FAQ - Firmware releases and beta testing

[prl]

If you've seen mention of beta releases and beta testers on the forum, and wondered what it's all about, I hope this FAQ helps clarify it for you.

1. Before release, Beyonwiz firmware undergoes testing in-house in Korea, and pre-release beta versions are made available to a group of testers for field testing in Australia. There are a number of problems, like those to specific to regional broadcasters, that are difficult to test outside Australia.
2. There are just under 30 beta testers. They're simply Beyonwiz users who are helping out. They're not employees of Beyonwiz Korea or Beyonwiz Australia/Digital Products Group. A few are very knowledgeable about digital TV, set-top boxes and personal video recorders. Others have experience in programming, GUI design and computer networking. Some have an interest in reverse engineering the firmware and adding functionality to the Beyonwiz, but perhaps surprisingly, being a beta tester in itself doesn't give much extra insight into doing this. Some of those interested in Beyonwiz "hacks" aren't in the beta testers group.
3. Some testers are very active on the public forum. Five testers have (at the time of writing) 1000+ posts. Others are less active on the forum. Some are happy to be identified as testers, others don't say much about it.
4. Many of the posts offering assistance and advice on the public forum are from members of the beta testers group.
5. Typically, the beta testers have little notice of new releases, either beta or public. They don't have inside information about when the releases will happen.
6. Unlike many beta test programs, the beta testers are relatively free to talk about features that are currently in beta release.
7. If you have questions about what might be coming up in the firmware, just ask in a suitable public forum. Generally more than one tester will reply, and they will try to give as much information as they can.
8. Beyonwiz has explicitly asked beta testers not to re-distribute beta releases. Please don't ask for copies.
9. Occasionally the publicly released firmware has been changed since the last beta release. Sometimes those changes can have unintended negative consequences.
10. The beta testers can and do offer suggestions for improvement to Beyonwiz. There is less traffic in the beta forum, so it's easier for good ideas to stand out. However, Beyonwiz engineers read the public forum and that also influences their decisions of what to implement and what should take priority. The final decisions on this are, though, up to Beyonwiz.
11. If you're interested in the history of firmware releases, both beta and public, the Wiki OpenWiz.org has a Firmware Versions page, which lists almost all the public and beta releases for all four Beyonwiz models. For the DP-S1, it includes the intervals between the public firmware releases. It also has links to Beyonwiz Forum posts containing the release notes for public releases, where they exist. If you want to download and install older public versions of the firmware, the Beyonwiz Corporate downloads page has most of them available. I don't recommend installing them unless you think you have a good reason.
12. There's no secret handshake or decoder ring
13. OK, pity about the handshake and the decoder ring, but I'd still like to help. How do I join up? -- Unfortunately, there are currently more beta testers than are needed. There are already a few highly skilled or knowledgeable volunteer beta testers waiting for a space to open up. If someone wants to volunteer they could be in for a long wait.

Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence!

[grampus]

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