Alpha Technology Litecoin (Scrypt) ASIC Miner Order Batch 1 Now!

[edgar]

Yeah . Beat AT in court. 2 weeks to pay me back.Anybody have active account on alpha t forum? Can You send PM

Congrats!!

did they cough up payment??

[jrose120]

I get a security warning now when I try and go to their Forum. I can view the homepage okay, but when I click on the forum I get a security warning saying that the site certificate doesn't match. Who knows what's going on? It could be hackers redirecting traffic, or them trying to scare people away. Either way I'm glad their site is crippled.

[Mick666]

Greetings Miners

 We’re pleased to bring you a new update.

Thank you for your patience! We know it has taken a while for new details to come out, and offer our most sincere apologies for any inconvenience. We’re as eager as you to bring news when it is ready for release, and above all deliver your device.

 System Update

 The power consumption of the Viper device was estimated to be 10W for a core voltage of 1.2V and core frequency of 200MHz. This estimate was based on simulation results that kept a power down feature during idle cycles for the internal SRAM in consideration. However since mining is quite the continuous activity, the idle cycles could not contribute enough for lower power needs. As such, power consumption went to approximately 18W at full speed and frequency.

As per the initial calculations, the current requirement for the core voltage was less than 9A per Viper device ( 10W / 1.2V = 8.33A ). The initial prototype was designed with a 50A power module from a leading semiconductor manufacturer for 4 Viper devices (4 x 9A = < 50A), keeping room for some over-clocking possibilities. Since the power consumption changed to 18W, the current required also changed to 15A per device which would require at least 60A for 4 Viper devices. We also noticed some voltage dips on the core voltage rail of around 200mV during the start of computation of one Viper device, this could affect the working of another Viper device connected to the same voltage rail. To cater to such requirements, single modules were pretty expensive. In order to save cost and do some more optimizations, another new design was created. It uses 15A power modules from another leading semiconductor manufacturer for each Viper device. However these devices have been behaving a little erratic and we have found them unstable during our QC tests.

The design is currently getting reviewed and failure analysis is being done by the experts at the power supply company. We are waiting for their response so we can get the correction done. A parallel design is also being done with another power supply having 20A capacity. We have tested the software, and the functionality is working properly which really pleases us. After this last issue gets sorted out, the bulk production can start and shipment will follow.

 ASIC Update

 A few sample Viper devices were tested to identify issues with PLL, IOs, memory etc. with the test vectors generated. Devices were tested and categorized into those that pass and fail. When the same devices were tested with the ZIF socket board, the results observed with these devices were different. Devices which were marked as pass did not pass the functional test completely when tested with the ZIF socket. A few devices passed the functional test with the ZIF socket board and a few failed. Test vectors were updated to include BIST (built-in self-test) to identify device which pass and fail functionally.

On further analysis of the results observed with the tester, the ZIF socket and the test vector simulation results, it was found that the tester has a higher voltage drop and configuration of Viper PLL via JTAG with the tester not working properly. Test vectors were updated to configure PLL over UART and shipped back to test house along with the devices for a re-test. By using the new test vector and increasing the core voltage with the tester, test results of the ZIF socket board and the tester started matching properly. In short, this issue is now under control and it is being worked on as fast as we can.

We are sorry shipment has not yet occurred. We very much appreciate the situation and are working our hardest to deliver the best product possible with the resources we have available.  We would like to reiterate our previous statement that all we can do is reward your patience with a product that is ready and optimized instead of rushing and then deliver potentiality faulty and under-performing hardware. We know you are eagerly waiting to get your hands on these devices, we share this enthusiasm and are quite impatient ourselves to start shipping, and hope you can understand we’re not here to take the easy way out: but deliver a high-quality well-thought of and well tested device.  We are still providing the various enhancements to the final specifications of the devices including a 10 times increase of the hash rate. We plan to e-mail all customers as soon as we have the shipping date, but we cannot estimate one at this time. All we can say is that once we have these last issues resolved and assembly has started, shipment will follow as soon as possible afterwards. We already have our chip quantity in stock, so there will be no need for us to wait for chips. That stage has now been completed.

On that note, we’d like to express our gratitude for your immense patience and confidence, and extend our sincerest apologies for the annoying delays whilst this machine is being engineered to perfection. We know it seems that every month there is delay after delay, but please understand that development is outsourced and we are genuinely passing on information we are being told by the technical teams working on the project as it comes in.

We do our best to speed the process up and finalize the devices.

Stay tuned! We hope, and are fairly confident, that our next message will be that mass-production has started and be able to inform you that shipping will be underway.

Thank you!

Best Regards,
Mohamed Akram

[Flep182]

So in basic terms they started redesigning the main part of the miners again

[Zeta0S]

Greetings Miners

 We’re pleased to bring you a new update.

Thank you for your patience! We know it has taken a while for new details to come out, and offer our most sincere apologies for any inconvenience. We’re as eager as you to bring news when it is ready for release, and above all deliver your device.

 System Update

 The power consumption of the Viper device was estimated to be 10W for a core voltage of 1.2V and core frequency of 200MHz. This estimate was based on simulation results that kept a power down feature during idle cycles for the internal SRAM in consideration. However since mining is quite the continuous activity, the idle cycles could not contribute enough for lower power needs. As such, power consumption went to approximately 18W at full speed and frequency.

As per the initial calculations, the current requirement for the core voltage was less than 9A per Viper device ( 10W / 1.2V = 8.33A ). The initial prototype was designed with a 50A power module from a leading semiconductor manufacturer for 4 Viper devices (4 x 9A = < 50A), keeping room for some over-clocking possibilities. Since the power consumption changed to 18W, the current required also changed to 15A per device which would require at least 60A for 4 Viper devices. We also noticed some voltage dips on the core voltage rail of around 200mV during the start of computation of one Viper device, this could affect the working of another Viper device connected to the same voltage rail. To cater to such requirements, single modules were pretty expensive. In order to save cost and do some more optimizations, another new design was created. It uses 15A power modules from another leading semiconductor manufacturer for each Viper device. However these devices have been behaving a little erratic and we have found them unstable during our QC tests.

The design is currently getting reviewed and failure analysis is being done by the experts at the power supply company. We are waiting for their response so we can get the correction done. A parallel design is also being done with another power supply having 20A capacity. We have tested the software, and the functionality is working properly which really pleases us. After this last issue gets sorted out, the bulk production can start and shipment will follow.

 ASIC Update

 A few sample Viper devices were tested to identify issues with PLL, IOs, memory etc. with the test vectors generated. Devices were tested and categorized into those that pass and fail. When the same devices were tested with the ZIF socket board, the results observed with these devices were different. Devices which were marked as pass did not pass the functional test completely when tested with the ZIF socket. A few devices passed the functional test with the ZIF socket board and a few failed. Test vectors were updated to include BIST (built-in self-test) to identify device which pass and fail functionally.

On further analysis of the results observed with the tester, the ZIF socket and the test vector simulation results, it was found that the tester has a higher voltage drop and configuration of Viper PLL via JTAG with the tester not working properly. Test vectors were updated to configure PLL over UART and shipped back to test house along with the devices for a re-test. By using the new test vector and increasing the core voltage with the tester, test results of the ZIF socket board and the tester started matching properly. In short, this issue is now under control and it is being worked on as fast as we can.

We are sorry shipment has not yet occurred. We very much appreciate the situation and are working our hardest to deliver the best product possible with the resources we have available.  We would like to reiterate our previous statement that all we can do is reward your patience with a product that is ready and optimized instead of rushing and then deliver potentiality faulty and under-performing hardware. We know you are eagerly waiting to get your hands on these devices, we share this enthusiasm and are quite impatient ourselves to start shipping, and hope you can understand we’re not here to take the easy way out: but deliver a high-quality well-thought of and well tested device.  We are still providing the various enhancements to the final specifications of the devices including a 10 times increase of the hash rate. We plan to e-mail all customers as soon as we have the shipping date, but we cannot estimate one at this time. All we can say is that once we have these last issues resolved and assembly has started, shipment will follow as soon as possible afterwards. We already have our chip quantity in stock, so there will be no need for us to wait for chips. That stage has now been completed.

On that note, we’d like to express our gratitude for your immense patience and confidence, and extend our sincerest apologies for the annoying delays whilst this machine is being engineered to perfection. We know it seems that every month there is delay after delay, but please understand that development is outsourced and we are genuinely passing on information we are being told by the technical teams working on the project as it comes in.

We do our best to speed the process up and finalize the devices.

Stay tuned! We hope, and are fairly confident, that our next message will be that mass-production has started and be able to inform you that shipping will be underway.

Thank you!

Best Regards,
Mohamed Akram

lol

[jadefalke]

wow so antoher 3 Month at least ;(

[FreeJack2k]

That update was posted in early April...lol.

[Flep182]

That update was posted in early April...lol.

So only 2 months left for deliveryupdates!

[FreeJack2k]

And by the way...this month last year, they were taking "final payments" because shipment would be happening within 8-10 weeks. Good times, good times.

[ninjaboon]

I wonder is the Project Manager for this gigantic project?

[cisengineer]

So in basic terms they started redesigning the main part of the miners again

...and decreased efficiency by 80%. Can't wait!!

[Flep182]

So in basic terms they started redesigning the main part of the miners again

...and decreased efficiency by 80%. Can't wait!!

That's the current plan. Who says they're not going to do a fivefold in hashingcapacity just before they're ready for shipping?

[Zeta0S]

UK Silicon Valley

 

[FreeJack2k]

That's the current plan. Who says they're not going to do a fivefold in hashingcapacity just before they're ready for shipping?

LOL...the chips are the chips. They consume the power they consume. MOST people are not going to have the available power for an increase in hashrate. In fact, the larger Viper won't even be able to run in most American homes, I think. Not without a mess of extension cords.

[Flep182]

We would like to once again thank you all for your patience during this final period. Be assured we are near shipment with just a few more steps to finish. We wanted to give you a quick but significant update on the progress of the miners; we have completed our prototype of the smaller device. It is important to note it natively hashes at 1Mh/s per chip with 3 cards and will overall hash at 35/36Mh/s. However, the software will allow you to over-clock it so you will be able to bring it to 50Mh/s immediately (as shown in the video). We are now just finishing work on the larger device and once it is done we will do some quick work on efficiency increases, and then we will be ready for mass manufacturing with shipment directly after. We anticipate shipment will be no later than July though we cannot promise a date yet and will update you as soon as we have that information. For now you may view a video demonstration of the 50Mh/s device and our software:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Efyf7ZTfHfY19ZQjdSc0Zvem8/view?pli=1
Best Regards,
Mohammed Akram
Director

In the email! With a video. That I'm now going to check.

Would be nice to have it mine for a day on a pool with visible stats. Like Clevermining or so. So people can really see it "running".

[retro72]

We would like to once again thank you all for your patience during this final period. Be assured we are near shipment with just a few more steps to finish. We wanted to give you a quick but significant update on the progress of the miners; we have completed our prototype of the smaller device. It is important to note it natively hashes at 1Mh/s per chip with 3 cards and will overall hash at 35/36Mh/s. However, the software will allow you to over-clock it so you will be able to bring it to 50Mh/s immediately (as shown in the video). We are now just finishing work on the larger device and once it is done we will do some quick work on efficiency increases, and then we will be ready for mass manufacturing with shipment directly after. We anticipate shipment will be no later than July though we cannot promise a date yet and will update you as soon as we have that information. For now you may view a video demonstration of the 50Mh/s device and our software:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Efyf7ZTfHfY19ZQjdSc0Zvem8/view?pli=1
Best Regards,
Mohammed Akram
Director

So its actually a 35mh/s miner that you can overclock to 50mh/s  . On the plus side they may meet their July shipping date. Just a year later than promised.

These guys have got some brass balls.

[cisengineer]

We would like to once again thank you all for your patience during this final period. Be assured we are near shipment with just a few more steps to finish. We wanted to give you a quick but significant update on the progress of the miners; we have completed our prototype of the smaller device. It is important to note it natively hashes at 1Mh/s per chip with 3 cards and will overall hash at 35/36Mh/s. However, the software will allow you to over-clock it so you will be able to bring it to 50Mh/s immediately (as shown in the video). We are now just finishing work on the larger device and once it is done we will do some quick work on efficiency increases, and then we will be ready for mass manufacturing with shipment directly after. We anticipate shipment will be no later than July though we cannot promise a date yet and will update you as soon as we have that information. For now you may view a video demonstration of the 50Mh/s device and our software:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Efyf7ZTfHfY19ZQjdSc0Zvem8/view?pli=1
Best Regards,
Mohammed Akram
Director

So its actually a 35mh/s miner that you can overclock to 50mh/s  . On the plus side they may meet their July shipping date. Just a year later than promised.

These guys have got some brass balls.

80% less efficient and 43% less powerful than promised and only a year late. What'll they think of next? Perhaps they can demand triple payment?

[FreeJack2k]

LOL...man, this guy is a piece of work. He doesn't think he should be required to refund anyone's money, even though they're delivering a year later than promised and the hardware they're delivering is less powerful and efficient than advertised. No, Mohammed...when you advertise a device at 50MH/s, that doesn't mean "after overclocking" unless you SPECIFICALLY define that in the advertising, which you didn't do. People were expecting a 50MH/s device that they could THEN overlock, potentially.

It blows my mind how sleazy this guy and his operation are.

[Flep182]

LOL...man, this guy is a piece of work. He doesn't think he should be required to refund anyone's money, even though they're delivering a year later than promised and the hardware they're delivering is less powerful and efficient than advertised. No, Mohammed...when you advertise a device at 50MH/s, that doesn't mean "after overclocking" unless you SPECIFICALLY define that in the advertising, which you didn't do. People were expecting a 50MH/s device that they could THEN overlock, potentially.

It blows my mind how sleazy this guy and his operation are.

I see your point but nah. If I'm correct they advertised a 5 Mh/s machine. Plus if you want to take legal action, you'd have to convince a judge that pre-ordering a machine that only existed in concept and getting something X times faster (and, absolutely, very late) is a breach of contract.

[SimonBeCoinin]

LOL...man, this guy is a piece of work. He doesn't think he should be required to refund anyone's money, even though they're delivering a year later than promised and the hardware they're delivering is less powerful and efficient than advertised. No, Mohammed...when you advertise a device at 50MH/s, that doesn't mean "after overclocking" unless you SPECIFICALLY define that in the advertising, which you didn't do. People were expecting a 50MH/s device that they could THEN overlock, potentially.

It blows my mind how sleazy this guy and his operation are.

I see your point but nah. If I'm correct they advertised a 5 Mh/s machine. Plus if you want to take legal action, you'd have to convince a judge that pre-ordering a machine that only existed in concept and getting something X times faster (and, absolutely, very late) is a breach of contract.

In the UK you have a right to a full refund any time up to 7 days after deliver.  That right is absolute.

These guys tried to fight it, but have been getting their asses handed to them in court to this point.

I can't figure how anyone could not be demanding their $$$$ back as per consumer law.  I pulled mine back almost a year ago now and it would seem there is still the option to file if people haven't already done so.