New BFL update. 25 February 2013.

[repentance]

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/announcements/692-bfl-asic-status-2.html#post16043

New estimated shipping date.

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/bfl-forum-miscellaneous/1163-february-25th-2012-update-discussion-thread-2.html#post16081

[thepwnorbpwnd]

What now? lol How many more updates will BFL put out in the next year? 

[Korbman]

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/announcements/692-bfl-asic-status-2.html#post16043

I figured another delay would more than likely be the case. Maybe they'll start shipping by the end of March if "all goes well"?

[ThickAsThieves]

BFL takes refunds for anyone who ordered in 2013, I'm told.

Customers could probably take the money and buy some SDICE shares or something, and make more BTC than whenever those ASIC machines show up...

[creativex]

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/announcements/692-bfl-asic-status-2.html#post16043

I figured another delay would more than likely be the case. Maybe they'll start shipping by the end of March if "all goes well"?

Has anything ever gone well for BFL? No doubt a lengthy string of really good luck is right around the corner.

Seems strange that they'd delay five months and then choose to render 16% of their first batch of chips unusable to pick up a week or two(hopefully), but they're the self proclaimed experts.

[Dalkore]

Not a fun update.  

[bam91]

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/announcements/692-bfl-asic-status-2.html#post16043

I figured another delay would more than likely be the case. Maybe they'll start shipping by the end of March if "all goes well"?

End of march seems possible.

[Xian01]

I guess this means two more weeks of Josh piss-warring with Micon in the Gambling sub.

[johnyj]

They did handle with quite a lot of transparency, this is professional, seems that they could ship a well tested unit before the end of March

ASICMINER has low effect on network difficulty, if Avalon do not ship as fast as they promised, BFL will catch up quickly

[Phinnaeus Gage]

We had expected the bumping to be done by now, as per the previous update(s). That has not been completed yet. There are a number of reasons why this is the case, and we are not pleased with any of them. The bumping facility, which we have no direct contact with, did not complete the NRE on the timeline we had spoke to the packaging facility about.

Week of January 26th

* Leave for fab/bumping facility at the end of the week
* KC facility starts assembly process of units to drop PCB into Units being prepped!

We have changed our bumping facility from the left coast to the right coast (North Carolina), so we may have the 6 wafers overnighted via courier to the bumping facility vs me picking them up and couriering them myself, although I will be meeting them at the bumping facility and making sure they don't sit around for a couple days while some guy eats and egg salad sandwich and wonders why there's a "priority!" box on his desk.

From I will leave for the bumping facility, to I will be meeting with them, to we are not in contact with them (I assume implying third party contractor).

Sorry, Josh, but a minor diss here, bud. Look forward to clarification.

~Bruno K~

[ldrgn]

Thanks for copying over updates from the BFL forum.

[repentance]

From I will leave for the bumping facility, to I will be meeting with them, to we are not in contact with them (I assume implying third party contractor).

From what Josh has posted, it's the packaging facility which is dealing with the bumping facility.  Changing the bumping facility quite late in the game might have created issues, too.  It's not like all these facilities sit around doing nothing all week just hoping for piddly little rush orders to come in.  BFL might be a large vendor in a very small pond but they're a tiny little fish in the massive customer ocean.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

From I will leave for the bumping facility, to I will be meeting with them, to we are not in contact with them (I assume implying third party contractor).

From what Josh has posted, it's the packaging facility which is dealing with the bumping facility.  Changing the bumping facility quite late in the game might have created issues, too.  It's not like all these facilities sit around doing nothing all week just hoping for piddly little rush orders to come in.  BFL might be a large vendor in a very small pond but they're a tiny little fish in the massive customer ocean.

You are absolutely correct, although the key word is although:

...,although I will be meeting them at the bumping facility and making sure...

I can't tell a customer of mine that their barn wood will be on time even if I have to go to the barn to accelerate the process, when my subcontractor supplier doesn't let me know which barn he's procuring the barn wood from.

[repentance]

I can't tell a customer of mine that their barn wood will be on time even if I have to go to the barn to accelerate the process, when my subcontractor supplier doesn't let me know which barn he's procuring the barn wood from.

It sounds like they do know which bumping facility is involved, though, as they made the choice to switch from one in North Carolina to one in California.  While it sounds like there's a hell of a communication breakdown, it also sounds like BFL "didn't know what they didn't know".

There's not really any reason for the packaging facility to assume their client has never heard of a blank alignment wafer and won't be supplying one.  It's possible that the first either the packaging facility or the bumping facility learned about that was when the wafers arrived at the bumping facility.  It's like trying to hurry up the printers when you failed to supply them with the artwork for your job.  Now is the time to make sure that they know exactly what is needed for the remaining steps so they're not delayed by something BFL didn't take into account.

[Syke]

I hereby once again challenge Bryan Micon to a 100 BTC or 2000 BTC (or any number in between) wager that BFL will deliver ASICs in 2013 in escrow.

New ETA is end of 2013. LOL.

[repentance]

I hereby once again challenge Bryan Micon to a 100 BTC or 2000 BTC (or any number in between) wager that BFL will deliver ASICs in 2013 in escrow.

New ETA is end of 2013. LOL.

It's a shame the 1000 BTC donation to charity is if they miss their power targets, not their shipping date.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I can't tell a customer of mine that their barn wood will be on time even if I have to go to the barn to accelerate the process, when my subcontractor supplier doesn't let me know which barn he's procuring the barn wood from.

It sounds like they do know which bumping facility is involved, though, as they made the choice to switch from one in North Carolina to one in California.  While it sounds like there's a hell of a communication breakdown, it also sounds like BFL "didn't know what they didn't know".

There's not really any reason for the packaging facility to assume their client has never heard of a blank alignment wafer and won't be supplying one.  It's possible that the first either the packaging facility or the bumping facility learned about that was when the wafers arrived at the bumping facility.  It's like trying to hurry up the printers when you failed to supply them with the artwork for your job.  Now is the time to make sure that they know exactly what is needed for the remaining steps so they're not delayed by something BFL didn't take into account.

Are you sure you don't have it backwards?

We have changed our bumping facility from the left coast to the right coast (North Carolina),

Unless one's looking at a map of the US from, let's say Oz, the left coast butts up to the Pacific Ocean like California does, and the right coast butts up to the Atlantic Ocean like North Carolina does.

[repentance]

Are you sure you don't have it backwards?

We have changed our bumping facility from the left coast to the right coast (North Carolina),

Unless one's looking at a map of the US from, let's say Oz, the left coast butts up to the Pacific Ocean like California does, and the right coast butts up to the Atlantic Ocean like North Carolina does.

I likely do Phinn, there've been so many changes I've lost track.

Josh has been sucked into giving an estimated shipping date yet again.  Saturday 9 March.

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/bfl-forum-miscellaneous/1163-february-25th-2012-update-discussion-thread-2.html#post16081

It would have been better to refrain from giving an estimated shipping date until testing and packaging are complete.

Now people are going to start asking how many of each unit are going to be in the (reduced) Batch 1, when they're going to get an email about their preferred shipping method, when they should send back their FPGAs, and all that other shit all over again.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Are you sure you don't have it backwards?

We have changed our bumping facility from the left coast to the right coast (North Carolina),

Unless one's looking at a map of the US from, let's say Oz, the left coast butts up to the Pacific Ocean like California does, and the right coast butts up to the Atlantic Ocean like North Carolina does.

I likely do Phinn, there've been so many changes I've lost track.

Josh has been sucked into giving an estimated shipping date yet again.  Saturday 9 March.

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/bfl-forum-miscellaneous/1163-february-25th-2012-update-discussion-thread-2.html#post16081

It would have been better to refrain from giving an estimated shipping date until testing and packaging are complete.

Now people are going to start asking how many of each unit are going to be in the (reduced) Batch 1, when they're going to get an email about their preferred shipping method, when they should send back their FPGAs, and all that other shit all over again.

Sometimes I feel like I'm a character trapped in a developing screenplay with the working title One Flew Over the Butterfly Net written in the unreliable narrative voice.

[DutchBrat]

This whole update makes no sense:

The BFL ASIC project is 4 months overdue after an initial estimate of 4 months. That's a 100% delay.

Now to shave of a couple of days (1 week the most) they sacrifice/screw-over 1/6th of the pre-orders. Makes no sense at all !!!

If the bumping facility really has the chips bumped and ready for testing by Friday (as they imply for the projected start of deliveries is March 9th) then there is really no need to burn, i.e. destroy 1 whole wafer. 1.000 chips less for the 1st month pre-orders....

Now if it will take another whole month before the bumping is ready there might be a case made to do so..... to speed up the process of the wafers remaining at the foundry....

So either it's a really bad business decision on the part of BFL or the bumping is long from being completed and we will read so in the next update...

As always to be continued....