Experimental 2600+ Firmware and Dumper

[DEANJIMMY]

On 6/16/2024 at 2:04 PM, MrChickenz said:

Unfortunately it only works retro style! For now.

 

 

The PAL60 version is tough on the 2600+

Wrong colors... purple alien sphere on black ground let you miss some hyperspace bonus.

I remember 189.000 but need find my other Atarivox modules (got 4)😉

[MrChickenz]

5 minutes ago, DEANJIMMY said:

The PAL60 version is tough on the 2600+

Wrong colors... purple alien sphere on black ground let you miss some hyperspace bonus.

I remember 189.000 but need find my other Atarivox modules (got 4)😉

So! Obviously there are still issues with Juno First. Your Juno First seems to score higher than mine! 🤣😂😄

[raz0red]

Updated dumper (x.02) and firmware (1.1x-r4) on the first page of this thread, please let us know if you experience any regressions.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

Edited June 18 by raz0red

[Dionoid]

5 minutes ago, raz0red said:

Updated dumper (x.02) and firmware (1.1x-r4) on the first page of this thread, please let us know if you experience any regressions.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

Cool!! What has been added/fixed in this update?

 

[Edit: nevermind, that information is all on the first page under 'change history']

Edited June 18 by Dionoid

[raz0red]

7 hours ago, DEANJIMMY said:

The PAL60 version is tough on the 2600+

Wrong colors... purple alien sphere on black ground let you miss some hyperspace bonus.

I remember 189.000 but need find my other Atarivox modules (got 4)😉

We can fix those colors. I will add it to the next build. 

 

Please let us know any other PAL60 games that are displaying the wrong colors, thanks!

 

Chris.

[Dionoid]

17 minutes ago, raz0red said:

We can fix those colors. I will add it to the next build. 

 

Please let us know any other PAL60 games that are displaying the wrong colors, thanks!

 

Chris.

Thanks for fixing the colors for Amoeba Jump PAL60! Could you also fix the colors for Tower of Rubble PAL60? The cartridge rom has MD5 = a50f921c2000760b099dcf1ed353895f

 

End of last year, @Thomas Jentzsch asked homebrewers to provide stella property files for their games which rely on special settings like PAL-60 or phosphor effect. Looks like this would affect the same set of homebrew games, right?

Edited June 18 by Dionoid

[raz0red]

7 minutes ago, Dionoid said:

Thanks for fixing the colors for Amoeba Jump PAL60! Could you also fix the colors for Tower of Rubble PAL60? The cartridge rom has MD5 = a50f921c2000760b099dcf1ed353895f

 

End of last year, @Thomas Jentzsch asked homebrewers to provide stella property files for their games which rely on special settings like PAL-60 or phosphor effect. Looks like this would affect the same set of homebrew games, right?

Yes, exactly. I will check those out.

 

Thanks a lot,

Chris.

[Cody2000]

so all this being said how far off are we from a final release or whatever you would call it? some of my games dont work but they are known ones that dont like speaks peak double ender

[Trebor]

As of June 18, 2024, attached is all the files and thorough step-by-step instructions on updating the 2600+ console, whether it is the first time the console is being updated, or it has been updated previously.

 

Complete zip archive: How to Update the 2600+ Console_20240618.zip

 

Included Word document in the above attached archive provides the following information:

 

HOW TO UPDATE THE 2600+ CONSOLE

(As of June 18, 2024)

 

There are two parts to a complete 2600+ console update:

Part I – Dumper --> Reads the cartridge data

Part II – Firmware --> Runs the cartridge data and controls overall functionality of the console

 

Prerequisites & Setup: A desktop or laptop running Windows is required to successfully update the 2600+ console.  If this is the first time the desktop or laptop running Windows is being utilized for an update, it is very likely, a one-time driver install needs to be performed.

 

If the machine has been utilized to update the 2600+ console previously, jump to the next section, “Part I – Dumper” below.  Otherwise follow these steps to install the driver:

1.       Ensure POWER lever switch is set to the OFF position on the 2600+ console.

2.       Connect included USB cable to the 2600+ console and the other end to a laptop or desktop running Windows.

3.       On the 2600+ console, set the TV TYPE to COLOR.

4.       While HOLDING DOWN the RESET GAME lever on the console, move the POWER lever to the ON position.

5.       Wait to hear an audio jingle indicating a device connected from the computer running Windows.

6.       Decompress the file: DriverAssitant_v5.12.zip, noting where the folder and files are placed.

7.       Go to ‘Device Manager’ on the machine running Windows and click on the ‘Unknown Device’ listed.

8.       Select ‘Update Driver’ for the ‘Unknown Device’ opting to Browse for Driver.  Navigate to the folder where the DriverAssitant_v5.12.zip file was decompressed and select the OK button.

9.       A confirmation pop-up message should be received indicating a successful driver update.

10.     Proceed with the section “Part I – Dumper”

 

Part I – Dumper

1.       Ensure POWER lever switch is set to the OFF position on the 2600+ console.

2.       Connect included USB cable to the 2600+ console and the other end to a laptop or desktop running Windows.

3.       On the 2600+ console, set the TV TYPE to B+W.

4.       While HOLDING DOWN the SELECT GAME lever on the console, move the POWER lever to the ON position.

5.       Wait to hear an audio jingle indicating a device connected from the computer running Windows.

6.       Double click/Open the file: dumper-061424-x.02.exe

7.       The “Atari 2600+ Dumping Tooling” application Window will appear on screen:

                               a.       Version: = Version of dumper software that will be installed

                               b.       Checksum: = Validation data of file running.

                               c.       Device Version: = Version of dumper software currently installed on the 2600+

                               d.       Status: = Whether a 2600+ console is detected as connect to the computer.

8.       Ensure “Status: Detected” in green is present.  If “Not Detected” in red is present, go back to Step 1.  If the issue persists, try a different Laptop or Desktop running Windows.

9.       With “Status: Detected” in green shown, click on the “Download” button.  Download will take several seconds.

10.     Status will now show “Not Detected” in red.  This is normal, expected, and indicates a successful update.  To double check, proceed to Step 1 again and note when under step 7, both “Version” and “Device Version” will match, and “Status: Detected”.

 

Part II – Firmware

1.       Ensure POWER lever switch is set to the OFF position on the 2600+ console.

2.       Connect included USB cable to the 2600+ console and the other end to a laptop or desktop running Windows.

3.       On the 2600+ console, set the TV TYPE to COLOR.

4.       While HOLDING DOWN the RESET GAME lever on the console, move the POWER lever to the ON position.

5.       Wait to hear an audio jingle indicating a device connected from the computer running Windows.

6.       Decompress the file: RKDevTool_Release_v2.74.zip, noting where the folder and files are placed.

7.       Navigate to folder where RKDevTool_Release_v2.74.zip was unzipped, and click/Open the file: RKDevTool

8.       The "RKDevTool v2.74" application window will appear.  A status message at the bottom of the application window should state “Found One MASKROM Device”.  If not, go back to Step 1 and try again.  If the issue persists, ensure the “Prerequisites & Setup” section above has been performed.

9.       With a status message of "Found one MASKROM device" shown, click on the tab “Upgrade Firmware”

10.     Under the “Upgrade Firmware” tab, click on the “Firmware” button, locate and Open the file: update-061424-1.1x-r4.img.

11.     The firmware update-061424-1.1x-r4.img should now be listed under “Firmware” information section of the “Upgrade Firmware” tab.

12.     Click on the “Upgrade” button under the “Upgrade Firmware” tab. To the right, lines will be displayed indicating it is processing the update, of which should take about 30 seconds.

13.     Status message of “No Devices Found” will likely appear.  This is normal and expected.

14.     Congratulations!  Having completed Part I – Dumper and Part II – Firmware, your 2600+ console is fully updated!

 

Notes:

-          It has been discovered that computers which have been utilized to update Evercade devices, install a driver which conflicts with performing the 2600+ update successfully.  It is strongly recommended to either uninstall the driver for that Evercade device, or utilize a different computer.

-          The USB cable that is included with the 2600+ console, provides data transfer support.  Many USB cables on the market are for powering or charging devices only.  If not using the USB cable included with the 2600+ console, it is crucial to ensure the cable being leveraged provides data transfer support.

-          If utilizing a USB 2.0 port with a computer, and the update is not working, try leveraging a USB 3.0 port instead.

-          There is an alternative ‘debug’ version of the firmware.  This is for assisting with testing and informational purposes, which details MD5 checksum and ROM size data.  It is included in the archive in a separate 'Debug' folder, but not required to be installed.

 

Hope this is found useful and beneficial for any in need of it.

 

@Ben from Plaion feel free to utilize or/and modify for anything official from Plaion/Atari.

[MrChickenz]

@Trebor Thank You! For taking the time to post a detailed description for installing the Firmware Update.

[Plumbob]

56 minutes ago, Trebor said:

As of June 18, 2024, attached is all the files and thorough step-by-step instructions on updating the 2600+ console, whether it is the first time the console is being updated, or it has been updated previously.

 

Complete zip archive: How to Update the 2600+ Console_20240618.zip

 

Included Word document in the above attached archive provides the following information:

 

HOW TO UPDATE THE 2600+ CONSOLE

(As of June 18, 2024)

 

There are two parts to a complete 2600+ console update:

Part I – Dumper --> Reads the cartridge data

Part II – Firmware --> Runs the cartridge data and controls overall functionality of the console

 

Prerequisites & Setup: A desktop or laptop running Windows is required to successfully update the 2600+ console.  If this is the first time the desktop or laptop running Windows is being utilized for an update, it is very likely, a one-time driver install needs to be performed.

 

If the machine has been utilized to update the 2600+ console previously, jump to the next section, “Part I – Dumper” below.  Otherwise follow these steps to install the driver:

1.       Ensure POWER lever switch is set to the OFF position on the 2600+ console.

2.       Connect included USB cable to the 2600+ console and the other end to a laptop or desktop running Windows.

3.       On the 2600+ console, set the TV TYPE to COLOR.

4.       While HOLDING DOWN the RESET GAME lever on the console, move the POWER lever to the ON position.

5.       Wait to hear an audio jingle indicating a device connected from the computer running Windows.

6.       Decompress the file: DriverAssitant_v5.12.zip, noting where the folder and files are placed.

7.       Go to ‘Device Manager’ on the machine running Windows and click on the ‘Unknown Device’ listed.

8.       Select ‘Update Driver’ for the ‘Unknown Device’ opting to Browse for Driver.  Navigate to the folder where the DriverAssitant_v5.12.zip file was decompressed and select the OK button.

9.       A confirmation pop-up message should be received indicating a successful driver update.

10.     Proceed with the section “Part I – Dumper”

 

Part I – Dumper

1.       Ensure POWER lever switch is set to the OFF position on the 2600+ console.

2.       Connect included USB cable to the 2600+ console and the other end to a laptop or desktop running Windows.

3.       On the 2600+ console, set the TV TYPE to B+W.

4.       While HOLDING DOWN the SELECT GAME lever on the console, move the POWER lever to the ON position.

5.       Wait to hear an audio jingle indicating a device connected from the computer running Windows.

6.       Double click/Open the file: dumper-061424-x.02.exe

7.       The “Atari 2600+ Dumping Tooling” application Window will appear on screen:

                               a.       Version: = Version of dumper software that will be installed

                               b.       Checksum: = Validation data of file running.

                               c.       Device Version: = Version of dumper software currently installed on the 2600+

                               d.       Status: = Whether a 2600+ console is detected as connect to the computer.

8.       Ensure “Status: Detected” in green is present.  If “Not Detected” in red is present, go back to Step 1.  If the issue persists, try a different Laptop or Desktop running Windows.

9.       With “Status: Detected” in green shown, click on the “Download” button.  Download will take several seconds.

10.     Status will now show “Not Detected” in red.  This is normal, expected, and indicates a successful update.  To double check, proceed to Step 1 again and note when under step 7, both “Version” and “Device Version” will match, and “Status: Detected”.

 

Part II – Firmware

1.       Ensure POWER lever switch is set to the OFF position on the 2600+ console.

2.       Connect included USB cable to the 2600+ console and the other end to a laptop or desktop running Windows.

3.       On the 2600+ console, set the TV TYPE to COLOR.

4.       While HOLDING DOWN the RESET GAME lever on the console, move the POWER lever to the ON position.

5.       Wait to hear an audio jingle indicating a device connected from the computer running Windows.

6.       Decompress the file: RKDevTool_Release_v2.74.zip, noting where the folder and files are placed.

7.       Navigate to folder where RKDevTool_Release_v2.74.zip was unzipped, and click/Open the file: RKDevTool

8.       The "RKDevTool v2.74" application window will appear.  A status message at the bottom of the application window should state “Found One MASKROM Device”.  If not, go back to Step 1 and try again.  If the issue persists, ensure the “Prerequisites & Setup” section above has been performed.

9.       With a status message of "Found one MASKROM device" shown, click on the tab “Upgrade Firmware”

10.     Under the “Upgrade Firmware” tab, click on the “Firmware” button, locate and Open the file: update-061424-1.1x-r4.img.

11.     The firmware update-061424-1.1x-r4.img should now be listed under “Firmware” information section of the “Upgrade Firmware” tab.

12.     Click on the “Upgrade” button under the “Upgrade Firmware” tab. To the right, lines will be displayed indicating it is processing the update, of which should take about 30 seconds.

13.     Status message of “No Devices Found” will likely appear.  This is normal and expected.

14.     Congratulations!  Having completed Part I – Dumper and Part II – Firmware, your 2600+ console is fully updated!

 

Notes:

-          It has been discovered that computers which have been utilized to update Evercade devices, install a driver which conflicts with performing the 2600+ update successfully.  It is strongly recommended to either uninstall the driver for that Evercade device, or utilize a different computer.

-          The USB cable that is included with the 2600+ console, provides data transfer support.  Many USB cables on the market are for powering or charging devices only.  If not using the USB cable included with the 2600+ console, it is crucial to ensure the cable being leveraged provides data transfer support.

-          If utilizing a USB 2.0 port with a computer, and the update is not working, try leveraging a USB 3.0 port instead.

-          There is an alternative ‘debug’ version of the firmware.  This is for assisting with testing and informational purposes, which details MD5 checksum and ROM size data.  It is included in the archive in a separate 'Debug' folder, but not required to be installed.

 

Hope this is found useful and beneficial for any in need of it.

 

@Ben from Plaion feel free to utilize or/and modify for anything official from Plaion/Atari.

One minor issue that I run into each time I update the firmware is it will almost always say “Wait For Maskrom Fail” on the first attempt. So I just click on “Upgrade” again and it always seems to work for me.   I just wanted to mention this in case anyone else has this problem. 

 

 

[raz0red]

1 hour ago, Cody2000 said:

so all this being said how far off are we from a final release or whatever you would call it? some of my games dont work but they are known ones that dont like speaks peak double ender

There won't be a "final" release for some time. There are (and will continue to be) a number of items to improve on, better compatibility, tweaks, etc. 

 

But, the hope is that this particular update (firmware and dumper) will be promoted to an official update if no regressions are discovered.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

[tradyblix]

What does

• Maria transparency fix

Actually fix ? It would be nice to have a bit more understandable detail on these to determine whether it's worth the risk of flashing on each update, I am at the point where there seems to be very little changes that affect games I play and would like to be more informed whether the juice is worth the squeeze. Especially if there's gonna be no end to these and we'll be on 1.1x-r16 in 6 months. 

Edited June 19 by tradyblix

[raz0red]

1 hour ago, tradyblix said:

What does

• Maria transparency fix

Actually fix ? It would be nice to have a bit more understandable detail on these to determine whether it's worth the risk of flashing on each update, I am at the point where there seems to be very little changes that affect games I play and would like to be more informed whether the juice is worth the squeeze. Especially if there's gonna be no end to these and we'll be on 1.1x-r16 in 6 months. 

Honestly, not much at this point. It was added due to an issue with an in-development homebrew. 

I just noted it as it could potentially cause a regression (hopefully not). But, just wanted to be clear about all changes that were introduced.

 

This whole point of this thread is to allow for rapid updates and feedback (which could potentially cause breaking changes). For those not interested in that (completely understandable), it probably makes more sense to stick to the official releases.

 

Chris.

Edited June 19 by raz0red

[MarcinJ]

I have installed rev3 on my console, which allowed me to play 7800 version of Ms. Pac-Man, Crystal Quest and Stay Frosty 2.  
I have issues with Donkey Kong Junior - it loads it properly, but after a second gibberish appears on the screen. 
I can load also Escape from The Castle, but it shows a lot of strange flicker. 
If the issues are unknown I can post some videos today in the evening. 

[DEANJIMMY]

1 hour ago, MarcinJ said:

I have installed rev3 on my console, which allowed me to play 7800 version of Ms. Pac-Man, Crystal Quest and Stay Frosty 2.  
I have issues with Donkey Kong Junior - it loads it properly, but after a second gibberish appears on the screen. 
I can load also Escape from The Castle, but it shows a lot of strange flicker. 
If the issues are unknown I can post some videos today in the evening. 

I do not remember having any issues with DKJ.

My cart is PAL, I am on x4 now but it worked on previous loads, too.

[DEANJIMMY]

9 hours ago, raz0red said:

We can fix those colors. I will add it to the next build. 

 

Please let us know any other PAL60 games that are displaying the wrong colors, thanks!

 

Chris.

Many thanks for the offer🤙

I added screenshots from Juno 1st and Pinky the Panda, both show wrong colors on x4.

I can confirm that Zippy PAL60 shows the correct colors now 😊

 

Other candidates will be the Champ Games, once they might work someday.

If my Draconian is PAL or PAL60, I do not know, it still does not work but that was expected.

 

Some more x4 testing will be done later today, many thanks for the update 🤙

[shane857]

5 hours ago, DEANJIMMY said:

I do not remember having any issues with DKJ.

My cart is PAL, I am on x4 now but it worked on previous loads, too.

My Donkey Kong Jr also works fine NTSC. I'm on Revision 3.

[shane857]

14 hours ago, Cody2000 said:

so all this being said how far off are we from a final release or whatever you would call it? some of my games dont work but they are known ones that dont like speaks peak double ender

I have Spikes Peak/Ghost Manor and they both play fine no issues. Maybe try cleaning the cart again?

[shane857]

4 hours ago, shane857 said:

I have Spikes Peak/Ghost Manor and they both play fine no issues. Maybe try cleaning the cart again?

Tried it just now on Revision 4, still plays fine. It's definitely your cart bro. Give it a really good clean 👍🏻

[MarcinJ]

5 hours ago, shane857 said:

My Donkey Kong Jr also works fine NTSC. I'm on Revision 3.

Here is how my PAL version looks like.  With 1.0 it would not dump the cartridge. Now, it dumps, but clearly the game is corrupted. I cleaned it today a few times.

 

 

[tradyblix]

15 hours ago, raz0red said:

Honestly, not much at this point. It was added due to an issue with an in-development homebrew. 

I just noted it as it could potentially cause a regression (hopefully not). But, just wanted to be clear about all changes that were introduced.

 

This whole point of this thread is to allow for rapid updates and feedback (which could potentially cause breaking changes). For those not interested in that (completely understandable), it probably makes more sense to stick to the official releases.

 

Chris.

Well, I can't stick to the official releases because then I can't play a ton of 7800 games. Or Pitfall II. 

Sorry if I come off petulant, but I don't' really agree with the way these "experimental" releases are being named and the long time it's taking to get a non-beta 1.1 update.

 

There can still be 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 etc, but when the releases are marked in SUCH an odd way... and then go on for months while regular folks still are on 1.1 Beta, of which there are also 2, and then 4 releases that are not beta but "experimental" even tho there's nothing that experimental about them (at least, not at this point, they seem to work really well despite probably some isuses I don't even notice or know about) and then the "official betas"  which just ended up being out of date....  It's confusing guys. it's really confusing.... I can't be the only one to think this. 

Especially when for 6 months I've been running such a so- called "experimental" release and it's been just as stable if not more so than the "1.1 Beta". which is... "official" ?? But also... extremely out of date and not performant... those aren't even options anymore, but a newbie coming here would really not know what to pick.

Please, don't take it the wrong way, but get your boffins to reconsider the way releases are considered "official" or not... It's nutty right now. Just release what y'all currently have as the 1.1 official release, forget the (existing) beta stuff, maybe with whatever regression fixes make it into r5) and then have just have an ongoing beta line which replaces so called "experimental" releases.... 

That would make much more sense. I mean ANYTHING is better than the 1.0 firmware that's still SHIPPING on new devices and most people will probably get stuck with, with reversed a/b switches and all it's issues.... 

 

I mean I'm afraid to update further now since it seems like things are rapidly changing, but also, from my perspective, other than wanting champ games games which don't seem like they're gonna be supported anytime soon, the r3 firmware is pretty much perfect for me and the games I wanna play.... There will always be problems but it seems like a line must be drawn in the sand somewhere, just call it 1.1 and work on 1.2 beta. Much more sensible. Hell, a theoreticaly 1.1x-r4/5 based 1.1 CANNOT be any worse than the OG Firmware, lol 

Edited June 19 by tradyblix

[raz0red]

4 minutes ago, tradyblix said:

Well, I can't stick to the official releases because then I can't play a ton of 7800 games. Or Pitfall II. 

Sorry if I come off petulant, but I don't' really agree with the way these "experimental" releases are being named and the long time it's taking to get a non-beta 1.1 update.

 

There can still be 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 etc, but when the releases are marked in SUCH an odd way... and then go on for months while regular folks still are on 1.1 Beta, of which there are also 2, and then 4 releases that are beta than the "official beta"  which just ended up being experimental... later. It's confusing guys. it's really confusing.... I can't be the only one to think this. 

Especially when for 6 months I've been running such a so- called "experimental" release and it's been just as stable if not more so than the "1.1 Beta". which is... "official" ?? 

Please, don't take it the wrong way, but get your boffins to reconsider the way releases are considered "official" or not... It's nutty right now. Just release what y'all currently have as the 1.1 official release, forget the beta stuff, and then have a beta line which replaces so called "experimental" releases.

That would make much more sense. 

So, a couple of things. First, the people who have contributed to these releases do not work for Atari (including many of you out there who have provided excellent feedback, and installed and tested numerous non-public builds, thank you so much!). As I mentioned previously in this thread, we can recommend that we think one of the experimental releases should become an official build, but that is not our decision. With that said, I did recently talk with Ben, and it is likely that the latest experimental (assuming no regressions are found), will become an official release.

 

As far as Beta vs. Experimental goes. You may not be aware of the actual history (lots of threads, so completely understandable). But, this experimental firmware was introduced with a lot of breaking (or potentially breaking changes). It didn't make sense to make it a Beta as it was removing features and could have been seen as a significant regression from current functionality. At that time you were still able to reach the RA menus, etc. and the rendering was done by RA itself. This initial experimental went with a new rendering approach that didn't use RA and you could no longer reach the RA menus (which is still the case). We also incorporated a significant amount of optimizations to improve performance that could have also led to regressions. Making that an incremental beta release would have been seen as a significant step backwards by some. Our testing was limited at best, and until it was released publicly, it was hard to predict what would be found in real-world testing.

At this point, if this seems like the platform going forward (versus the older Beta one that used RA rendering, didn't include the optimizations, etc.), I think it might make sense to promote the experimental to more of a beta approach, with what was previously the beta thread becoming official releases. But, again, that is not something we control.

 

Hope that helps to reduce some confusion. It is also worth noting that many people have contributed countless hours to improving the 2600+. While you may not agree with the process (completely understandable), I know for a fact that everyone is trying very hard to make the 2600+ the best product that it can be.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

 

[tradyblix]

I get it, thanks for explaining.

 

I knew this would tread the line of getting people upset and up in arms about me potentially being annoyed about trivial issues.

 

Ultimately it doesn't matter, we have them available, but I do sympathize with the people that want the machine to start shipping with all that work that's been done, and or not have to be worried about updating to the wrong thing. thanks for listening. 

 

I'm sticking with r3 until either something major happens in the release notes for a game I actually play or we get an official release, whenever that happens. It is working for me fine. And I know what's going on with the loader a lot better in that release too. 

Edited June 19 by tradyblix

[Striker667xbl]

5 hours ago, raz0red said:

So, a couple of things. First, the people who have contributed to these releases do not work for Atari (including many of you out there who have provided excellent feedback, and installed and tested numerous non-public builds, thank you so much!). As I mentioned previously in this thread, we can recommend that we think one of the experimental releases should become an official build, but that is not our decision. With that said, I did recently talk with Ben, and it is likely that the latest experimental (assuming no regressions are found), will become an official release.

 

As far as Beta vs. Experimental goes. You may not be aware of the actual history (lots of threads, so completely understandable). But, this experimental firmware was introduced with a lot of breaking (or potentially breaking changes). It didn't make sense to make it a Beta as it was removing features and could have been seen as a significant regression from current functionality. At that time you were still able to reach the RA menus, etc. and the rendering was done by RA itself. This initial experimental went with a new rendering approach that didn't use RA and you could no longer reach the RA menus (which is still the case). We also incorporated a significant amount of optimizations to improve performance that could have also led to regressions. Making that an incremental beta release would have been seen as a significant step backwards by some. Our testing was limited at best, and until it was released publicly, it was hard to predict what would be found in real-world testing.

At this point, if this seems like the platform going forward (versus the older Beta one that used RA rendering, didn't include the optimizations, etc.), I think it might make sense to promote the experimental to more of a beta approach, with what was previously the beta thread becoming official releases. But, again, that is not something we control.

 

Hope that helps to reduce some confusion. It is also worth noting that many people have contributed countless hours to improving the 2600+. While you may not agree with the process (completely understandable), I know for a fact that everyone is trying very hard to make the 2600+ the best product that it can be.

 

Thanks,

Chris.

 

You guys are Rock Stars!