HD200 Firmware Updates?

[Savage1701]

I see many beta firmwares - is there an official update available via my HD200 extender's screen? I periodically check for updates with it, but it always says I am running the latest firmware, yet I see all these betas.

Are they recommended? Is there an official release coming soon?

Just curious.

[Brent]

Are the beta firmware updates okay do install?
I say yes - I've only had issues with a beta firmware one or two times and those issues were quickly fixed with another update from SageTV.

Will there be another "official", non-beta firmware?
Yes, always is another non-beta one after many beta firmwares - timing is irregular though.


I personally recommend you go ahead and do the latest beta firmware update. I did.

[KeithAbbott]

The last "recommended" release of HD200 firmware is version 20090903, which was made available last September. In the 10 months since then, there have been 10 beta versions made available. I do not currently have a spare HD200 to play around with, so I am not interested in upgrading to beta releases of the firmware, no matter how stable some of the users say it is. I do not understand why some of the subsequent beta firmware has not been deemed "recommended" by Sage at this point. There were four beta releases last October alone, none of those are stable enough by now to become recommended?

Being in the IT business for 30 years, I remember the days when beta software was the last stage before the fully supported releases became available. These days, it seems that beta releases are a way to allow companies to deliver functionality to the end-user at their own risk, while the company avoids most or all of the support costs. Unfortunately, this seems to be an industry-wide trend, SageTV has plenty of company in this regard.

[razrsharpe]

Originally Posted by KeithAbbott

The last "recommended" release of HD200 firmware is version 20090903, which was made available last September.

If you are using the latest Sage7 betas it is recommended that you use firmware 2010208 or newer.

These days, it seems that beta releases are a way to allow companies to deliver functionality to the end-user at their own risk, while the company avoids most or all of the support costs. Unfortunately, this seems to be an industry-wide trend, SageTV has plenty of company in this regard.

While agree with your sentiment about the IT industry in general this DOES NOT apply to this situation. SageTV has been in beta for Sage7 for about the last 6 months (the last couple publicly). They have been VERY responsive to all manner of support requests (bugs, feature requests, etc) during this time... i would say just as responsive, if not more, then they have been for the officially released software. In fact I would say their support is just about the best when it comes to the IT/CE space. To say that they are delivering functionality without support is just plain wrong.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by KeithAbbott

Being in the IT business for 30 years, I remember the days when beta software was the last stage before the fully supported releases became available. These days, it seems that beta releases are a way to allow companies to deliver functionality to the end-user at their own risk, while the company avoids most or all of the support costs. Unfortunately, this seems to be an industry-wide trend, SageTV has plenty of company in this regard.

Well first off all the new "beta" firmwares are for a "beta" software how are they suppose to make the firmware official when the software is beta...As far as support they support their release's and beta's better or as good as any company I have ever bought software from. Beta software is the "last" stage but can be a long stage as well...Hell I have seen the big M drag on betas for much much longer and only offer monthly builds at best to fix issues.

I think you are confused by the fact Sage let's the public (us) test their beta's vs keeping them private for a year before releasing an update (which I much prefer) if you don't want to try beta don't but don't complain it stays in beta to long. The fact they make their beta's public makes for a much better end user experience than just releasing and not listening to what users what (what most companies do) I prefer.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by KeithAbbott

I do not understand why some of the subsequent beta firmware has not been deemed "recommended" by Sage at this point. There were four beta releases last October alone, none of those are stable enough by now to become recommended?

Probably because they don't fix issues for V6 users, they added new functionality (and subsequently fixed bugs from that) for the upcoming V7 software.

You're not going to see an official firmware until V7 is official.

[kkapp]

Originally Posted by Savage1701

I periodically check for updates with it, but it always says I am running the latest firmware,

i may ask this as well, if there is no option to update to the latest beta or not, then how do i update my extender

[bsung]

Originally Posted by kkapp

i may ask this as well, if there is no option to update to the latest beta or not, then how do i update my extender

If I understand the question correctly, when in the firmware update menu, hit BETA (using the numbers on the remote) and that will allow you to search for new BETA firmware.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by kkapp

if there is no option to update to the latest beta or not, then how do i update my extender

It's a pretty easy process. And explained in the very top of this thread we are posting in here

[kkapp]

thanks very much.. some of those old posts do seem to get forgotten. sorry....

[Brent]

Originally Posted by kkapp

thanks very much.. some of those old posts do seem to get forgotten. sorry....

Not a problem at all. The most important ones-like that one are in the sticky posts at the top of the threads. Lots of useful stuff up there.