Geez, do you have to be a rocket scientist to work this firmware thing out?

powervideo

powervideo

Well-known member
Got my GH1 today, did the Ptool thing, did the settings and successfully uploaded to the camera but I was unhappy with the picture quality (I was unsure even if the settings had been accepted by the camera. (When I go to Version Number in the menu it just says "Body V1.3") How do you know what version has been uploaded to the camera?

Now I tried to do a another firmware version with new settings (upgraded the version number by "1"), copied it to the root of the SD card, but now when I press "Playback" in the menu to load the firmware, nada; nothing happens. This is really frustrating. Any tips anyone?

Thanks,
Peter
 
I've been reading up on it for a week now before I got the camera. I'm familar with the processes involved in updating, but I've reached a point where I've unintentioned bricked the firmware. I can't seem to go fowards or backwards. I'll read that thread again....
 
powervideo said:
I've been reading up on it for a week now before I got the camera. I'm familar with the processes involved in updating, but I've reached a point where I've unintentioned bricked the firmware. I can't seem to go fowards or backwards. I'll read that thread again....
Click to expand...


Download the latest version of Ptool. Try checking the second option(Version compare patch) and don’t check the first option version change. Don’t check any other boxes. Save the firmware with the original name of the firmware you loaded. Then save it to the memory card and try to upload it.
Let us know if that works.
 
I'm having a similar problem with one of my two GH1 bodies. I tried the above and it didn't make any difference. I'm still getting the "no valid picture to play" message with no option of upgrading the firmware.
 
Hmm... this isn't cool... I wonder if there are certain batches of GH1 that were more or less likely to accept the hack? I'm going to be following this thread close as I've got a GH1 on the way... and intended to hack it the day it arrived.

I hope you guys keep notes and keep us posted.

My intention (with my own GH1) was to play it safe... staying away from anything even remotely beta regarding the hack... but I'd like to know where the risk threshold really is before I even get started.
 
No, I'm sure it's "operator error" on my part. But now I've got one wonderfully-hacked GH1 and one paperweight.
 
Do you have any idea what the DIFFERENCE was in WHY that is the case? "Operator Error" is very general... I can't afford to brick this thing.

To the OP... I hope your cam is OK.
 
mpgxsvcd said:
Download the latest version of Ptool. Try checking the second option(Version compare patch) and don’t check the first option version change.
Click to expand...
This will not do anything. FAQ I linked to has an appropriate entry under "Q). Is it possible to revert to the official Panasonic firmware if the camera has to be sent in for repairs under warranty?"
 
svecher said:
This will not do anything. FAQ I linked to has an appropriate entry under "Q). Is it possible to revert to the official Panasonic firmware if the camera has to be sent in for repairs under warranty?"
Click to expand...

Did you try it? I have 3 memory cards. Each one has a different firmware loaded. I can switch back and forth between any of the firmwares. I don't believe you can reload the original unhacked version of the firmware. However, you can reload a hacked version that displays the same version number and has all of the original settings by doing what I said above.

I have said it before and I will say it again.

IF YOU HAVE TO ASK "IS IT SAFE" THEN YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T INSTALL IT.

Just wait a few more weeks and the next version of Ptool will have a much better interface and the settings will be much more ironed out.
 
format your card through the camera. make sure the first time you load the patch and first time only you have version change and version compare. turn your camera off before loading the patch. make sure you have a full battery. make sure you are saving your firmware correctly by putting __ that's 2 underscores in the name. example

GH1__132.bin

if you selected version change and version compare you only need to check version compare from then on.

if you didn't select version compare, select version change and change the number 1 to the next highest number.

so far it's the been the operators fault. and it's one tiny step that gets left out. and there is a possibility it's the card. that's happened before. i always use 1 card for the firmware and another card to record footage on.
 
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f you selected version change and version compare you only need to check version compare from then on.

if you didn't select version compare, select version change and change the number 1 to the next highest number.


this is the key
 
Yeah, the problem I had was losing track of which version number/increment I used on which body. Now I guess I'll have to go increment by increment to find the right combination of settings that will "take" on my unhappy GH1.
 
Car3o said:
i always use 1 card for the firmware and another card to record footage on.
Click to expand...

Does the firmware card need particular specs r.e. speed rating, etc? I've got some 2gb Kingston cards laying around that are most likely whatever the slowest speed is (not stated on the card) and a couple years old. I'd be curious to know if they would be dangerous to use as a dedicated firmware card.

Your advice there may be very good... and with some clarification (if you can clarify) may be even better. Slow, lower capacity SD cards are dirt cheap... so having one ONLY for the firmware hacks and versions seems like a logical idea.

I also think these lists of versions + what's checked and what's not... that have been posted in various threads... should be printed out by individual owners (for themselves) as kind of a "last good settings" reference sheet. (and map to see what may have gone wrong in the event of failure)
 
Does the firmware card need particular specs r.e. speed rating, etc? I've got some 2gb Kingston cards laying around that are most likely whatever the slowest speed is (not stated on the card) and a couple years old. I'd be curious to know if they would be dangerous to use as a dedicated firmware card.
Click to expand...
I've used a 512mb SD for each install of the hack that I've tried.

if you didn't select version compare, select version change and change the number 1 to the next highest number.
Click to expand...
This caught me out on my second go with the hack. Increasing to 2 did the trick as well as following the threads carefully.
 
mpgxsvcd said:
Did you try it? I have 3 memory cards. Each one has a different firmware loaded. I can switch back and forth between any of the firmwares.
Click to expand...
I did, when "version compare patch" was first released, but my guess is you didn't [try what you suggested] :)
You can switch back and forth because at some point you loaded firmware into the camera that had "version compare" patch applied. You must have had "version change" and incremented number selected at the same time. The only time you wouldn't have to apply "version change" is if you originally upgraded from firmware version < 1.32.

I don't believe you can reload the original unhacked version of the firmware.
Click to expand...
You sure can.

I have said it before and I will say it again.
IF YOU HAVE TO ASK "IS IT SAFE" THEN YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T INSTALL IT.
Click to expand...
Completely agree. I would like to add: "And if you did, please reread all the stickys, because you will find the answer".
 
powervideo said:
GNow I tried to do a another firmware version with new settings (upgraded the version number by "1") ...
Click to expand...

And that's exactly the problem. When you make your second update you have to enter "2" because you want to end up on 1.34 and the loaded Firmware in Ptools is always 1.32. For your third update you have to enter "3" and so on. If you disable version compare with the second update you don't have to worry about that any longer.

I'm pretty confident that this solves your problem.
 
Stephen Mick said:
Yeah, the problem I had was losing track of which version number/increment I used on which body. Now I guess I'll have to go increment by increment to find the right combination of settings that will "take" on my unhappy GH1.
Click to expand...

You probably should get confirmation on this, but I believe you can just set the number in version increment to something way higher (it doesn't have to be only 1 higher than the previous version, I believe). It won't end up mattering because if you do the version compare option as well, it's setting the firmware to read as 0.0 anyway.

It will simply look at that number, say, "Yep, that's higher, let's load it up." Then while it's loading it, it says, "What version of firmware is this again? 0.0? Ok,"

Next time you load firmware, any firmware number will be considered higher.

Also, this (I believe) allows the original firmware (or unaltered official firmware, I don't think there's a place to download the actual original) to be loaded on the camera again and if you sent it in to Panasonic, there's probably no way they could tell it was hacked (probably.)
 
Okay, just so's I'm clear…

Tick "Version Change" and set the increment to like 24 or something like that.
Tick "Version Compare".
Select NO OTHER boxes.
Save firmware as GH1__132.bin and load as per Ptool Manual Instructions.

Correct?
 
First post, so keep that in mind. I had a little bit of a worry yesterday when I tried to update a third time and it didn't work. Figured out pretty soon the firmware file needs to have two underscores in the filename (GH1__132.bin instead of GH1_132.bin).

This is probably not your problem, but might help someone at some point.
 
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