300D Russian Hack

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Pat O'Halloran - 18 Jul 2004 18:14 GMT

Hi

Has anyone successfully installed the hack on their 300D via Mac OS X?
The Canon installer is for OS 9 only and cannot see my camera via
Classic.

I have the .FIR file but can't get it onto my CF card.

Any solutions?

Thanks.

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Pat O'Halloran
www.danu.co.uk

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Zebedee - 18 Jul 2004 18:35 GMT

> Hi
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Any solutions?

I would advise strongly against hacking your camera. At best hacked software
works very badly. At worst, you turn your $800 technological marvel into a
piece of unusable trash that not even Canon will repair.

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Yours

Zebedee

(Claiming asylum in an attempt
to escape paying his debts to
Dougal and Florence)

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Graeme Cogger - 18 Jul 2004 19:02 GMT

> > Hi
> >
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> works very badly. At worst, you turn your $800 technological marvel into a
> piece of unusable trash that not even Canon will repair.

No - at best, the hack will give you FEC, control over focus
modes, mirror lockup etc. At worst, the hack will give you
FEC, control over focus modes, mirror lockup etc.

If you do the research, you'll find that no-one has had any
real problems with this hack. There is possibly a minor issue
with the latest version, that the battery warning is displayed
earlier than normal (although battery life is unaffected).
Install the slightly earlier version if worried.

To the OP - there is no installer needed. All you have to do
is get the '.fir' file onto a Compact Flash card. Do you have
a card reader working under OSX?

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Pat O'Halloran - 18 Jul 2004 21:04 GMT

> > > Hi
> > >
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> is get the '.fir' file onto a Compact Flash card. Do you have
> a card reader working under OSX?

No, the OS reads direct from the camera but it doesn't register the
camera as a drive (I plug the camera into USB and switch it on and the
OS launches "Image Capture" which allows me to retieve the photos). I
can find no way of moving the file onto the CF card.
Canon make an installer but it only runs in OS 9

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Pat O'Halloran
www.danu.co.uk

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Zebedee - 18 Jul 2004 21:46 GMT

> > To the OP - there is no installer needed. All you have to do
> > is get the '.fir' file onto a Compact Flash card. Do you have
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> can find no way of moving the file onto the CF card.
> Canon make an installer but it only runs in OS 9

You need to buy a Compact Flash reader. Put the memory card into that and
then store the dodgy file on the card. The CF card will come up as a new
drive.

I would not advise tampering with your Canon. It's cheaper just to sell it
and buy a D60 than to wreck it and then have to buy a D60.

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Yours

Zebedee

(Claiming asylum in an attempt
to escape paying his debts to
Dougal and Florence)

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Pat O'Halloran - 18 Jul 2004 22:02 GMT

> I would not advise tampering with your Canon. It's cheaper just to sell it
> and buy a D60 than to wreck it and then have to buy a D60.

Thanks for the information and advice. The hack only opens up features
that are already present in the firmware but I understand your caution.
cheers

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Pat O'Halloran
www.danu.co.uk

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Chris B - 18 Jul 2004 23:48 GMT

> > I would not advise tampering with your Canon. It's cheaper just to sell it
> > and buy a D60 than to wreck it and then have to buy a D60.
>
> Thanks for the information and advice. The hack only opens up features
> that are already present in the firmware but I understand your caution.
> cheers

The only reason for caution as I see it is the danger from incorrectly
flashing the new firmware - same as if you were flashing a BIOS on a PC.
This hack has been tried and tested, so there's no reason why the software
would cause you any concern. I would be just as cautious to apply new
official firmware as I would be to use a 'hacked' version. The fact is that
now cameras (like many other appliances we use) use microprocessors to
control virtually all their functions, it's becoming cheaper for
manufacturers to standardize components across an entire range and then
simply disable features in firmware on cheaper models.
I would imagine, however - and I suppose this is one area for concern - that
Canon *could* play the old 'warranty void' card in this case.. although I'm
not entirely sure - and if any original Canon firmware is available, you
could always re-flash with that if things don't work out.

Chris.

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Zebedee - 19 Jul 2004 02:02 GMT

> The only reason for caution as I see it is the danger from incorrectly
> flashing the new firmware - same as if you were flashing a BIOS on a PC.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> not entirely sure - and if any original Canon firmware is available, you
> could always re-flash with that if things don't work out.

In theory there should be a bios reset jumper inside the case, just as there
is in a computer.

Signature

Yours

Zebedee

(Claiming asylum in an attempt
to escape paying his debts to
Dougal and Florence)

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Chris B - 19 Jul 2004 20:15 GMT

> > The only reason for caution as I see it is the danger from incorrectly
> > flashing the new firmware - same as if you were flashing a BIOS on a PC.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> In theory there should be a bios reset jumper inside the case, just as there
> is in a computer.

There is a reset in a computer, but it's use is to reset the CMOS which
holds system settings for the BIOS. Flashing a new BIOS can only go wrong if
somehow the data gets corrupted when it's transferred onto the BIOS (say,
for example, the flash gets halfway through and you lose power). In that
case, the system would be rendered unbootable and you've effectively killed
the motherboard (if you can't boot, you can't flash a new BIOS). I think
there are (expensive) ways to solve it, but fortunately on every BIOS flash
I've ever done, nothing's ever gone wrong. The chances of something fouling
up are small.
Now, I'm not entirely sure how the process works on the 300D, but it seems
that you insert the CF card with the new firmware and the 300D simply copies
it into memory. From doing a bit of research, it looks like the 300D uses a
version of DOS as its operating system - the firmware is probably just a
piece of software which runs under the OS - so it should be practically
impossible to mess things up and you should always be able to re-flash with
the original firmware.

Looking at what the hack does, it seems like every 300D user should have it!

Chris.

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Zebedee - 19 Jul 2004 21:46 GMT

> There is a reset in a computer, but it's use is to reset the CMOS which
> holds system settings for the BIOS. Flashing a new BIOS can only go wrong if
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> I've ever done, nothing's ever gone wrong. The chances of something fouling
> up are small.

On some motherboards, there's a bios-reset jumper which returns the bios to
its pre-flashed state. I screwed up the bios on my computer, reflashing it.
Pulled the MB manual out, set the jumper and powered up. Hey presto - the
bios was restored.

> Now, I'm not entirely sure how the process works on the 300D, but it seems
> that you insert the CF card with the new firmware and the 300D simply copies
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> impossible to mess things up and you should always be able to re-flash with
> the original firmware.

DOS as in MSDOS? Ye Gads... I'm definitely NOT buying a Canon in that case!

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Yours

Zebedee

(Claiming asylum in an attempt
to escape paying his debts to
Dougal and Florence)

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Chris B - 20 Jul 2004 04:12 GMT

> > There is a reset in a computer, but it's use is to reset the CMOS which
> > holds system settings for the BIOS. Flashing a new BIOS can only go wrong
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> Pulled the MB manual out, set the jumper and powered up. Hey presto - the
> bios was restored.

Cool, yeah these new(er) motherboards have some pretty neat features. I was
used to working with older stuff. Used to bite my lip anytime I did any BIOS
flashing!

> DOS as in MSDOS? Ye Gads... I'm definitely NOT buying a Canon in that case!

From http://www.bahneman.com/liem/photos/tricks/digital-rebel-tricks.html :

"FACTOID: Did you know your 10D and 300D run DOS? That's right. Embedded in
the camera is DataLight's ROM-DOS. In fact, if you use the right tool such
as s10sh you can see that inside the camera is an A: and B: drive. On the A:
drive reside command.com and autoexec.bat, and most interestingly,
camera.exe."

Don't be so worried - DOS is a perfectly fine system! Perhaps a bit long in
the tooth, but would you rather have a camera with DOS, or one with Windows
XP embedded?

Heh. Actually, I'll answer my own question. I'd rather it had neither -
either it's own propreitary OS or, preferably, completely mechanical! ;)

Chris.

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Zebedee - 20 Jul 2004 13:06 GMT

> Cool, yeah these new(er) motherboards have some pretty neat features. I was
> used to working with older stuff. Used to bite my lip anytime I did any BIOS
> flashing!

Actually, the motherboard concerned is 7 years old. It's an old Jetway. I
did have an old PC Chips that would do the same too. Both Super Socket 7.

> > DOS as in MSDOS? Ye Gads... I'm definitely NOT buying a Canon in that
> case!
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> the tooth, but would you rather have a camera with DOS, or one with Windows
> XP embedded?

I'm pretty sure Beagle 2 used DOS...

Actually, I'd rather not use MSDOS as it's a bit bug-ridden. Linux is pretty
good although the eth0 filing system can get seriously shagged.

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Yours

Zebedee

(Claiming asylum in an attempt
to escape paying his debts to
Dougal and Florence)

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Graeme Cogger - 19 Jul 2004 20:29 GMT

> > > I would not advise tampering with your Canon. It's cheaper just to sell
> it
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Chris.

As to the dangers of installing (any) firmware, Canon have been
pretty good. The code that loads new versions of firmware is
in a separate, read-only, area of memory in the camera. Even
if a firmware load fails half way through, you can still try
again (and again!) until it works. Nice one, Canon :-)

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Alan - 19 Jul 2004 10:55 GMT

> > Hi
> >
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> works very badly. At worst, you turn your $800 technological marvel into a
> piece of unusable trash that not even Canon will repair.

I have used this firmware for months with NO side effects, along with many
others. You really should check your facts before launching into soapbox
mode.
People on the 300D forum at DPreview have sent 300D's back to Canon and had
no problems with warranty repair. Canon would have to prove that the
firmware had caused a problem, and as usually hardware fails on cameras this
would be virtually impossible for them.
Also, you can easily roll back to standard Canon firmware version 1.1.1 if
required.

Alan.

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