Before you order a uConsole: Delivery times and order tips

uConsole
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So, you read about the uConsole and you decided to get one.
Lemme tell you, it’s a fun device! Doesn’t matter if you want it for heavy nerding or just to do some light coding or learn linux. It’s fun! You made a good choice and you will be happy once the device arrives…

When the device arrives…

Here is the thing: the uConsole DOES NOT deliver in 90 business days. Or if it does, it’s a very specific configuration. Why does this happen? You might ask.
Alex has explained in different topics what happened, so I will not try to re-explain that, but the thing is: The site still says 90 days and people still gets confused and gets upset because they feel they’be been scammed.

Truth is, the uConsoles just take a long time to ship. Between 3 to 12 months (based on recent updates of this thread: Highest order number that received the shipment notice - uConsole - clockworkpi)
So, I am making this thread in order to help you decide your configuration (if you haven’t ordered) or ask for a change/[cancel and reorder] or at least give you a bit of peace of mind and know what to expect if you already placed your order.

So, we end up with something like this
a). A Silver, NoCore, WiFi Only ships in in average: 3 Months
b). Black chassis adds in average 2 months to a).
c). Core adds in average 5 months to a).
d). 4G adds 1 months
So, a fully featured black uConsole might take up to 12 months to ship, but you will have everything out of the box
A bare bones uConsole (No Core, No 4G, silver chassis) will ship in 3-4 months and you can purchase the core, and the SDCard elsewhere and basically have your (complete) device in 3-5 months.

Also, and this is very important, ORDERS ARE NOT SHIPPED IN ORDER (that sounds funny)
This is because it deppends on the configuration. If order 00001 has a fully featured uConsole and order 00035 is a bare bones uConsole, there is a HIGH chance for the later to ship before the former. This is because availability of components and the anodization of the chassis.

Also, I would suggest to write Alex only if your order has exceeded the expected shipping time mentioned in this thread. Patience is the name of the game. and do not get your hopes high if he says yours will ship in next batch.
My guess is that, numerically, one’s order should theoretically ship in X months based on the order number and the ability to dispatch some 500 units per month: “Oh, I have order #501 so mine should ship next month” … but in reality, as mentioned before, it depends on the availability of the pieces of the unit you ordered. Again, if you ordered a black unit, prepare to wait and see people with the same specs but silver chassis getting their uConsole way before you.

In summary, (TL;DR)
I present you a thable with a combination of times based on the afore mentioned google sheet and posts from people in this forum.
Add some margin of error because some people were lucky and got their devices in 2 months (bare bones config) and others got theirs in 15 months (full extras) I used an simple average formula and didn’t take into account all posts (some people claim they waited 2 years, but that was during the pandemic) I also ignored most entries for 2022 and before because those were wild, the Black+NoCore+4G ships in average in 6-7 months but for the 2022 people it shipped in up to 15 months without the CM4

REMEMBER, NO eMMC and YES WiFi if you buy the CM4 Module elsewhere. Go for the 8 gigs, it doesn’t hurt to have more RAM

Anyway, I hope this helps you one way or another.
Cheers, have patience and buy smart.

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Remember. NO eMMC, YES WiFi on your CM4

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eMMC is faster, though, especially on CM5.

so if you want to abuse uConsole it may have sense to choose eMMC + usb storage

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From what I’ve read, I gather the issue is that it’s more expensive to get the eMMC version because you can’t install the OS directly there. You have to use a “Compute Module 4 IO Board” (40 extra bucks) and even then, if you flash the eMMC with the new OS, the SD card is inaccesible so you won’t be able to use an SDCard as storage (Ckeck post 10 && 11 in this discussion uConsole with 8GB RAM/ 32GB EMMC - uConsole - clockworkpi)

The thread is old tho (2023), so it would be nice to know if someone has tried it with any level of success. Maybe with the new OS Images and updated kernel. I decided to specify a No-eMMC CM4 just to be on the safe side :yum:

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it’s expensive and annoying and limited to it’s small size, but a bit faster: The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Review | Jeff Geerling

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That’s fascinating. I guess it’s worth sticking to the non eMMC version if you’re starting, but if you really want to “hack” and get the most of the uConsole then get an eMMC version to lpay around and make it work… or if you have enough experience to make it work. (I know I still have a long road beforme me, so I will pass… for now.)

Also, I had missed this thread which seems very interesting and helpfull
EMMC experiments - uConsole - clockworkpi

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that’s also a bit misleading: it’s not a uConsole issue, but cm4’s itself. they wire one of them to the chip so sd card reader basically dead in case of emmc

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I edited the original post to avoid misunderstandings. :+1:

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If you plan on getting a CM4, I would recommend the 8GB Lite as well. If you want a CM5, getting anything other than a 4GB/32GB module can be a challenge. You can generally have a 4GB/32GB CM5 in a couple of days, where as the 8GB Lite CM5 is on back order by almost everyone and is going to take awhile to get. So there are some considerations to be made here.

The Waveshare Nano Base Board B allows you to flash the eMMC storage on both a CM4 and CM5 and costs $18 (Yes I have personally tested it, it works on both.). As a bonus, if you are swapping out a CM4 for a CM5, this board can be used with your CM4 for another project.

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4g plus cm4 and you get it faster them just cm4 alone. Ordered in april (black/cm4), grey_rabbit ordered almost same config(black/cm4 and 4g) in may did get it before me. Alex told me :
“I just checked, no order that has the same config and higher order number than yours has been shipped.
We’ve been keeping the queue quite well.”

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That’s weird
In theory, it’s unlikable that the uConsole with more parts ships faster than the one with less parts. Not impossible, I suppose there is a chance it can happen but it’s more likely fluke.
Checking the google sheet, the tendency is to have the 4G+Core ship later by at leas 1 month (depends on the body color)

But it’s an interesting case, no doubt… I would put it in the “singularity” drawer because his uConsole, statistically, should have been shipped in about 11 months /shrugs.

Hoping you get yours soon. It’s deff a fun device.
When you get it, don’t forget to print or comission the printing of the top case listed in the “Mods thread” and when ptinting the antenna buffer, I highly recommend a 1cm buffer. The one that comes in the STL is about 2mm and I cound it to be too thin.
Try to rise the antenna above the body. (Check the “Replacement WiFi antenna” thread for more info)

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Thank you for putting this together, it is very informative. I ordered a back/CM4 Lite WiFi+LTE back in November 24. So I guess Is will be waiting awhile longer yet. I think the anticipation is half the fun!

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you can write email to Alex and he will partially refund you (it was ~$70 for removing my cm4 core)

(also you can write him email and ask current status of your order, but it won’t be very informative)

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Wow. Nice information.

Thanks

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Thank you very much for the very detailed post. One question from my side, what could justify these long waiting times? Also what is the deal with all those scalpers in Aliexpress selling 3 times the price of the vendor?

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Sorry for the late answer.
To be honest, maybe the peace of mind that you will have everything coming from the same vendor… But when I assembled it, I realized how easy it is to do it and IMHO it would have been better (probably for both parts, seller and customer) to just get the no-core version.

I would say: go for a no-core and get the MicroSD and the CM4 elsewhere. flashing the OS and installing the CM4 is so straightforward that it is hard to justify the purchase of a core version.
just remember to get the CM4 that fills your needs (eMMC version vs no eMMC)

I might (if cash flow is better) purchase one no_core bare bones in december and purchase everything else from other vendors.

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Thanks for the post! This should have been done years ago!
Just for my understanding, why does the black plate adds so much time?

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I imagine it’s because he has to outsource the job, and (for example) asking a company to paint 100 pieces or less when the company has who knows how many thousands of other jobs to do, puts you on a bad spot in the queue.

For example, I recently purchased a titanium yoyo, the manufacturer was clear: he was going to release 2 batches: first batch is raw titanium.
Second batch will be either anodized or sandblasted titanium but he will have to outsource that job. He has to send pieces to a workshop and they have their own workload priority, plus he has to implement tracking systems to avoid pieces getting lost. Also, there is always the chance that the process damages the product and it doesn’t pass QA, and he has to send a new batch and wait even longer for the replacement of the few defective pieces…

So, basically, the long wait comes from the outsourcing and the lack of control once your product leaves your warehouse. You’re (well, Alex) is basically at the mercy whoever does the paint job.

I will tell you, the black version is really cool and, if it were not because the wait, I would say to get it… But raw looks fantastic too so if you don’t want to wait that long, just get raw version.

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