A friendly FPGA reminder

Raptor is seeking beta testers for the upcoming 2.00 Talos II firmware, including a tease for users of the built-in VGA port. This brings up a question: flashing the PNOR and BMC is relatively straightforward (I've done it from my Quad G5), but flashing the FPGA requires a programmer and not all of us are handy with those -- or even have one. Do we need to do that too to try the beta?

Fortunately, Raptor's great support staff responded to my query and said (emphasis mine), "The FPGA firmware is largely independent of the BMC and PNOR. FPGA updates are only released to improve compatibility with PSUs and chassis components encountered in the wild, and at no point will a BMC nor PNOR update be released that is incompatible with the earliest FPGA revisions." That's very reassuring since I have an early T2 that is basically on the same FPGA flash it came from the factory with.

If that's the case, then, when should you update the FPGA? Raptor Support answered that too: "The only time you need to upgrade the FPGA is when you need functionality a new FPGA release provides, for example to activate the VGA disable jumper or to allow the system to boot with a different, previously problematic PSU."

Looks like I've got something to try over the weekend.