Public Beta Testing for TOS 6 ARM Version

[pennypacker]

… TerraMaster software support is shockingly, abysmally, diabolically bad.

By comparison, the equivalent QNAP 2 bay 233 has had 6 operating system updates in the same period - source

TerraMaster needs to do much, much better.

So that's not apples to apples.

6 updates may have been released, but there hasn't been an upgrade on the underlying kernel, as QNAP QTS 5.× is still on the Linux LTS 5.1.× kernel which is what the current TOS 5.1.× for ARM uses; TOS 6 is built upon Linux LTS 6.1.× kernel & moved from a buildroot release to being more Ubuntu-adjacent (which is why old configurations backups don't work) which are major changes.

TOS 5.1.× ARM builds had a few point releases, but TerraMaster's development focus was changed internally to TOS 6.× ARM, which itself has had some updates (per this thread).

Every commenter here agrees that TOS 6.× for ARM should be out of beta & have had some updates to boot by now, but that's obviously not the case yet.

You've missed the point, and it is unrelated to kernel updates.

Point being, TerraMaster software support is so fundamentally broken that the 212 devices have not had an operating system update since launch (when TOS 5.1.73 was released back on 18 Dec 2023), as far as I can tell. Competitors in the same time period have offered multiple OS updates (I think I grossly underestimated when I said QNAP released 6 updates in the same period), containing new features, bug fixes, security patches and other items.

QNAP has an ARM A-55 in the TS-233, so excuses about ARM support don't fly.

How many new features, bug fixes and security patches has TerraMaster released in OS updates in that period since the launch of the 212 devices?

Zero.

An interminable beta doesn't count. What 212 users can reasonably expect is to have a supported devices, meaning OS updates to add features, fix bugs and patch security issues.

We are not getting that with TOS 5 or TOS6 and it's unacceptable.

[JohnS]

…It took me ages to decide which NAS to buy and I've obviously made the wrong choice.

Choosing any closed source ARM based NAS should be a last resort if budget doesn't allow for purchasing an ×86/×64 unit.

Every NAS brand that has used an ARM architecture ends up stuck on a single kernel generation for the life of the product because the SoC platform manufacturer often drops support as soon as a new revision is announced & made available; RealTek (whom TerraMaster and many others use) and Annapurna Labs <now under Amazon>, which are in the majority of inexpensive ARM based NAS units, regularly drop development of old solutions.

It's unfortunate that functionality like docker was dropped between the publicly available official TOS 5.1.× ARM builds and these beta TOS 6.× builds, with no guarantee given that it'll return in future builds.

Thank you for the reply. To answer, it was budget driven and having NAS was new to me so I was unare of potential ARM support, so that is my responsibility. I will have no complaints if an official release of TOS 6 is the last OS for my device but at the time of purchase my F2-212 was on the list of devices due to receive the update. Early x86 Beta versions had some positive reviews and performance wise the ARM beta is so much better than TOS 5. It's just frustrating that we have had to wait so long for an update.

[krissan]

Worst thing is that beta is working! Some features are missing but it is not just some paper, imaginary PoC, it is working (beta) release.
We are just waiting this last bit that is missing - confirm from TM support that it is out from beta release channel, that is it. But seems support has even given up in responding to this thread recently, which is rather not nice perceived behavior...

[crisisacting]

Hello! Regarding the official release plan for TOS6 of the ARM 212 series, we will initiate the official version release process immediately after the issues reported in the current Beta version are fully resolved and verified, and expect to release it within the next 1-2 months.

4 months have passed since this post provided any semblance of a timeline on this 212 TNAS series TOS update.
Have tagged every employee that has interacted within this thread, from its initial post forward, to attempt to get this conversation/dialogue updated & for those here that have been quite patient to at least get some transparency about what the delay has been for it to be now many months behind official release.

Please just communicate with customers; the longer the silence continues, the larger the likelihood that they've lost faith & possibly abandoned TerraMaster as a viable solution provider.

[cierdek]

Following this thread, I see that I did the right thing by not going into the ARM version.

[TMzethar]

We sincerely apologize for failing to promptly inform you of the relevant situation.
Initially, we planned to release subsequent versions after the TOS 6 ARM Beta version. However, considering multiple factors such as the project timeline and stability, we have decided to cancel the TOS 6 ARM Beta update plan and instead plan to directly prepare updates for the TOS 7 ARM version in the future.
In fact, after months of testing, the TOS 6 ARM Beta has proven to be highly stable overall and suitable for long-term use.

[dikol]

After months of testing, the TOS 6 ARM beta proved highly stable and suitable for long-term use? Why wasn't it released?
We haven't seen the release of TOS6, will we see TOS7?

[crisisacting]

We sincerely apologize for failing to promptly inform you of the relevant situation.
Initially, we planned to release subsequent versions after the TOS 6 ARM Beta version. However, considering multiple factors such as the project timeline and stability, we have decided to cancel the TOS 6 ARM Beta update plan and instead plan to directly prepare updates for the TOS 7 ARM version in the future.
In fact, after months of testing, the TOS 6 ARM Beta has proven to be highly stable overall and suitable for long-term use.

Thank you for this update.

By that wording, this thread's ARM TOS beta update is then the first & consequentially/seemingly last official build for TOS 6 ARM?

Can the first post & thread title please be updated to reflect the context from your comment? Maybe "Public Beta (now official) build for TOS 6 ARM version"

Please start a new thread for dialogue around TOS 7 AArch64 beta, prior to its release as was done with TOS 7 ×86.

[TMzethar]

TOS 6 ARM Beta still has some issues. Therefore, we will not convert it to a formal version nor push updates.

[pennypacker]