CRS from the Kickstarter promises

Tachyon
1

So.. i tried to compile list of features that were to be expected from the Tachyon back in January 2025.

As we all know there have been multiple dates been pushed back but in the end the features havent been cut as far as i could see. Therefore i would like to keep track of, at least, the features that were promised to be available at when the product was to be shipped.

Of course i stand corrected if there is anything wrong in this list or i oversaw a particular fix but i was just browsing this board for the better part of an hour to compile this.

Out of dayjob habit I would like someone from the team to comment on this and maybe give an estimate on when to expect the various features or what has ultimatively been cut.

-- Hardware Features --
[X] Dual USB-C connectors with automatic device/host mode switching  
[X] USB-C 3.1 with DisplayPort Alt Mode (connect monitors up to 4K)  
[/] USB-C hub support (expandable to USB ports, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet) 
- HDMI has no sound 
- Audio in headless mode seems buggy
[X] Fastboot and ADB support for single-cable power and control  
[X] Support for cameras, displays, and PCIe peripherals via ribbon cables  
[/] Compatibility with Raspberry Pi HATs  
- Partial compatibility but lack of some kernel level drivers 

-- Software Features --
[ ] Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 preinstalled 
- Only Focal (20.04, EOL on May 31st 2025) available
[/] Familiar desktop experience for Mac and PC users  
- No GPU accelaration available
- MPV freezing the DM/WM
[/] Access to Debian’s vast software repository  
- Access only to Ubuntu Focal repositories
[X] Headless Ubuntu build for display-free applications  
[ ] A/B partitions for atomic OTA system upgrades  
[ ] Yocto support for advanced/custom Linux builds  
[/] Full chipset support for upstream Qualcomm Linux  
- So far no NVME Boot
- No Kernel source
[ ] Flexibility to run Android 13 and Windows 11  
- No Android build available
- No Windows installation available



-- Particle IoT Platform & Cloud Services --
[X] Free IoT platform for up to 100 devices/account  
[X] Low data rate cellular plan for telemetry & device management  
[ ] Remote desktop sharing  
[X] SSH remote access  
[ ] OTA update support (filesystem overlays, Debian packages, system images)  
[ ] Screenshots, service management, reboots, screen locks, and process control  
[X] Network interface control (WiFi, Cellular, Ethernet)  
[ ] On-device firewall and bandwidth throttling  
[ ] User account, SSH key, and secret management  
[ ] Device Protection (disable USB-C, wireless, etc.)  
[X] On-device metrics: CPU, memory, battery, temperature, signal strength  
[/] Alerts for online/offline status, data usage, low battery, high CPU, low disk space  
[X] Event notifications via console/API  
[ ] Secure bi-directional file transfers  
[ ] Full device backup capability  
- NV Restore option unavailable

I havent been using the cloud services much so forgive me if i havent seen anything glaringly obvious there that is missing from the list.

3

I already have. THey arent even responding to my support requests anymore. We’ve had a lot of missed deadlines, plus a few outright lies from support and misadvertising in the campaign. I’ve packed mine away, it is not useful in its current state. Wifi isnt reliable. HDMI isnt reliable. Battery tracking is wrong. cellular is non functional unless I log in as root. And shipping with an OS that was already obsolete a year ago? Not great.

4

Bumping.

I guess not a lot has changed... despite thousands of units shipping nowadays. Right? :wink:

5

The silence is deafening. My guess is that this endeavor turned out to be more than they bargained for and instead of being honest and saving face, they stuck us with the bill and paperweights.

6

Well the current 24.04 is running great actually, once you fix that modem volume which is causing constant crashes every second. After vc/codex fixed that issue it’s been running for many days as a desktop computer and Ive been pleasantly surprised because it has had no issues at all. Just don’t unplug that battery!
It’s still missing a lot of promised functionality obviously, like the ai stack, camera focus and colour profiles, gnss,,,,.
However I did have to disable one of the gpu renderers in the brave browser because it was not handling text sometimes. Firefox has no such issue.
I am really just testing the reliability and ubuntu updates etc. waiting until I can actually use it for proper edge ai work.
20.04 was just updated and by the sounds of it 24.04 will be sooooooonish!!! Fingers still crossed

7

So.... Besides everything that distinguish the tachyon from a 5yr old raspberry pi... it works... As long as you attach that battery and accept bugs...

I wonder if any promises will be kept when another year has passed.

8

Yep! It is much faster than a rpi 5 though :slight_smile:
Battery is require because of the Qualcomm chipset is made for a mobile use, so explainable but yes annoying.
I've asked for an update for the 24.04 image, the 20.04 is now being updated every few days so shouldn't be long as they say they are also working on it in parallel (I say with a smerk)

9

Dont get me started on that battery.
To me it is the very sign of either ineptitude or willfull deception.
I remember that when the whole thing was way behind schedule we were given this wonderful gift. A battery!

Just to learn later that the board wouldnt run without and oops.. Sorry... They never thought of that before users asked about it.

10

hahaha - yeah you made me laugh - thanks I needed it.
Too true sir - fair call

11

I have two other QCS6490 based boards and they don't require battery.

12

Wait... That wooukd mean tgat a bunch of scammers lied to our faces?

Oh.. Wait..