Liquid Synergy Designs Inc. -ASIC mining hardware

[bcabes]

Has anyone seen this article claiming specs for Avalon Gen2?
http://thegenesisblock.com/avalon-announces-gen2-specs-7-5-ths-prize-open-source-board-design/

The claim the chips will be 1-1.5 GH/s

I'll be damned if SB uses my assembly parts to build ANYTHING from Avalon without refunding me the full cost first.

Possibly the worst part of this entire thing is that SB has lost ALL credibility with me. That unfortunate fact makes the idea of buying Avalon Gen 2 chips for him to assemble intolerable to me. I'd rather lose my entire assembly costs than give Avalon OR SB another penny.

It's really too bad. I thought Steamboat was offering hands down the best group buy and assembly option. I still can't believe Steamboat frittered away our trust by continually making the SAME mistake others have made. He even recognized the communication problem, but didn't fix it. Doh!

Communication really is key. Poor communication loses customers. Period.

Unfortunately I have come to accept that a full assembly refund is not an option. I don't think that Steamboat is legally obligated to anything although many people on these forums will claim otherwise. I too am very frustrated with the lack of communication, but to me it comes down to make an financial decision as to whether the 25% assembly refund that has been thrown around or going with Gen2 will result the most money. If I were to purse the Gen2 option it would be Avalon that I would be more weary of.

[cardcomm]

Has anyone seen this article claiming specs for Avalon Gen2?
http://thegenesisblock.com/avalon-announces-gen2-specs-7-5-ths-prize-open-source-board-design/

The claim the chips will be 1-1.5 GH/s

I'll be damned if SB uses my assembly parts to build ANYTHING from Avalon without refunding me the full cost first.

Possibly the worst part of this entire thing is that SB has lost ALL credibility with me. That unfortunate fact makes the idea of buying Avalon Gen 2 chips for him to assemble intolerable to me. I'd rather lose my entire assembly costs than give Avalon OR SB another penny.

It's really too bad. I thought Steamboat was offering hands down the best group buy and assembly option. I still can't believe Steamboat frittered away our trust by continually making the SAME mistake others have made. He even recognized the communication problem, but didn't fix it. Doh!

Communication really is key. Poor communication loses customers. Period.

Unfortunately I have come to accept that a full assembly refund is not an option. I don't think that Steamboat is legally obligated to anything although many people on these forums will claim otherwise. I too am very frustrated with the lack of communication, but to me it comes down to make an financial decision as to whether the 25% assembly refund that has been thrown around or going with Gen2 will result the most money. If I were to purse the Gen2 option it would be Avalon that I would be more weary of.

I've seen a lot of folks state that refunds for assembly are not an option, and that "no refunds" was a term of assembly purchase. I took screen shots of essentially every page during the purchase of assembly. At no point did it state "No Refunds". In fact, that wording does not seem to exist on the LSD website anywhere.

I'd be interested in what I'm apparently missing that stated "No Refunds". Can someone point out where it said that? I may be having a brain malfunction and just can't "see" it for some reason. 

[steamboat]

Chip refunds:
The majority of the eligible chip refunds have been processed, with the remainder to be sent tonight. We received enough requests to process 4 batches of refunds. To date, there still have not been enough requests to fulfill the fifth batch. Of the remaining two batches, we have processed and additional 200 BTC worth of chips using our own funds. Those who have submitted a refund request which cannot be fulfilled will be contacted shortly regarding their order.

Chip status:
Batch 1 and 2 have arrived, and have been sent to the assembly house. Those with a chip only order will be sent an email shortly confirming their information. Shipping will be provided free of charge for all chip only purchases.
Update:

Assembly status:
We have successfully determined the source of the hardware issues, as well as a portion of the software/firmware conflicts, and are now hashing on all 16 chips at 4.6-4.8GH/s, at 350mhz. We are still receiving high hardware error rates, which we believe is a combination of the on board PIC and suboptimal firmware, and are in the process of optimizing the driver to reduce the error rates. Overclocking testing has also shown the thermal vias were not being fully filled due to the way they were designed. The assembly house has developed a two-step process to address this, and will be ready to assemble today pending final verification after we have tested and approved the process. During testing the 3.3v regulator was operating over spec, using more amps than it is rated for. While the unit functions and the component appears to be stable, we have chosen to replace it in order to ensure there are no failures during extended long term operation.

There are several firmware issues which need to be addressed before the units are ready for end use. The first priority is a USB bootloader. This is necessary to flash the units with firmware updates via USB without the need for additional hardware and software. Additionally, there is an issue with cgminer which does not allow multiple units to be connected to the same instance without severe performance degradation. This is not essential to shipping the units so long as the USB bootloader is properly programmed, but does increase the amount of time required to test the units as the ktest utility remains unfinished. We are also working on auto-serialization code to allow us to step-program the units with a unique serial number without the need to rebuild the hex file for each board. Lowest on the priority list is I2C implementation to allow chaining between boards. While it greatly reduces the amount of USB cables and hubs necessary to connect multiple units, it is not necessary for the unit to function.

Assembly refunds:
We will be releasing information as soon as we can regarding assembly refunds. We understand you are anxious to receive your refunds, and we are working on it. Our first priority is fulfilling our obligations to those customers who have chosen to receive their units. This unfortunately is not a process we can rush. Please continue to be patient with us as we work to catch up.

I would like to devote more time to explaining in more detail where we are in the process, how we plan to proceed, and provide more timely updates, but there simply is not enough time. Our silence does not mean we are not doing anything. Quite to the contrary, we are working overtime, and have been for quite some time, to make the best of this situation. I have to cut this update short because the assembly house is awaiting final testing to begin production, but felt it could not wait any longer. A more detailed update will be sent as soon as possible describing the process and how to proceed from here.

[Xian01]

Just read through that email. I know I submitted a refund for 288 chips in Batch 5 on the 19th of September, and by the sound of it, I'm not eligible to have a refund ? If so, does that mean my batch 5 order has effectively been moved down to the 20,000 chips you have on-hand, and should expect something to be shipped out imminently ?

Thanks for the communique.

[eroxors]

Thanks, SB. Looking forward to receiving either a refund or units, depending on where my refund fell.

I assume that batches 4,5 and 6 were refunded in addition to your batch. Has batch 3 shipped or is there still time to gather the required refunds to cancel it?

[TracerX]

...

I would like to devote more time to explaining in more detail where we are in the process, how we plan to proceed, and provide more timely updates, but there simply is not enough time. Our silence does not mean we are not doing anything. Quite to the contrary, we are working overtime, and have been for quite some time, to make the best of this situation. I have to cut this update short because the assembly house is awaiting final testing to begin production, but felt it could not wait any longer. A more detailed update will be sent as soon as possible describing the process and how to proceed from here.

Thanks for the info, Steamboat, I look forward to getting our unit!

[ionstorm]

yay bitcointalk back up, hope steamboat got some news for us...

[Unacceptable]

He's got some chips & is putting together boards as fast as he can 

And he's got all 16 chips working,but is still debugging firmware 

Not sure how many batches missed the refund though,but he is doing the refunds 

[SteveB]

I sent refund request for batch 2 chips on September 19. No response yet.

I'm still waiting for my refund.

[cardcomm]

Well, sounds like he has a lot to tell us. It's great that the forum if back up. I'm sure SB will post an update very shortly...

[chadtn]

I sent refund request for batch 2 chips on September 19. No response yet.

I'm still waiting for my refund.

I never got an e-mail about a refund and I'm still waiting on Steamboat to reply to the one I sent him.  : (

Chad

[bigtimespaghetti]

Anyone who was cut off want to sell 10 of their units? Please message me with offers if you're interested.

Edit: Also I'm based in the UK.

[rammy2k2]

still waiting for my refund

[ionstorm]

Refunds are done, all chips hashing, they are working on USB bootloader so we can update firmware.  Expect an update from steamboat imminently, hopefully we see our f16s ship soon

[newmars]

still waiting for a refund ...

[ik2013]

Refund requested +14 days ago, not received and I have not received an email either saying that I am not eligible. Can't say I am surprised. So Steamboat, who do we have working on the firmware issues? The USB bootloader is very important, hopefully you guys can have that finished quickly...I'd rather not get something worth less than a paperweight by the time the code is finished...

[paulthetafy]

Okay can someone please explain why some people have not had refunds?  I put my refund in - not sure when but guess it was a few days after the email - and have heard nothing since. So why am I not eligible and WTF happens now?  I get a paperweight because I didn't reply to my email quick enough?

[cardcomm]

Okay can someone please explain why some people have not had refunds?  I put my refund in - not sure when but guess it was a few days after the email - and have heard nothing since. So why am I not eligible and WTF happens now?  I get a paperweight because I didn't reply to my email quick enough?

I think what happens now is that we wait for Steamboat to give us an update. There are a LOT of questions, including why some people haven't gotten refunds, the status of the boards and manufacturing, and the status of the assembly refund requests.

Given that this forum has been down for a few days, I'D EXPECT STEAMBOAT TO GIVE US AN UPDATE VERY, VERY SOON. As in - he should have done so already. It's getting REALLY tiresome always wondering what the hell is going on, and begging for updates.

[chadtn]

Does anyone have direct contact with Steamboat...as in a phone number or address?  Seems like someone stopped by to take pictures a while back.  Could we get that same person to pop back by there and ask him for an official update?  I never received an e-mail about refunds, the e-mail I sent through the website was never replied to, and I don't think there has been any communication in a few weeks now.  To top all of that off the forum was down for close to a week and we still haven't heard anything back from him.

Chad

[nightengale]

Again, John K has his info. SB volunteered it, or at least that's what one of his thrice weekly updates claimed a while back.