Hi all, i got my astrobox touch up and working, but I think the SD card crapped out on me after a few days… pi wouldn’t boot, so I swapped in a different card with a new astrobox touch install on it, boots up fine… however now I have no screen. Can I get a link to the astrobox touch image, or it’s the same as the astrobox image can someone outline the steps I need to do to get the screen working again? It’s the 3.5" version. Thanks!
What are you looking for? If you have the image then it will just work. Where did you get the image from? I made a back up of the SD card that came with mine as soon as I got it out of the box to be safe lol.
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You can’t just download a touch image because it requires a unique license code.
Please submit a ticket so @Daniel could verify and give you instructions on how to do this.
@dilanka is right, it’s a separate image which is not available for download. We need to get it restored via the ticket system.
Did you rewrite the sd card that came with it? I hope not. What you’re describing is rare and I would like to run some tests to see what might have happened. It’s unlikely that the card was broken, there could be other reasons that might have caused this which way easier to fix than a complete reflash. Also there’s a file there that I need to make the restore process much more smooth.
For all others, if this ever happens, please contact us before you destroy the contents of the card.
@Jeffrey_Seymore I didn’t make a backup of the image, since I’ve got about 10 pi’s running astroprint / octoprint, it’s much easier to just reflash a new image instead of messing around in config files… I figured it’d be a simple driver install for the screen and no big deal… turns out that’s not the case.
@Daniel yeah, I unfortunately overwrote the SD card it came with with a normal astrobox image. Lesson learned to not do that in the future. I’ll be submitting a ticket.
The ABT is a complete new software package and base image.
We can still fix this, it would just take a little longer. We’ll continue over in the ticket
Guys, having a print farm with astrobox’s, re-writing an sd card isn’t that rare, I’m doining one a month on average, and I’m using valided, real sandisk microsd cards. Raspberry Pi’s just aren’t as reliable as they are lead to believe. I did however, image my virgin touch card, because, well, I’m a reliablity engineer. so I can restore any time I want. 
I still think licensing should be tied to the account, and I should be able to active the touch interface on a box for a modest fee, say $50, then I could have floating licenses on the account allowing me to activate/deactivated as needed.
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I would also like to be able to purchase touch licenses. I was a backer from day one, and love my touch, but I can build a touch for like $50 in parts, how much for just the license to install the the touch software?
We will be offering a software license in the coming weeks. Could you let us know also how you would build a touch for $50?
$50 IS a little low, but it can be done for less than $75 with better resolution on a 3.5 screen or just upgrade to a 5 inch for roughly the same $75.
EXAMPLE:
raspberry pi 3.5 inch HDMI LCD touchscreen touch screen 60 fps high speed better 1920*1080 RESOLUTION!!
$21.50
Raspberry Pi 3
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CD5VC92/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_YHzWAbAW4R23C
$35.48
5v 3A power adapter
$3.04
3D print an encasement, because thats what we do with our 3d printers:
(I have this one, It attaches to the printer so it is off the table and it has a quick-release, its not as pretty, but i choose function over form)
say $3.00 in filament?
$21.50
$35.48
$3.04
- $3.00
==$63.04
Not QUITE $50 but not $199 and it has better features. Or, upgrade to 5 inch display for $8.38 more and you still haven’t hit $75.
The product, although well developed (except the wiki/help area surprosingly) and very attractive in style falls into an Adafruit-land pricepoint at 2-3 times the price of what could be done by a thrifty maker.
The purpose of this post was not to complain, flame or defame. I found “Could you let us know also how you would build a touch for $50?” borderline insulting. It is rare that I have a project with a “sky is the limit” budget so as a maker, I know what things cost, and what they shouldn’t. So no, we cant do it for $50, but I can do it for $63.
Unfortunately, we humans have a habit of taking free things for granted.
James, you could also build a phone for $50 instead of buying an iPhone or an Android smartphone.
To answer your questions/assumptions:
1.) Price is obviously NOT everything. The iPhone, without it’s software + ecosystem is just an expensive paperweight. Similarly, other than the price of raw materials, you are missing things like: engineering hours, continuous software development, the AstroPrint ecosystem etc.
2.) The Touch’s price is not “Sky is the limit”. Yes - it is expensive, but keep in mind that AstroPrint already provides free accounts up to 2 printers AND free, open source software for 99% of the people. It is a cold hard fact that – in order to provide cool stuff like the above, bills must be paid somehow. One way is via a premium Touchscreen like the touch.
3.) The Touch is not aimed at “makers” – it is aimed at the general non-technical consumer who just wants a working, plug and play product. The DIY AstroBox Gateway is more on the spectrum towards makers than the Touch.
But, if you are still inclined on making your own Touchscreen, all the power to you.
Just realize that it is silly to bargain prices on a forum while ignoring how much value AstroPrint is already providing 
I tried to explain at the bottom of my post that I understand that there are other hidden costs such as R&D Fixed Operations, etc. Price is not everything, you are correct. It was the question: “Could you let us know also how you would build a touch for $50?” That is was simply reacting to. It is a rude, buy here pay here car lot type question meant to belittle a concept and shut down an argument. Just as your snarky close “Just realize that it is silly to bargain prices on a forum while ignoring how much value AstroPrint is already providing” was designed to insult without insulting. “Sky is the limit” was referring to the Adafruit product, so I would like to apologize if I came across sounding like it was meant for yours. As I stated the product is “well developed” and “very attractive in style.”
Keep in mind that all that I did was answer the, possibly misinterpreted, yet snarky, question:
You seem to have a decent product so far as I am testing it on 4 of my printers over the next few days. The install was a little rocky this evening on the first machine, but I believe that the ecosystem you spoke of will more than make up for that. I am also hearing an occaissional pause in printing, but my entire network is under a little strain at the moment.
I chose to try you software on a toy I am making for my daughter this evening and it is pretty slick in look and feel. Octaprint has decided to reboot 8 hours into a twelve hour print 3 times since the last update (on two machines) and I need to have these e-NABLE prints done and shipped.
From a standpoint of a sales and marketing background I applaud your web presence, simple yet informative cluster of sites and successful branding. You guys definately paid attention in marketing class and deserve credit for your efforts. It is your bedside manner that could just use a little adjustment. This product is your livelyhood, and, in my experience one can get very defensive like protecting one’s child from an insult or bully. I again apologize if I have offended you in my comparison.
One last note. that link that you provided for the $50 cellphone was made of MUCH inferior hardware. In my comparison, I used the same or better (maybe not quality, because I have not tested the screen, but HOLY CRAP, a 3.5in screen with a 1920x1080 resolution! I had never seen one of those until tonight! I bought two right after I posted that response). A salesman talks value, the consumer weighs what is and isn’t valuable.
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You totally misinterpreted my question. I was genuinely asking because $50 is way less than it costs us to make it. So I was just curious to see that there might be components out there that we might have missed and wants a chance to check them out.
Perhaps the brevity of my comment is what caused it to be misinterpreted. I did not see that at the time.
I may be cheating a little, but I have a connection to a friend who can get me Pi’s for $32, and a 3.5" waveshare (b) touch screen for $20, and I have lots of 8GB cards laying around not in use. So technically that is a little over $50, but pretty close. And for a normal person a Pi is $35, and a (b) screen is abuout $25 that is about $60-$65 or so, and then another $5 for a 8GB memory card.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying your product isn’t worth what you are charging! I am just saying I love the one I got a an early bird backer, and I want more, but I want to build them myself, and be cheap!!
Also I would like to upgrade the Astroboxes I already have (2 more) without spending $100 lol(Your previous upgrade package), as it shouldn’t be more than the $20-25 for the screen, and then what I consider to be a reasonable fee for the license ($25 or so, or perhaps a floating one where I can have a license that floats between multiple boxes/printers as I rarely print on more than 2 at a time, and never on all three of my printers at the same time lol.
I dind’t take your qeustion as an insult, and again I think you charge a fair price, and I backed your product for a reason becaue I wanted to back what you do and your ideas!!! I just would like to upgrade my current boxes to have the features of the touch, Let me give you a little insight to what I have/run now.
I have three printers, and the touch is currently connected to a Neva. This is the printer I have in my living room, and that I have shown my teenage daughter how to use. The other two printers are in different places in my house, and I have a tablet near, or next to each of them, and I use those tablets to kick off/monitor prints form their respective printers etc. I am just looking to be able to make the tablets go away, and just be able to use one device for it all, as the tablets are cheap $30 Amazon fire tablet that are slow, and a PITA (lol) to use because they are a one user device, and I a, not going to dump a bunck of money on them.
So in the end I just want to upgrade my already made astrobox’s to touch’s, and not have to pay the $100+ fees you were looking for during the campaign as it was inflated. I do understand the R&D time, and cost, but make that up on the new devices, and for those casual users, and on the OEM side of things!!!
But for those users like us, the people who backed you from the get go, and spread your word, and defend you against all the people out there who yell Octoprint is better, make if affordable for us to just have the license to build our own, I even have one of those super awesome lifetime backer accounts, make it truly mean something 
And keep up the amazing work, and I will keep backing your products, physical, and licenses!
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We hear you we’re getting things ready to offer software licenses.
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WOOHOO! Any rough ETA, or a rough price range you are thinking of?
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So Excited! There is a strange pleasure gained from designing and making your own box with a rather slick piece of software to run on a screen of choice.
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