it should be a fun ride!
I confirmed my mailing address - it has not changed so that should be simple.
Of the cases we have seen, I do like the granite grey cases like this:
However, I would like it to have the most recently updated shoulder buttons in black - or orange, or red, but preferably black please. I'm confident that this combination could 'pass' in a business environment. Black screws would be a plus too - but I'm not overly worried about it. I'm fine with the crazed or mottled heat shrink on the plastics - in fact I kind of like them. So long as the plastics are structurally and mechanically sound (shoulder buttons), it's good.
For board revisions, the most current 4GB RAM SoC card with US 4G LTE modem main board. It sounds like the display board may be getting one more revision before main production. I have opted to get the current display board version and ED would send me the updated version when it becomes available - which is customer service above and beyond.
Yes, I still think that 4GB is likely overkill, but after all the hoops and loops they had to go through to make it happen, may as well. Who knows, it may be accessible to Debian as write-cache some day when we might have the ability to use the eMMC and microSDXC in a 'dynamic switching' mode.
The US 4G LTE modem - I plan to test and try to use this on a US 4G Google Fi data SIM. If that works, I will likely try it on a voice/data SIM. Yes, I know that the Google Fi network is not GSM for voice on 2G/3G. We'll see what I come up with in testing it.
So, I suspect that I may very well be in the < 2 Months time frame now. Cheers to ED and everyone working on the Pyra for making it happen!
I also found a really good deal on an Avegant Glyph via Ebay - or what I hope will be a good deal on one. It's Ebay, so no knowing until or if something arrives. It is a thing that looks like a big set of headphones. Pull the headband down over your eyes and it beams a 1280x720 display into each eye, projecting it onto the retina. It feeds off of any device with an HDMI output. In theory, where it resolution matches to the Pyra, this should be a pretty good match. Hopefully I'll find out in the coming month or so.
But - all in all a very positive update in progress. I am really looking forward to having a working Pyra in my hands. I'll take pictures of the 'unboxing' and post them up in this rather blogish thread. I'm not set up to do proper video.
I am planning to -use- my prototype. This isn't going to be a museum piece and I do not plan to sell it. How useful it will be will continue to evolve over the months and years - it should be a fun ride!
ClockworkCoder
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Grench
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This is fantastic news, thanks @Grench! Looking forward to your update(s) when you finally get one. Definitely a massive landmark in history: the first confirmed Pyra to be released in to the wild
I am last in the prototype pre order line. One of the seven others will likely stake that landmark if they choose to "go public".
Swordfish II
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Google fi runs off both tmobile, Sprint and us cellular.
So you could get gsm support through them (tmobile is gsm)
I expect a tmobile sim will work well and plan on that
So you could get gsm support through them (tmobile is gsm)
I expect a tmobile sim will work well and plan on that
Nice to hear, its going on whit your Pyra Grench,
Our Pyra/Pandora is allready a Collectors Item, as its much more exclusive than one of these new Bugatti Sport Cars, i cant write because there are too divicult named,
(Veyron, who the fuck named his car Veyron?? I can remember the times, a Car from the VOLKSWAGEN Company was called Beatle, or Golf)..
Our Pyra/Pandora is allready a Collectors Item, as its much more exclusive than one of these new Bugatti Sport Cars, i cant write because there are too divicult named,
(Veyron, who the fuck named his car Veyron?? I can remember the times, a Car from the VOLKSWAGEN Company was called Beatle, or Golf)..
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
The Beetle was named after the insect. The term 'Beatle' is a deliberate mispelling by the band of the same name.
Interestingly, while golf and polo are the same in German and English a German beetle is a Käfer, but I guess the beetle was known as the Type 1 VW for much of its sales history in that country.
Letalis Sonus
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Because words like Golf and Polo are the same in both languages and do not need to be translated - Käfer literally means beetle.
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