HMC 150 - Firmware Upgrade - Has Anyone Done This Using Battery Power?

V

Vince27

Member
Just curious, have any of you done a 1.21 firmware update using battery power (instead of AC power)?

I ask because I need to do an update to 1.21 (presently i have 1.19) but after reading the instructions, it specifically states: "This Update can not be done with battery"

I don't have the DC cord for the AC adapter, so i was thinking of using the battery (my battery is 5 hrs. fully charged) - but is there a specific reason why they insist on AC power?

I know that sometimes AC power is required for my macbook pro updates (even if the battery is fully charged) - so now I'm very hesitant to do this using the battery, thinking that maybe there is a specific reason why they say "cannot be done with battery"

any input is appreciated - thanks!
 
There are two reasons they might say "only AC power" - one is they just don't want your battery dying during the update and don't trust us consumers to know better... or, the update in some way conflicts with the battery circuitry or affects the software that monitors the battery and thus can't be done.

Either way - you could risk it and see what happens; I'd assume with their warnings being that strongly worded, the update will be blocked off anyway. If all you're missing is the adapter-co-camera cable/plate piece, check amazon, etc. Should be an available part, and you never know - you may desperately need one on set someday. There are Panasonic parts suppliers on-line as well, you could have one in a couple days.
 
Michael Carter said:
There are two reasons they might say "only AC power" - one is they just don't want your battery dying during the update and don't trust us consumers to know better... or, the update in some way conflicts with the battery circuitry or affects the software that monitors the battery and thus can't be done.

Either way - you could risk it and see what happens; I'd assume with their warnings being that strongly worded, the update will be blocked off anyway. If all you're missing is the adapter-co-camera cable/plate piece, check amazon, etc. Should be an available part, and you never know - you may desperately need one on set someday. There are Panasonic parts suppliers on-line as well, you could have one in a couple days.
Click to expand...

hey Mike thanks for the input... I was thinking the same thing, that they are probably concerned that the battery will go dead -
but I don't want to chance it, as I hear if something goes wrong while you are updating the firmware, it can wreck the camera, so I just ordered a DC cord... it's hard to ignore them specifically stating: "this update can not be done with battery"
 
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I'm not sure about the HMC150, but my AF100 will not even offer to perform the firmware update at all when operating on battery. You must hook up the AC adapter first. The update option is grayed out in the menu when running on battery power.

I understand the reasoning for this, but I think it's wrong in practice. The connectors used for the AC adapter hookup are easy to pull out accidentally while the camera is running. The battery connection to the camera body is more mechanically solid and all but impossible to remove by accident. A fully charged battery will run the camera for more than three hours, which is way longer than necessary to load the firmware, and during that period, I think it's actually less prone to power failure than the AC setup which has two cables and at least three connectors that can be tripped over and become disengaged.

- Greg
 
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