Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

BearOfNH

10

Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« on: 03 / September / 2023, 16:57:33 »

Advertisements

CHDK really pushes STICK as the way to go when you're new and just want to get CHDK on your camera. I'm cool with that. I have a venerable 2010 vintage Canon SX210-IS 1.00c, which takes good pictures but doesn't support RAW mode. I'd like to have CHDK on my camera for the solar eclipse of 8 April 2024, seven months away. From the looks of things, I'll need every day.
Problem is, STICK wants to install the German-language version of CHDK. It has done so successfully. I've taken the SD card with CHDK_DE, put it in my camera, and booted to the CHDK splash screen. I correctly guessed what would be the <ALT> button, pressed it, and seen the German-language menus appear. That's good news -- it means everything works. Except it's all in German! But I'm not German and (actually I'm 1/4 German but) I don't speak the language. Much.
My understanding is that STICK is looking for the standard (i.e., English-language) release and not finding it, so it goes on to hunt for the German-language version, and finds IT, so that's what STICK uses. Could somebody please look and see if there's a problem with the (English) SX210-IS 1.6.x zip file not being where STICK can find it?
One solution would be for STICK to have a "Browse" button next to its "Download" button. That way users could optionally point STICK to a .zip file of their choosing, possibly a local modified CHDK, whatever. But since STICK isn't under active development that's just a pipe dream. But as they say, a pipe dream is better than a pipe bomb.

This is my first post on this forum. I'm really sorry if I've messed anything up.

Logged

"Let's push on the walls at the frontier of knowledge, on the off chance they will come tumbling down." -- J. Colin Adams.

Mlapse

583
S95 S110

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #1 on: 03 / September / 2023, 17:35:09 »

why not just download
https://mighty-hoernsche.de/trunk/bins/sx210is-100c-1.7.0-6255-full.zip
unpack it on your sd card and you are good to go...if that card already has the bootflag installed by stick

Logged

frustration is a key ingredient in progress

reyalp

14082

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #2 on: 03 / September / 2023, 18:43:19 »

Quote from: BearOfNH on 03 / September / 2023, 16:57:33

Problem is, STICK wants to install the German-language version of CHDK. It has done so successfully. I've taken the SD card with CHDK_DE, put it in my camera, and booted to the CHDK splash screen. I correctly guessed what would be the <ALT> button, pressed it, and seen the German-language menus appear. That's good news -- it means everything works. Except it's all in German!

FWIW, if your run the default script by pressing the shutter while in alt mode, it should set the CHDK language to match the camera language setting.

Quote

My understanding is that STICK is looking for the standard (i.e., English-language) release and not finding it, so it goes on to hunt for the German-language version, and finds IT, so that's what STICK uses. Could somebody please look and see if there's a problem with the (English) SX210-IS 1.6.x zip file not being where STICK can find it?

The English autobuild at https://mighty-hoernsche.de/ appears to be working fine, perhaps it had a temporary issue, or Stick was set to prefer the German build?

Quote

One solution would be for STICK to have a "Browse" button next to its "Download" button. That way users could optionally point STICK to a .zip file of their choosing, possibly a local modified CHDK, whatever.

Stick does have an option to install a build from a zip file, see http://zenoshrdlu.com/stick/stickx.html

Logged

Don't forget what the H stands for.

BearOfNH

10

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #3 on: 03 / September / 2023, 20:24:15 »

Whoa, hold on there friend(s). You have obviously mistaken me for someone who knows what he's doing.
For one thing, (we're talking about manually unzipping 1.7.0 right to the card here) my SD card has two partitions and I don't know which to choose. I suppose I could unzip to both, but that grates on my sense of cleanliness. OK, at a guess I downloaded the 1.7.0 zipfile and unpacked it to the smaller FAT16 boot partition. Makes sense. Incipient problem 1: the FAT16 partition is circa 16MB in size. CHDK 1.7.0 takes up around 15.1MB, so we're getting close there. Anyway, having copied 1.7.0 to the small partition I threw the WP switch and put the SD card in my camera and started it up. Saw the CHDK splash screen. Hit <ALT> and saw the CHDK menu, but in the upper left of the screen was the message "ERROR: MISSING MODULE". I'd tell you which modules were missing, but CHDK didn't tell me. The message was persistent and apparently blinking, as if CHDK were constantly looking for something (and constantly failing). Incipient problem 2: before taking a shot the Canon complained it was out of space. Currently, no images exist on either partition.
At this point I should mention there are actually two SD cards involved. First is my trusty, tried and true pure Canon 32GB SD card that I've been using for over 10 years, and have filled only 8GB so there's plenty of space available. (But no RAW images, either...) That card I consider "golden" and will not try to do anything to it. Second is a card I recently purchased specifically for CHDK use. It's got 256GB so plenty of room for RAW images and, should it ever be possible, RAW video.
I figure the "missing module" problem will eventually be fixed, but running out of space is a different issue.
On a lark, I put my "golden" 32GB SD card into my PC and found ... just one FAT32 partition for the whole card. So despite its age my SX210-IS is capable of booting (and running) from a single FAT32 partition. Incipient problem 3: isn't this 2010 release contrary to the Wiki?
Now I'm confused and at a total loss. Does STICK know how to create, or rather use, a single mongo FAT32 partition? For my (100c) camera? Is that a matter of configuration (how to fix?) or is STICK determined to use dual partitions here?
Thanks so far to both responders. You have helped me tremendously; sadly the problems keep coming. But I take it as a sign of progress, however cloudy the air.

Logged

"Let's push on the walls at the frontier of knowledge, on the off chance they will come tumbling down." -- J. Colin Adams.

reyalp

14082

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #4 on: 03 / September / 2023, 22:12:30 »

Quote from: BearOfNH on 03 / September / 2023, 20:24:15

For one thing, (we're talking about manually unzipping 1.7.0 right to the card here) my SD card has two partitions and I don't know which to choose. I suppose I could unzip to both, but that grates on my sense of cleanliness. OK, at a guess I downloaded the 1.7.0 zipfile and unpacked it to the smaller FAT16 boot partition. Makes sense. Incipient problem 1: the FAT16 partition is circa 16MB in size. CHDK 1.7.0 takes up around 15.1MB, so we're getting close there.

You should put DISKBOOT.BIN in the root of the small partition, and all the other files on the large one.

Quote

Hit <ALT> and saw the CHDK menu, but in the upper left of the screen was the message "ERROR: MISSING MODULE". I'd tell you which modules were missing, but CHDK didn't tell me.

The specific module it checks for is FSELECT.FLT in CHDK/MODULES (on the large partition, if you're using a multi partition card), but it's just a sanity check that the CHDK install is correct, or not, as in your case. The blinking is just CHDK janky UI drawing and has no other significance.

If you are unzipping on to a card, make you preserve the directory structure, you should see CHDK with a bunch of sub-directories.

Quote

On a lark, I put my "golden" 32GB SD card into my PC and found ... just one FAT32 partition for the whole card. So despite its age my SX210-IS is capable of booting (and running) from a single FAT32 partition.

I very much doubt SX210 can boot from FAT32 cards. IMO it's far more likely something is confused and your PC is not seeing the small one or some other mistake.

Logged

Don't forget what the H stands for.

Mlapse

583
S95 S110

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #5 on: 04 / September / 2023, 02:40:31 »

Quote from: BearOfNH on 03 / September / 2023, 20:24:15

It's got 256GB

unless that is fixed by now stick does not handle these large cards, chimp does.
i do not know if setting the dual-partition boot flag is available on the sx210, that is not common.
if it has you could also use the cam to make it bootable.

« Last Edit: 04 / September / 2023, 03:16:53 by Mlapse »

Logged

frustration is a key ingredient in progress

BearOfNH

10

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #6 on: 04 / September / 2023, 12:16:19 »

Well, hell. I just spent two hours writing a terrific response only to have it all thrown away when I hit the "Preview" button. I take it one can't include images in-line with text, which I was trying to do.

Lemme start over and go real slow. This may take several messages. First, we can all agree that Dave Mitchell, author of STICK, doesn't "owe" anybody anything. He provides a lot of people with a ton of useful free software. If it doesn't do exactly what you want, too bad. There seem to be workarounds for most, maybe all, of the issues I happen to have with it. Good!

The same principle holds for CHDK, free software generously provided by some talented hackers (in the good sense of the word).

Now:

Quote from: reyalp on 03 / September / 2023, 22:12:30

Quote from: BearOfNH on 03 / September / 2023, 20:24:15
For one thing, (we're talking about manually unzipping 1.7.0 right to the card here) my SD card has two partitions and I don't know which to choose. I suppose I could unzip to both, but that grates on my sense of cleanliness. OK, at a guess I downloaded the 1.7.0 zipfile and unpacked it to the smaller FAT16 boot partition. Makes sense. Incipient problem 1: the FAT16 partition is circa 16MB in size. CHDK 1.7.0 takes up around 15.1MB, so we're getting close there.
You should put DISKBOOT.BIN in the root of the small partition, and all the other files on the large one.

Ah. Thanks for clearing that up.

Quote

Quote
On a lark, I put my "golden" 32GB SD card into my PC and found ... just one FAT32 partition for the whole card. So despite its age my SX210-IS is capable of booting (and running) from a single FAT32 partition.

I very much doubt SX210 can boot from FAT32 cards. IMO it's far more likely something is confused and your PC is not seeing the small one or some other mistake.

Well of course that is entirely possible. But if you look at the attachment below (which I hope is there) it should show Disk Manager's view of the drive. Just one FAT32 partition and no others. OTOH, there are no obvious boot files to be found on that partition, so maybe they are well-hidden, or possibly not anywhere on the card. Perhaps the boot files are with the (100c) microcode. I got the card ~11 years ago and don't recall if I formatted it with the camera, or just plugged it in and started shooting. Pictures, that is.

Here (maybe) is Windows' view of the 32GB "golden" card. I will follow up with another post on a related topic.

32GB DiskMan.png (40.37 kB, 685x527 - viewed 11 times.)

Logged

"Let's push on the walls at the frontier of knowledge, on the off chance they will come tumbling down." -- J. Colin Adams.

BearOfNH

10

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #7 on: 04 / September / 2023, 12:24:39 »

Now for Part II. When last we heard from our intrepid hero (me, that is), he had a large 256GB card with two partitions: a 16MB boot partition and a far larger FAT32 partition where photos were supposed to go. Windows of course would not format the large partition as FAT32 despite the fact that the FAT32 architecture allows for such partitions, comfortably. Deliberate crippleware is so annoying! But I had used guiformat.exe (again, sorry, no link) to format the partition FAT32 with no problems, and had mistakenly copied all the CHDK code to the small partition. Booting to CHDK caused that annoying "ERROR: MISSING MODULE" message and the camera complained of no space for photos...I had used up almost all of the 16MB partition with CHDK code that didn't belong there. My bad.

At this point in the program I had gotten frustrated with the inability to take photos, not realizing I should have put most of CHDK on the large partition, which might have solved all my issues. But I didn't know that, then. So in a fit of pique I decided for have the camera format the card, figuring at the very least I could take pictures. CHDK might work better with a format the camera was comfortable with. Boy was that ever a silly notion! Take a look at Windows' interpretation of what the 11-year-old camera produced, when asked to format the card: (comments to come in the next post)

256GB exFAT.png (40.89 kB, 685x515 - viewed 13 times.)

« Last Edit: 04 / September / 2023, 12:44:34 by BearOfNH »

Logged

"Let's push on the walls at the frontier of knowledge, on the off chance they will come tumbling down." -- J. Colin Adams.

Mlapse

583
S95 S110

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #8 on: 04 / September / 2023, 12:33:28 »

Quote from: BearOfNH on 04 / September / 2023, 12:16:19

Well of course that is entirely possible. But if you look at the attachment below (which I hope is there) it should show Disk Manager's view of the drive. Just one FAT32 partition and no others. OTOH, there are no obvious boot files to be found on that partition, so maybe they are well-hidden, or possibly not anywhere on the card. Perhaps the boot files are with the (100c) microcode. I got the card ~11 years ago and don't recall if I formatted it with the camera, or just plugged it in and started shooting. Pictures, that is.

Here (maybe) is Windows' view of the 32GB "golden" card. I will follow up with another post on a related topic.

to clear things up, you did put chdk on that 32gb card with stick and it boots the cam with chdk although it registers as one fat32 partition? or do you use the firmware update in the menu?

« Last Edit: 04 / September / 2023, 12:39:23 by Mlapse »

Logged

frustration is a key ingredient in progress

Mlapse

583
S95 S110

Re: Help! 1.6.x, stuck on STICK. Canon SX210-IS 1.00c oldie but goodie.

« Reply #9 on: 04 / September / 2023, 12:37:37 »

Quote from: BearOfNH on 04 / September / 2023, 12:24:39

Now for Part II. When last we heard from our intrepid hero (me, that is), he had a large 256GB card with two partitions: a 16MB boot partition and a far larger FAT32 partition where photos were supposed to go. Windows of course would not format the large partition as FAT32 despite the fact that

i'm guessing you used guiformat to create the second fat32 partition?
in that case you can unpack, as ReyaIP stated

Quote

You should put DISKBOOT.BIN in the root of the small partition, and all the other files on the large one.

now you can use the firmware update method to start chdk, if you want autoboot, install and start chimp and select make card bootable (select the first small partition) lock the card and put it in your cam, it should start chdk with cam boot now.

Logged

frustration is a key ingredient in progress