PiZero Roadmap

[mattmiller]

Now that all the hoo-hah has died down and people are more relaxed, I was wondering if someone with some real knowledge (Liz? Eben?) would mind giving us some sort of broad idea of possible Pi Zero wider availability?

Matthew

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Meesah too... inquiring minds want to know... !

[Forris]

Now that all the hoo-hah has died down and people are more relaxed, I was wondering if someone with some real knowledge (Liz? Eben?) would mind giving us some sort of broad idea of possible Pi Zero wider availability?

Matthew

I'm not sure 'relaxed' is the right word. More like 'resigned'.

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Now that all the hoo-hah has died down and people are more relaxed, I was wondering if someone with some real knowledge (Liz? Eben?) would mind giving us some sort of broad idea of possible Pi Zero wider availability?

Matthew

I'm not sure 'relaxed' is the right word. More like 'resigned'.

Or, exasperated...

[NicoVanDerDussen]

Check this website - it shows who has stock

http://nvdd.info/1ROCvYy

It would be great to have some more info from the people in the know?

Did you achieve your production targets? I know this would be a great one for the Raspberry Pi Foundation!

[mattmiller]

Keep it positive folks - no negativity Looking for an informed response

[jamesh]

Checked, no news.

[eupton]

A quick update.

Raspberry PI Zero production is restarting in Wales next Monday after a hiatus to allow us to focus on Raspberry Pi 3 (a million units built and counting ). We have placed 250ku of new orders, and are aiming to produce at least 50ku/month for the rest of this year. Distribution will continue to be via Pimoroni, Pi Hut, Adafruit and Micro Center for now.

To thank you for your patience, we've taken advantage of the hiatus to add a (much requested) new feature. I'll leave you all to guess what it is (it's not WiFi).

[6by9]

To thank you for your patience, we've taken advantage of the hiatus to add a (much requested) new feature. I'll leave you all to guess what it is (it's not WiFi).

That's just mean! How could you add 4GB of RAM to the Zero and not the Pi3?! And the bundled unicorn too.

(sits back and watches the debate - I've seen the firmware update so know the answer )

[eupton]

One more thing: previously it actually took more manpower to test a Zero than it did to test a B+/2B/3B. Sony have now implemented automated test for Zero so their maximum output rate (previously ~10ku a week) is now much higher.

[NicoVanDerDussen]

Excellent news!

[PiGraham]

To thank you for your patience, we've taken advantage of the hiatus to add a (much requested) new feature. I'll leave you all to guess what it is (it's not WiFi).

My guess is GPIO pins fitted. That requires no redesign, and I've seen lots of complaints about having to solder to use GPIO.

If it is I hope a version without pins will still be available. It would be a shame to lose the minimal size of the bare Pi0. It's much easier to add pins than remove them.

[gregeric]

To thank you for your patience, we've taken advantage of the hiatus to add a (much requested) new feature. I'll leave you all to guess what it is (it's not WiFi).

My guess is GPIO pins fitted. That requires no redesign, and I've seen lots of complaints about having to solder to use GPIO.

If it is I hope a version without pins will still be available. It would be a shame to lose the minimal size of the bare Pi0. It's much easier to add pins than remove them.

According to 6by9's post above, the change is witnessed in firmware, so pins-fitted is likely not what Eben was referring to.

[texy]

Good point!

[fruitoftheloom]

The ZERO as a USB Slave Option in Jessie ?

[Massi]

damn, probably i do not need this new feature, but i definitely want a raspi 0.1

[PiGraham]

According to 6by9's post above, the change is witnessed in firmware, so pins-fitted is likely not what Eben was referring to.

Ah yes. Now that's intriguing. What likely change would require a firmware mod? Not GPIO or audio. WiFi already ruled out. CSI port is apparently a major thing all round so not likely. Unless 6by9's remark is a red herring.

[PiGraham]

The ZERO as a USB Slave Option in Jessie ?

Isn't it already an option? What have I missed?

[gregeric]

According to 6by9's post above, the change is witnessed in firmware, so pins-fitted is likely not what Eben was referring to.

Ah yes. Now that's intriguing. What likely change would require a firmware mod? Not GPIO or audio. WiFi already ruled out. CSI port is apparently a major thing all round so not likely. Unless 6by9's remark is a red herring.

Could be audio pins broken out. Could be camera connector. Could be SDIO pins ready for WiFi. Anything that would see a pin mux change in dt-blob.bin

[Massi]

adding a csi port to the Zero's pcb is not something that can be done easily (at least, they also said this..)
maybe a hole in the pcb, drilled manually by Eben, to make the antenna reachable?

[PiGraham]

According to 6by9's post above, the change is witnessed in firmware, so pins-fitted is likely not what Eben was referring to.

Ah yes. Now that's intriguing. What likely change would require a firmware mod? Not GPIO or audio. WiFi already ruled out. CSI port is apparently a major thing all round so not likely. Unless 6by9's remark is a red herring.

Could be audio pins broken out. Could be camera connector. Could be SDIO pins ready for WiFi. Anything that would see a pin mux change in dt-blob.bin

Is dt-blob.bin counted as firmware?

CSI or DSI connector would be very popular features, but they are left of for good PCB layout reasons.
Unless RPF has worked miracles on the CAD it seems very unlikely. Still, we can hope.

[fruitoftheloom]

The ZERO as a USB Slave Option in Jessie ?

Isn't it already an option? What have I missed?

Possibly is, but not afaiaa easy for newbies to implement !!!!

[6by9]

Did anyone bring popcorn?

Is dt-blob.bin counted as firmware?

Providing dt-blob.bin in /boot is optional - there's a default version baked into start[|_x|_cd].elf. A change in the default GPIO setup would therefore be reflected in a start.elf update.
(That is neither confirming nor denying any information about the new feature, just clarifying facts on how things are set up).

[Massi]

will it be a "simple" software new feature (lan boot? usb boot?) or something hardware?

[hippy]

Presumably whatever is added is a zero cost option or something whose cost can be absorbed by savings made elsewhere in production and assembly ... unless the price is set to rise.

My guess would be something mundane like a power LED, or perhaps adding a video+audio jack or just analogue audio headers. It could be the provision of USB/PXE booting.

I can't really recall what others have been asking for. Pre-fitted GPIO has cropped up but I think it would actually be a negative for makers to do that, though perhaps of benefit to others.

Adding full battery management and low power modes would be nice.