[Arm-netbook] When does the A20 board ship?

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

On Thu, Mar 9, 2017 at 10:14 PM, Nick Hardiman
<nick at internetmachines.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> On 9 Mar 2017, at 07:21, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <lkcl at lkcl.net> wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 7:42 PM, Nick Hardiman
>> <nick at internetmachines.co.uk> wrote:
>>> OK, thanks. In that case, what is the path to a working pre-production prototype?
>>
>> in the updates, nick.  another one due out shortly.
>
> OK, I see https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/progress-physics-taiwan-and-more
> It mentions micro-HDMI replacement, casework, and the pros and cons of buying equipment for sme DIY prototyping.

 another one's out in a day or so, that's the one i meant

> http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/news/ shows PCBs from October.

 yeah i keep meaning to update these

> Somewhere in http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/pipermail/arm-netbook/2017-March/ is something about memory and resistance, but I can’t find it in my 5 minute search.

 sorry.  lots going on.  basically i had to find the new HDMI
connector, and test it, but at the same time i also had to find a new
NAND IC.  it's made even more complicated by the fact that the first
new HDMI connector turned out not to be suitable and we had to find
*another* one.  each time that happens it's another $1.5 to $1.8k gone
and about another 4-6 weeks gone doing the board design, board
gerbers, waiting for 2 weeks for the PCB to be made, waiting another
1-2 weeks for the PCB to be assembled, waiting another week for it to
be shipped to me, waiting another 3-15 days (or longer) for me to find
the time (or equipment) needed to test it....

if there was enough funding i would simply have given these tasks to a
contractor, paid them $10k-$20k and told them to get on with it.
however it's simply not that simple or straightforward, and they would
likely run into *exactly* the same sourcing issues... just with a cost
overhead.

then there is the casework.  i have to get a laser cutter and work out
how to set up a jig.

all of this is - i believe - in the last update and the one coming out.

> I get the impression EOMA68 is a jigsaw with many pieces. I hope it’s all coming together.

a huge one that starts off with a small centre then grows in layers,
multi-dimensionally... yes :)

l.