Non-Working ARMiniX Available

I have an ARMiniX available for the cost of postage. If interested please let me know.

I am interested, let me know what the cost is for UK mainland please!

In what way is it non working? Completely dead?

(Don’t want it, just curious)

David J Ruck

One day, it would not boot.

Chris

I have been advised not to give my email address in a reply. Please advise how I can get in touch.

What error appears on screen?

One thought – don’t ARMini of various versions come with a cheerful bundled in the price support package?

I have been advised not to give my email address in a reply. Please advise how I can get in touch.

Wise, but telepathy is still on most peoples wish list.

Seriously:
There is no Private Message system on this forum :-(

Members tend to post their email address obfuscated e.g. myname77 at gmail dot com ¹ or find one of the parties email address elsewhere.

¹ after the address has been used it can then be deleted from the forum.

I think many people’s fear of spam is unwarranted.
Our sales email address and my address chris@cjemicros.co.uk has appeared unobfuscated on many forums, newsgroups and websites for about 20 years. Emails with a very high SPAM score are discarded by my domain hoster but to avoid false negatives I have no other spam filtering and number of spam emails we get to each address often

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I received this machine from Robert and had no difficulty in getting it running but it does transpire that Andrew Rawnsley really has no motivation to support hardware he sold without charging some fee. When asked for an SD image he was told “there are three”. I think it would be best practice to arrange a basic image for your machines since you sell them as a complete system, the custom image excuse is really a silly excuse. It is on you as the supplier to look after your customers post sale rather than try to rap it up in a chargeable support package. Your profit margin on the ARMiniX was not small and there is a review that broke down the costs of that machine. I have been in the Amiga community for years and this really just goes the same way, the one thing i am thankful in this community is that the OS is open source, so the hardware guys really have to start looking after the customers who want a complete package and support the things they make.

Not sure what you are on about here. All machines sold by R-Comp come with a support package to the original purchaser, so included in the price, this means general help with issues/faults, via phone or email. OS updates via an easy installer etc. They are supplied with a standard SD card image for that model of computer. If the SD card becomes corrupted and none recoverable then you would need to either purchase a new card with a build of the OS installed for you and tested. Otherwsie buy your own SD card and download the image from the users support area details are in the user guide that came with the computer. So Andrew does look after his customers and support the things they make. The OS was updated several times during it time on sale so its likely their were three versions of the SD card to download and also might depend on the version of the motherboard.

So you don’t know what i am on about but go in to detail about what i am on about. This OS is open source, i had no trouble in making an SD image from the available ROM and disk contents, to think it is okay to charge someone for such basic work is what hurts the platform… It was 15 minutes work. So you do know what i am on about but some how support profiteering off of a very limited user base. If it was a complex task to build such an SD image i would understand but it is trivial. Maybe you have more to say on this to make his stand relevant but i doubt it. He both tried to charge me and the original purchaser of the hardware, that is not support, that is profiteering.

He both tried to charge me and the original purchaser of the hardware, that is not support, that is profiteering.

How much? Just trying to place things in my mind.

To correct a few facts of yours when the ARMiniX came out the OS was not Open Source it was Shared source.

I am assuming you used the ROOL download for the SD image, and not the version as provided to end users who purchased the computer from them, they were different, R-Comp image would have included extra software (including some commercial software to enhance the value of the SD card plus a few extra tweaks not available IIRC in the ROOL download). But regardless of that its not profiteering as you put it. You are paying for a new quality SD card known to work reliably and his time, plus I would think postage. That is fair and reasonable. Only the original owner of the computer would be covered by the included support scheme not you. Further if the issue could have been fixed without needing a new SD card, you would not have been charged.

Not everyone is happy or feel confident enought to make a new SD card and install the software. You have shown you feel confident to do such work, so just do it as you have done. But others need a helping hand to do this sort of thing.

I look at it like this:

You buy your turnkey solution and supported system, which the ArminiX is, and it comes with a warrenty as laid out by the company you purchased it off and the law.

The company supplying it will lay out your rights to either telephone/email/online support and what costs you may have to bear and in what circumstances and for what time period subject to the law.

It will also confer those rights to you as the original buyer and those rights may or may not be transferable.

If you are outside those parameters then it is OK for a company to charge you reasonable costs to help/support you.

In the case of the ARMiniX the branded OS version is available via a website and there is a open source version available that is different as it has some changes to key components, including the disc contents, and is available and supported from this site.

The open source version has a community that can try and provide help and support for that version and often gives advice for the branded versions as well.

It is really down to the user if they deem a charge excessive for support as many people are happy to do DIY and others like the more tailored and bespoke one to one support that is a premium product.

No way is right or wrong as long as the law is complied with and it is down to choice after all.

I am glad that you have it up and running as the ARMiniX aka Pandboard is a good base level offering.

Update: I would add that something like say Ubuntu though open source, ok I concede the kernel is not fully, does offer chargeable support and consultancy

It is really down to the user if they deem a charge excessive for support as many people are happy to do DIY and others like the more tailored and bespoke one to one support that is a premium product.

Completely agree.

The only problem is that we know from previous shenanigans that users who try the DIY approach on their hardware, even if it wasn’t originally sourced from a RISC OS company because they’re coming new to the platform, get ticked off in public for not supporting the dealers.

If users could feel safe that taking the DIY approach wouldn’t result in public judgements about their morals, it would be completely fine.

But others need a helping hand to do this sort of thing.

That is a major point. I know it’s major because the whole reason the department I work in came into being, with others joining me over time, is that I know computer kit and software¹.
The house I have isn’t cheap, the mortgage is all but paid, and all the money to pay came because other people don’t know IT

¹ And then drifted into networking when others decided I was better than them. (Bit of a tale there)

If users could feel safe that taking the DIY approach wouldn’t result in public judgements about their morals, it would be completely fine.

Yes. I was somewhat put off the maker of such judgements by the reaction to my observation that a laptop with an 11" screen is of no interest whatsoever to me, nice as a RISCOS laptop with a decent size screen (say a minimum of 16", 1920×1080) would be.

I would add that something like say Ubuntu though open source, ok I concede the kernel is not fully, does offer chargeable support and consultancy.

I believe that RISC OS has similar issues relating to binary blobs, does it not? Some of the networking bits (pending re-write in one of the bounties) don’t have source available, AFAIK.

It is really down to the user if they deem a charge excessive for support as many people are happy to do DIY and others like the more tailored and bespoke one to one support that is a premium product.

When OS 5.24 came out I splashed out on a RISC OS Panda card for my pandaboard and haven’t looked back – last weekend I updated the disk to 5.28 successfully and planning on doing the rom soon

If users could feel safe that taking the DIY approach wouldn’t result in public judgements about their morals, it would be completely fine.

+1

If users could feel safe that taking the DIY approach wouldn’t result in public judgements about their morals, it would be completely fine.

Agree and hence why many of us offer support here free of charge but are equally happy to pay for something we choose.

In this case I don’t see anything wrong in being asked for a reasonble amount of money from a comnpany to supply a service and for some to point out the benefits of a paid for service as long as it doesn’t as you say become a judgement if they take a different route.

Don’t forget a business has direct and indirect costs so time spent doing something has a direct cost but equally you have to factor in the costs of supplying a phone service or email/online service, the overheads of a supply chain be it supply /dispatch or storage, validation of those supplies, heating/lighting, maintaining equipment, liability costs if you supply incorrect advice or faulty equipment, records maintenance, accountants costs and then VAT and any thing else I have missed out before we even add in a reasonable profit margin.

So a company has lots of overheads to consider when pricing an offering.

Anyway the key is always lets be open and helpful where we can as thats how the community grows and let anyone asking for advice be given all the options to make their decision on.

R-Comp’s support policy is pretty generous, particularly with hardware they haven’t supplied. The ARMx6 mini.m retails at £299, but I sourced my own Cubox i4 Pro for £30, and paid R-Comp £99 for lifetime updates and support. I remember paying more than that for one set of ROMs for the Risc PC.

I’ve no problem with paying a fair price for something I want (or doing without if I can’t afford it), but being expected to “support” a business by buying something I’ve no use for galls somewhat.

In my first reply to Chris’s email, I specifically said that in good conscience, I couldn’t charge him for the normal software+support pack, because I didn’t feel I’d be able to offer the necessary on-going service (software/support) for Pandaboard systems (beyond perhaps one more update) given that my own Pandaboard is now in a barely functional state.

I then asked if he was willing to pay for the special software elements he was requesting (ie. I would make up a special SD card for him), or was just looking for a free solution. My plan was to find something appropriate depending on what Chris was looking for. It is true that I would charge for making up and sending an SD card because of the time it takes to do so.

So that everyone is crystal clear, there was/is no single disc image for ARMiniX – each machine is a bespoke system tailored to the customer’s needs (as all our computers are). There were three revisions of the motherboard/firmware if memory serves, and one size didn’t always fit (ie. the boards were fussy about firmware revisions). Each disc was (and is) made up by hand, and there is no single complete disc image. There were, however, about seven additional major software packs to update users’ disc images with new/improved software. There will probably be at least one more. The last ARMiniX was sold (I think) over six years ago. All RCI ARMiniX customers have received these free of charge, and will continue to do so.

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Special note to Clive – I dearly wish a 16+" ARM-based laptop were available that I could offer to you. I’m sorry that I made you feel like you ought to buy a unit you didn’t want. There is very little choice in the ARM-laptop world, especially when you add RISC OS to the mix. I think most people who have tried the ARMbook (and its BigMode) have found that despite the small size, it is very useful and portable. I’d be skeptical too – I like large laptops and sell and own 17+" RISCbooks, but I also know that I’ve enjoyed using the small laptop far more than I expected – I think others have found that too. Anyway, my apologies again.

My plan was to find something appropriate depending on what Chris was looking for. It is true that I would charge for making up and sending an SD card because of the time it takes to do so.

Sounding rather like I expected and that the card would contain more than can be quickly downloaded from the ROOL site, and the charge wouldn’t be large.

Whatever the situation, Chris has what he requires and should be happy with that.