The Voron kit build thread

[WobblyHand]

I signed up for a RPI4 2GB many months ago, but have not received any emails about it. I have received in stock notification about other non-RPI stuff though. Probably just way down on the list, like #8492 in a list of size 8493.

I'm using an RPI3B+ for Octopi. Fortunately I had one in my stash to use. It works, but the video stream lags quite a bit at times. The RPI4 is a big step up from a 3 in my opinion.

 

[AlanB]

If you are talking about Adafruit you have to do some other things to be allowed to purchase Pi's. Two factor authentication must be enabled, and whatever else they want done, they are trying hard to reduce bots. The email may take too long and they may not notify the whole list, and they may skip those not eligible, watching rpilocator, twitter or telegram is quicker. I bought a couple from Adafruit before they rejected my next Pi order and told me that one period was the limit. It's probably the best place to get one from.

Octoprint is much heavier load than Klipper.

 

[WobblyHand]

If you are talking about Adafruit you have to do some other things to be allowed to purchase Pi's. Two factor authentication must be enabled, and whatever else they want done, they are trying hard to reduce bots. The email may take too long and they may not notify the whole list, and they may skip those not eligible, watching rpilocator, twitter or telegram is quicker. I bought a couple from Adafruit before they rejected my next Pi order and told me that one period was the limit. It's probably the best place to get one from.

Octoprint is much heavier load than Klipper.

Did the 2FA, have been a long time customer. rpilocator has been a joke. There are scalpers there too.
Basically the Foundation is holding up businesses, which is good, but entirely at the expense of hobbyists who really spent the most to build up their business. It's been tough everywhere. Anyways, haven't found one yet, despite doing what they asked for.

 

[AlanB]

Rpilocator samples about once per minute, it's the best tool I've found. Better than the emails. I've heard the twitter was better than the Telegram, but I've been successful several times with the Telegram channel which is driven from rpilocator. Product is available only a few minutes, so one has to be prepared. I missed one time because I wasn't fast enough entering a CC number, so I made sure I was quicker the next times. I did get email from Adafruit, but not always in time. Their emails links only work once, so one has to re-register from time to time or after each email. Also a long time Adafruit customer, didn't seem to matter to them. I suspect most of the scalped product comes from the OEM channel, those guys are buying 100's of units, easier for them to sell into scalping market than the singles from the regular retail suppliers.

 

[WobblyHand]

Rpilocator samples about once per minute, it's the best tool I've found. Better than the emails. I've heard the twitter was better than the Telegram, but I've been successful several times with the Telegram channel which is driven from rpilocator. Product is available only a few minutes, so one has to be prepared. I missed one time because I wasn't fast enough entering a CC number, so I made sure I was quicker the next times. I did get email from Adafruit, but not always in time. Their emails links only work once, so one has to re-register from time to time or after each email. Also a long time Adafruit customer, didn't seem to matter to them. I suspect most of the scalped product comes from the OEM channel, those guys are buying 100's of units, easier for them to sell into scalping market than the singles from the regular retail suppliers.

I haven't wanted to make the time to sit and wait for manna to drop. Maybe I'm not hardcore or desperate enough. The normal channel hasn't worked at all for me. I don't have time to sit and stare at a screen for this. Maybe if I was a better programmer, I could scrape the rpilocator screen once a minute, scan for location and part and if there was a match to get an alert. If I was even more clever, I could then autogen an order and authenticate. But I don't have that kind of need, nor do I have that kind of time. I'm pretty busy doing stuff, and rpilocator is well down in the list. If I find a significantly better alternative, RPI is history for me.

 

[AlanB]

It wasn't that hard and didn't take that much time because vendors have patterns, but whatever. My experience with the Pi alternatives has been more problems and more time wasted so they often end up in the flea market pile. Glad the Orange is working out. I still have a couple of spare Pi's here so I should be able to last. When I find a useful board or module I generally grab a couple for future projects and that has served me well. The other track for Vorons is to get a Manta board and CB-1, or a Mello Fly (or other printer control board) with onboard Pi equivalent. These are pretty popular and supported for Klipper. Since the Manta board is from BTT as is the Octopus so the connectors should be compatible and swapping the boards should be easy, and cheaper than a Scalped Pi.

Today there have been Pi3 and Pi4's at several US vendors.

 

[Ken226]

Now that I've done it once on the Orange Pi, I bet doing it a second or subsequent time will be easier. Especially since I posted lots of reminders here and on Teamfdm. At this point, the Raspberry pi shortage is a non-issue for me.

My Orange Pi 4 lts has a 6 core 1.8ghz processor, 4gb of DDR4 memory and 16gb Emmc, for under 100$, and came with an aluminum case and ac power adapter.


on a positive note, flipping the motor connector and mounting with the custom standoff went as planned. I'll start rewiring to accommodate the PCB on my next set of days off, early next week.

Unfortunately, that will mean opening up the cable chains and snipping all my cable ties. There are probably about a dozen wires that won't be needed. Maybe creating some space will help cable chains will lay down a bit flatter.

 

[WobblyHand]

I learned something interesting today, I think. On rpilocator there is a FAQS. Went there and found this:

Please note that Adafruit has some strict guidelines on buying Raspberry Pi computers. As their policy page states, they only allow ONE Pi computer, of ANY kind, per customer/location. They do a manual review of orders flagged as repeats and usually cancel orders if you have purchased a Pi computer from them recently.

"ONE Pi, of ANY kind, per customer" means exactly what it says. They are only allowing one Pi computer per customer for the time being. If you buy a CM4 (or any other Pi computer) one week and then a Pi 4B 4GB (or any other Pi computer) a different week, expect your second order to be canceled. They have not specified a "cool down period" but they mention in their FAQ they will update the guidelines when customers are able to order more Pi computers.

I bought an RPi4 from them in Sept. 2019. This text above is not on the Adafruit site. Maybe this is why my attempts to buy another from Adafruit have failed, although I don't think a purchase 3+ years ago is recently... Heck, that was pre-pandemic, before any supply problems.

It isn't a big deal if this is their rule, but it sure would have been nice to have stated that in plain text on their own website, rather than finding it out from rpilocator.

 

[AlanB]

2019 would not be part of the restriction, as the shortage had not started. Their policy won't prevent you from ordering a Pi if you get there in time, it just means they will cancel the order before they ship. They were fairly clear when my order was canceled that it was one per shortage, and they will define arbitrarily when the shortage is over whenever they choose to. Even their emails were vague on the duration of this period. It would be nice if they would have a more documented clear and simple policy.

 

[7milesup]

I would rather slog through an alternate solution, such as Opi or similar, than be held hostage by Rpi. If I wanted to sit by the computer and watch it intently, I would become a day trader.