OrcDial 0.1.0-beta.1 — public testing beta

OrcDial 0.1.0-beta.1 (public testing beta)

Source: 8003aa3
Built from clean OrcDial main, verified equal to origin/main after merging approved PR #12. No files imported from OrcSDR. Prepared for the approved annotated tag orcdial-v0.1.0-beta.1 and GitHub Latest release: https://github.com/hardcoreerik/OrcDial/releases/tag/orcdial-v0.1.0-beta.1

Supported behavior

• Protocol-4 encrypted ESP-NOW pairing and controls, persistent trust, explicit Connect/Disconnect/Forget, bounded reconnect retries and channel diagnostics.
• Dashboard-aware encoder/button/touch controls, acknowledged receiver state and offline previews.
• Full-range Home VFO, tuning keypad, mode/step/span/filter/volume controls where supported by the receiver.
• FT8 RX dashboard for FT8/FT4/JS8: band/view selection, hunter controls and expert fine tuning when supported by the Tab5.
• Dial Settings: Pairing, Link, Display, Knob, About and Reset.

Compatibility and pairing

Requires an OrcSDR Tab5 application implementing protocol 4 secure pairing. FT8 features additionally require the matching FT8 dashboard and capability flags; older receivers may reject that dashboard. Protocol-compatible receiver snapshot: OrcSDR nightly 0b8be74ecfa58a315d07210f953f0fd5626943e2 (2026-10-08). Protocol, encrypted-frame and secure-session Git blob hashes match exactly. This is source compatibility evidence; no exact-image two-device pairing acceptance was performed. No stable OrcSDR release is certified for this candidate. Do not mix with the protocol-3 MAC-only OrcDial v0.1.0-beta.1 prototype.
Open Settings > Accessories & Companion on Tab5 and Dial Settings > Pairing on Dial. Start pairing, compare the six-digit codes on BOTH screens and approve on BOTH devices. Pairing establishes trust; connecting is a separate action. Boot-connect defaults on after successful pairing.

Installation

M5Burner firmware input: OrcDial-M5Dial-orcdial-v0.1.0-beta.1.bin. Target M5Dial / ESP32-S3, offset 0x0, DIO, 80MHz, 8MB flash; upload speed 460800, serial diagnostics 115200. This is a complete first-install image, not an application-only binary. It overwrites the NVS settings/pairing region with erased padding. Re-pair after installation. No Wi-Fi credentials or pairing secrets are included.
Current official publishing workflow: USER CUSTOM > Publish; populate publication-fields.json and select the firmware and cover. This package is a distribution ZIP; it is not claimed to be a native M5Burner ZIP-import format. Unzip and select the complete BIN. Catalog upload/publish/share requires separate owner approval.
Official reference: https://docs.m5stack.com/en/uiflow/m5burner/publish

Browser install remains https://theorc.dev/dial/flash/. The split web-flasher-inputs match its NVS-safe offsets: 0x0, 0x8000, 0xe000, 0x10000. Do not feed the full merged BIN into a settings-preserving single-region update. The website prefix compatibility patch is prepared but remains unapplied pending separate owner approval; /dial/flash currently serves nightly.

Validation and known limitations

Production build and merged-image layout checks passed. Five native tests passed in Debug and Release; two build-identity tests, three release-runner tests, two capture-guard tests and nine Devices captures passed. Sixteen source artwork files were verified byte-for-byte in the production ELF. See validation.json for commands and caveats.
Hardware was not flashed or accessed. Exact-image installation, pairing, reconnection, Wi-Fi coexistence, acknowledged controls, display/audio and long-run stability remain unaccepted. Independent security review remains unverified. The saved Devices gallery predates the newer settings menu.
About displays VERSION 0.1.0-beta.1 and SOURCE; serial ORCDIAL_BOOT includes version, full source commit, edited-source flag, build tag and protocol. The production binary was checked for the exact version, source hash, tag and startup format. For GitHub Latest, prerelease remains unchecked; the release title and notes label this a public testing beta. Pending PRs #7 and #9, and local FT8 step-clamp edits, are excluded from this exact-main build. The host-only missing esp_heap_caps.h stub was supplied outside tracked sources, matching the existing CI workaround.

OrcDial nightly f0dbad9 (2026-10-09)

Nightly build from main. Includes changes headed for the next release. They've passed testing but haven't had a full release check, so expect the occasional bug.

Build: nightly f0dbad9 2026-10-09 (commit f0dbad9, 10 merged changes since v0.1.0-beta.1).
On the Dial, Dial Settings > About > BUILD shows this line (firmware with the build-ID change); please include it in bug reports.

Install from the browser: https://theorc.dev/dial/nightly/ (keeps pairing and settings unless you tick Erase device).
Flashing the .bin yourself: it is the complete image for address 0x0 and overwrites saved settings and pairing.

Changes since v0.1.0-beta.1

• Merge pull request #10 from hardcoreerik/ci/nightly-skip-tighten (f0dbad9)
• Merge pull request #11 from hardcoreerik/docs/readme-web-flasher (e48dbf0)
• Merge pull request #8 from hardcoreerik/ci/nightly (dfb3942)
• Merge pull request #6 from hardcoreerik/ft8-dashboard-support (64c8b94)
• Merge pull request #5 from hardcoreerik/docs/flasher-interim (b60d0d5)
• Update README.md (a4ded6d)
• Merge pull request #4: keep the keypad open when the Tab5 link refuses a tune (e3abc1d)
• Merge pull request #3: Dial Settings menu, BACK buttons, keypad, span and filter control (9fe1e7d)
• Merge pull request #2 from hardcoreerik/claude/dial-smart-home (3bff839)
• Merge PR #1: Import OrcDial firmware, dashboard controls and Devices pairing (d189643)

Full diff: v0.1.0-beta.1...f0dbad9
Build log: https://github.com/hardcoreerik/OrcDial/actions/runs/37918655426