PSDR (MichaelRColton)FirmwareConfidence: Medium

Someone rebuilding the 2.6.1 design in KiCad, with BOM and manufacturing data, did a read-only firmware survey and found an unconditional debug while(1) sitting before the real main loop, plus an I2C wait with no timeout. They asked for the maintainer's view before sending any PR. The board files and the firmware had drifted apart in a way only someone working both sides would notice.

Impact Analysis

Persona

Firmware Engineer

Team Size Impact

5x Multiplier

Prototype Delay

3 Days

Est. Annual Cost

$30,000

1 user · 1 month240 min
Rest of team960 min
Rest of year13,200 min

monthly_minutes × 12 × team_multiplier ÷ 60 × $75/hr = $30k/yr

$75/hr assumed rate.

Annual team-minutes decomposed from the reported monthly inputs.

Evidence & Sources

1 Sources

MichaelRColton/PSDR Issue #19: Two firmware spots that may stop a board from booting (F7 main loop, Si5338 I2C wait) - opinion before any PR

github.com

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Analyst Notes

From the Grok pain-radar digests, Nov 2 2026 (Nov 2 8:41 AM ET through Nov 2 10:41 PM ET digests plus the Haitch editions). Verified live 2026-11-03: issue/PR read; title and state confirmed.