The forum basically designed the single for BFL.
And, after the forum did all the extensive research, a pcb carrying the EP3SL150F780 chip ended up getting shipped to ngzhang.
It was claimed to be "broken." From the sound of it ngzhang had to hack the shit out of the board to probe the chip.
We'll never be sure if this was simply an altera chip on a pcb or an actual functioning product.
About the only thing I'd believe at this point, with the situation being so strange, is if someone like eldentyrell or ngzhang got their hands on a functioning BFL single.
Don't do these people's research for them. Don't post plausible designs the the forum. You're only making it more difficult to find out if this is a legitimate company by discussing their "products" in such depth.
Oh god you are so completely retarded. If you came up with that bullshit after reading all the info available to you on this forum, then I would have to say that your reading comprehension is, at best, not up to snuff.
I'll answer each point just once because you need some help in the research department:
The forum did
NOT design the Single for BFL. Where you heard this, I don't know. Citation please? They (BFL) suddenly appeared with a website and a promise of extraordinary performance, including a finished design. The performance claims were ripped to shit by the forum, and they eventually got around to building their design and found out that the cooling and power were insufficient. At no time did they even solicit design suggestions from the forum; all decisions were theirs alone.
During this design process, some high resolution photographs of the PCB and the chip were uploaded, and the folks here guessed based on those that the chips were EP3SL150 devices. This is before any of them shipped.
After that, they finally started shipping, and one of the units made their way into the hands of ngzhang. He did not have to "hack the shit out of it", he simply had to solder on a single resistor or jumper in order to reconnect the JTAG pins. After that it was as simple as hooking it up and reading the IDCODEs. There is no possible way that the chip on the board would have been something else; that would have required a board level redesign which would have been nothing more than a waste of time and a diversion. Replacing the chip on the board and retaining a functional or partially functional device without a board level redesign is highly unlikely to the point of being absurd.
And finally, even if ET or ngzhang were to verify the authenticity of a Single by saying they have one, you would just be there saying
they don't exist either. Why shouldn't anyone be informed about what they are getting? It requires professionals that know what they are doing to identify much of this stuff, it isn't something that 99% of the consumers can do.
Please shut up and stop bullshitting. You are only making yourself look more stupid.
