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Hardware Linux

Order Limit On Raspberry Pi Lifted 204

hypnosec writes "Raspberry Pi, the small $35 ARM-based computer system capable of running Linux that took the world of technology by storm just a few months back, has its order limit shackles removed as it has been revealed that manufacturers are now producing 4000 units per day. The Raspberry Pi Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the tiny computer, has said that RS Components and element14/Premier Farnell have started producing enough units to allow them to scrap the order limit on Raspberry Pi. In a blog post, the foundation made the announcement. Initially the limit of one unit per customer was placed in the light of limited stocks. Despite these limits, there was always a shortage and people had to wait for long time to get their hands on one of these credit card sized computers."
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Order Limit On Raspberry Pi Lifted

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  • Still waiting... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MMC Monster ( 602931 ) on Monday July 16, 2012 @08:40AM (#40662231)

    I ordered mine a while ago. Credit card was charged about 3 weeks ago. Still waiting on shipping information. :-(

    Not that I'm upset. It's obviously a toy computer for me. But it's Summer, and I want to play with my toy!

    (Planning on hooking up a couple external USB hard drives and using it as a low power NAS.)

    • by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Monday July 16, 2012 @08:42AM (#40662249) Homepage Journal

      Not only have I not ordered, but I haven't got an email saying that I can order. Maybe they should get through the back log before they start permitting people to try to order multiples...

      • Re:Still waiting... (Score:4, Informative)

        by bigtomrodney ( 993427 ) * on Monday July 16, 2012 @09:20AM (#40662555)
        If you ordered from RS, check your spam folder. They send their emails from odd domains in their control...for example their website is rswww.$TLD. However your email might be from sales@$TLD.radionics.com and within the email say it's coming from rsonline.

        Basically although they're a fantastic company to deal with they really do not have their head around managing their domains and are harming themselves by unintentionally sending a few spam triggers.
        • Thanks for the heads-up, but there's nothing applicable there.

          It sure would be nice if the R-Pi foundation could have found some competent resellers to do business with somewhere in the world.

          It would also be nice if shipping didn't cost more than I can get an Arduino bought and shipped for. That's not about competence, that's about greed on the part of the resellers they chose to work with.

      • When did you sign up? I did about three weeks ago. My email that allowed me to order came through today. I placed an order and sadly it said about 11 weeks to shipping. I can't imagine how backlogged it will be when they get larger orders coming through.

      • by mspohr ( 589790 )

        I signed up last week and received my order email today.

    • by jcgam69 ( 994690 )
      Works great as a NAS but be aware that the best bandwidth you can get is 1 MB/s
      • Re:Still waiting... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by GiMP ( 10923 ) on Monday July 16, 2012 @10:34AM (#40663245)

        The RaspberryPi actually seems to max at about 2MB/s per my tests at a 1500MTU, and over 4.4MB/s at 1492MTU.

        Many protocols such as SSH have high overhead, but a low-overhead protocol can expect these numbers.

        • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          The RaspberryPi actually seems to max at about 2MB/s per my tests at a 1500MTU, and over 4.4MB/s at 1492MTU.

          Many protocols such as SSH have high overhead, but a low-overhead protocol can expect these numbers.

          The problem is the "B" model's Ethernet port is really a USB-to-Ethernet adapter connected to the processor's USB host controller. Couple that with a relatively weak ARM11 processor (really that CPU is meant to drive the VideoCore 4 graphics processor - basically to feed the beast with data so customers

        • by jgrahn ( 181062 )

          The RaspberryPi actually seems to max at about 2MB/s per my tests at a 1500MTU, and over 4.4MB/s at 1492MTU.

          Sounds as if something is broken in your setup. The only reason for that huge difference is something which introduces IP fragmentation for pretty much every datagram.

          Many protocols such as SSH have high overhead, but a low-overhead protocol can expect these numbers.

          "Overhead" is maybe not the best term here. Compression and ciphering (i.e. CPU usage) easily becomes the bottleneck in bulk data transfer over ssh, but those are some of the features which make ssh attractive!

    • "Dispatch expected in 11 weeks"

      That's what the raspberry pi website says.

  • I wonder (Score:5, Funny)

    by marcello_dl ( 667940 ) on Monday July 16, 2012 @08:42AM (#40662251) Homepage Journal

    I wonder if they called the cap on raspberry orders... wait for it... the raspberry beret.

  • Dangit, couldn't you have waited to post the slashdot article until I had ordered mine?

    --Joe

  • by k(wi)r(kipedia) ( 2648849 ) on Monday July 16, 2012 @08:54AM (#40662333)
    Remember how the OLPC "inspired" Asus to bring out the EeePC and thus started the NetBook revolution (subsequently nipped by the iPad)? The EeePC being the beefier machine, even if the specs were underwhelming to the power user, Asus managed to steal the thunder and the sales away from the OLPC. Will the Raspberry Pi inspire a similar revolution in ultra-small form factor motherboards? I know my next motherboard won't be larger than mini-ITX, but I would be willing to shell a few extra bucks to have a full-powered, if not full-featured, desktop computer no larger than a consumer router.
    • Already here? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I just saw something that fits the small Android PC slot perfectly:
      http://www.fanlesstech.com/2012/07/minix-tv-box-h24.html
      Its an Android PC designed for TVs, but maybe ideal for my small PC needs, already can run Ubuntu, but I want it for Android.

      Or perhaps these will start appearing in boxes:
      http://www.fanlesstech.com/2012/07/worlds-first-tegra-3-mini-itx.html
      Mini format PC style motherboard, with PC spec, but Quad core Arm, running Android, supports up to 3 screens, HDMI, cheap.

    • VIA have already promoted the APC [ http://www.apc.io/ [www.apc.io] ] which was open for preorder and is now closed / sold-out. Although most of these devices, being simply bare boards, are completely unsuitable for domestic use and even more unsuitable for classroom use they might just make developers take the ARM / Linux platform seriously. I would hope that will be the takeaway from this whole initiative: that there's more to computing than PCs - oh, yeah, and apples too.
      • I checked the link you provided. Nice nano motherboard, along with a puzzling photo of the younger Jobs and Gates together and the following blurb!

        A Bicycle For Your Mind

        Like Jobs and Gates, we believe the PC is one of the most remarkable tools humans have ever created. Great tools improve with time. They don't go away

        Puzzling because the system is built to run a customized version's of Google's Linux-based Android OS. Maybe they should have included a photo of Torvalds or the Google dynamic duo?

        Besides,

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      One of the big pushes by vendors have been the HTPC segment. By the time you actually get a working rPi, with case and power supply, you've already matched prices with many of the Allwinner A10 based solutions. Not to mention, NO ONE gets an rPi for $35. Turns out $35 actually translates into $55 + $10 power + $15 case, for a total of roughly $85. You can get a superior solution for up to $20 less than that, delivered. On top of that, the A10 solutions frequently have real SATA, builtin in WIFI, a faster CP

      • Do you know where one can buy an A10 board? There are plenty of devices using it, but is there a board (it's ok to include case) available?

      • by Nadaka ( 224565 )

        I thought it was USB powered? I have, literally, a half dozen usb power supplies laying about.

      • by Hatta ( 162192 )

        Can I run Debian on the A10? With hardware floating point? Are binary blobs required? This is what is really needed to beat the RPi. I don't need more CPU or RAM or SATA, I need plain vanilla Debian and full use of the hardware.

        • If you want hardware accelerated graphics on an ARM SOC, you can practically forget anything resembling modern performance and Free drivers. Even the AOSP blessed Android Nexus devices require blobs. Add doors the Panda board, the Raspberry Pi, the Nokia N900, etc. If you find anything, let me know as I'd love to find a truly Free arm board.
        • by makomk ( 752139 )

          Can I run Debian on the A10? With hardware floating point? Are binary blobs required?

          On paper you should be able to - it's an ARM Cortex-A8 which is enough to run the Debian releases with hardware floating point, and you might even be able to get unaccelerated graphics working without using any blobs. Open source hardware acceleration is still stuck in the reverse-engineering stages.

      • by Alioth ( 221270 )

        I got mine for $35. I run it without a case. I already have a USB charger that came with my phone, and I always charge my phone from my computer anyway so I could just use that. The display is my old television via composite video. I already have an ethernet lead. I already have a spare USB keyboard. Actually the TV and the keyboard were both redundant once I had enabled ssh, I just use X11 forwarding over ssh.

      • Well, mine was $35 plus I think $6 shipping, I plugged it into a spare phone charger I had lying around and it currently has no case, but I was planning on using a cardboard box. I haven't even had to buy a cable for it. So yeah I really honestly did spend a whopping $41, nothing like $85 (seriously is that even much money?).

        Considering I was in the market for a HTPC and I was looking at AMD all-in-one fanless systems (~$150) with a nice case (~$150), I think I'm doing ok here.

    • by Xest ( 935314 )

      I don't really need a smaller motherboard, I'm only going to buy a medium size tower case anyway.

      What else will I use as a combined leg rest and heater in the winter under the desk otherwise?

      • by arth1 ( 260657 )

        What else will I use as a combined leg rest and heater in the winter under the desk otherwise?

        Isn't that what girlfriends are for?

        • by Khyber ( 864651 )

          This is slashdot. You can guarantee just about anyone with a UID over 900,000 is gay.

  • by MyLongNickName ( 822545 ) on Monday July 16, 2012 @09:04AM (#40662411) Journal

    The article summary says $35, but http://www.raspberrypi.org/ [raspberrypi.org] states $25. Which is accurate? Is there more than one model?

    • Never mind, I found it here http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs [raspberrypi.org]

      How much will it cost?

      The Model A will cost $25 and the Model B $35, plus local taxes.

    • Re:$35 or $25 (Score:5, Informative)

      by FrangoAssado ( 561740 ) on Monday July 16, 2012 @09:11AM (#40662479)

      Check the FAQ [raspberrypi.org]:

      The Model A will cost $25 and the Model B $35, plus local taxes.

      and

      Model A has been redesigned to have 256Mb RAM, one USB port and no Ethernet (network connection). Model B has 256Mb RAM, 2 USB port and an Ethernet port.

    • There are two models, the A (which hasn't been released yet) has a nominal price of $25 while the B has a nominal price of $35.

      However those nominal prices do not include shipping, tax or handling (the first two are understandable but the third seems a little slimy to me). The real all-in price here in the UK seems to be about £30.

    • The article summary says $35, but http://www.raspberrypi.org/ [raspberrypi.org] states $25. Which is accurate?

      its more like $45 and 10 week waiting time in reality.

    • They have to variants (model A and model B). The cheaper one was originally going to have 128Mb RAM (it will now have the same 256Mb). It will be missing a USB port (it will have one rather than two) and won't have any built-in networking (the model B has a 10/100 wired NIC). The Model A is not yet available at all though, so quoting the Pi as being a $25 machine is a little misleading for the time being.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by MetalliQaZ ( 539913 ) on Monday July 16, 2012 @09:36AM (#40662677)

    Since we're on the subject -- NetBSD is being ported to the RaspberryPi, despite all the roadblocks in place to do so. (RPi is not an open platform) It is booting to multiuser in test code. See hubertf's post [feyrer.de] on the subject. I intend to help test as soon as my unit arrives.

  • You know I want one. I want to support their non-profit, and its a cool thing but... and there is a big but....

    I just bought a few TP-Links. There is one you can get (wr700n) for about $15-25 (have to look around), can run Openwrt. With Ethernet, USB host, and Wifi, powered from a miniUSB.... is pretty damned close to a rasberry pi for a few bucks less...and its tiny.

  • This is such a cool toy - I wish I had something I need it for. I really do. Suggestions?

  • I bought and received mine from RS Online a little while ago (shipped to Canada). Great little toy. I first tried the basic recommended distro (I think it was Debian Squeeze). Little bit of fuss, but it didn't take much to get up and running with X and basically having a full-fledged desktop computer. A whole lot less hassle than your typical barebones Linux install. Then I made a modest goal of getting it up and running as a web server. I don't think it took me more than a couple hours from start to
    • by epp_b ( 944299 )
      Dang it, sorry about the text wall; that was supposed to be plain text, not HTML.
  • Lifting the restriction of people ordering multiples while most of us cant even get a email with news of availability and an average roumored 12 week lead time. Tucker sold more cars than they had as well, didnt work out for them, maybe having an item in stock doesnt matter as long as the money keeps rolling in.

    They should have fufilled their backorders before doing this, just another "sigh I dont want to even deal with these people anymore" move

Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them. - Oscar Wilde

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