Release vs Build compatibility ? What's the difference between Release and Build

[steak]

I run Rockbox on a Cowon D2, a Sandisk Clip+ and as an Android app on a Samsung Galaxy S.
I am not skilled in soft/hardware and get easily confused when I cannot get things to work.

My guess is that a Build is an app running in (or runned by) Release. On android devices, Release would be... Android.

Sandisk Clip+ works fine and "System>Rockbox info>Version: 3.9" seems to tell me I'm using Release version 3.9. Build version would be Version: r26623-100606, as found in "microSDHC:\.rockbox\rockbox-info.txt" I guess.

Cowon D2 works fine (100% stable) when "System>Rockbox info>Version: r26623-100606" which would be the build (?), confirmed by file "SDHC:\.rockbox\rockbox-info.txt". But what is the release version then ?

I have been trying to find out since the latest builds I tried are not stable : 31632, 31404 and it's a disappointment since they provide some nice feature like the "list padding" setting which makes touchscreen mode "point" usable... at last !!...

Now about the the Release... with my own words...
Initially I installed rockbox manually : "C:\mktccboot D2N.bin bootloader-cowond2.bin D2p.bin" and so on...
and I recently re-installed it after re-downlaoding the bootloader (http://download.rockbox.org/bootloader/cowon/d2/bootloader-cowond2.bin)

And that's because I assume the Release derives from the "bootloader-cowond2.bin" ?

But how do I relate "bootloader-cowond2.bin" to a version number ? And...
... how do I match (if it is relevant) Release version to Build version ?

What confuses me is that Release v3.10 is not yet available  for Cowon D2 on the Manual Install page (http://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi), and I am lost in the previous or historical releases (couldn't find "iaudiod2.zip" in previous, downloaded "rockbox-2.5.tar.gz" in historical and wasted my time trying to understand what to do with it)

If anyone can help or just give me the end-user-friendly basics needed to understand all this, I would be "you know what" happy.

Please bare in mind english is not my language... It took me ages to write this. I hope it's clear enough... and wish I will be able to understand your answers.

Regards,

Steak

[gevaerts]

Releases are stable builds we make every few months, intended for regular users. They have version numbers like 3.9.1 or 3.10, and exist for all stable ports. They should work well for everyone.

Current builds are builds that are made every time there's a change to the source code. These may be buggy at times, but will have all the latest features.

[saratoga]

Sandisk Clip+ works fine and "System>Rockbox info>Version: 3.9" seems to tell me I'm using Release version 3.9. Build version would be Version: r26623-100606, as found in "microSDHC:\.rockbox\rockbox-info.txt" I guess.

That sounds like you accidentally "installed" a second copy of rockbox to your microsd card 18 months ago.  Since its not at the root of the internal memory, its not actually doing anything and you should probably delete it.

What confuses me is that Release v3.10 is not yet available  for Cowon D2 on the Manual Install page (http://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi), and I am lost in the previous or historical releases (couldn't find "iaudiod2.zip" in previous, downloaded "rockbox-2.5.tar.gz" in historical and wasted my time trying to understand what to do with it)

We only do releases for stable targets, so theres not one for the D2. 

[steak]

Sandisk Clip+ works fine and "System>Rockbox info>Version: 3.9" seems to tell me I'm using Release version 3.9. Build version would be Version: r26623-100606, as found in "microSDHC:\.rockbox\rockbox-info.txt" I guess.

That sounds like you accidentally "installed" a second copy of rockbox to your microsd card 18 months ago.  Since its not at the root of the internal memory, its not actually doing anything and you should probably delete it.

Indeed I did, intentionnally : I got confused by D2 : .rockbox folder on sd card. Sorted 8-D

What confuses me is that Release v3.10 is not yet available  for Cowon D2 on the Manual Install page (http://www.rockbox.org/download/byhand.cgi), and I am lost in the previous or historical releases (couldn't find "iaudiod2.zip" in previous, downloaded "rockbox-2.5.tar.gz" in historical and wasted my time trying to understand what to do with it)

We only do releases for stable targets, so theres not one for the D2. 

Clear although... I wonder why D2 still has unstable status : I own & use 2 with rb on a daily basis (for years) and they have been 100% stable throughout years of regular build upgrades (so I guess I was just unlucky with the recent crashes). I know some issues have been reported with some SD(HC) Cards but then it's more a Card than a player issue... (& for the record, I've used about 8 different Cards so far (SDHC & microSDHC+adapter) with no problem so far...)

Having warned about the Card issue, wouldn't it be time to make D2 status "stable" ? Or have I been extremely lucky with mine ? Not that this bothers me much but it just doesn't seem to give the right credit to the player and, far more disappointing, to the developpers...

Anyway,... thanks a lot for the answers, much easier than I feared.

Lastly what's the best topic for posting end-user remarks on rb for Android if you don't you mind me asking ? (I won't mind no answer, just being lazy I admit)

Regards

Steak

[saratoga]

Clear although... I wonder why D2 still has unstable status : I own & use 2 with rb on a daily basis (for years) and they have been 100% stable throughout years of regular build upgrades (so I guess I was just unlucky with the recent crashes).

I think the wiki explains the rationale:

http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/CowonD2Info#Port_Status

Having warned about the Card issue, wouldn't it be time to make D2 status "stable" ? Or have I been extremely lucky with mine ? Not that this bothers me much but it just doesn't seem to give the right credit to the player and, far more disappointing, to the developpers...

I don't think anyone has worked on the D2 port in a very long time, but I suppose if someone took over it they could consider that. 

[steak]

I think the wiki explains the rationale:

http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/CowonD2Info#Port_Status

I don't think anyone has worked on the D2 port in a very long time, but I suppose if someone took over it they could consider that. 

Definitely : they could still keep the RED warning on the wiki and add a piece of information on how often SD/SDHC card issue have been reported (if data can be found). In the end and considering the massive price drop of flash memory, if SD card (very rare?) crashes are the only point holding D2 out of stable status, anyone granted the right to do so (developper, admin, ?) should be able to make a decision about a change in a short time.