Brief Overview Of F@h Beta Team Membership

[PaulTV]

It's usually bruce who handles the requests, be we haven't seen hi for while ...

The forum doesn't even remember when he last was online

[Joe_H]

I can see the last login time, but that could be an automatic one from a browser. That was in July. Using the "stay logged in" option doesn't change the last logged in time.

[PaulTV]

Ah, that must be a profile setting, that I can't see his last login time. Fair enough.

[aetch]

I don't know if this thread has been ignored or forgotten but could someone please clean it up to await its next unsuspecting victim.

[slonas]

hey i wanna join the beta team and test it my folding name is slonas my forum name is slonas too.

[muziqaz]

A true Beta Tester actually tries to break the software, use it in many scenarios, system configurations, and tries all combinations of settings, switches, clients, etc.

I think I've figured this, it relates to the testing of the cores alone, not the work units. It just doesn't say this explicitly.

There is a bit later, under "Methodology Of Beta Testing" on that makes it explicit that the systems that work units are run on should be pretty rock solid.

You can try breaking WUs too. Pause/restart. Restart the PC while folding certain WU.
Same goes for fahcore.
However with client testing possibilities are endless. Install in different ways, observe installation process and outcome. See if client does what it is promising to do after installation. pause, start, restart the client. restart PC and see how it reacts. Etc etc. And then there is observation side which is more frequent side of beta testing. See if things are stable on your hardware/software set up. Most important thing is report any irregularities.

[BobWilliams757]

A true Beta Tester actually tries to break the software, use it in many scenarios, system configurations, and tries all combinations of settings, switches, clients, etc.

I think I've figured this, it relates to the testing of the cores alone, not the work units. It just doesn't say this explicitly.

There is a bit later, under "Methodology Of Beta Testing" on that makes it explicit that the systems that work units are run on should be pretty rock solid.

You can try breaking WUs too. Pause/restart. Restart the PC while folding certain WU.
Same goes for fahcore.
However with client testing possibilities are endless. Install in different ways, observe installation process and outcome. See if client does what it is promising to do after installation. pause, start, restart the client. restart PC and see how it reacts. Etc etc. And then there is observation side which is more frequent side of beta testing. See if things are stable on your hardware/software set up. Most important thing is report any irregularities.

Well it seems nobody really knows what is going on with the beta team, and people that have offered have got no response, so until they start grabbing some people it might be hard to try to break it.

I know you've been doing some hardware testing Muziqaz, but are you still testing other stuff? It just seems as though everything has gone completely silent on the beta front. I remember seeing a post about "no news is good news" someone talking about the beta testing, so that unless a researcher got negative feedback of problems or major points discrepancies there was no need for points reporting, but from the outside it looks like the testing team doesn't even exist anymore.

Does anyone have any scoop on who is still testing?

[muziqaz]

Testing is still happening. Just at the moment everything is relatively stable out of the gate. There is still core testing group, we just get through things without fanfare. At this moment no news is good news Those who wish to participate in beta testing add the appropriate flag, and report anything suspicious in appropriate thread (if that is created by researcher). But as I said, things have been relatively stable. So there is no need to shout from the rooftops that everything is a OK
Regarding silence in this thread, people have been preoccupied somewhere else, or moved on from the project. But those who were actively knocking on the door here, should get response soon (if not already)

[BobWilliams757]

Thanks for the update Muziqaz, but if you could some further clarity would be appreciated.

Is this to say anyone wishing to help with beta testing should simply add the flag and report any issues in the beta forum? I was under the impression that previous policy was to apply, and it was desired that those not yet accepted to help beta test were discouraged from posting in the beta section. If policy has changed it might be time to unsticky these older threads and clarify things.

And agreed that overall things seems to be stable from everything I've seen. For the most part the troubles have been small since back to COVID peak days. The efforts of those involved are appreciated.

I'll gladly help where help is needed and was going to officially "apply. I don't mind tweaking with the system and trying to break it, nor do I mind losing some points to help make the system better. I just didn't want to cause any grief to anyone for not going by the "old" rules for beta testing.

[muziqaz]

No, you shouldn't add the flag. Application is to gain access to post in Beta forum section. If you are not beta tester, you can only read, but not write in the beta forum. So if one is seriously considering to join: apply, if accepted, add the flag and then report any issues in Beta forum. Anyone who uses the flag without Beta application are on their own, and will not receive any help (well maybe they will, after proper scolding from the team )

[BobWilliams757]

I'd like to officially "apply" to become part of the beta team. Gear in profile, Windows user, on a machine that has run 24/7 or close to it for the last 3 1/2 years folding as well as our other computer tasks.

I completely understand there is no real benefit in points, benefits, etc, etc.... and that beta testing exists only in the hopes to detect any system flaws before they are public. I've got a fairly solid understanding of the cores, servers, systems, and procedures for folding. I've been active on the forums, more recently joined Discord about a year and a half ago, and try to be helpful when I have the answers.


As a note, beta or not, I'd be willing to help with any longer term type stuff involved. Helping ID hardware for species designations, updating FAQs, organizing sticky threads, etc. It seems a handful of people do most of this stuff, and I feel the workload could be spread around so it becomes more efficient and more helpful for all.



On on a related note, did anyone every figure out where Bruce went?

[toTOW]

On on a related note, did anyone every figure out where Bruce went?

Unfortunately no ... but his profiles indicates that he logged in last month ...

I'll try to get Joe H add you to the beta team group.

[BobWilliams757]

Thanks toTOW.

As for Bruce, I hope he is well. The last time I had checked it had been a long time since he had logged in.

[arisu]

I would like to apply for membership to the beta team. I agree to the conditions of membership and terms of engagement. My folding name is Grimoire_of_Lolice. I have been folding for more than 10 years anonymously and have returned to it after a break. I have recently chosen a name that I'll stick with, and finally joined the forum. I do not have a huge number of posts, but hopefully my posts will indicate my level of understanding and willingness to learn. I'm aware that bruce hasn't been on for quite some time, but I hope my application manages to get reviewed in spite of that.

I have retired my old, aging folding machines and now fold on a laptop that nets me around 500k PPD when dedicated for folding (300-400k PPD when in use). I plan to add a new rig some time soon with a goal of making 15M PPD total.

I have a background in computer science and software engineering and I'm familiar with beta testing methodology. I do not overclock my computer and I have worked out past issues I had that caused a high rate of GPU WU dumps.

[toTOW]

I discovered that I was able to add new members to the beta testers group, so I tried to add you.

Let me know if it worked.

I also finally added PaulTV and BobWilliams757 !