Please Sell Me Your Pyra! (US/COL)

[fss-hacks]

Hello everyone,
If you are on the Pyra discord, you know me as “diplobrat”. I am the developer who recently released updated Debian 9 and 11 forks for the Pandora. I also run a virtual computing museum.

I am speaking to ED right now about the possibility of designing a carrier board which updates the CPU in the Pyra and helping to design a successor device. Plans are already written and KiCad modeling of said board for the Pandora is completed, but I’ve run into a “speed bump”.

To build this board for the Pyra, there are screw holes and other components I need to measure and take into account, and this is very difficult without physically having one.

Because having a Pyra is basically indispensable to this project, this is a request to buy anyone’s Pyra that is currently up for sale: you would be helping the community tremendously!

I am willing to pay over the sale amount, or whatever amount you think is appropriate - or I accept donations thru my museum (this is how I got a Pandora in the first place).

This Pyra will be taken care of and not “played with” like a toy - it will be put up on my museum along with an article thanking the seller.

I am also willing to trade my Founders Edition Pandora 1Gz that was donated (it comes with the signed crate, box, two thank you cards from ED and the original invoice).

Thanks very much,
Ing. G Fide
FSS Inc.

 

[hns]

I am speaking to ED right now about the possibility of designing a carrier board which updates the CPU in the Pyra and helping to design a successor device. Plans are already written and KiCad modeling of said board for the Pandora is completed, but I’ve run into a “speed bump”.

So as a newbie you are developing a new board for the Pandora? Or the Pyra? Cool!
Or are you confusing both? That is not a good sign for getting trust in such a project...
I am also interested in which CPU you have in mind?

To build this board for the Pyra, there are screw holes and other components I need to measure and take into account, and this is very difficult without physically having one.

If you need the measures of the screw holes, why don't you ask ED directly for 3D models if you are speaking with him right now?

 

[TeDaDeS]

Does this one work?

Dragonbox Pyra - 3D model by ericomont

The DragonBox Pyra - successor of the OpenPandora https://www.dragonbox.de/en/45-pyra - Dragonbox Pyra - 3D model by ericomont

sketchfab.com

For the Open-Pandora we have design files, I guess for Pyra those aren't published yet?

 

[fss-hacks]

So as a newbie you are developing a new board for the Pandora? Or the Pyra? Cool!
Or are you confusing both? That is not a good sign for getting trust in such a project...
I am also interested in which CPU you have in mind?

If you need the measures of the screw holes, why don't you ask ED directly for 3D models if you are speaking with him right now?

It sounds like a game of “jump to conclusions” is being played a little here - or maybe I wasn’t as clear. I just got off a 13 hour flight so my apologies if that was on me.

I’m very much not a “newbie”, except to the Pandora/Pyra device itself. I’m a hardware/software engineer and I work on mobile computing preservation and modernization. Because of the museum I run, I’ve had the opportunity to mess around with a LOT of different hardware.

I started on the Zaurus, then worked my way thru most of the early 2000s devices like Netwalker, the Planet Gemini and a bunch of weirder stuff like the Archos Linux devices.
You can see my work here: https : // www [dot] giannii [dot] net / devices

This all started 9 months ago when I first tried to get a Pandora to do ARM development. It took me 9 months to actually get a device and begin the project - where we are now.

There are actually 2 separate carrier boards, both with the same RK3566 chipset. I designed the tester using a Radxa CM3 off of my own donated Pandora and the design files are finished for it, but when speaking to ED, he directly referenced the Pyra so I started looking at how to do the same with it but ran into the issue with screw holes and some other minor problems.

I have asked him for help, and am waiting on a reply. As you know, he’s extremely busy, part of why I am volunteering my assistance. I’ve also made contact with Nikolaus from Golden Delicious/Goldelico since his help would be invaluable.

It’s the case that I’m a “tactile learner” - I had started trying to work on this before ever touching a Pandora but getting a donation like that changed basically everything for me.
To do work like this, I really need to hold the device in my hands, and obviously I’m not going to selflessly design a nice, new carrier board for people to use without being able to benefit from it myself lol.

An example is the dilemma I had about whether to keep the existing screen or go with replacing it - after using the Pandora, my design keeps the original screen. I couldn’t have made that choice without physically experiencing the device.

The actual open plans are all well and good, but I am learning to use KiCad right now and interpreting/import-export from one design to another is a challenge at the level I’m at with it right now.

I took a look at the plans, and if I get those screw holes (etc) wrong, it’s money down the drain every time I get a detail wrong and it’s included on the final print sent to the fab company.
Having it right in front of me would be a lot better.

I would also like to update the keyboard and analogue nubs with some new hardware choices and suggested inspiration from the MNT Pocket Reform, which is a big help for this project - ideally the new nubs and keys will be RGB LED compatible too.

The more I use the Pandora, the more ideas come. I’ve been suggested to add an FPGA slot from the discord and it made me think that I would like this project to be community directed, as in “everyone gets to suggest ideas”.

Post automatically merged: Sunday at 1:32 AM

Does this one work?

Dragonbox Pyra - 3D model by ericomont

The DragonBox Pyra - successor of the OpenPandora https://www.dragonbox.de/en/45-pyra - Dragonbox Pyra - 3D model by ericomont

sketchfab.com

For the Open-Pandora we have design files, I guess for Pyra those aren't published yet?

We definitely have the OP files but I don’t believe the Pyra ones are.

For context on how much money would be saved by buying a Pyra, I was looking at roughly 3000$ buying a Pocket Reform to test the software and a first run cost of 800-1000$ for the first run of the carrier board.

I thought about using a Letux 400 to do the software development (if I can get one) but doing it on the right device, a lot of things would “just work” the first time.

This is why I don’t mind spending above $1000 for 2014 hardware or making large offers - it saves me a ton in development costs.

 

[hns]

There are actually 2 separate carrier boards, both with the same RK3566 chipset. I designed the tester using a Radxa CM3 off of my own donated Pandora and the design files are finished for it, but when speaking to ED, he directly referenced the Pyra so I started looking at how to do the same with it but ran into the issue with screw holes and some other minor problems.

For gaining credibility of your work: can you please show a photo of your tester or parts of the finished design files?

I thought about using a Letux 400 to do the software development (if I can get one) but doing it on the right device, a lot of things would “just work” the first time.

What do you expect from the Letux 400 to help for software development? Which things would you like to “just work” the first time?