Electra project update

Hi everybody,

I would like to apologize for the recent radio silence. I am reading the posts and I am trying to step in when I feel there is a show stopper or some kind of issue where my immediate intervention is needed.

The reason for switching to this less verbose mode is that we had to react to the situation of global shortage of electronic components. We need to make steps to ensure the continuity of the project. The major issue is that the main CPU (NXP) used in Electra will not be available until February 2023 and our stock is getting close to its end. We have recently made a new deal with Renesas on supplying the different type of the CPU. It is, however, a quite different type of CPU and changes in hardware and low-level software must be made. And that is where all the energy goes now… As I feel this is the top priority work I expect myself to be locked on this work for coming 2 weeks.

The goal of the work is to make sure that Electras can be produced in 2022 and that owners of current Electras are not affected in any way. Meaning there would still be only one line of the firmware for all Electra users (with NXP and with Renesas CPUs).

This situation also paused my work on the opensource version of Electra’s firmware. Once there is a working prototype of the new version, all extra code will be added to the opensource firmware too and any developer will be welcomed to use it or to contribute.

I am sorry for the inconvenience.

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Good to know, Martin.

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Good luck with getting into the hardware again!

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I’m sorry to hear this. Maybe in the end you’ll feel that it was a blessing in disguise. It sounds like a project that might present opportunities as a developer. I know there’s always some code that you wish you could rewrite or refactor but never have time!

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In the meantime, maybe the users on the forum (myself included) will try to pick up the slack here and try to answer more questions so you don’t have to spend time reading and responding as much.

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@oldgearguy I’ll help where possible

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No need to apologise Martin. It’s in everyone’s interest here that you find a way to sort out your supply chain issues and are able to continue to make and sell Electra’s. It’s a device I see me using for many years to come

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