Barry_Green
Moderator
*** EDIT ***
Panasonic has introduced a new firmware update to fix this issue.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?239320-New-Firmware!&p=2254487#post2254487
Of course, in order to install this new firmware, you will have to have a clean SD card with no AppleDouble file, for this one last time. So the workarounds in this thread here would still be needed to be employed one last time.
Or, you can use this:
https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/cs/csregistp2m/ep2main/soft/mac_update.htm
They've created a small utility specifically to address this issue, so any Mac user should now be able to update the firmware easily without resorting to third-party utilities or whatever.
*** END EDIT ***
There's a new firmware update out for the AF100, version 1.14-00-0.00, available at this link:
https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/cs/csregistp2m/ep2main/soft/upgaf100_e.htm
According to the release notes, it fixes a bug when using SDXC cards and the SD Card File Recovery Software program.
Some people are downloading and installing the firmware update effortlessly. And others are unable to get it to work. I've been digging and found out what the problem is...
First, those who can't update the firmware are on the Mac platform. And the problem appears to stem from the Mac OS's insistence on writing invisible files to the card. Stick a card in Windows, and pull the card out, and it will be as it was. Stick it in a Mac, and immediately the Mac will write invisible files on the card, like a "trashes" directory, and sometimes duplicates of other files. Those files are confusing the AF100. I don't know why the Mac feels it needs to do this, but it does it, and that causes the problems.
I formatted an SD card in the camera, stuck it in Windows, and looked at the files and folders -- there were the usual, "DCIM", "MISC", and "PRIVATE". I then ejected the card, stuck it in a Mac, then ejected the card from the Mac and put it back in a Windows system, and now there are new files there: there are three invisible files, ".fseventsd", ".Trashes", and "._.Trashes". Some of these files are apparently called "AppleDouble" files, and are part and parcel of how OSX operates.
So now here's where the problem comes in -- if you download the firmware update, it will download one file: "vsi5257h.zip". If you extract that file, you should get exactly one file on your card: "VSI5257h.img". And on Windows, that's what you get -- and if you put that card in the AF100, it will recognize the presence of a firmware update file, and it will start the update process, exactly as it should.
But on the Mac, that's not what happens! On the Mac, if you download the firmware update, you'll get the .zip file. If you then extract the .zip file, it will make TWO .bin files! It creates the proper "VSI5257h.img", but it also makes a spurious/bogus "._VSI5257h.img" file, which is (I believe) an AppleDouble file. And that's the problem. That's what's stopping the AF100 from being able to update its firmware.
So what can you do about it? Well, really, all you need to do is delete that bogus file. If there's some way on the Mac to delete a hidden file, delete it, and everything should work just fine.
If you can't find a way to delete a hidden/AppleDouble file on the Mac, you can take the card over to a Windows system and use that to delete the hidden file.
Or, you can use software that doesn't create the bogus/duplicate file in the first place. The problem apparently comes from the Apple OSX unzipper software. If you use alternate unzipper software, you can avoid that duplicate invisible file. One such example is Keka software, which you can get free at www.kekaosx.com/en. Keka 0.1.4.2 will unzip the .zip file and make only one .IMG file, without creating a duplicate. And that extracted file will work in the AF100 directly.
Obviously I've recommended to Panasonic that they figure out a way of sensing a real .IMG file vs. an AppleDouble file. And if they do, that'll be in some future firmware update. And in order to install that, you'll still have to go through the process of getting only the one, valid .IMG file on your card. So you're gonna have to go through this process anyway.
I haven't used the Keka software; I don't know anything about it and therefore I can't endorse it, I leave that up to you Mac users to try and verify. There might be other free/downloadable unzippers that avoid the AppleDouble issue. Or, there might be a way to delete AppleDouble files. I hope some Mac users will weigh in with what they've done that's worked, and explain the process.
But if Keka works, it seems like a relatively simple way to solve the can't-update-firmware-on-a-mac issue.
Panasonic has introduced a new firmware update to fix this issue.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?239320-New-Firmware!&p=2254487#post2254487
Of course, in order to install this new firmware, you will have to have a clean SD card with no AppleDouble file, for this one last time. So the workarounds in this thread here would still be needed to be employed one last time.
Or, you can use this:
https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/cs/csregistp2m/ep2main/soft/mac_update.htm
They've created a small utility specifically to address this issue, so any Mac user should now be able to update the firmware easily without resorting to third-party utilities or whatever.
*** END EDIT ***
There's a new firmware update out for the AF100, version 1.14-00-0.00, available at this link:
https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/cs/csregistp2m/ep2main/soft/upgaf100_e.htm
According to the release notes, it fixes a bug when using SDXC cards and the SD Card File Recovery Software program.
Some people are downloading and installing the firmware update effortlessly. And others are unable to get it to work. I've been digging and found out what the problem is...
First, those who can't update the firmware are on the Mac platform. And the problem appears to stem from the Mac OS's insistence on writing invisible files to the card. Stick a card in Windows, and pull the card out, and it will be as it was. Stick it in a Mac, and immediately the Mac will write invisible files on the card, like a "trashes" directory, and sometimes duplicates of other files. Those files are confusing the AF100. I don't know why the Mac feels it needs to do this, but it does it, and that causes the problems.
I formatted an SD card in the camera, stuck it in Windows, and looked at the files and folders -- there were the usual, "DCIM", "MISC", and "PRIVATE". I then ejected the card, stuck it in a Mac, then ejected the card from the Mac and put it back in a Windows system, and now there are new files there: there are three invisible files, ".fseventsd", ".Trashes", and "._.Trashes". Some of these files are apparently called "AppleDouble" files, and are part and parcel of how OSX operates.
So now here's where the problem comes in -- if you download the firmware update, it will download one file: "vsi5257h.zip". If you extract that file, you should get exactly one file on your card: "VSI5257h.img". And on Windows, that's what you get -- and if you put that card in the AF100, it will recognize the presence of a firmware update file, and it will start the update process, exactly as it should.
But on the Mac, that's not what happens! On the Mac, if you download the firmware update, you'll get the .zip file. If you then extract the .zip file, it will make TWO .bin files! It creates the proper "VSI5257h.img", but it also makes a spurious/bogus "._VSI5257h.img" file, which is (I believe) an AppleDouble file. And that's the problem. That's what's stopping the AF100 from being able to update its firmware.
So what can you do about it? Well, really, all you need to do is delete that bogus file. If there's some way on the Mac to delete a hidden file, delete it, and everything should work just fine.
If you can't find a way to delete a hidden/AppleDouble file on the Mac, you can take the card over to a Windows system and use that to delete the hidden file.
Or, you can use software that doesn't create the bogus/duplicate file in the first place. The problem apparently comes from the Apple OSX unzipper software. If you use alternate unzipper software, you can avoid that duplicate invisible file. One such example is Keka software, which you can get free at www.kekaosx.com/en. Keka 0.1.4.2 will unzip the .zip file and make only one .IMG file, without creating a duplicate. And that extracted file will work in the AF100 directly.
Obviously I've recommended to Panasonic that they figure out a way of sensing a real .IMG file vs. an AppleDouble file. And if they do, that'll be in some future firmware update. And in order to install that, you'll still have to go through the process of getting only the one, valid .IMG file on your card. So you're gonna have to go through this process anyway.
I haven't used the Keka software; I don't know anything about it and therefore I can't endorse it, I leave that up to you Mac users to try and verify. There might be other free/downloadable unzippers that avoid the AppleDouble issue. Or, there might be a way to delete AppleDouble files. I hope some Mac users will weigh in with what they've done that's worked, and explain the process.
But if Keka works, it seems like a relatively simple way to solve the can't-update-firmware-on-a-mac issue.
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