NEW REWARD: ALL of the Things – SPLIT SHIPMENT

Backers!

This past 60 hours has been incredible. We’ve received a ton of messages/comments/tweets about a great many things and are working diligently to get everyone the answers they want. Huge thanks to those of you who have been helping to answer people’s questions (looking at you @Steph “The best Call” Lovik \(•◡•)/) Keep up the good work!

Many of you have asked about packaging the CHIP shipping in December with the other rewards shipping in May. We’ve added a new reward to make this happen.

We want to make sure our early backers are taken care of before our first batch is sold out. This package will be limited to 3000 units and the shipping will reflect the fact that we have to send out two shipments.

Backers. We hear you. We’re still working on ways to decrease international shipping, but we don’t want to promise anything we cannot deliver.

Thanks for backing. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for your continued support.

Everyone @nextthingco

New Rewards! :)

Backers!

Thanks so much for your support and enthusiasm! Many of you have had questions and comments about adding HDMI or VGA adapters to your pledge. To make this as simple as possible we’ve added two new rewards.

We’ll be adding some more FAQ’s soon, so keep an eye out for that. Thanks again for your support!

Everyone @nextthingco

The journey starts!

Backers,

It’s an amazing feeling to see everyone so excited for C.H.I.P and PocketC.H.I.P.! We can’t say thank you enough for the support everyone is showing in helping us reach our baseline goal in *six hours* WOW!

That said, the real power of C.H.I.P. kicks in if we have very large orders to place at the end of the campaign. Let’s see what a world where everyone can afford a computer looks like!

**Please keep spreading the word about C.H.I.P.!**

With LOTS of thanks and admiration,

Everyone @nextthingco

January C.H.I.P. shipments & the C.H.I.P. Boot Repair Tool

C.H.I.P.sters!

January is flying by and our production batch of January C.H.I.P.s is underway!

January C.H.I.P.sters and Kernel Hacker Backers are on target to have their C.H.I.P.s shipped before the end of January!

February is imminent, which means February C.H.I.P.s are imminent too.  February C.H.I.P.sters have been sent address confirmation emails through BackerKit.  You have by end of day Friday to adjust or confirm your address.  Please forward BackerKit and address questions tosupport@backerkit.com.

QUICK NOTE TO ELIMINATE FUTURE CONFUSION: KERNEL HACKERS WILL RECEIVE 4 C.H.I.P.s WITH THIS SHIPMENT WITH THEIR FIFTH C.H.I.P. ARRIVING WITH THEIR PocketC.H.I.P. IN MAY.

C.H.I.P. Boot Repair Tool

Alex, Wynter, Howie, and Crunch have been slamming on said tool to address issues with our first batch of production C.H.I.P.s. Each platform will be released as they’re ready, with Ubuntu delivered today, followed by Windows, with Mac OS rounding us out.

DOWNLOAD THE C.H.I.P. BOOT REPAIR TOOL FOR UBUNTU!

Yes, that is a paper clip putting C.H.I.P. into FEL mode for the C.H.I.P. Boot Repair Tool.

Check out the instructions at docs.getchip.com and join the community conversation on the NTC forums.  We’re seeing excellent support on the forums with C.H.I.P.sters sharing tips for other C.H.I.P.sters. If you discover something helpful, share it!

This has been developed and tested on Ubuntu 14.04.  While it may work on other versions, Ubuntu 14.04 is the only officially supported platform.

Special thanks to those dedicated C.H.I.P.sters determined to reflash their C.H.I.P.s.  Rest assured, FLASHING WILL BECOME EASIER, and the C.H.I.P. Boot Repair Tool is the first step.

This C.H.I.P. is ready to do computer things again!

SHIPPING UPDATES

December C.H.I.P.s have shipped! Many January C.H.I.P.s too! If you have not received your C.H.I.P., email ahoyahoy@nextthing.co.  We’ll find a way to get your C.H.I.P. to you!

Kernel Hacker Backers will receive 4 production C.H.I.P.s with their shipments this month. The fifth and final C.H.I.P. will ship with PocketC.H.I.P. in May.

February C.H.I.P.s are on target to ship by early February, if not before. Lock in your address at chip.backerkit.com by this Friday to assure a swift shipment.

March C.H.I.P.s are still on target for March, but it can’t hurt to update your address at chip.backerkit.com. Early bird gets the worm, or so we’ve been told.

PocketC.H.I.P.s and adapters are on schedule to ship by May.

All questions pertaining to BackerKit can be sent to support@backerkit.com.

Thanks for your continued patience and support. Stay Tuned!

mmmtc

hearts – Everyone at NTC (especially Alex, Wynter, Crunch, & Howie)

Dave, Alex, and Crunch, singularly focused on the Ubuntu C.H.I.P. Boot Repair Tool.

 

New Years Resolution: Addressing C.H.I.P. issues.

Dearest C.H.I.P.sters!

The New Year is upon us and C.H.I.P.s have begun to land in C.H.I.P.ster hands!  After months of anticipation, it’s been incredible to finally see C.H.I.P. in the wild.╭( ・ㅂ・)و

Awesome screen @adamgrieg

Feels good to impress @impressiver

 

 

 

In only two short weeks, we’ve seen C.H.I.P.sters run ownCloud on C.H.I.P. and turn C.H.I.P. into an Amazon echo.  If this is what happens after two weeks, we can’t wait to see what the next 50 bring!

Needless to say, it’s been a hell of a rush, but we weren’t without a few rough patches.

When you supported us during the Kickstarter campaign, you pledged for a working C.H.I.P.  WE WILL BE MAKING GOOD ON THIS.  If you experience an issue with C.H.I.P., let us know at ahoyahoy@nextthing.co..

A huge part of making C.H.I.P. all that it can be is working with the community to find our mistakes and correct them for C.H.I.P.sters past, present, and future.  Curious how we’re getting better?  Read on!

DOCUMENTATION AND TROUBLESHOOTING

Click through to C.H.I.P. documentation!

 

We’ve worked long and hard to provide extensive documentation.  Check it out atdocs.getchip.com

If you’re having an issue with C.H.I.P., check out our new Troubleshooting section or drop into the larger community conversation on the NTC forums.

Have a suggestion to improve our documentation?  Submit a pull request here!

Superbackers soderstrom and DudeJuice have started a C.H.I.P. wiki and a C.H.I.P. subreddit respectively!  Check them out!

FICKLE C.H.I.P.s?

We’ve seen reports on the forums and twitter that not every C.H.I.P. delivered works reliably out of the box.  Here are some of the most frequently encountered symptoms, and our solutions:

Problem:  My C.H.I.P. is DOA or my C.H.I.P. won’t reboot.  The LEDs are on, but I don’t see any image on my screen.

Cause:  NAND complications.  Some C.H.I.P.s have bad NAND blocks that slipped by our testing fixtures.  These bad NAND blocks impede boot up and C.H.I.P. gets stuck in UBoot.  From our tests in house, despite speculation on the bbs, we have not seen anything that would suggest this is an overheating issue.  PLEASE DO NOT put your C.H.I.P.s in the [dirty, wet] fridge or freezer. 

This C.H.I.P. ran stress tests over WiFi in a glorified toaster oven even beyond the USB cable melting. (up to 75.5°)

Solution A:  Reflash your C.H.I.P.  Luckily, bad NAND blocks can be fixed on the software front and Alex has updated our flashing tools with some sweet, fresh code.  Reflashing your C.H.I.P. using this guideline will fix most of these issues.  Currently, only Linux is supported.  We recognize this process is not the easiest or the most intuitive.  We are working to make it MUCH easier to use for the 1337 and not-yet-1337 alike.  Shoot an email to ahoyahoy@nextthing.cotoo.  We want to know what went wrong and how it went wrong so we can turn those wrongs into rights, alright?  If reflashing isn’t your thing, check out the solutions below.

Solution B:  We’re working on a user-friendly NAND repair tool for allplatforms: Linux, Windows and Mac.  We’re aiming to have this completed by this time next week.

Solution C:  We will send you a replacement C.H.I.P.  When you backed us on Kickstarter, you pledged for a C.H.I.P., not a brick.  We ask that you send us back the problem C.H.I.P. (with a prepaid shipping label we’ll provide) so that Alex may perform NAND forensics.  Having it back in office helps us identify and prevent the problem on future C.H.I.P.s.  To get these two C.H.I.P.s passing in the night, email ahoyahoy@nextthing.co.

Solution D:  Because we’re producing and shipping in batches, Alex’s flashing fix is being implemented on all future C.H.I.P.s, especially and including our manufacturing run in January.

 

C.H.I.P. KERNEL PANICS

Problem: C.H.I.P. begins booting, but kernel panics.

Cause: Bad NAND Flash provided by our NAND flash vendor. We saw this error in around 2% of our PVT (production verification testing).

Solution: Email ahoyahoy@nextthing.co and we’ll ship you a new C.H.I.P.  We’ll also send a prepaid shipping label for your kernel panicked C.H.I.P. to run diagnostics at NTC HQ.  We’re working improve our test fixtures to catch these, so any bit of info you can send is most helpful.

C.H.I.P. BROWNS OUT

Problem:  My C.H.I.P. booted great, but after a few minutes, it shut itself down.

Cause:  An inadequate or poor quality power supply not meeting C.H.I.P.’s 900 mA requirements can cause a shutdown.  Plugging in an accessory via USB while C.H.I.P. is on can also trigger a power surge that will result in a shutdown. Any accessory (keyboard, mouse, etc) plugged in that even momentarily draws more than the 500 mA limit on C.H.I.P.’s USB port can also trigger a safety shutdown a short time after appearing to boot correctly. Even if your device draws way less than 500mA, it may include current-thirsty bulk capacitors which will exceed 500mA of draw for a moment when the device is first plugged in.

Solution A:  Try a different power supply.  C.H.I.P. requires a 5V power supply capable of supplying at least 1 amp.  Check the specs.  A high-quality power supply and cable will yield a much better and more consistent experience. Boot with a powered USB hub for your accessories that could be drawing current.  Make sure your accessories are plugged in before booting C.H.I.P. up.

Solution B:  Delimit the AXP-209 power management chip on C.H.I.P.  We set the limit conservatively for our initial shipments.

Solution C:  If the above solutions don’t work, we want to see it!  Email us atahoyahoy@nextthing.co and we’ll swap out your C.H.I.P. for a working one and perform our own series of rigorous tests to see if we can’t prevent these brownouts in the future.

KERNEL HACKER C.H.I.P.s

Problem: I’m a Kernel Hacker Backer and haven’t received my C.H.I.P. v1.0s or a notification that they’ve shipped. What’s the deal?

Cause:  We had a logistics error which marked your rewards as shipped when your pledge was only partially fulfilled.

Solution:  Kernel Hacker Backers’ C.H.I.P.s will start shipping this month from our second production batch. Address confirmation emails have been sent. If you did not receive an address confirmation email, shoot us your address to ahoyahoy@nextthing.co so we can get you your production C.H.I.P.s.

TRACKING IS CONFUSING

Problem: The tracking links provided do not display my name or full address. They seem to be left a crossdock facility or stuck in New York (or elsewhere.)

Cause: We do not require a log-in to view your tracking information. Name and full addresses are hidden to keep your information secure.  C.H.I.P. has a long interesting journey from our warehouse in Hong Kong to your door.  At this time, it can take a few days to update its location.  Once your C.H.I.P. has passed customs, you’ll receive more regular and detailed through your local post carrier (ex. USPS) like you would any other shipment.

Solution: We’re working on making our own tracking system page for customers that delivers tracking information in a much clearer way. This is in progress, but will not be fixed overnight.   If you received a shipping notification, we’ve vetted your address, and it is on its way to you.

SHIPPING IS TAKING TOO LONG

Problem: My C.H.I.P. shipped before the New Year and has yet to arrive.

Cause:   On their way to you, C.H.I.P.s must pass through customs and change hands to your local postal carrier for last mile delivery.  Sometimes these handoffs and processings take longer than others, which make it look like your C.H.I.P. is ‘stuck’.

Solution:  We’re in constant contact with our shipping partner to ensure these issues get solved.  If you C.H.I.P. has taken beyond the estimated 7-9 days to arrive, please email us at ahoyahoy@nextthing.co and we’ll see what the hold up is.

SUPPORT RESPONSE TIMES

Problem:  I emailed/tweeted/facebooked and the response was slow, if it ever came at all.

Solution:  One of the first (and biggest) changes we’ve made in 2016 is distributing customer support requests across the entire NTC team. This will not only help us get you answers more quickly but also puts you directly in contact with the team member best equipped to answer your question.

LET’S GET BETTER TOGETHER!!!

Problem:  That’s a lot of problems you just mentioned!

Solution:  Knowing is half the battle!  We want the C.H.I.P. experience to be awesome and you, as our very earliest supporters, are a very big part of helping us get it there.  From the hardware and software to customer support and documentation, your feedback is crucial to us being the best NTC we can be.  Reach out and give us your feedback!

SHIPPING UPDATES!!!

December C.H.I.P. backers should have their C.H.I.P.s by now. If you have not received your C.H.I.P., email ahoyahoy@nextthing.co and we’ll make C.H.I.P. happen for you.

Our January production run is about to kickoff, which means C.H.I.P.s for our January C.H.I.P. backers and our Kernel Hacker Backers.  Shipping will begin the last week of January.  All KHBs should have received address confirmation emails. If you have not, email support@backerkit.com.

February C.H.I.P.s are still on target to ship by February, just as March C.H.I.P.s are on target for March.  PocketC.H.I.P.s and adapters are still on schedule to ship by May.

Anyone who has not finished their backer survey through BackerKit, should do so.Any questions pertaining to BackerKit can be sent tosupport@backerkit.com.

Thank you for your continued support (and patience)!

mmmtc (much much more to come)

hearts – everyone at NTC (especially Alex and Crunch, your distro and forum wizard)