This time, I'm just giving a quick text update again.
No video for two reasons:
1. I'm seriously lacking time (which is also why I didn't post an
update earlier)
2. I don't have anything new to show right now
If you followed my various posts here on the boards, you probably know
a bit of the current status but I'll try to summarize it here - so
hopefully, all questions shall be answered.
If not, let me know and I'll answer :)
1. The Preorder Prototypes
--------------------------
I still haven't assembled them for one simple reason: Time! And this:
I forgot (yeah, I'm getting old, seriously...) that these PCBs hadn't
been checked yet for non-working keys.
As I reported previously, most of the prototypes had the issue that
some keys have not been working. This was because at some time during
the production run, very tiny diodes have been ripped from the boards
and were missing.
We fixed all European Modem PCBs - but I forgot that we didn't do that
with the US Modem PCBs yet!
And it turns out that these all have some non-working keys. I have the
diodes here and just need to check which ones need to be replaced.
However, I didn't have the time to do that yet (more and that further
down in the newspost), so that's the sole reason they haven't shipped
yet.
But I WILL make sure every prototype preorder receives his unit before
christmas!
2. The status of the cases
--------------------------
The order for 1000 full case sets has been placed, as they work
perfectly fine now and look gorgeous.
Azouls will now order the plastics needed and take care of the
production run. I might visit Greece again to show you more videos of
the production run - but I don't know if I find the time.
December is always a stressful time for an online shop, and I've got
tons or work to do at the moment anyways. We'll see.
It should take around 4 - 5 weeks until all sets are finished
(depending on how fast the plastic arrives... planning something around
christmas time is always messy) and shipping will probably take another
2 weeks, so that means we should have them all here in January, ready
to be painted.
I will receive more painted samples (with some other colors) soon and
will make more videos of them :)
3. The status of the remaining parts
------------------------------------
Basically, everything is there.
Speakers, logo plates, batteries, bare PCBs, all parts needed for PCB
production, LCD Cables, LCDs, Keymats, etc.
So yeah, we're basically ready for production once the cases arrive
here.
Nothing more to be done here.
4. The status of the current OS
-------------------------------
Well, "OS" is probably wrong, as the OS we use is a standard Debian, so
that one is working with all programs you have on a normal Linux
system.
So it's the status of the kernel and general drivers.
Toastbucket is helping out a lot! He has almost finished the battery
charger / monitor driver, which is not only needed for the end user,
but it's also really helpful to when fixing the prototype preorders
PCBs because right now, I can only boot the system when a battery is
inserted. So I have to assemble / disassemble the unit each time I want
to test it. Booting the PCB without any case around it will make things
a lot easier here.
aTc and Toastbucket have also worked to make the image building and
package creation easier to handle and as automatic as possible.
We also switched to our own kernel GIT (which is based on the Letux
Kernel) as the Letux Kernel GIT is too volatile right now. This makes
it very hard to fix the remaining issues and get out a mostly working
Pyra when the production starts.
It's also a lot easier for developers to help us out, as the Letux
kernel git is quite complex due to the large amount of systems it does
support. Having one GIT where only the Pyra stuff is a lot more
overseeable.
We will also keep an eye open for Pyra fixes in the Letux kernel to
pull them over and will also try to provide our fixes to the Letux
kernel.
We're using kernel 4.19 for the first release, as this is the one that
worked best on our testing units so far.
Our goal is to get this one completely stable with all hardware
features first.
After that is done and we have a stable working OS, we will switch to a
more recent kernel which will be unstable / testing after everything
has been approved to be working and then this will become the next
stable one.
The kernels will all be available as Debian package, so anyone can
decide for himself whether he prefers the stable kernel or help out
finding bugs in the testing one :)
The kernel git can be found here:
https://dev.pyra-handheld.com/kernel/pyra-kernel
And the U-Boot git can be found here:
https://dev.pyra-handheld.com/kernel/pyra-uboot
So if you want to help out there, you're more than welcome :)
5. Time issues
--------------
As mentioned at the beginning of the post, the biggest issue for me at
the moment is: Time!
I'm barely managing to keep up with all the work right now, I easily
have enough work that would keep two fulltime employees busy!
Thankfully, I've got a trainee who helps with the office stuff
(shipping packages, etc.) and while this takes a bit of workload off my
shoulders, there's still a lot more work to do.
Now, I can hear how some are crying "Why are you even working on other
things - just get the Pyra out to us, this is most important!".
Well, yes, I can understand where you're coming from.
However, this is exactly what caused the issues with the Pandora back
then: Craig decided to spend all his time to work on the Pandora and
closed the shop... and that eventually lead to the issue that he ran
out of money.
This is NOT what we want to happen!
Unfortunately, the Pyra has turned out to cost A LOT more than planned
(due to a lot of bad stuff that happened), so money is tight and the
only thing to keep things going is by pulling in money.
For example, I am producing the 2000 cartridges for the EU/US release
of the MegaDrive/Genesis game Ultracore (some of you might even have
preordered it).
While this eats quite a bit of my time, it actually fully financed the
production of the 1000 keymats.
And of course, keeping the shop interesting by adding new interesting
products also takes some time but pulls in money.
So in case you're wondering why sometimes things like finishing up the
preorder prototypes or news posts take a while: it's not because I want
to delay the Pyra for as long as possible (that would be crazy indeed),
it's simply because I can't afford to hire more staff right now OR work
fulltime on the Pyra.
It's a very delicated balancing between time, money, customer support -
and, and, and... (I should run a gofundme ;)))
As you surely can see, things are moving along, even it they sometimes
take longer than they should, but I hope you now understand the reason
for that.
Okay, I'm off to bed now... it's 5:52am in the morning again... time
runs too fast, seriously!
Want to leave feedback?
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/so-whats-the-current-status-of-eve…
--
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Michael Mrozek
-----------------------
OpenPandora GmbH
Geschäftsführer: Michael Mrozek
Schäffbräustr. 11
85049 Ingolstadt
Deutschland
Tel.: 0841 / 990 5548
http://www.openpandora.de/
HRB 4879, Amtsgericht Ingolstadt
-----------------------
eMail: mrozek(a)openpandora.org
