Pyra Hackers Manual?

[Agricola]

Hey ED,
The Pandora has a lot of unused solder spots to allow hardware modders to do some weird stuff.
But what about the Pyra? Will it be as easily modable? And if it will, what about a Hackers Manual like the one MWeston wrote for the Pandora? It would be really amazing to put more LEDs in, for example the PLS8-E has, as you probably know, a direct LED output to show connections. Ports for analog shoulder buttons whould be the freaking best thing ever...

I know this is a late thought and if you guys haven't considered it until now, you probably won't be able to change it. And I know this only concerns a small part of the customers of a niche product, so it wouldn't be a big problem if this is not possible. Still, it would be interesting.

I'm looking forward to your reply!

 

[TrashyMG]

It was stated long ago as soon as production starts everything will be open-sourced, schematics of all the PCBs, casing designs... Everything... I suppose us in the community can make our own simplified manual based on the released documents.

 

[Agricola]

It was stated long ago as soon as production starts everything will be open-sourced, schematics of all the PCBs, casing designs... Everything... I suppose us in the community can make our own simplified manual based on the released documents.

I know.

However, that doesn't answer the question if there are unused solder spots on the mainboard like there were on the Pandora. With these, you could add 2 extra shoulder buttons, LEDs and other cool stuff that was too expensive and complex to build in properly. Most of these things are now normal in the Pyra, some however would be great to see again. To have easy access to unused GPIO ports, for example, would be a hardware hacker's dream. The documentation can be found here.

I'd love to see the same thing done with the Pyra and maybe with similar documentation about it, eventhough it's probably to late for that if it's not already done.

Also, this is the "Ask EvilDragon Questions" section.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Trashy is evil but he's not a Dragon...

 

[TrashyMG]

Trashy is evil but he's not a Dragon...

well I could ban everyone...

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

well I could ban everyone...

 

[TrashyMG]

However, that doesn't answer the question if there are unused solder spots on the mainboard like there were on the Pandora.

Well actually it does, the PCB design should show any extra pads.

I'd love to see the same thing done with the Pyra and maybe with similar documentation about it, eventhough it's probably to late for that if it's not already done.

these manuals don't happen on their own, if Nikolaus plans on making one himself great, if not it's up to us in the community.

Also, this is the "Ask EvilDragon Questions" section.

This section seems to be filled with questions that can be easily answered by members who follow the project closely, EvilDragon has a ton of things on his plate at the moment.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Like planning his trip to the Bahamas with Pyra preorder money :^) .

 

[Luke-Jr]

I hope there's solder pads for the camera CSI interface...

 

[Agricola]

Well actually it does, the PCB design should show any extra pads.

Yes, after the preorders when production starts which could still take a couple of monthes. Don't get me wrong, I know there's still a lot to do for ED concerning the preorders and the payment problems many people have and I didn't expect him to answer right away, but it would be great to know if something like this will be available for Pyra owners while the preorders are still open. It's probably only a small group of people who would actually use this, but for some it can be a huge factor to buy/preorder the device or not. I for one would only get a second Pyra if this would be possible.

these manuals don't happen on their own, if Nikolaus plans on making one himself great, if not it's up to us in the community.

Of course it's extra work that has to be paid or done by the nice people of this community; I'm less interested in the actual manuals (maybe I should have picked another title) but more in the Pyra being as easily moddable as the Pandora.

I should probably have asked this a couple of monthes earlier, sorry about that.

This section seems to be filled with questions that can be easily answered by members who follow the project closely, EvilDragon has a ton of things on his plate at the moment.

Maybe this section needs an update altogether, its rules are nothing but a farce at this point.

 

[liveunderwater]

I for one would only get a second Pyra if this would be possible.

Indeed, hardware hacking is the only reason I own two Pandora.

Maybe this section needs an update altogether, its rules are nothing but a farce at this point.

Agreed.

 

[mclien]

Maybe for PCB related questions we need a "ask hns a question" section?
Also Askarus mentiened on Saturday, that there won't be much extra solderpads, because of a much more crowded mainboard layout. On the other hand I already asked hns aboit the keyboardmatrix, which has no extra pads, but is reachable in one spot where all the capacitors for the matrix are available and perhaps these pads can be (mis)used for keyboard hacks. So I guess similar should be possible in other spots.

Oh, and I guess perhaps a hacker wiki is more usefull.

 

[Agricola]

@mclien

THANK YOU!​

Maybe a "Ask general questions" with links to frequently asked questions and a big search box in the middle, so not to repeat everything, would be more useful than splitting it up and basically repeating the same problems as this section has. Hard questions could be forwarded to the team if the forum software supports it. But on your wiki comment, I can only agree.

And thanks a lot for the information from your talk with ED and hns, I sadly already expected this as the pre-preorder PCBs didn't seem to have any space left for those shenanigans.
"Reachable" is probably a very streched term for hns, I mean, this guy can is a prefessional and solders SMD parts with a magnifying glass, but it's at least something.

I can sadly only press the like button one time at your post.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

I can sadly only press the like button one time at your post.

Unlike the post and you can press it again.