In the talk a VM was announced to test the L5 software stack… What do I need on my laptop as host with FreeBSD to run this VM? Qemu? Is the guest in the VM armf or x86_64?
Guru has a point. This is hardware you guys are talking about in Q3. I don’t think they’re going to change anything in this board at this point. It would be a great opportunity por Purism to write an update in “News & Events” explaining things about this board so people get it right. If this info was secret data it should not be accesible to anyone outside Purism. It seems to be important for many here so why not write a post about it?
1 Like
Yes, and I’m all for that. But, it’s about timing: we wanting it now might not be the best thing for the overall. Any amount they tell us will not suffice - there are always questions - and that time explaining is away from something else. Besides, we mulled over this a weekend on our spare time, they hopefully had time off from work, so it only seems this conversation has taken long without input. But, again, maybe someone will have and take a moment to say something (like laughing at our misinformed imaginitive musings - we should have had some sort of bingo-type thing going on and see who got it closest 
). It just might come within a week. At least that is my hope - could take longer.
2 Likes
I reckon you could go up a size and get some AAs in there.
1 Like
I got curious after @licryco commented. If the whole thickness is supposed to be 15mm, we have to reduce from that the back plate and screen, which would take about 3-5mm. (edit: not Circumference) Diameter of an AA is 14.5mm while AAA is only 10.5mm - so I accidentally got that right the first time. I think you can get that size in lithium also. A 18650 [which btw. is in the dev board, so @licryco wasn’t that far off] is whopping 18mm and would require a Nokia Pureview level hump on the back (not necessarily a dealbraker - some of us are planing to add a protective case on top of it). CR123a is 16mm. And an 3LR12 is 22x62x67mm. There also unfortunately isn’t space for this power source:
Maybe a hand crank for emergencies? And while we’re hoping for stuff, I wish it’d have 3 usb-ports, so for convenience I could use one of them for a QI adapter (which also would add to thickness), one for display/hub(keyboard+mouse) and one for other peripherals. Maybe I need to glue a hub on the end of the phone… Btw. wouldn’t Qi be an added security feature, as no possible data connection via malicious cable or powersource/comp?
3 Likes
For some reason I thought AAs were 12mm, but you’re right, they’re 14.5. When I compare it to an AA battery, a 15mm phone doesn’t seem very thick at all.
2 Likes
The talk was great. Thank you Nicole. For me it made clear, what a gigantic task it is to develop and produce the librem5.
3 Likes
@joadri, well of course they will have some kind of blog post with that stuff. They day of the presentation was only days after they received the PCBs, and it was a world-exclusive glimpse.
But the blog post still might only say “look we got PCBs, we’re getting there, currently testing / assembling” and not mention what the orientation of the board is.
It’s not like they are under any obligation to explain the positioning of each component to the critics. It’s just us nerdy geeks trying to figure out what they did. What matters more, is in how many weeks we can inspect it first hand and not rely on screen captures
By the way, I think a point that has not really been brought up is that the cessation of hardware updates seems to coincide with the announcement of the PinePhone (as I became aware by @amosbatto’s excellent spec comparison)
As open as they want to be, I can imagine that some clever details or chip choice they didn’t want to reveal too early to keep some advantage of their research.
8 Likes
Based on this, should we be more optimistic or sceptical for Q3 shipping?
I am giving up on that Q3 thing. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be possible. I’m treating my iPhone 7 like if it was my partner for the rest of my life.
3 Likes
We don’t know if the boards are test samples or they are the production batch, but I suspect that it is a test board.
I think the bigger factor is the software, and Purism still has a lot of critical issues to solve (like overheating as shown by Faerber’s presentation). I think delivery in Q4 is more likely. Purism doesn’t have that many developers, compared to the size of the task that it has undertaken.
2 Likes
Yeah, Q4 seems more likely at this point given there’s only a month left and the case acoustic/heat issues I’ve seen with other FOSS projects that offsets actual launch (Turris MOX, Mycroft Mark 2) and the fact we haven’t seen a physical case prototype. Holding out hope for Q3, but it may be best to temper expectations at this point…
1 Like
Surely, them Q4 pessimists can’t be right…
Purism has been pretty consistent in communicating the planned shipping dates, as well as the delays. The last couple of months they have left no room for doubt: shipping starts in Q3.
If it would already be that obvious the Q3 deadline can not be met, either the people at Purism are not aware of this fact, or they are willingly misinforming us.
So, either they lack insight in their own production process, or they are not as open and honest as they say they are.
Frankly, neither option appears very plausible to me.
8 Likes
And latest update starts with " as we prepare to begin the shipping process of the first Librem 5s "
on one of the videos which is a change from " as we approach Q3 getting closer to "
on previous videos. So theres even a change in the language they are using . I think they’ll hit q3 it will just be the end of september .
5 Likes
In that case , my concern is that they won’t have enough time to test the actual phone - once this hardware is packed in the housing. If they are just getting everything in, you can’t just put it all together, test it quickly and ship. You need a lot of time for quality control.
1 Like
Apparently unnamed blogger just wrote about the talk on Purism site. No new info, I’m afraid (edit, correction: image of pcb is a bit better quality than the screencaps previously used https://puri.sm/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/l5-proto-pcb-front-view.png ). And link to shop still takes to Q3 advertisement.
Plenty of time, 4,5 weeks to go (0,5 to solve and 4 to test, for HW)… Starting shipments on the evening of the 30th is still technically within Q3 timeframe - even if it’s just one. And then SW updates to follow.
Should we start getting odds and bet on it - either on eventual delivery date or when announcement of it (q3 or q4) will come or when phone is finally “finished” (“updated enough”)?
2 Likes
Sure. Good quality control should be a priority. Totally agree there.
I am just saying that the tone of their communications suggests they are on track in this respect.
3 Likes
Sometime after next January, when all phones have been delivered, a couple of rounds of updates have gone through without a hitch, we have convergence working and all have had some holiday, I’d like to hear the real stories behind the curtains as when deadline approached. The last minute snafus and crises and saves and heroic engineering etc.
5 Likes
Depends on to what extend this is done and warranted by the phone manufacturer. Testing of prototypes and samples is hopefully getting completed.