Talk: FAQ

Share any other Frequently Asked Questions that might not be covered in the FAQ yet.

"If you are into a shooting session and don't want to power-down to manually enable CHDK on the next boot-up, you can move your Record/View control to the View position two times (pause slightly to make this work)."

On which cameras does it work? It seems not to work on my A610(e). Nice find nonetheless.

Harvester

I found this little trick about a week ago on one of the earlier builds on my S3 IS. It's come in quite handy, but it didn't always work in the past. Sometimes throwing the camera into a shut-down for some reason. It seems to be a stable way to boot into CHDK now ... so far.

Is there a mode on your camera where you can put your camera into a "View Only" mode? It's the same as when powering up in View Mode, but you can engage it after the camera is powered-on. I didn't know if it would work or not so I just tried it one day, and there was the "Firm Update" menu option when I went to go look. This is implemented on the S3 IS for slide-shows and watching video on TV and things of that nature, so the lens isn't extended and the IS and focusing servo's running in idle, draining power (I presume). Because if I use the battery meter set to volts, then the battery drain goes down greatly when put into this mode. Anyway, if there's a way to get into that mode on your camera (after powered-up), you might find that "Firm Update" menu option being displayed again. (You have to, of course, boot up without CHDK auto-loading so there's a firmware for the camera to detect.)

I changed the FAQ page to reflect that this has only been found on the S3 so far. Thanks for checking to see if the stuff I'm posting works or not. And if at anytime you see something I typed that could have been stated MUCH shorter, please feel free to edit it! I type 130 wpm and I'm not too concerned about not using too many words. It's a curse for the reader. :-)

~ Keoeeit ~

"Anyway, if there's a way to get into that mode on your camera (after powered-up), you might find that "Firm Update" menu option being displayed again."

It does work when I switch to playback mode and wait a minute or something like that (nice, I did not know that!). But I have to wait - I've not found a way yet to do this instantly with my A610(e).

Harvester

I'm unsure which camera is supported by which RAW converter. We could start a list:

DNG4PS 1.1.4d support (no / yes / yes, but without color profile)

A610 yes
A620 yes
A630 yes, but without color profile (used one from A620)
A640 yes, but without color profile (used one from A620)
A710IS yes, but without color profile (used one from S3IS)
S2IS yes, but without color profile (used one from S3IS)
S3IS yes
further color reproduction emprovements can be made for all cameras

DCRaw 8.72 support (no / yes / yes, but without color profile)

A610 yes
A620 yes
A630 yes, but without color profile
A640 yes, but without color profile
A710IS yes, but with improper color profile (used one from A620)
S2IS yes, but without color profile
S3IS yes

UFRaw 0.11 support (no / yes / yes, but without color profile)

A610 yes
A620 yes
A630 no
A640 no
A710IS yes, but with improper color profile (used one from A620)
S2IS yes, but with improper color profile (used one from A610)
S3IS yes

RAW Therapee 2.1

S2 IS, S3 IS, A610, A620, A630, A640, A710 IS

-as with dcraw 8.72

But I don't have the appropriate information which cams are supported to which extend.

Harvester

Save a "Make Self Booting" Step

The other night when putting a new version on my SD card I had locked it before putting it back in the camera. Forgetting that I had done a full low-level format on the card first this time, wiping out the self-boot flag I had originally put on that card.

When I inserted it in the camera it reported the card as locked. So I thought I'd try to make the card self-booting anyway. It worked. I just powered down and up again and all was well.

So after copying over the CHDK hack to your sparkly-clean SD card you can just lock the card then and there. One less swap cycle.

This was on an S3 IS in case that might make a difference.

Works the same on my A630.--Sprof68 05:38, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

A530 Support?

Just wondering if anybody has got this to work with the a530, as it's not on the list (though the canon website states it has DIGIC II inbuilt). If they have, could somebody upload the files please? I haven't noticed any way to upgrade the firmware on the camera so is that the reason? ~Martin 09 May 07

powershot a700

will the a710 hack work with the a700?

A530 question

Hi, The update firmware option only comes on when it detects a firmware on the sd card once u turn on the camera. I tried the A710 and the A640 with my A700 and it says something to the effect of firmware not supported or incorrect firmware. I guess it's not compatible. I wish someone would help do up the firmware for A700 as I'm not a programmer! :)

Currently supported cameras are mentioned here. If your camera is not among them, the CHDK won't work on your cam at the moment. --Harvester 11:54, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Firmware Uploader

Somebody mentioned that the firmware uploader also worked on his A620. This surprises me, since I've heard the uploader did not work with an A630 or A640. Did you have to do anything special to make the uploader work on your A620? Did you have to change the config file or something like that? --Harvester 11:51, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

RAW-Enabler vs CHDK

old raw-enabler saved two raw files in case of long (>=1.3sec) exposure

1. frame without calibration.

2. With dark frame substracted (reduces hot pixels and noise by using information of CCD dark current)

Newer HDK saves only the FIRST one. Camera itself uses frame #2 to make its jpeg, so on long (1.3--15sec) exposures camera jpeg may be preferable than raw from HDK firmware.

raw-enabler is able to save both raw files but in many cases turns camera off after the shot has taken.

(edit: since Build#72 HDK can optionally save frame#2 with dark frame substracted)

After dark frame substract

Thanks for adding this to the wiki, but I think it would be better suited for the "firmware usage" page than the FAQ, because it is a very specific question and directly realated to the firmware usage. --Harvester 12:19, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

I also think so. --GrAnd 15:23, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

HDR Alignment Utility

Wow, thanks for the link. I always wondered why there seemed to be no such tool and tried to align hand-held photos with Gimp (and very unsatisfactory results). This tool looks very nice! --Harvester 20:45, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Glad it helped. I ran across it when testing some new HDR tools in PhotoLine 32 and needed something just like it. One way I used to align images was to make them into layers and change the property of the one I am trying to align to a "difference" layer type. Then I could move, tilt, up/down scale it until as much as possible from the overlaid images turned solid black. Anything that was "different" of course showing through all the black. Then I would set the readjusted layer-type back to "normal" and crop it to the size and position of the base (background) layer. "HDR Alignment Tool" will probably supersede this old manual method from now on, but thought I'd mention this other way in case you ever have need. Keoeeit 20:33, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

SD800 support?

Is there any chance to get SD800 support in a future version? This would make it the poorman's Ricoh GR-D or GX100

suggestions

Is it possible to add lines on the OSD in order to apply more easily the rule of thirds on the S2-IS ?

For which cam? AFAIK, the only S2 does not have such feature in the original firmware. --GrAnd 13:10, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Is it possible to delete the RAW file when we delete the JPG file on the S2-IS? It works with the "Erase all" but not when we want to delete on file at a time.

Live Histogram in Canon Powershot A610

I need Live Histogram in may Canon Powershot A610. That is possible?
My e-mail is: joseluizbet@bol.com.br

Hmm... Did you read this wiki? CHDK already has the live histograms for all supported cameras. --GrAnd 04:53, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Suggestion

Hi, is it possibile to add an "autostart" feature so that a script is executed each time the camera is turned on?

Dave

A different default script.

I've noticed since CHDK has been around that quite a few people get confused, worried, scared, think something's broken, don't know what's going on, they panic, etc. the first time they are in <ALT> mode and press the shutter button and that default script runs, shooting off images without them realizing what is really going on. I understand why it's nice for them to see how one is written for an example and how it can automate their cameras, but they don't even know how to run their camera's yet, let alone run or understand or write a simple script.

I propose that an alternate default.bas script be used for CHDK when first installed:

@title Default Script
@param a Times to Repeat
@default a 5
@param b Display Delay
@default b 3

for n=1 to a
print "This is a default script."
sleep 1000
print "Scripts run when shutter"
sleep 1000
print "is pressed in ALT mode."
sleep 1000
print "Press shutter to exit."
sleep b*1000
next n

end

This way they'll only get a display scrolling on their screen instead of the whole camera acting as if they broke something. I think they'll still get the idea of what scripts are all about from this. Yes? No?

Keoeeit 15:10, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

New "root directory" screenshot?

Could somebody with an english windows explorer make a screenshot of the new SD card folder structure (since build #115) and replace this screenshot here? --Harvester 22:24, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

I sent one up, let me know if it's okay. Or if that green high-light is distracting or what. I also expanded the directory tree in the left pane so they could see the card's folder structure. (grrr... I keep forgetting to add the sig line --> Keoeeit 23:18, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Thank you, it's nice! --Harvester 05:17, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Canon Firmware Versions

Hi there, the FAQ says that the CHDK firmware works only with certain versions of the original Canon firmware. Does anyone know where to get the current firmware versions of newly delivered cams? I don't want to buy a new cam which turns out to be equipped with an incompatible firmware.

Thanks, (sw)

Actually, the models are mentioned in FAQ are fully covered. I have no info about existence of other firmware versions for them. --GrAnd 14:05, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Anyone working on support for the SD600?

Anyone working on support for the SD600 or other SD series cameras? I would do it on my own but I went through the steps and this is way over my head. I am willing to help someone that knows what to do. Maybe I can provide the original firmware for you to use.

Please HELP with my Powershot IS S2 FW:1.00D

I have FW 1.00D. Could you help me with the version for this firmware? Thanks

Jan Oberuc