Trying to understand all these firmware versions got OTA updating

[lmerza]

I have a Gpy and looking through the firmwares, I can't figure out what all these release types mean. I have these two links

https://github.com/pycom/pycom-micropython-sigfox/releases
https://software.pycom.io/downloads/GPy.html

the first one has 1.20.2.r4 as the latest but has elf files? The second link is from the OTA docs but doesnt even have 1.20.2.r4 but has 1.20.2.rc10 tar files instead with a bunch of bin files inside of it. What's the difference between an elf file and all the bin files inside the second link? Which bin file would i need to use for OTA? What about "r" vs "rc"? why are the version in the release tab in github different from the versions in the gPy firmware link? It's not clear which version I'm supposed to update to.

There's also this link https://docs.pycom.io/advance/downgrade/ ? whats the difference between pygate and pybytes? the versions don't seem to match up here either... the latest version there is 1.20.2.rc11. So far I have three different links with 3 different "latest versions" and different file types.

[Gijs]

r means 'release' where 'rc' stands for 'release candidate'. The 'b' label is used for 'beta' releases not meant for production environments.

I recommend to use the latest available 'r' or 'rc' release (whichever is latest), currently that is 1.20.2.r4, when describing any issues, or specifically mention you're running a beta firmware for testing.

[Elizar]

I'm sorry, but this does not answer the question for the difference of "r" vs "rc".

It would be very helpful if the versions on the web ressources would be labled with a release date at least.

[Gijs]

Hi,
I can imagine it can get confusing there. The links from https://docs.pycom.io/advance/downgrade/ are the firmwares I'd recommend you use for the OTA upgrade. There's three categories

1. Pybytes - A firmware that includes the pybytes library, which can be disabled (most commonly used firmware)
2. Pygate - The firmware that is needed to run the Pygate
3. Legacy - Old / Ancient firmwares that I do not recommend you still use.

The .elf files linked on the Github page can be used for debugging coredumps etc (https://docs.pycom.io/advance/coredump/)

And last, https://software.pycom.io/downloads/GPy.html links to the 'legacy' folder of the downgrade page, some time ago we split off legacy and pybytes releases which updated the folder structure. I'll update the links, Thanks!

Gijs