Version strings — display, sources and gating¶

What the System Info screen shows¶

The application does not carry these strings for display. The image contains the path /SYSTEM/Data_base/smeg.inf, i.e. it reads the media partition copy. So:

• Patching AppBin/f_BigQuick.bin never changes any version string.
• Changing VER:/GUI_VER: in a module smeg.inf (AUDIO_BT/smeg.inf) is used by the updater but does not change what the screen shows — the displayed copy is Data_base/smeg.inf inside system.bin.
• A visible marker therefore requires a media-partition edit (see MEDIA_PARTITION.md). The SIZE: fields are no longer a blocker — they are computable — but the packing tool is still to be written (issue #35).

AUDIO_BT/smeg.inf and the tar's Data_base/smeg.inf currently hold identical content, which is why it is easy to assume editing one affects the other.

The updater gates on these strings¶

From upgrade.out strings:

(UpgradeTask) The version on media.inf not allows an upgrade
(UpgradeTask): Actual BSP (%f) is very old... The new version of the BSP need to format the NAND.
(GetUBootVersionMedia): field 'VER:' not found!
(ManageHarmoniesVersions) Harmonies are not compatibles, new Harmony must be erased
(ManageRenesasUpdateAndReboot) Renesas version '%s' == Mot. File version '%s'
manageBootRomUpdateAndReboot: BootRom already done.
ManageBigQuickUpdate: '%s' is a cantidate!

So versions are compared, and the comparisons drive more than "update or skip":

• media.inf has an explicit gate — "not allows an upgrade" — so a wrong value there can block the package.
• UBoot versions are parsed numerically (%02d.%02d) and a missing/unparsable VER: is an error, so an invented series is not guaranteed to parse.
• Harmony compatibility and BSP age are version-driven, and those branches do destructive things (erase the harmony images, format the NAND).

Why not to invent a version¶

• Bumping smeg.inf VER: to e.g. 5.43.A.R3 makes the application look newer, so the updater applies it — but it changes nothing visible (display reads the media copy) and nothing functional (content is whatever was patched).
• An unrecognised series such as 5.43.X.R1 may not parse, landing on the "not allows an upgrade" path or, worse, triggering a harmony/BSP re-flash.
• media.inf is the one with the hard gate; do not edit it as a marker.

If a visible marker is wanted, the safe field is GUI_VER (Display version) — it is presentation-only and nothing gates on it. It still lives in the media partition, so it is the same rebuild job. Recommendation for now: rely on the updater's own progress screens as evidence that the application was written, and judge by behaviour.