I usually hang out on LiteCoinTalk, so I'm late to the game, but here it goes...
Questions:
1) Is it worthwhile to replace the cheap VRMs that KNC installed with an upgraded version?
We can buy them here:
http://avnetexpress.avnet.com/store/em/EMController?action=products&catalogId=500201&storeId=500201&N=0&defaultCurrency=USD&langId=-1&slnk=e&term=BMR4641008%252F001&mfr=ERC&CMP=KNC-Octopart_VSE&c=USD&l=-1But they aren't cheap, and the minimum order quantity is 65. Each Titan cube would require 8 VRMs at $30 each. Group buy?
2) Has anyone successfully refloated any of the components on a Titan cube circuit board? I have tried to do this, and the solder KNC used has an unusual resin (or epoxy) coating on it. Nothing would stick to it, and it got powdery when it melted. Either they used really cheap solder, or solder that was never meant to be fixed?
3) The controller boards are the weakest link. They eventually need to be eliminated, and the cubes need to be run directly via USB-to-serial.
3a) Have we tried offering a bounty to anyone who can provide or reverse-engineer the FPGA code?
3b) I have cubes that will run reliably on all four dies when they are alone on a controller board, but as more cubes are added, dies begin to fail. This is not a power issue. I believe it is the RasPi becoming overloaded and failing to properly handle communication with the controller. Has anyone been able to run a more powerful RasPi, like a RasPi 2 or some variant?