SD950 / IXUS960

[redeeman]

Hello.

I just found chdk and naturally wanted to try it out at once so i followed the docs in the FAQ, but since i found no build for 960IS i tried some of the other ones, for SD950, but when i had copied the two files to the root of my SD card, and powered on the camera, no firmware upgrade menu entry came.

Anyone that has an idea?

Thanks!

[pellgarlic]

hi redeeman,

as the sd960 is a recent model, it seems likely that it uses "dryos", which means a different method is required for using chdk on it (as i found out with my a720). the "firmware upgrade" menu way doesnt work.

you have to make the sd-card "bootable" - i.e make it so that your camera boots from it (n.b. this is different from making it "bootable" from your desktop pc's perspective). have a look here:

FAQ - CHDK Wiki

also follow the link in that (small, 3-line) section. (on that link, you can ignore the bits about "blinking the firmware" - you just need to "make it bootable").

basically, you need to put the "BOOTDISK.BIN" file on the sd-card, make it bootable, and switch the "write-protect" lock on, then turn your camera on with the card inside, and it will boot chdk. (hopefully)

hope that helps.

[whoever]

CHDK version has to match (be tailored to) the camera model and its firmware version, otherwise it won't work.

What is this SD960 anyway? I don't see it at usa.canon.com

[redeeman]

I just found it on google on canon australia:
http://www.canon.com.au/products/cameras/digital_compact_cameras/digitalixus960IS.aspx

i tried doing the booting thing with hexediting my sd card, however i just got black screen. I guess the chdk firmware does need changse to work.

[jetzt]

I guess the chdk firmware does need changse to work.

You probably guessed right, I don't know any cam, which worked with an other CHDK-Version.

[whoever]

Aah, that's a different story -- it's an IXUS 960, not  SD960 (there's no such model). See, SD... is a US model designation. Physically the same cameras are marketed in Europe and Australia as IXUS... and as IXY Digial... in Japan, with totally uncorrelated model numbers (e.g., IXUS 960 =  SD950 = IXY Digital 2000).

Anyway, there's no CHDK for this model.

[redeeman]

How might i help chdk to get the required information to use this camera? the pages about how to dump firmware seems quite complicated

[whoever]

How might i help chdk to get the required information to use this camera? the pages about how to dump firmware seems quite complicated

Wiki pages on getting FW dump are quite outdated -- nobody wants to edit Wiki except our feisty sheriff Barney, who is however just physically unable to cope with everything. These days dumps are obtained with purely software methods, please see here and here. You may thus be able to obtain a dump without much difficulty.

Please realize, however, that the actual porting of CHDK to a new camera can only be done by a sufficiently motivated and technically oriented person who has the camera on hand. So, if you are not a stranger to programming, consider doing the job yourself.

[PhyrePhoX]

who has the camera on hand.

that is not a neccessary requirement. i've seen the devs porting chdk to cams by only having access to the firmware, not the camera itself.

[Barney Fife]

Deleted

[whoever]

who has the camera on hand.

that is not a neccessary requirement. i've seen the devs porting chdk to cams by only having access to the firmware, not the camera itself.

You're right, it is possible, so the truly necessary requirement is the motivation. The first porting stages amount to hours and hours of dull, boring and tedious work that doesn't involve any tests. But at concluding stages, a guinea pig is of course needed for testing.

Mods, please change the misleading SD960 in the title of this thread to SD950/IXUS960.

[RyeBrye]

How might i help chdk to get the required information to use this camera? the pages about how to dump firmware seems quite complicated

Wiki pages on getting FW dump are quite outdated -- nobody wants to edit Wiki except our feisty sheriff Barney, who is however just physically unable to cope with everything. These days dumps are obtained with purely software methods, please see here and here. You may thus be able to obtain a dump without much difficulty.

The SD950 I believe came out in the same batch along side the SD870 - and none of the software-dumping methods work on the SD-850... Even after doing a blinker-based dump of the thing and examining the firmware to find the exact addresses for the writeSD methods - the simple software dump didn't work...

So... if the software dump works on the SD950 - Great - you're in luck... but if not... dumping the firmware takes a lot of effort and patience - but it's very satisfying once you get it done.

One piece of advice: when scanning for the AF-LED DO NOT scan too quickly... it's possible to ruin your camera if you fire the flash too quickly... don't ask how I know this.

[druberego]

Sorry to pester everybody but would somebody please kindly provide an update on the SD950 effort? This appears to be the only SD950 thread and it seems to have gone dead a few weeks ago.  I am interested in buying an SD950 and I would love to have CHDK work on it. I am extremely well versed in computer science so I can help with porting but I'll warn you that my areas of expertise are in security, systems and network administration and not so much in systems or firmware design. Still, I might be of some use on the porting effort.

Is there a proper firmware dump for the SD950 yet?
Has booting been completed for the SD950 yet?
How far along can one consider the analysis of the SD950 firmware?
What are major obstacles that are blocking the effort?
What is the next action necessary to carry the effort forward?

If somebody provides these details I'll at least create the SD950 developer wiki pages. If it appears positive that there are no major items that make porting to the SD950 impossible then I'll go ahead and purchase one and I'll do what I can to help the port to it. I've got quite a bit of free time coming up next month and the summer.

Thanks.

[druberego]

I have begun venturing out on my own for porting the SD950. Pretty much blind since I have never done a firmware port of anything.

I have edited the wiki to put up what I know about the camera. I have the firmware dump from an IXUS960IS model (315F PAL D) but mine is an SD950IS (315F NT D) and probably has slightly different firmware.

So would somebody kindly tell me how I go about dumping the firmware of my SD950IS.

Once I get that done how do I disassemble it?