It be interesting to see what lawsuits have been filed against them.

Maybe cause they are poorly built with inferior parts? That could explain why there are so many issues with the BFL units.

Man what a dirtbag.

We want more FRC!

In his case both.

 

Check it out... waiting for your PM.

Tell all your buds!

Wasp & Hive?

Drop me an email.

Hmmm more wasp chips... yummy. Clam bake!

Samples?

Costs?

Random as you get right?

You can vote or not vote.

We have 1 EE working on the design for a prototype Avalon V1 Wasp more chips could be useful. We are also thinking about the Avalon V2 Chips as another EE in our group is also interested in that if you know others needing a project for their chips. Guys just contact me via email and I will get you in the Zoho Project page and you can poke around. Thanks for posting about us Warhawk.

Note we have a project meeting for EE's this Saturday on teamspeak you are more than welcome to join us and discuss the potential for getting in on our Avalon V1 Wasp prototype. We are quite keen on showing how multiple Wasp variants can be hashing on the same backplane (HIVE). You can probably get a Avalon Wasp up in December and in January you could add on A1 Wasps if they are ready and then in February when the Minions Wasps are ready you can add those. So not a bad way to get mining now and upgrade.

On a side note we were personally pretty lucky to get a full refund in our group buy on our Avalon Chips... sad how this all degraded so quickly into a crap pile because of Avalon. Anything we can do to help let me know. There are still a number of Klondike designs available and working right? Maybe you can also look at those DIY plans and pool your remaining chips to get that going. Anyhow whatever you do I wish you luck guys.

No one can really be equated to BFL other than Avalon I think at this point.

BFL are the 'REFUND DENIERS'.

-----------

Black Arrow? Well they do have a number of projects completed and shipped.
Do they have paypal and CC? Nope and that is a concern and if you have been burned by BFL and AVALON no sense getting burned potentially a 3rd time.

Does Black Arrow offer escrow in BTC? Maybe that is one angle you can work on and approach them with. I am not sure that they are trying to make CC and PayPal a reality or not or if their situation is such that would be easier or harder than say KnC had with their ability to provide CC and Paypal. However looking at what BFL did there are 0 guarantees even with CC and Paypal seeing as how BFL fights every refund request.

From what I can tell they have the engineers they can build an ASIC and whether or not they reach the finish line is a bet you have to take based on what you can learn from the specs they will post or have posted on the chips.

Any engineer worth their salt will be able to tell you if what they have designed is doable or where they might have huge issues. That could be a really good indicator for many on whether or not I would invest.

Again with any of this don't put in more than you are willing to lose.

http://www.relevantinsights.com/research-tools


Using these tools...

A sample size of 200 people, margin of error is 3.1% based on 100,000 customers.

Hmmm interesting.

Come join us... the more the merrier!

We are working on the firmware.


The Wasp Firmware Architecture

Summary

The Wasps are a collection of mining blades customized to individual hashing ASICs or FPGAs, all of which conform to a single architecture in firmware, communications protocols, and drivers. This document discusses the architecture and subsystems comprising the firmware on each Wasp. Any Wasp variant can be plugged into a Hive (backplane+power supply) beside other Wasps of different design, and all run simultaneously, communicating with one or more mining controller programs at the same time.

In addition, any Wasp can be the target of a remote debugger, or a maintenance program without affecting any other resident of the Hive.
Wasps are compound USB devices, with multiple endpoints in support of mining, configuration/management, In-System-Programming, field maintenance, diagnostics, and firmware debugging.

Firmware Objectives:

1. Safely start up the Wasp, controlling bus voltage sequencing, on-board configuration, power-controllers, hashing engines, monitoring subsystems, and USB (full speed, 12 Mb/s) communications with the mining controller.

2. Safely shut down the Wasp in the event of various continuously monitored problems being detected, including temperature excursions or bus voltage failures, or as a result of commands from the mining controller or the hot-plug button.

3. Interact with the mining controller's USB system to identify the Wasp type and capabilities.

4. Interact over USB with the mining controller to characterize the on-board hashers with regards to functionality, range of clocking, and total output, and collect that configuration data into a block of information passed to the mining controller as an opaque data block, as well as storing the parameters in resident non-volatile memory. On startup, we must be able to detect a valid configuration, or its lack, and adjust the various on-board resources accordingly.

5. Interact over USB with a program on the mining controller to provide diagnostic, logging, and maintenance operations.

6. Download and install firmware updates and hot-patches, and firmware "overlays" - temporary programs sent to the Wasp for specific, non-mining purposes.

7. Configure, command, and monitor the power-controllers on the Wasp.

8. Configure, command, and monitor the hashers on the Wasp.

9. Configure and monitor the environmental sensors on the Wasp.

10. Maintain a non-volatile log of actions and events, which can be requested by the mining controller or maintenance program, or which can be reported on a regular basis to those programs.

11. Perform comprehensive diagnostics and Built-In-Self-Test, displaying the summary results on LEDs and communicating those results through the USB connection.

12. Interact with the mining controller to generate staged local work items for the hashers, and present them over the SPI ports to the hashers. Queueing the local work items for those hashers able to maintain an internal queue must be supported.

13. Regularly poll the hashers for nonces found to meet the presentation criteria, re-construct the local work that resulted in those hashes, and present the resulting share submissions to the mining controller.

14 Interact with the mining controller to shift to new work items, once the controller has commanded a shift in the local work configuration. Introduce these new work items to the hashers with as little latency as possible.

15. Manage a cryptographically signed device certificate, for use in compatibility checking on firmware updates, as well as for licensing protection.


Firmware Subsystems:

... to see the rest on the document become a member on the Zoho Project Page.

-------------------------

Do you want to help work out the Firmware with us? PM or email me to join The Wasp Project Collective today.

The Wasp Firmware Architecture

Summary

The Wasps are a collection of mining blades customized to individual hashing ASICs or FPGAs, all of which conform to a single architecture in firmware, communications protocols, and drivers. This document discusses the architecture and subsystems comprising the firmware on each Wasp. Any Wasp variant can be plugged into a Hive (backplane+power supply) beside other Wasps of different design, and all run simultaneously, communicating with one or more mining controller programs at the same time.

In addition, any Wasp can be the target of a remote debugger, or a maintenance program without affecting any other resident of the Hive.
Wasps are compound USB devices, with multiple endpoints in support of mining, configuration/management, In-System-Programming, field maintenance, diagnostics, and firmware debugging.

Firmware Objectives:

1. Safely start up the Wasp, controlling bus voltage sequencing, on-board configuration, power-controllers, hashing engines, monitoring subsystems, and USB (full speed, 12 Mb/s) communications with the mining controller.

2. Safely shut down the Wasp in the event of various continuously monitored problems being detected, including temperature excursions or bus voltage failures, or as a result of commands from the mining controller or the hot-plug button.

3. Interact with the mining controller's USB system to identify the Wasp type and capabilities.

4. Interact over USB with the mining controller to characterize the on-board hashers with regards to functionality, range of clocking, and total output, and collect that configuration data into a block of information passed to the mining controller as an opaque data block, as well as storing the parameters in resident non-volatile memory. On startup, we must be able to detect a valid configuration, or its lack, and adjust the various on-board resources accordingly.

5. Interact over USB with a program on the mining controller to provide diagnostic, logging, and maintenance operations.

6. Download and install firmware updates and hot-patches, and firmware "overlays" - temporary programs sent to the Wasp for specific, non-mining purposes.

7. Configure, command, and monitor the power-controllers on the Wasp.

8. Configure, command, and monitor the hashers on the Wasp.

9. Configure and monitor the environmental sensors on the Wasp.

10. Maintain a non-volatile log of actions and events, which can be requested by the mining controller or maintenance program, or which can be reported on a regular basis to those programs.

11. Perform comprehensive diagnostics and Built-In-Self-Test, displaying the summary results on LEDs and communicating those results through the USB connection.

12. Interact with the mining controller to generate staged local work items for the hashers, and present them over the SPI ports to the hashers. Queueing the local work items for those hashers able to maintain an internal queue must be supported.

13. Regularly poll the hashers for nonces found to meet the presentation criteria, re-construct the local work that resulted in those hashes, and present the resulting share submissions to the mining controller.

14 Interact with the mining controller to shift to new work items, once the controller has commanded a shift in the local work configuration. Introduce these new work items to the hashers with as little latency as possible.

15. Manage a cryptographically signed device certificate, for use in compatibility checking on firmware updates, as well as for licensing protection.


Firmware Subsystems:

... to see the rest on the document become a member on the Zoho Project Page.

-------------------------

Do you want to help work out the Firmware with us? PM or email me to join The Wasp Project Collective today.

Yes pretty much agree with that sentiment... although if you want to keep that trust all those facets are required. At some point one of the ASIC fabricators will get that and do it.

We have our own solution with the wasp and hive with an add on that will supplement existing GPU miners but that is a few months away and yes easily any FPGA / ASIC scrypt hasher chip can be designed into a Wasp and easily slot into our system if we have the chip specs. I suspect as well we will not need to change software so you can literally run both Scrypt and SHa on the same unit. Of course that is just my layperson perspective I will ask the EE's for clarification on Saturday.

----
[edit]

Yes Dabs according to the EE it would be no problem. In fact we will likely develop a Wasp next year that mines scrypt coins. So keep watching.

I humbly submit that the company that is the least reliable in this poll does NOT do the following things... in fact in most cases they do the exact opposite.

Build Trust - Establish and maintain a positive track record in the marketplace.

Advertise Honestly - Adhere to established standards of advertising and selling.

Tell the Truth - Honestly represent products and services, including clear and adequate disclosures of all material terms.

Be Transparent - Openly identify the nature, location, and ownership of the business, and clearly disclose all policies, guarantees and procedures that bear on a customer’s decision to buy.

Honor Promises - Abide by all written agreements and verbal representations.

Be Responsive - Address marketplace disputes quickly, professionally, and in good faith.

Safeguard Privacy - Protect any data collected against mishandling and fraud, collect personal information only as needed, and respect the preferences of consumers regarding the use of their information.

Embody Integrity - Approach all business dealings, marketplace transactions and commitments with integrity.

20 days to a prototype? Possibly. I will just leave this here.

20 days to a prototype? Possibly. I will just leave this here.


http://www.onlinecountdowns.com/countdown-clock/show/Prototype%20Wasp%20Drops%7C52ab3d10%7C3

Voted for the Wasp Project...

Bias of course.

I think the poll should be reliable companies... not MOST reliable. We need more than just one reliable or most reliable we need MOST companies to be RELIABLE. Those that are not will be avoided.

--------

Reliable?

Bog standard definition: 'consistently good in quality or performance; able to be trusted.'

The things to look for that reliable companies will do:

1. Few incidents of delays in shipping.
2. Under promise and over deliver.
3. Follow truth in advertising guidelines.
4. Polite and concerned customer service people.
5. Company maintains an open line of communication with the community at all times.
6. They provide clear policy for refunds and REFUND upon request without delay.
7. Set a clear shipping date for miners.
8. Provide secure methods of payment that allow for the customer to be protected should there be any dispute.
9. Few complaints and those complaints are resolved to the ultimate satisfaction of the buyer in a very timely fashion.
10. The company will have reliable and experienced engineers designing the miner, chip and software / firmware.
11. Focus on reliability engineering where there is an emphasis of dependability in the lifecycle management of a product.
12. The shipped product doesn't require additional hours of tweaking and post engineering to get it mining optimally.


Here are some good things to think about when measuring the reliability of a hardware company here in Bitcointalk.

Does the company do these things? A simple Yes or No.

Build Trust - Establish and maintain a positive track record in the marketplace.

Advertise Honestly - Adhere to established standards of advertising and selling.

Tell the Truth - Honestly represent products and services, including clear and adequate disclosures of all material terms.

Be Transparent - Openly identify the nature, location, and ownership of the business, and clearly disclose all policies, guarantees and procedures that bear on a customer’s decision to buy.

Honor Promises - Abide by all written agreements and verbal representations.

Be Responsive - Address marketplace disputes quickly, professionally, and in good faith.

Safeguard Privacy - Protect any data collected against mishandling and fraud, collect personal information only as needed, and respect the preferences of consumers regarding the use of their information.

Embody Integrity - Approach all business dealings, marketplace transactions and commitments with integrity.