I heard the very good news! Thank you jollyrogerxp, and i'll be interested in the firmware update process!
One question: i have an NTSC HV30. Is there a way to add native 24p to it with the hacked firmware, or it "just" enable to swith between NTSC and PAL regions?
Anyway the swith bween the regions also a huge milestone!
Hello AmazonBoy, unfortunately as I explained the region hack firmware works only on the HV30 for now; while there may be a way to load the firmware on a HV20 it is not known whether it works or not, and it has a good chance of bricking the camera, so unless you are ready for a likely chance that your HV20 will become a paperweight I do not recommend it.Originally Posted by AmazonBoy
Of course if you or anybody else has a half-broken, "disposable" HV20, then we can try...
Jolly
Eh yes, this is an ENORMOUS advantage our friends at CHDK have, they can experiment all they want without risking the camera, we on the other hand have to be extremely careful because a single mistake can brick the camera permanently...
Something I want to try to do (eventually) is to find out exactly all the RAM used by the camera, map it and try to put code in there.
This way a single modified firmware could load additional code to RAM from the SD card, then if it has a mistake the crash won't brick the camera...
Jolly
If there was a way we could like plug in an SD card to our HVs and have there be the flip hack on that, I would be happy as a clam.
Hello sebipayne, you are welcome.I heard the very good news! Thank you jollyrogerxp, and i'll be interested in the firmware update process!
One question: i have an NTSC HV30. Is there a way to add native 24p to it with the hacked firmware, or it "just" enable to swith between NTSC and PAL regions?
Anyway the swith bween the regions also a huge milestone!
At the moment the modified firmware allows a HV30 to be switched at will between PAL and NTSC regions, it doesn't actually add any specific feature.
In the future who knows? It needs to be clear though that adding a video mode requires modifying the core video processing algorithms, which is a herculean effort, so I am not really optimistic about it...
Jolly
I will probably take a look at that next, but I doubt it can be done as easily as that; the lcd flip switch is connected to the VIC processor (FR MI-COM), whereas the SD card control electronics are connected to the main control processor (CCM MI-COM), and the memory they use to talk to each other is pretty full, so it will be difficult to find a place for the signal.If there was a way we could like plug in an SD card to our HVs and have there be the flip hack on that, I would be happy as a clam.
Last year I wrote some code that run on the VIC processor, which allow me to dump the VIC RAM in real time through the firewire port, that is a tool I am pretty proud of as it took me weeks to get right.
With that tool I had started to monitor RAM locations in the VIC processor to find which flag the flip control monitors, to try and force it to a certain value, but on the old HV30 the switch was broken, so I couldn't really do very much...
Over the next few weeks I will resurrect the VIC RAM monitor and I will try again to find the flip toggle, stay tuned.
Jolly
I'm following your work in progress since almost the beginning and even if what you talk about for me are like things from another planet it is always a pleasure read what you write and the enthusiasm you put into it. Your deserve a Holiday as prize at least. Thanks for all you've done
HV3O NTSC but living in Irelandbut from italy
Thank you for your kind words
By the way I also had a HV20 NTSC, lived in Ireland (in a few other places too), and guess where I am from...
Jolly
Ok here we go: below you can read the instructions I am going to put into the readme.txt file in the region hack archive, please review them and let me know if this all makes sense and if it is reasonable.
I tried to make it as easy as possible, just place the Canon update archive in the same folder and run a batch file to obtain the modified firmware, then flash to camera using the Canon firmware upload tool (no need for separate memory card reader), then USB cable and the hack tool...
Here are the instructions, if you guys are reasonably satisfied I can upload the archive to someone to try it one last time and then upload it here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
HV30 Modified Firmware v1.0
Features:
- PAL/NTSC region change
Required parts:
- Computer with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7
- USB to mini-USB cable
- Mini-SD memory card, FAT formatted (or FAT32)
- Canon official firmware version 1.0.1.0 (hv30-1010.exe)
Firmware installation procedure (you only need to do this once):
- Copy the Canon original firmware file "hv30-1010.exe" in the folder where you have extracted this archive (the folder that contains this readme file)
- Launch the firmware patch script "PatchFirmware.bat" by double-clicking on it
- Verify that the script reports "Firmware patched successfully."
- Turn the camera off
- Connect the power supply if not already connected, and keep it constantly connected
- Put the mini-SD memory card into the camera
- Put the camera into "P" mode and "Card" mode using the two switches on the grip side of the camera
- Turn the camera on "PLAY" mode
- Connect the USB cable to camera and computer, then wait for the "PC Connect" message to be displayed on the camera LCD screen
- Launch "UploadFirmware.exe" and follow the instructions to upload the firmware to the camera (If the program doesn't recognize your camera you will have to manually copy the file "VEF1.FIM" to the root folder of the SD card using a memory card reader connected to your computer)
- Disconnect the USB cable
- Perform the standard firmware update procedure (Func. Key -> MENU -> SYSTEM SETUP -> FIRMWARE -> OK)
- The screen will display "Updating Firmware" for a few seconds then the screen will turn solid blue, this is normal
- The access LED will blink during the update process, which lasts about two minutes
- When the camera reboots itself the firmware update procedure is completed
Region change procedure:
- Turn the camera off
- Connect the power supply if not already connected, and keep it constantly connected
- ***IMPORTANT*** Put the mini-SD card into the camera, FAT formatted, with at least 500KB of free space
- Put the camera into "P" mode and "Card" mode using the two switches on the grip side of the camera
- Turn the camera on "PLAY" mode
- Connect the USB cable to camera and computer, then wait for the "PC Connect" message to be displayed on the camera LCD screen and for the access LED to stop blinking
- Launch "HackControl.exe", wait for the access light to stop flashing (or wait approx. 10 seconds)
- Press 'q' into the HackControl console window, then press "enter", the program will quit
- Disconnect the USB cable from the camera
- Turn off camera and then back on
- The camera now should have switched region from NTSC to PAL or viceversa.
Jollyrogerxp
Yaay, Jollyrogerxp. This is so awesome, what you have done with the firmware. Keep up the good work.
About the instructions:
Some people might be confused by the FAT formatted SD card part.
Some easy way to check this, and a way to change it should probably be included in the instructions.
Otherwise I'd say its good to go.
Gear: D7000 (35mm 1.8) - Rode Videomic - Gaffa tape
IIRC, Canon says you should format the card in the camera before loading the 1.0.1.0...
Might it be good to include initialize-card-in-camera in the instructions? No need then to discuss FAT...
FYI to Jolly - Along with my having confirmed the program had worked with Windows 7, I also had the card formatted with Fat32 since you originally stated it 'should' work and I like to try things that 'should' rather than 'will' work. Obviously NTFS is a no go as the camera won't read the card then, but either Fat system works.
Also, the instructions posted don't mention creating the "DUMP" folder on the card. Was that step automated in this update to the hack?
Jolly are you from Cork? I'm not but I live here since 4 years now, but I understand you're Irish right?
HV3O NTSC but living in Ireland
I will change the way I describe the card initialization; the point is that one does not really need to initialize the card if it has already been used before in the camera, that is why I didn't want to say "initlialize the card in the camera", thoughts?
The "DUMP" folder is not necessary anymore with the final firmware...
Jolly
Ok, you know what? Here is the region hack software: http://hv20.info/yopu/HV30_Region_Hack_v1_0.zip
As it involves a fair amount of processing to patch the original firmware, the script is not quite trivial, so it would be great if someone tests the whole process before everybody else downloads and uses this... your call
Enjoy...
Jolly
I am from Italy...
Jolly
Tested and confirmed! It worked well. No need to remove the card from the camera at all. The entire process took just over 5 minutes I think. Lost track since I'm always doing several things at once.
One note: The camera says it's updating to firmware 1.0.1.1, though it's technically named 1.0.1.2 right? Not that it matters since the camera reports it as 1.0.1.0 once it's flashed anyway, but... You know. I got confused for a brief moment then continued on anyway.
Excellent, this is good news!
I had to make the Canon updater think the version is 1.0.1.2 is that if someone has already installed the modified firmware (which is 1.0.1.1) the updater would not allow uploading version 1.0.1.1 again...
Anyway eventually I will change the flag in the firmware so that the version is correct, as right now it is 1.0.1.1 but it displays 1.0.1.0
Jolly
Last edited by jollyrogerxp; 2010 May 25th at 23:53.
Miticoooooo Jolly it's Italian......grandeeee!! sapevo che una mente cosi' geniale poteva solo essere italiano...scherzo anyway...
HV3O NTSC but living in Ireland
I have a problem during the firmware update process:
A haven't got an SD card reader and I can't format the card in WinXP to FAT32 if I put it in the HV30.
The problem is that windows recognize it as a camera (I can copy the photos to the PC), but not recognize as a hard drive or pendrive, so i can't copy anything to the SD card.
The UploadFirmware.exe says:
"This firmware update file is not intended for the connected camera. Click [OK] to close the program."
Nice, all my fatigue to write a correct english and now I discover the Jolly is an Italian Stallion... Ma vaffa!!! Grande Jolly!!! Grazie di cuore!!! Aspetto con ansia la possibilitā di ruotare il display (con lo schermo ext. diventa tutto trooppo pesante...)...
Great Jolly!! Thank you so much!! I'm waiting for the possibility to flip the screen (with an external screen it becomes all to much weighter!!!)
Ciao!!!
HV 30 Pal
The easiest way to solve the problem is to initialize the card as recommended by the firmware update procedure.
Insert the card and follow the procedure at page 66 of the User's manual, essentially: Camera in Card Play mode, then Func. -> MENU -> CARD OPERATIONS -> INITIALIZE -> INITIALIZE -> YES
Using this procedure the camera will format the card, which will then be usable for the firmware update process...
Cheers,
Jolly
Grazie a te per il supporto, faro' del mio meglio per trovare il modo di ruotare il display, ho una mezza idea di come fare, vedremo se funziona nelle prossime settimane...
Jolly
I tried the card initialize in the HV30's menu, but the UploadFirmware.exe didn't work.
Maybe i should borrow a card reader for a day...
If the computer is recognizing the camera and is letting you pull pictures off, then the card is already in the proper format. You should be able to hook up the cable while in Card - Play mode and run the updater with no problems.
The card doesn't need to be freshly formatted. The camera just needs to be able to read from it.
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