URGENT: do I have old or new Pibow coupe?

Discussion Raspberry Pi
1

According to the web page for the Pibow Coupe,

Note: We’ve redesigned Pibow to be compatible
with both the Raspberry Pi 2 and B+. Due to changes in the layout of the
power circuitry on the Raspberry Pi 2 layer 3 has had to be revised -
older Pibows (one’s with a B+ label) will not work with Raspberry Pi 2!

Where would I find this “B+ label” on a red Pibow Coupe I just recently bought?

I bought the Pibow Coupe through a well-known US vendor within just the last two weeks, before the release of the Pi2. I now have a Pi2 on (back)order and wanted to put it into the Coupe, moving the B+ that’s in there now to a new Pibow Ninja (non-Coupe style), also on order. After reading the above piece (I wasn’t home at the time), I assumed the red Coupe I have is an “old” one since it had to be in the US vendor’s inventory for at least a few weeks, so as much as I didn’t want to, I ordered a new Coupe from the Pimoroni shop.

Now I’m not sure that the Coupe I already have really is an old one. How can I tell for certain when I don’t yet have the Pi2 to fit inside it? The single picture on the Coupe web page looks just like mine, and I don’t see any sort of B+ label. If I already have the new design, I need to cancel quickly the order I just placed today.

1 Like
2

Hi - I’m only a muggle but I think that if your coupe has three coloured layers it fits a Pi2, and if it has four coloured layers it only fits a B+

Hopefully a staff member can confirm? :)

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Hopefully this helps, packaging has a venn diagram on for the new Pi2/B+ (older style B+ only case in red for comparison)

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Lisa is right- and to chime in, I’m certain that you have an old style Coupe and will need a new Pi 2 compatible one.

5

Oh THAT label… I know it was red, but so were the contents. I’ll have to dig through the trash bag here to find it, at least I haven’t emptied it out yet.

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It’s confirmed, I found the wrapper and it clearly only says B+. (sigh) Looks like I’m going to end up with a leftover case unless I get another B+ in the future. Okay, case closed (pun intended).

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Ahoy! Check your PMs!

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So IF one were to replace the offending layer in a B+ Coupe, then you’d have a Pi2-compatible case, but still with four color layers rather than three as pictured above? I could live with that.

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Actually, I think I prefer the 2 clear + 4 color design anyway, which keeps the top of the GPIO pins from protruding so much above the top surface of the case.

I notice the case screws in the picture are head down. Did I put mine in upside down?

10

You can put the screws in whichever way up you like! Most of mine are in head-up on Coupe cases, but I’ll often put them in heads down if I need to remove the top for some reason.

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Anyone who wants a free replacement layer 3 to adapt a B+only case to a B+&2 case, can get them shipped free with any order. Just pop in a support request stating your order number, and colour.

I got mine with an order for Lego layers last week, now my red Coupé case supports both Pi 2 and Lego.

Thanks Pimoroniants for offering this, and sorting it out so quickly.

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Is that layer 3 or the third layer (bottom layer is #0)?

I’ll trust Pimoroni to know which one to send. Glad they made this an official process.

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Yes, layers are counted from the bottom up, and are counted from zero.

Layers 0 and 1 go underneath the circuitboard. Layer 2 wraps around the circuitboard. Layer 3 is the first layer on top of the circuitboard - this is the one which needs changing over, as it has bits which snake around the chips, and the chip placement is different on the 2B compared to the B+ .

The new layer 3 fits both the 2B and the B+ . The old layer 3 fits only the B+ .

Thankfully, layer 1 is unaffected by the new RAM chip underneath the circuitboard on the 2B.

14

The layers also have numerals etched on them.

If you hold a B+ or 2B Pibow layer with the HDMI, audio and power side towards your chest, you should see numerals on the top left of each layer.

I.e. on B+ and 2B Pibows, the layer numerals are diagonally opposite the ethernet network port. This is also the same for the 2014 non-plus B Coupé.

For older pre-Coupé, non-plus 1B Pibows, the layer numerals are to the left of the HDMI port.

Can’t see a numeral on the layer? You probably have the layer upside-down.