This is hopefully the last update before the release. The firmware images are ready for both the Z9 as well as the mini, but I am working to resolve on piece of infrastructure before I can release the image. That should be done sometime later today.
There will be two images available, one for the Z9s and one for the Z9 minis. In a later release I will merge these two images, but for now they are still separate (you will find a pull down in the "General Settings" page to select which miner type you are running the image on, it just does not function for this next release.
The Paid user and Dev-Fee user image is the same. It will take me a few days to get the license files out to the paid users, so in the interim, I will be disabling dev-fees (except for the very first 10 minute cycle) until I can get the license files packaged up (they have been created, I just need to package them up).
What this means is if you are a paid user or a dev fee user, this next image is the one for you. On the System->Upgrade page there is an option to "Upload License upgrade file" for paid users to add a new license without having to reinstall the image.
From a feature perspective, this image includes the fully unlocked frequencies and the per-hashboard overclock for both dev-fee and paid users. However, there is much more going on behind the scenes as this is a major infrastructure release.
The "Summary" page will dynamically update to inform you if there is a new image available and provide a direct download link, as well as "live" updates as to the status of features.
The summary page also will include a "Support ID" that will be unique to your system -- it will help us work together to resolve any issues or questions that may arise.
There is more, I'm sure, and pictures will do a lot of justice, but for now these words will have to suffice.
For dev fee users, I will be adjusting the dev-fee as we go to decrease it over time, as well as disable it on some occasions ("dev fee free weekend" for example, where no developer fees will be taken over 2-3 days).
A couple of folk have asked "What if I have a batch1 mini, why would I use your firmware?" -- I don't have a good answer for you on that as the initial mini release is not targeted to increase your hashrate by 400%. That said, with the per-hashboard overclocking abilities, I have been able to squeeze another 5-10% out of batch2 systems in test. Your individual mileage will vary and I encourage discussion so we can figure out what works best for all of us.
After this release I am focused on hardware aspects; specifically getting control over the fan, temp, and hopefully voltage. I've put a number of hours into research and testing on those aspects and now have some confidence in my understanding of how the controls currently work -- its just a matter of me getting control over them now.
Lastly, a quick update on nicehash support -- I've spent a few more hours looking at this and have been in touch with nicehash on the issue. I think I have a pretty good understanding as to what is going on now, but it is going to take some time to fix (I have to recalculate the nonce/share submission on the fly it looks like and I simply do not know how to do that just yet). Nicehash is trying to work with me, but the ball is in my court at the moment and I just need to "get the time" to work with them.
A quick teaser image -- all of the text for the license, support ID, upgrade, message, and summaries at the top are dynamic. I will use those features to stay in communication with the user base more directly as many folk have raised concerns that they do not read the forums all the time and were not aware of updates.
Thank you,
Jason
you rock Jason! 
