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MNT Reform: The Campaign Is Live
- Grumbledour 6y agoI have constantly be impressed by the progress of this project. I really like some of the design decisions, like the mechanical keyboard or the trackball. But I have to say, while I really liked some of the early design sketches, the final design I find quite ugly. I wish them success with this project and hope this can lead to more and potentially cheaper open source computing options in the future, but for now, I will have to pass.
- mntmn 6y agoThat’s OK. Tastes differ wildly.
- Grumbledour 6y agoYeah, of course. And I do feel bad for being so harsh, because I really like the concept. It is just so chunky and looks no fun to lug around. I do look forward though to maybe getting a copy of the trackball/keyboard to use with other devices.
- zenexer 6y agoChunky isn't necessarily bad if it's light. It looks like there's a lot of empty space inside compared to modern non-repairable laptops.
- mntmn 6y agoMain link incl. video: https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/reform https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/reform Also, AMA!
- mwcampbell 6y agoDid you consider using DisplayPort as your, um, display port? Or would that also require a firmware blob?
- mntmn 6y agoRequires the same or similar controller blob (Xtensa) as HDMI on i.MX8M. Edit: To explain, the external DP/HDMI TX shares an IP block and even the signal lines. This is also a reason why we’re using a MIPI DSI->eDP converter chip for the internal display, as that path is blob-free. I wish there was a good blob free USB3 display adapter. Maybe we’ll have to make one.
- fra 6y agoNot to sound too negative - I love what you are doing - but using a MIPI DSI -> eDP bridge IC does not get rid of any proprietary blobs. In practice, those bridge ICs contain general purpose MCU cores, and run a proprietary firmware blob. You can usually update it over I2C. So you've just shifted the blob from one part of the stack (AP firmware) to another (bridge IC firmware).
- fstephany 6y agoFollowing the progress of the Reform project has been fascinating. Thanks a lot for making this and sharing frequent updates :)
- armitron 6y agoI bought your ZZ9000 and I obviously like your work. But I do wish you focused on retro computing. I just can’t see this laptop going anywhere in terms of impact. The field is a black hole that consumes time & effort.
- mntmn 6y agoYou’re funny.
- armitron 6y ago"I’m funny how, I mean funny like I’m a clown?" In all seriousness, I'd like to support you but I won't, not for this. As somebody else said, in this very thread, it doesn't really stand out and the alternatives are many. Stick to what you do best.
- mntmn 6y agoDon't tell me what to do.
- zenexer 6y agoWhen you say "retro computing", what do you mean? I assume you have something specific in mind, and I'm curious what that is. I don't think your request is particularly relevant to this HN post, though I may be missing the context since I'd never heard of MNT Research prior to today.
- mwcampbell 6y agoIt would be nice to have UnixBench scores in your comparison table. I'm guessing the SoC in the reform won't be in the same league as current Intel laptop processors, but it would be nice to have some idea of what we're getting.
- mntmn 6y agoOK, I’ll look into that. Is that a good benchmark? Are there other meaningful ones?
- mwcampbell 6y agoWhat I like about UnixBench is that it covers I/O as well as raw CPU performance. (So you'd want to make sure it uses the SSD, not the SD card.) And it's open source (edit: actually checked the license now; looks like it's GPL2). I'll let others weigh in with other benchmark suggestions.
- Cyclenerd 6y agoUnixBench would be great. I have a bash script that runs several benchmarks and create a website: https://github.com/Cyclenerd/benchmark https://github.com/Cyclenerd/benchmark You would have to remove Geekbench from Line 650 in the source code. Does not work with ARM.
- zenexer 6y agoI'd also be curious about approximate battery life. Personally, I'd rather a decent ARM SoC and longer battery life than a beefy x86 CPU that's going to drain the battery in two hours.
- georgeoliver 6y agoHave there been any significant changes since your description of the HW here https://mntre.com/media/reform_md/2020-01-18-finishing-reform.html https://mntre.com/media/reform_md/2020-01-18-finishing-refor...? (also, I just love that you incorporated the trackball, thank you).
- zenexer 6y ago1. Roughly how heavy is it? It looks big but not too dense. 2. How easy is it to remap keys on the keyboard and trackball? For example, I'd probably want to swap the Alt and Space keys, the Shift and Up/Del keys, and the Primary/Secondary Click and macro buttons. Are we talking config file change or manually patching firmware? 3. How generic is the SoM connector? Are there any existing alternative SoMs I might be able to stick in there? 4. How many times can I open the body without running into issues? For example, if I swap out the batteries every day for a year, am I going to run into problems? 5. It looks like you opted for a barrel jack instead of USB-PD for charging. Why'd you choose to go that route? 6. Why the lack of USB Type-C ports? 7. "The keyboard not only works as a USB HID device, but it also has a direct UART cable connection to the system controller on the motherboard. By pressing the Circle key, you can interact directly with the system controller, bypassing the main SoC." That sounds really cool. Do you have more info about that? How hackable is it? Edit: I like where you're going with the project, and I think I could easily turn this into my daily driver. Keep up the great work!
- danbolt 6y agoI don't really have MNT's answers to your questions, but I do know that for (7) they have the source for the keyboard firmware on gittea here: https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/reform/src/branch/master/reform2-keyboard-fw https://source.mntmn.com/MNT/reform/src/branch/master/reform...
- mntmn 6y agoThanks for your questions and encouragement. Answers: 1. ~1.9kg fully loaded with batteries, WiFi card and SSD. 2. Currently you need to rebuild the firmware, which is "make" and then "flash.sh", but it's absolutely feasible to make a nice keymap editor. 3. The connector itself is generic and cheap (SO-DIMM), you stick a bare PCB in it (card edge). There's currently no other SoM with this pinout, though. We'll work to change that. 4. Haven't run into issues yet, and opened and closed mine many many times. 5. Simplicity. 6. Type-A is still much more common. The next version could have Type-C or a mix possibly. 7. Totally hackable. The sources are already in our Git / on GitHub but I'll post an article about this during the campaign.
- kop316 6y agoAre you mainlining everything so a vanilla distro can install on this?
- l11r 6y agoAs far as get it, yes, he does, but currently not everything is at mainline Linux, according to this gist: https://gist.github.com/mntmn/c1005bd9f4cbc53e71058f0a45084da3 https://gist.github.com/mntmn/c1005bd9f4cbc53e71058f0a45084d...
- 5etho 6y agohow can We buyers be sure you will deliver the project? What is your experience? what device you previously delivered? there was a lot of kickstarter cool things that deliver poorly
- l11r 6y agoHe delivered ZZ9000 to many customers: https://mntre.com/media/ZZ9000_info_md/2019-08-09-ZZ9000-resources.html https://mntre.com/media/ZZ9000_info_md/2019-08-09-ZZ9000-res... You can check reports and many photos at his Mastodon: @mntmn@mastodon.social
- detaro 6y agoIn addition to the specific example l11r mentions: Crowdsupply is generally a lot more trustworthy than Kickstarter. They specialize in hardware products, understand that market and vet projects accordingly. I.e. here prototype devices have been made and distributed to users before the campaign went live.
- ddevault 6y agoGreat work mntmn! I love the no-compromises design - blob-free, mechanical keyboard, user-replacable batteries, open hardware... it's great. Nice work. And a quick question: have you considered selling more parts separately? It would be nice to pick up the trackpad+controller, and maybe the keyboard too, for other projects.
- mntmn 6y agoThanks, I’m honored to get your feedback. And yes, we’ll offer all parts separately and I hope they’ll be cloned, too!
- mightypirate 6y agois it possibile to replace the display with an e-ink one?
- 8088mph 6y agoIs there an option for clicky keyboard switches?
- mntmn 6y agoYou can write me an email after backing and I'll see what we can do! (Clicky switches do exist)
- nine_k 6y agoI very much like the keyboard layout that gives more action to thumbs and some rest to pinkies.
- teddyh 6y agoUnless it has a RYF certification, it doesn’t stand out from all the alternatives.
- zenexer 6y agoWhat alternatives are you thinking of? I don't know much about this niche, although I've come across System76 a few times over the years.
- teddyh 6y agoOff the top of my head, there are also the Librem laptops from Purism and the Vikings X200 laptop, the latter of which does have an RYF certification.
- zenexer 6y agoAre those actually comparable? Neither of those options appeal to me, but the MNT Reform does. I would say the biggest advantage of the MNT Reform is that it appears to be fully hackable, both hardware and software. I don't really get that impression from most of Purism's products or the Vikings X200
- teddyh 6y agoIf that’s your priority, there was also the Novena, I think?
- twic 6y agoWas i the only one who clicked through expecting to read about new monetary policy in Mongolia? Oh, i was. Still, this is a cool project, and i'm happy to have learned about it!
- RodgerTheGreat 6y agoI absolutely love the trackball and approach to replaceable batteries. Currently this device is a bit outside my price range, but I'll keep an eye on the project in the future and spread the word to friends who might be interested.
- WhyKill 6y agoThe hardware heroes we need. Amazing and the best laptop design in years.