NEWS

The history of Alpha Firmware:

The Alpha Firmware state has been used in a variety of different ways over the years. Some of the veteran techs may recall the old “Alpha Dawgs” program. The program consisted of select dealers/installers throughout the industry who were granted access to all our Alpha status firmware. The idea was to get vital feedback on specific firmware from some of the best techs in the field. This would assist in expediting firmware development and allowing us to get solutions out to the rest of the field much faster. Over time the “Alpha Dawgs” program slowly dissolved for a variety of reasons. From then on, the Alpha firmware status has not been utilized frequently or consistently.

What are Alpha Firmware solutions?

Firmware being put into the Alpha state could signify a few different things. It could be newly developed firmware that may have a limited amount of in-vehicle testing. It may be a Firmware that needs to be validated on a specific vehicle model or year that we don’t have access to. It could also be to address specific “bugs” reported on a previous version. In rare cases, it may also indicate that we have seen varying success of the Firmware due to inconsistencies of a specific vehicle (ex. Hummer H3).  

What’s new with Alpha?

In our new design, Alpha Firmware will be displayed to all authorized Directechs users. This will allow users to easily identify when new or alternate firmware is available for the vehicle they have searched. If Alpha Firmware is available, it will be shown in the solutions search results. It will either be the only firmware available, or you may have to click on the firmware dropdown next to the module you are planning to use to see if one is available. Simply look for the Alpha symbol “[a]” next to the firmware. When attempting to flash a module with Alpha Firmware, a pop-up will display showing additional information about the Firmware and instructions to contact our Technical Support team to have the firmware access granted to your Directechs account. The tech support agent will also address any questions or concerns you may have regarding the Firmware or applications.