5 ms·

Wasn't Pi Zero around $5 on release?

by Jorengarenar 4y ago

mmoskal 4y ago
It's subsidized. Try getting them at $5 in volume.
- iakh 4y ago
  I know you're right, but I never could figure out why they'd sell singles for less than wholesale. what's the point?
  - jkestner 4y ago
    First hit is free/cheap. This is common for dev boards for whatever component a company's trying to get you to buy a million of.
jon_adler 4y ago
I bought a $9 C.H.I.P computer many years back which had pretty decent specs. They might have been too cheap though, because they sadly went out of business. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIP_(computer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIP_(computer)
moffkalast 4y ago
And didn't require a PhD in UART to get an OS running on it. Seriously, who the hell thought the process described in that blog makes any kind of practical sense at all. I mean the thing has two USB ports, TWO! And you can't use either, hahaha!
- aswanson 4y ago
  PhD in uart. Loled on that one. Thanks.
- stefan_ 4y ago
  But don't worry, instead they connected the MIPI CSI to.. the USB-C connector?
- stolk 4y ago
  OP here...it got a little better with a patched picoprobe. I wrote up part 2 here: http://thelittleengineerthatcould.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-8-linux-computer-part-2.html http://thelittleengineerthatcould.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-8... But yeah, not plug-n-play. I still have to find out how to get network or SD-Card.
  - moffkalast 4y ago
    it is quite interesting that it actually has an sdcard slot but doesn't use it as a boot device? Like wtf? With only 128 MB of flash what kind of OS can one even fit on that... Nothing about this board makes any sense lol.
    - teleforce 4y ago
      Stay tuned, according to the Bouffalo Lab BL808 SoC datasheet (page 90) series numbering system that the board is based on, they will probably have more RAM and ROM capacity in the later versions of the SoC: https://github.com/bouffalolab/bl_docs/blob/main/BL808_DS/en/BL808_DS_1.2_en.pdf https://github.com/bouffalolab/bl_docs/blob/main/BL808_DS/en...
- monocasa 4y ago
  The first batch had a bug in the USB serial. Supposedly it's already fixed in boards you can buy now.
puzzlingcaptcha 4y ago
Pi Zero didn't have any wireless connectivity. Pi Zero W was $10 (now $15).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
monocasa 4y ago
The cheap ARM boards you see typically have some economic reason that involve a deal for millions of SoCs falling through at the last minute and the SoC manufacturer selling them off at below cost just to get anything back from the run. The BCM2835 was destined for a cheap set top box but for reasons not known publicly the manufacturer of that box didn't take those chips.

Wasn't Pi Zero around $5 on release?

mmoskal 4y ago

It's subsidized. Try getting them at $5 in volume.

iakh 4y ago
I know you're right, but I never could figure out why they'd sell singles for less than wholesale. what's the point?
- jkestner 4y ago
  First hit is free/cheap. This is common for dev boards for whatever component a company's trying to get you to buy a million of.

jon_adler 4y ago

I bought a $9 C.H.I.P computer many years back which had pretty decent specs. They might have been too cheap though, because they sadly went out of business. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIP_(computer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIP_(computer)

moffkalast 4y ago

And didn't require a PhD in UART to get an OS running on it. Seriously, who the hell thought the process described in that blog makes any kind of practical sense at all. I mean the thing has two USB ports, TWO! And you can't use either, hahaha!

aswanson 4y ago
PhD in uart. Loled on that one. Thanks.
stefan_ 4y ago
But don't worry, instead they connected the MIPI CSI to.. the USB-C connector?
stolk 4y ago
OP here...it got a little better with a patched picoprobe. I wrote up part 2 here: http://thelittleengineerthatcould.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-8-linux-computer-part-2.html http://thelittleengineerthatcould.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-8... But yeah, not plug-n-play. I still have to find out how to get network or SD-Card.
- moffkalast 4y ago
  it is quite interesting that it actually has an sdcard slot but doesn't use it as a boot device? Like wtf? With only 128 MB of flash what kind of OS can one even fit on that... Nothing about this board makes any sense lol.
  - teleforce 4y ago
    Stay tuned, according to the Bouffalo Lab BL808 SoC datasheet (page 90) series numbering system that the board is based on, they will probably have more RAM and ROM capacity in the later versions of the SoC: https://github.com/bouffalolab/bl_docs/blob/main/BL808_DS/en/BL808_DS_1.2_en.pdf https://github.com/bouffalolab/bl_docs/blob/main/BL808_DS/en...
monocasa 4y ago
The first batch had a bug in the USB serial. Supposedly it's already fixed in boards you can buy now.

puzzlingcaptcha 4y ago

Pi Zero didn't have any wireless connectivity. Pi Zero W was $10 (now $15).

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

monocasa 4y ago

The cheap ARM boards you see typically have some economic reason that involve a deal for millions of SoCs falling through at the last minute and the SoC manufacturer selling them off at below cost just to get anything back from the run. The BCM2835 was destined for a cheap set top box but for reasons not known publicly the manufacturer of that box didn't take those chips.