Batch 3 manufacture is underway as scheduled. However, my chip source kinda disappeared on me for a week or so; I was expecting a truckload to arrive today but it actually hasn't been shipped out yet. What that means is, I'll have a few days downtime between these first few sticks getting finished and the rest of the batch getting started.

I'm not too upset, because that allows me some time to work on a few Terminus prototypes I'm going to put up for auction to raise money for a friend's medical bills.

It also allows me to waller out some production bottlenecks by setting up a second reflow oven and second testing station.

Oh and also once the truckload does arrive (I'm basically just buying out a retired mine) I'll have something like seven thousand chips, which is enough for all of Batch 3, all of Batch 4, all the remaining bitshopper.de sticks ordered and a couple hundred Terminus pods. So I shouldn't run out again for a while, and running out of chips has been the cause of a lot of delays so far.

The BM1385 datasheet has good protocol info. Not quite everything you need, but close. VH and I spent a day or two sniffing HEX and parsing kernel logs to figure out a few specifics, especially for multi-chip detection and nonce range assignment, but for single-chip comms I think everything's there.

The Compac and 2Pac, since they use a CP2102 USB-UART adapter, can actually be driven straight from a terminal if you figure out the formats.

It's been several years ago but I did a bit of business with the guy running GPU Shack. I assume it's the same guy still.

HolyScott is also one of my preferred miner resellers, one of two in the US. He can be unresponsive at times, takes a while to return emails I mean, but like was mentioned - it's one guy running the place. I'm in the same boat so I can't judge. But aside from sometimes slow communication I've never had any trouble with him.

Well then someone better up and do it. I just got another email last night from a guy wanting 5.

I've got prototype PCBs sitting on a shelf I haven't had time to work on. Proper functionality will require some microcontroller code and I've been elbow-deep in manufacture all year. I just last Thursday made time to finish the Terminus pod redesign that I had rough-prototyped in late April. The hub will happen, just not in the short term. That idea was originally conceived two years ago anyways.

Depending how it's clocked (more specifically, what version of miner) it should be possible. I've had several in hosting that have been running off a pair of Dell 750W server PSUs, two boards to one supply and one board + controller to the other, for about a year with no issues except on the hottest days. Won't handle some of the new very-hungry S9/T9 but did stock S7s.

It's also not too difficult, if you have the right tools, to undervolt an S7 for greatly improved efficiency. Low enough to run off a single 1000W PSU and still get around 4TH.

Take a look at the Canada group buy Valkir ran. If I'm thinking right, it went like this:

He collected $30-per-stick payments from individuals and kept a public ledger of orders (for accountability), then when he had enough orders or reached the deadline he forwarded that collected payment to me.
I then shipped the order and let him know the actual shipping cost - for 20 sticks, it's not much more than it would have been for three or four.
Once he had the sticks in hand, he calculated the actual shipping cost (plus any customs/VAT) averaged per stick, plus within-country shipping to the end customer.
He then collected a second payment from everyone to cover the unpaid remainder of costs, and shipped to end customers as they paid.

The end result is, everything takes a bit longer than buying directly from me but the overall cost per unit is less because the greatest part of the added costs - shipping from US to AU - is averaged across a larger order. 1 stick ships for $35, 20 sticks ship for about $50.

Right now I have probably five or six people in AU interested in buying.

You probably need a better hub.

1st - are you sure you bought Compacs and not 2Pacs?
2nd - you're using a wrong cgminer version, or at least not with the right stuff compiled in, if it won't recognize the sticks.

Check the first post of the 2Pac support thread for better cgminer.

Currently there isn't one, which means it's farther out than I would like. Prototypes have been working for months, the final board design is almost complete but should have been finished a couple weeks ago. Right now I have enough work stacked up to keep three of myself busy full-time and helpers keep disappearing on me.

Probably $65, once it exists.

Um, they're made in and ship from the US. The shipping cost is constant regardless of batch size within the US.

Please somebody set up a group buy. I would love to only ship one Australia package instead of like five. In the past, PostMaster Blaster hasn't been too careful with some of my AU shipments so one box reduces the chances of destruction, and also it'd be cheaper for everyone.

If someone wants to organize one would be fine with me. I've got a couple people asking about sticks right now.

If you bought from eyeboot, it's a green stick. Note that the board it's build on is green. The ones in Europe are made with a black board.

Have you tried adjusting the voltage a bit higher and replugging it?

Green stick or black stick? Who did you buy it from?

Make sure you're using the most updated version of VH's cgminer driver as detailed in the first post.

Depending on what Pi software you're using, you might need to move some files around to be executing the right cgminer build.

See if you can fetch a cheap S7 and undervolt it to 4TH/1KW. Burns twice the power of an S5 for four times the hashrate and probably less noise.

Course I don't know that you can find a cheap S7 anymore, a year ago they were going for about $300 but things are crazy now.

Without considering new product design, hosting maintenance, Terminus prototyping and manufacture, or taking the occasional Sunday off, I've got enough work lined up just witn 2Pacs to keep me busy through the end of July.

One thing that gets in the way of being able to build the crap out of stuff in a quick and efficient manner is communication. These days I'm getting a lot of emails from randos all over the world asking if sales are still open. It's easier to find a notification that sales are still open than it is to find my contact info. This is annoying.
I also get a lot of emails from people asking for help with the one stick they bought from some dude on eBay. No offense to anyone, but if you didn't give me your money I don't actually owe you anything. You probably paid a substantial markup to someone else, and because that person got your money that person owes you support. I'll pick up the slack if that person drops the ball, but don't come to me first because I'll turn you away at the door.

So with all this in mind, mostly in an effort to reduce having to ever talk to other people because I'm a crusty hermit who enjoys sitting alone for hours on end assembling various things without interruption -

Individual (non-bulk) sales for the 2Pac will close as of June 16th. After that, any purchasing requests below a threshold reasonable to be called "bulk" (so, couple dozen or thereabouts) will be ignored outright.

Any email saying "I read your thread, are sales still open?" will be met with a cynical response linking the part of the thread (you claimed to have read) answering that question.

Any email asking for support will be met with "If you didn't buy from me, talk to the person you bought it from."

So, feel free to grumble that I'm not being very nice. Won't change the policy.

Read the first post.

Pretty decent I reckon. Had a few days last week to just almost finish up the BM1384 Terminus redesign. I need to give it a once-over, double-check the layout before sending off for boards but I'm hoping to do that this week.

Problem is, Saturday night I got a huge ASAP cable order that's eating all the time I had padded into this week for doing that and a few prep projects I wanted to get done to speed up 2Pac manufacture now that my helper left. MacEntyre doubled his order, and Batch 3 PCBs arrive next week, so even without Terminus stuff or cables or any other projects, I have work lined up until about August.

Check back soon though. I've got four Terminus pod PCBs I'm going to try and retrofit with the new buck module I've got working. Once they're functional I'm planning to auction them off here to help raise money for a friend's medical bills.