Black Arrow 28nm 100Ghash Bitcoin ASIC from $0.49/GH/s

[drewage]

For some reason I can't take my eyes off this train wreck in progress. I am among the lucky who managed to salvage something through a refund (kudos to Minersource).

This ^^^

I feel for everyone who still has a stake in this.

[Biffa]

Oh shit

[raskul]

Oh shit

i refrained.

[david105396]

22 May 2014
 
Prospero X3
We experienced a few serious technical issues with the backplane PCB which unfortunately delayed the completion of the Prospero X3. Our engineers spent the whole week debugging the problem without finding yet a working solution. We solicited expertise from 3rd parties and we are now having 3 different teams working on the issue around the clock. Please note that we are not in the position to estimate a completion time. It is possible that the fix could be solved as early as tomorrow or as late as next week. We decided as a safety measure to start redesigning 2 extra versions of the backplane PCB. The first complete bug free version will be used in production.
Deadline delays are never welcome news therefore we decided to offer the following optional packages available immediately which might be suitable for a minority of anxious customers who are able to build their own miner based on the Minion chip:
Option 1: Replace each Prospero (2 Thash) including the compensation package (1Thash) with 50 Minion ASICs (up to 7 Thash)
or
Option 2: Replace each Prospero (2 Thash) including the compensation package (1Thash) with 20 Hashboards (each PCB includes 2 x Minion ASIC, heatsinks, power chips, inductors, capacitors) – 4.5 Thash. Note that due to the lack of a backplane these boards have not been intensively tested therefore further rework might be required (e.g: add some capacitors); should this work be required we will only provide documents on what needs to be done. The customer will be responsible of executing it and purchasing the parts.
Note: Opting for any of these options will not cancel your 25% discount for your next Minion orders.
We would also like to ask from help from the technical community to help speed up solving the issues that we have encountered or to design a new backplane. The solicited work will be rewarded accordingly (money, products, etc.)
Prospero X1
Prospero X1 miners are not affected by the issue mentioned above and we should start shipping next week once the cases will be delivered.
Note: To avoid any further delay we have the option to deliver the case-less X1 if any of the customers will choose so.
Please contact out customer support should you choose any of the options above.

[blackarrow]

Please explain the situation with your Rent-a-Minion service, there has been zero information so far about how that fits into this whole situation. People have been repeatedly asking throughout this thread.

Our facility is ready, will start Rent-A-Minion as soon as we solve the issue with the backplane.

[ChuckBuck]

I hate being right....

I can smell an "unforeseen electrical, production, software/hardware, or performance issue" coming up just like the LCD excuse coming up...

[Biffa]

Ugh don't run it in David

[blackarrow]

So just for clarification there is no plan to increase the current compensation plan at this time? If the X1 Does not ship starting next week will we told (by tuesday?)

You can get 7 Thash in ASICs instead of 2Thash in miners. We can ship tomorrow.

[ChuckBuck]

In laymen's terms, if you're an X-3 user, here's some chips and build them yourself, if you screw up it's not on us.


If you're an X-1 user, here's the bare ass, case less miner.  Ugly, yes, but if you plug it in it'll hash even though that's not what we paid for.

[tempestb]

They can't figure out how to build their miner.  So you can have a pile of chips and some boards and try to build it yourself.

Oh brother...

I'm sure they are very frustrated and upset that their board isn't working.  Unfortunately this update really doesn't tell us much.  I spent over $6,000 (And have to pay more for a PSU and shipping) on a total of 3th that I have no idea when I may get it.  This is really bad.  

I hope you guys are working on this 24/7 and haven't just thrown your hands up in the air and given up.  If you know for sure that you won't ship until two weeks from now you should say so.  I don't want to keep checking this forum every day for a total lack of updates.

[sorehammer]

Airfix any one I got some glue.

[raskul]

They can't figure out how to build their miner.  So you can have a pile of chips and some boards and try to build it yourself.

Oh brother...

I'm sure they are very frustrated and upset that their board isn't working.  Unfortunately this update really doesn't tell us much.  I spent over $6,000 (And have to pay more for a PSU and shipping) on a total of 3th that I have no idea when I may get it.  This is really bad.  

I hope you guys are working on this 24/7 and haven't just thrown your hands up in the air and given up.  If you know for sure that you won't ship until two weeks from now you should say so.  I don't want to keep checking this forum every day for a total lack of updates.

hashfast take2

[ChuckBuck]

How does an asic manufacturer not know how to construct a miner?

Isn't that what they do for a living?

[SunnyIgor]

EDIT:  Why not ship all caseless X-1's now, then ship the case when they come in next week?

Is this possible? blackarrow?

[sorehammer]

Yes but you will have to pay for more shipping and no mention of the lcd

[blackarrow]

How does an asic manufacturer not know how to construct a miner?

Isn't that what they do for a living?

We do know how to build a miner. Our hashboards are running at 250Ghash with no problems or errors. The issue is the SPI communication fails on the current backplane as soon as you attach more than 1 hashboard. We've been trying to fix the current backplane in order to save time.

[Pistachio]

22 May 2014
 
Prospero X3
We experienced a few serious technical issues with the backplane PCB which unfortunately delayed the completion of the Prospero X3. Our engineers spent the whole week debugging the problem without finding yet a working solution. We solicited expertise from 3rd parties and we are now having 3 different teams working on the issue around the clock. Please note that we are not in the position to estimate a completion time. It is possible that the fix could be solved as early as tomorrow or as late as next week. We decided as a safety measure to start redesigning 2 extra versions of the backplane PCB. The first complete bug free version will be used in production.
Deadline delays are never welcome news therefore we decided to offer the following optional packages available immediately which might be suitable for a minority of anxious customers who are able to build their own miner based on the Minion chip:
Option 1: Replace each Prospero (2 Thash) including the compensation package (1Thash) with 50 Minion ASICs (up to 7 Thash)
or
Option 2: Replace each Prospero (2 Thash) including the compensation package (1Thash) with 20 Hashboards (each PCB includes 2 x Minion ASIC, heatsinks, power chips, inductors, capacitors) – 4.5 Thash. Note that due to the lack of a backplane these boards have not been intensively tested therefore further rework might be required (e.g: add some capacitors); should this work be required we will only provide documents on what needs to be done. The customer will be responsible of executing it and purchasing the parts.
Note: Opting for any of these options will not cancel your 25% discount for your next Minion orders.
We would also like to ask from help from the technical community to help speed up solving the issues that we have encountered or to design a new backplane. The solicited work will be rewarded accordingly (money, products, etc.)
Prospero X1
Prospero X1 miners are not affected by the issue mentioned above and we should start shipping next week once the cases will be delivered.
Note: To avoid any further delay we have the option to deliver the case-less X1 if any of the customers will choose so.
Please contact out customer support should you choose any of the options above.

I appreciate the update and providing multiple options. This sounds much more hopeful than I was anticipating. X1 orders shipping in about a week is a good thing and no one wants an unstable miner.

If we go with the X1 board only option, can we have the cases shipped later on? I would pay for the additional shipping for the cases. I think the additional mining time would cover the shipping costs, but I could be wrong.

[ChuckBuck]

How does an asic manufacturer not know how to construct a miner?

Isn't that what they do for a living?

We do know how to build a miner. Our hashboards are running at 250Ghash with no problems or errors. The issue is the SPI communication fails on the current backplane as soon as you attach more than 1 hashboard. We've been trying to fix the current backplane in order to save time.

What's eta on the fix for backplane issue?  Have you consulted outside engineers to aid in supporting you, or are you just trying to figure it amongst yourselves, while your customers experience another delay?

And why don't you have X-1 cases again?  I missed that part somewhere.  Doesn't seem like a major thing to acquire to be missing at this late stage.

[me2014]

and how about refund???u dont have a product and so u dont need to unmanufacture it?and if u even ship next week(it will not happen for sure)-we get it in two weeks from now,with your 3TH "compensation" and PSU
(which we need to buy) we should be happy to payout PSU!!!!!!!!!!

[Syke]

We do know how to build a miner. Our hashboards are running at 250Ghash with no problems or errors.

Option 2: Replace each Prospero (2 Thash) including the compensation package (1Thash) with 20 Hashboards (each PCB includes 2 x Minion ASIC, heatsinks, power chips, inductors, capacitors) – 4.5 Thash. Note that due to the lack of a backplane these boards have not been intensively tested therefore further rework might be required

I'm hearing conflicting messages. Are the hashboards good or not?