Hacking the firmware of the EX1&EX3

K

Kenny_G

Carbonite Member
IMO it must be possible to hack the firmware of the EX1&3
Does anyone know how to extract the firmware from the camera and save it?
The monopoly of Sony will be broken. I wonder why they are not open about it because who wants to build an EX without legal problems. No company I guess.
The firmware protection by the company is like selling me a car and putting limitations on the performance and asking me money every now and then to take away those limitations.
I mean it would be my problem if I ruin the camera or not; I paid for it so what the hack if I want to experiment with it.
 
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I'm a complete ignorant, maybe if someone has some time he could enlighten me and the others like me: what are the current firmware limitations? How do they affect us?

Thanks!!

And yes, I would support firmware hacking.
 
84GB partition limit is one I know there a more than a few who would be interested in being substantially higher.

While the single chip encoder can't do the 50Mbps 4:2:2 (which requires a pair of the encoders from what I have read), I wonder if there are other codec options it can do. Remember these encoders are in the PDW700/800 which are limited to 50Mbps even though their encoders can do 100Mbps...
 
I'd be happy if Sony would just make their bug-fix updates available for end-users to install. Canon, Red, Panasonic seems to be on the ball with firmware updates. However, Sony expects the customer to accept downtime and in most case have the customer pay for the upgrade.

Then are countless experiences where the supposed repaired camera is screwed up when returned, either by the service depot or in shipping. This is completely unacceptable for a pro/broadcast camera.

Even the Sony 300 & 700 XDCAM camera's have their firmware updates available on the internet to download from Sony's site. So continue to piss-off the customer some more and wonder why the company continues to bleed with huge financial losses. I'm not advocating hacking the camera but perhaps this may be our only option???
 
For sh*ts & giggle I loaded the 1.11 firmware into a HEX editor & took a peek. At 16MB its not a small file, and man would you have to know what you are doing to go to work in there! Sure you can see some plain english text but its not like you see "Max Partition Size=84GB" that you can just change....

This may be a hackers camera (if ever there has been one) but I seriously doubt we are going to see firmware hacks. Those guys out there that hack firmwares just arn't going to be interested in our camera (although it would only take one).

But I see it just like Barry, Sony should embrace the EX community every way they can which will drive camera sales. The community is enthusiastic enough working around their limitations, imaging how it would grow with even subtle unofficial support from Sony. There are enough ways to get things out without it being 'official' or supported, just take the 1.11 firmware update...

My request is always simple, if the hardware can do it, it should do it.
 
Barry J. Anwender said:
I'd be happy if Sony would just make their bug-fix updates available for end-users to install. Canon, Red, Panasonic seems to be on the ball with firmware updates. However, Sony expects the customer to accept downtime and in most case have the customer pay for the upgrade.

Then are countless experiences where the supposed repaired camera is screwed up when returned, either by the service depot or in shipping. This is completely unacceptable for a pro/broadcast camera.

Even the Sony 300 & 700 XDCAM camera's have their firmware updates available on the internet to download from Sony's site. So continue to piss-off the customer some more and wonder why the company continues to bleed with huge financial losses. I'm not advocating hacking the camera but perhaps this may be our only option???
Click to expand...

That isjust what I want to point out: We are the customers; without customers even mighty oh mighty Sony will be gone. So perhaps we should start something that will rock the foundations of Sony.

Take my situation for instance: I live in Suriname in South America - no Sony dealer here to service the camera. If I have to send my cam to the States it will cost me only for shipping at least 500 bucks. The downtime and the service fee of Sony is a pain in the XXXX. Wake-up Sony or grow-up. You will profit more from taking this firmware thing in the open, then keeping it in the dark for us. Negative promotion can hurt a company very deep.

The EX is a great camera, but don't push your luck.
See what happened to Pana with the P2. Reason won over greed......
 
don't piss off too much, It won't be healthy for you. :Drogar-Dum(DBG):
Remember from the corporation stand point, each feature of the camera must be working almost 100% or they won't promote it. Why ? Reliable & law suit & bad PR will kill their company.

Even the camera can record at higher bitrate, allow to make partition larger than currently, can use USB adapter with SDHC... etc ... But IF it's not reliable or will fail in some cases. They won't promote it. So any of us with a wonder mind and test it and make it work ... Maybe at the end Sony will say: we knew it but did not want to tell you :Drogar-Love(DBG):
 
sure, but if it leaks out unoffically like the USB/SD solutions have you arn't liable.
 
Regardless of all the b*thin' & moanin', one simple fact remains: the EX1 sells because it is still the best darn thing at that price point, intentional limitations or not.
 
Sony are probably doing this on purpose because the "Boards People" have rumbled the SxS Rip Off by promoting the Cheap Cards Solution.

They are circling the Wagons. :-O
 
legaldvs said:
Even the camera can record at higher bitrate, allow to make partition larger than currently, can use USB adapter with SDHC... etc ... But IF it's not reliable or will fail in some cases. They won't promote it. So any of us with a wonder mind and test it and make it work ... Maybe at the end Sony will say: we knew it but did not want to tell you :Drogar-Love(DBG):
Click to expand...

Talk about reliable: The harddiskrecorder of 1000us$ sucks. Lots of restore errors. Lost my money there because I don't use it.
I will try to open the dam.... thing and see if I can fit a solid state drive in it.
Sony can .... it in theire ...
 
I dont know if im the only one but I would REALLY like to see an update which changes the menu order. When you want to switch from 1080/30P to 720/30P with S&Q at 60, it takes SOOO Long. The options are completely down in the menu and for me its something I use a lot in a shoot.
 
Well, apparently doing the upgrade isn't exactly rocket science. I think Sony just continues to exhibit their disdain for the intelligence of their customers, an attitude which pervades the company in all of its branches, IMHO.
 
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