Hello everyone! It’s time for an update on the status and shipments of the Ironclad DX. As you all know, shipments were scheduled to begin in March, which they did, and some orders were shipped during the first half of the month. But during that time, something happened that opened my eyes: I had problems with the MicroSD card in my MiSTer FPGA. It kept getting corrupted, even after formatting it or replacing it with another one. The next day, it would start giving me problems again. In the end, I think it was due to a faulty SDRAM module, but until I realized it I felt like pulling my hair out. but that’s not the point.
The point is that although I’ve been using my Ironclad board for years and I access the microSD card via FTP or SMD easily, securely, and without problems, I always recomment this method for daily access, in these cases where there are recurrent not obvious problems, I’ve realized how troublesome and difficult it becomes to remove and reconnect it many times over several days. So, in my pursuit of making the perfect IO board for MiSTer FPGA, inspiration struck, and I decided to solve this problem once and for all. I designed a new B-board and a microSD card extension for the Ironclad DX. Since I want everyone to be able to have this new feature, I ordered it quickly and stopped shipping. The New B-board replaces the one that is included with the Ironclad DX, and the extension interconnects the de10-nano or Mister Pi main microSD with the new B-Board, all with no price increase, at least for this first batch… When using a QMTECH board the B-Board is different (and optional) and the microSD is located in other position quite easy to remove so a revision for that is not needed.
Here’s a screenshot of the render of the new parts included:
At first, it looked like it would be a matter of 12 days until I received them, but it ended up being longer, and this will delay shipments further than expected, pushing us into April.
I’ll likely receive the new boards during the last week of March, and shipments will resume at the beginning of April. I’m really sorry for the delay, but I think it’s well worth it. This leaves Ironclad DX in a situation where I can’t think of anything to improve 😉
By the way, all Ironclad DX owners whose packages have already been shipped can request the new B-Board with the extension completely free of charge, just for the shipping costs. Just be patient until the rush ends a bit and send me an e-mail with the request ;).
And that’s all for now, time to keep working!
Thank you all very much!
