Sony handling of the new EX firmware upgrade explained

[Clint Fleckenstein]

Is there a way to “de-brick” such a camera?

Cf

[Craig Seeman]

Sony has not be clear about that on any of their professional website. This is what prompted my call. While they didn’t respond to that directly they simply said if your EX is 1.11 or lower, don’t do it yourself. That may imply where the greatest risk is at least.

I have heard from others that they’ve been told by Sony that it may entail replacing a circuit board and that it would “expensive” which leads me to believe it’s close to a 4 digit number or more. I suspect that a “hard” number is not given because it may depend on what the point of failure is. The range might of solutions might be a hard boot and a rerun of the firmware or a component holding the firmware rendered unrecoverable.

At $135 and if the turnaround is truly 5-8 days and not 3 weeks then I’d rather do that than take the risk (albeit how small) in bricking a camera. Basically it’s the same reason people get insurance. No one expects equipment damage, failure, theft, but it does happen.

[Clint Fleckenstein]

I’m a big do-it-yourself kinda guy, but the price of the upgrade is small enough, and the turnaround short enough, to make sending it to Sony a safe bet and a good idea. After all, if THEY toast the firmware they’re (presumably) not going to send it back broken 🙂

Cf

[Craig Seeman]

I’m a one time video engineer so I have no technical reservations about my ability to do the upgrade.

That experience has also taught me that Murphy’s Law rules over all things technical. As a professional I can handle the $135 vs the cost of a failed upgrade.

[Clint Fleckenstein] “After all, if THEY toast the firmware they’re (presumably) not going to send it back broken 🙂 “

I have to chuckle on that one. That’s EXACTLY what happened to me when I paid the for the last upgrade to 1.11. The camera came back and several functions were not working. I brought it back (I’m only 30 minutes of their USA East Coast Service Center) and they re-did the upgrade while I waited. The problems were immediately resolved. Actually this is one more reason why I don’t trust DYI in this case. Can you imagine doing what you think is a successful upgrade only to find some “hidden” issue later on.

For me, I’ll pay the $135 and have the assurance that if Sony mucks it up, they’ll take care of it. Bravo to all you risk takers, really but there’s been a few reports of bricked cameras from people who really seem to have followed the step by step instructions. Especially since Sony says do NOT do this yourself if you are on 1.11 or below (EX1), I’m going to head their advice.

[Will Eccleston]

Apologies for posting this exact same text in a similar thread, but thought it might be helpful. (don’t blame me if you get “bricked” though!)

I just upgraded my firmware from 1.11 to 1.20 using a Mac Pro running OS 10.5.8 and it worked fine for me. A couple of things to note:

Initially the upgrade app wouldn’t recognize that the camera was connected. An internet search revealed that you don’t use the regular USB port that you would use to transfer card data. Right beside it is a tiny panel held in place with 1 screw. Remove this to find another “maintenance” USB port. Amazing that this is not mentioned anywhere in the upgrade software.

Also, at 3 points throughout the upgrade I received a warning about unplugging a USB device. Hit OK and ignore this.

After upgrade, overcranking in 720p24 mode at 60 fps to my Delkin SD card still resulted in a media error after about a minute (but would’ve failed after a few seconds with the old firmware). It still stored the clip as shot until the error occurred, and did not result in “media needs to be restored”. With my Sandisk 16GB card, I was able to fill a completely empty card in full overcrank without stopping. It then switched to the other slot, which still had the Delkin in it, and again failed with the Delkin. Excellent results though!

Will Eccleston
Kinetiscape Films

[Don Greening]

[Will Eccleston] “Right beside it is a tiny panel held in place with 1 screw. Remove this to find another “maintenance” USB port. Amazing that this is not mentioned anywhere in the upgrade software. “

Have a look at this post from several days ago:

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/142/870107

– Don

[Will Eccleston]

Hmmm. I read the README and the PDF, and didn’t see anything like that.

Will Eccleston
Kinetiscape Films

[David Burch]

I just returned from NAB, thrilled after having spoken with the project manager of the EX line that Sony was now allowing users to do their own firmware upgrades. However, after having read horror stories from people who have bricked their cameras, I have decided that it is not worth the risk. The $130 service fee is much lower than the $2000+ price tag I have heard some people have had to pay to get their cameras fixed. I trust myself enough to handle a firmware upgrade, but the problem is that Sony is refusing to take responsibility for user upgrades, even if the software itself is to blame.

That said, my hunch is that those that have bricked their cameras didn’t pay attention to the fact that the latest upgrade requires that all previous upgrades be installed first. In other words, if you don’t have the LATEST firmware, it’s a two stage process.