Where to buy a RP2350 chip currently? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2024, 09:37:21 pm
content: As the title says. I can't seem to find many distributors that currently sell RP2350 chips. Are companies selling dev boards buying directly from the RPi at the moment? If so, what are the conditions? Did I miss something obvious?

author: cfbsoftware
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2024, 09:59:16 pm
content: QuoteRef:https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-pico-2-our-new-5-microcontroller-board-on-sale-now/

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2024, 10:12:43 pm
content: Thanks, I don't really see more info on their product page though on how to register my "interest".So basically, they are selling (or maybe even giving away?) samples to a few selected companies that make dev boards. A "sampling" phase is not unusual, but letting third-parties sell products made with samples is more unusual. I think.Anyway, I guess we have to contact them directly.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2024, 06:15:26 am
content: rp2040 chips also trailed boards by several months...

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2024, 06:30:58 am
content: OK, don't quite remember - I didn't get interested in the RP2040 immediately when it was released, so I didn't remember that.Let's hope they can get the silicon bugs fixed by the time they make the chips available. Would be cool.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2024, 08:19:36 pm
content: Quote from: westfw on November 01, 2024, 11:15:26 pmHere's a reference. The original Picos came out in Jan of 2021, and the chips started appearing in June.https://hackaday.com/2021/06/01/new-part-day-rp2040-chips-in-single-unit-quantities/

author: kaevee
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2024, 02:47:25 am
content: In early September, I received an email from Raspberry Pi inviting me to register for sample kits. I did so. Subsequently, in October, I received another email indicating that a shipping note/advice had been sent to their warehouse for the following items:RP235x Sample Kit10 x RP2350A10 x RP2350B20 x SRP2010DPA-3R3M20 x ABM8-272-T320 x W25Q32RVXHJQAs of now, I have not received any actual shipping notification.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2024, 03:14:51 am
content: https://rpilocator.comis helpful to find RP- but the IC's alone are not there. Just the Zero's. I thought I asked him to include them long ago.Anyhow, it aggregates sellers and might be useful.

author: SpacedCowboy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2024, 07:30:48 pm
content: Quote from: kaevee on November 04, 2024, 02:47:25 amMe too. I asked on the forum, and an engineer said the kits were going out "soon". Still hearing crickets...

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2024, 07:48:34 pm
content: Looks like they are late shipping anything indeed.I suppose that all their partners selling dev boards currently (Sparkfun, Adafruit and a few others) have agreements for getting the MCUs in rather large quantities before everyone else. (The sample kits don't count.)They may have depleted stocks entirely and now the RPi has none to fulfill the sample kits orders.That's possible.Again I don't fully remember how it went for the RP2040. Yes the Pi Pico boards were available months before the chips were, but I don't remember if they had partners making alternative dev boards, back then, as they are now, also way before they made the chips available to everyone else.The "interesting" part here is them having made the chips available in large quantities to a selected few and nobody else. I don't know if they did the same for the RP2040. Maybe so.Certainly, giving away samples is pretty common practice. Giving away more samples to larger customers also is. But we're not talking about samples here, really, for those partners. They are selling products off of it, and a lot of them. Third-parties *selling* products off samples under their own umbrella is a rather odd practice IMHO. Just my 2 cents.

author: SpacedCowboy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2024, 02:05:29 pm
content: Well, I just got the notification of my sample kit [10 x RP2350A, 10 x RP2350B, 20 x SRP2010DPA-3R3M, 20 x ABM8- 272-T3, 20 x W25Q32RVXHJQ]] shipping, so maybe things are starting to look up…

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 10, 2024, 07:05:14 am
content: I received the kit about a week ago. I still don't see RP2350s at JLCPCB or LCSC. Mouser and Digikey don't have them either. The RP folks are sticking to end-of-year. But, I see all sorts of products shipping with the chips so somewhere there is a supply and RP folks won't tell me how they are getting them. Probably a "friends and family" special deal. I have a design that I'm ready to go to manufacturing for a trial production run, kind of frustrating. At least I have the software up and running on an RP2350B using a pimoroni module. Just add production hardware. sigh...

author: PCB.Wiz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2024, 01:52:01 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on November 10, 2024, 07:05:14 amIt's a kludge, but in situations like this, it is common to borrow a mcu or two from eval module(s) to at least verify your production hardware.

author: nimish
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 11, 2024, 01:53:39 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on November 10, 2024, 07:05:14 amProbably sample runs for existing partners. For validation and design. Not uncommon but annoying that they aren't confirming they will fix the HW bugs with GPIO for a broader production release. Masks at 40nm aren't that expensive and the GPIO bug is major.

author: PCB.Wiz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2024, 12:31:05 am
content: Quote from: nimish on November 11, 2024, 01:53:39 amWhat is the GPIO bug ?

author: abeyer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2024, 01:20:13 am
content: Quote from: PCB.Wiz on November 12, 2024, 12:31:05 amthere was a bunch of discussion startinghere

author: Bruno_PT
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2025, 06:37:38 pm
content: Any news on availability? its been months

author: brucehoult
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2025, 07:36:50 pm
content: Quote from: Bruno_PT on January 28, 2025, 06:37:38 pmIt's still not listed on Raspberry Pi Directhttps://direct.raspberrypi.com/

author: Bruno_PT
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2025, 10:33:57 pm
content: They were just on the Amp hour and no mention of a timeline for it sadly.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 30, 2025, 09:33:28 pm
content: JLCPCB has them in stock but oddly enough, LCSC doesn't.

author: mallets
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 02, 2025, 04:40:43 pm
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on January 30, 2025, 09:33:28 pmIt isn't in stock yet (shows as "Consign Part" not "Add to parts lib"), just allowing us to "pre-order" from a consignment that will arrive in a couple of weeks. So it should be available in LCSC by then, if they aren't all snatched up by PCBA customers.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2025, 05:02:02 am
content: I had them build a run of 5 boards based on the RP2350B. Got them 2 days ago. FWIW, they work. And, no, I didn't use consignment.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2025, 07:18:36 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on February 13, 2025, 05:02:02 amGood to know.

author: mon2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2025, 03:25:55 pm
content: We sourced the RP2350 devices from:a) the sample kit from RPI (UK) - thanks RPI!b) more stock from:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008141674230.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.29.88d11802U39wGV* RP2350A* RP2350BReceived in under 2 weeks to Canada. Good vendor.

author: Bruno_PT
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2025, 06:06:31 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on February 13, 2025, 05:02:02 amworking on a few projects with it as well, did you went with the recommended layout for the switching regulator, i am doing a similar one as but on a 4 layer board.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2025, 06:20:04 am
content: JLCPCB appears to have > 6k in stock at the moment (for assembly). At > $2/1, I find it pricier than expected though?

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2025, 12:55:33 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on February 22, 2025, 06:20:04 am'Cause they can... At Q100, it drops off to $1.40.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2025, 01:00:20 am
content: Quote from: Bruno_PT on February 22, 2025, 06:06:31 amI did a 2 layer design and it works quite well. However, mostly digital and I don't have any signals above 400 kHz.I want to replace the Abracon parts but they are still towing the RPi beta nonesense about using them. I'll try pushing it past them...

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2025, 02:21:14 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on February 24, 2025, 12:55:33 amYes but it's overall twice the price of the RP2040. I didn't think there would be such a difference between the two, but I was probably mistaken or misled by initial announcements from the RPi?

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2025, 03:00:06 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on February 24, 2025, 02:21:14 amThat is the price for the RP2350B. The RP2350A which is largely equivalent to the RP2040 is a bit cheaper - $1.20 Q100. Still a lot more than $0.70 for the RP2040 Q100.To consider costs, you probably should factor in the Abracon inductor and crystal because JLCPCB is saying you need to use those. That's another $0.54 Q100. Maybe the 2350 will drop in price when their "beta" finishes.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2025, 03:22:01 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on February 24, 2025, 03:00:06 amThat's right, yes we need to factor in the external components required (for the inductor, for those wary of not routing this properly and run into the known issue, they may want to add an external regulator which will further add to the cost).Yes, maybe prices will go down when it's in full production mode. It's still not clear at this point what the production plan is here, given how "slow" they are to release it officially on a large scale.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2025, 03:48:14 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on February 24, 2025, 03:22:01 amActually, the design I have for an external 1.1V LDO (TLV74311, $0.035 q100) is quite a bit cheaper than the Abracon inductor ($.28 q100). It takes up about the same amount of board space, too - U19 in the picture. Add a few cents for the capacitors and call it $0.05). I'd be way happy to find an inductor with a "polarity" marking for $0.05 but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.Yeah, their slow walking the chip into production seems strange. Might be related to the security problems they have been shown.

author: Bruno_PT
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2025, 02:40:44 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on February 24, 2025, 03:48:14 amreally hope they aren't wasting our time just because of "security issues", specially as the ones i seen require crazy commitment, if its a respin, then it would be warranted, but bottom line for such a "open" company, its been 8 months now, end of year came and gone, and zero comms.

author: Bruno_PT
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2025, 02:49:41 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on February 24, 2025, 03:48:14 ambtw since we're here, don't this "voltage rings" layout that they have on the reference design seem to be a horrible idea for EMI?, i get that only the 3,3v wirebonds reach the edges of the chip, but still having the signals travel over 2 different "planes"/ polygons can't be good, or am i missing something?

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2025, 03:33:17 am
content: QuoteI'm inclined to agree, but adding enough "code protection" to make the RP usable for proprietary applications WAS (AFAIK) one of the major changes in the new chips, so they might see it differently.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2025, 03:39:18 am
content: Quote from: Bruno_PT on February 25, 2025, 02:49:41 amI don't know the answer to that. The whole inductor design with the on board buck regulator is a bit opaque to me. And, there is quite a bit of discussion here and other places about the lack of wisdom in the design. The requirement for a polarized inductor definitely feeds the fire.QuoteYou and me both. Though one of the complaints about the RP2040 was lack of security. Perhaps they are looking to broaden the market for the 2350. But, I am pretty sure they are doing a quick turn of the design, the pull-down problem is a pretty serious defect. Though, it doesn't affect my application.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2025, 03:55:34 am
content: If you look at the list of errata for this chip, there are quite a few other issues as well, some that would be worth fixing. Don't know what the plan is.