Bitcoin Miners progress update – 22 May 2014
Prospero X3
We experienced a few serious technical issues with the backplane PCB which unfortunately delayed the completion of the Prospero X3. Our engineers spent the whole week debugging the problem without finding yet a working solution. We solicited expertise from 3rd parties and we are now having 3 different teams working on the issue around the clock. Please note that we are not in the position to estimate a completion time. It is possible that the fix could be solved as early as tomorrow or as late as next week. We decided as a safety measure to start redesigning 2 extra versions of the backplane PCB. The first complete bug free version will be used in production.
Deadline delays are never welcome news therefore we decided to offer the following optional packages available immediately which might be suitable for a minority of anxious customers who are able to build their own miner based on the Minion chip:
Option 1: Replace each Prospero (2 Thash) including the compensation package (1Thash) with 50 Minion ASICs (up to 7 Thash)
or
Option 2: Replace each Prospero (2 Thash) including the compensation package (1Thash) with 20 Hashboards (each PCB includes 2 x Minion ASIC, heatsinks, power chips, inductors, capacitors) – 4.5 Thash. Note that due to the lack of a backplane these boards have not been intensively tested therefore further rework might be required (e.g: add some capacitors); should this work be required we will only provide documents on what needs to be done. The customer will be responsible of executing it and purchasing the parts.
Note: Opting for any of these options will not cancel your 25% discount for your next Minion orders.
We would also like to ask from help from the technical community to help speed up solving the issues that we have encountered or to design a new backplane. The solicited work will be rewarded accordingly (money, products, etc.)
Prospero X1
Prospero X1 miners are not affected by the issue mentioned above and we should start shipping next week once the cases will be delivered.
Note: To avoid any further delay we have the option to deliver the case-less X1 if any of the customers will choose so.
Please contact out customer support should you choose any of the options above.
SERIOUSLY ?! I just realized i paid 12k for a DIY project (2 units of X3)
Well, this is the second deadline and i was hoping you guys can somehow fix it up, but its clear now that you can't fulfill your promises and I really appreciate if you send me back my money, how can i start the refunding process??
* i ordered directly from black arrow website and paid through wire transfer.
Technically, this is more along the lines of the 3rd date they missed, even though there was so much personal vouching going on that they would be ready. But whose counting?
It has been clear as many have stated that something was wrong and a delay was imminent, a company, who wants to drum up more sales, doesn't all of a sudden go quiet for 3 weeks after the chip is received.
They will not give your money back either in btc or in USD, as they have previously told customers, your unit is in production and cannot be unproduced. As such, you will get your miner when it is ready and can resell it yourselves (presumably because they will be worth a lot less when you actually get them). So I saved you some headache going through the "refund request" process, notice it is a request because you will not get anything.
Speaking of when you get them, well we F'ed up and we cannot even tell you how long until you'll get them. But I assume still no refunds as why would they buy your bought miner back off you when it isn't worth the 12K it was when you bought it?