Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

javedjoe90

« on: 11 / February / 2014, 22:14:26 »

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hello

Please help.

Firstly let me apologize if this question has been answered somewhere else, but i didn't find it.

I have tried to use a ricoh-ca1 as a remote shutter for the sx160is camera.
But it doesn't seem to work.

btw i am very new cameras so it could be something trivial i am doing wrong.

i used ACID to download the CHDK for my camera.
I load it using the firmware update method
I enamble remote

however when i press the ricoh-ca1 button all that happens is
the screen goes blank for a short while, i think it does this twice.

i am getting really confused. i thought it would be a remote version of the button thats on the camera and let me take a photo.

i don't really understand exactly what i am doing, some advise would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to make a simple document capture using this camera, the remote control.

thanks

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reyalp

11334

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #1 on: 11 / February / 2014, 23:22:02 »

Have you read http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/USB_Shutter_Remote ?

To use the ca1, you need to set it to ca1 mode.

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Don't forget what the H stands for.

javedjoe90

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #2 on: 12 / February / 2014, 19:58:29 »

Thanks for your reply.

I did read the article before getting the switch, infact thats where i got the idea from in the first place.

In chdk settings > remote parameters > enable remote, switch type CA-1, control mode normal, i also tried quick, burst, etc. i tried all of the control modes but the result is the same.

when i press the camera button for taking photos, i get a bleep sound and the photo is taken when i use the ca-1
the screen goes blank, i hear a click and then the screen comes on again, sometimes if i hold the ca-1 button and then release the button i get two of these. using the ca-1 there is no bleep sound.

what i was expecting was that when i press the ca-1 button it would be as if i had pressed the button on the camera that takes a photo.

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waterwingz

11478

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #3 on: 12 / February / 2014, 20:12:24 »

Quote from: javedjoe90 on 12 / February / 2014, 19:58:29

what i was expecting was that when i press the ca-1 button it would be as if i had pressed the button on the camera that takes a photo.

The button on the CA-1 has two positions. When you press it lightly, the camera sees that as a "half press" on the shutter and will focus and set exposure. When you then press it harder, the camera sees that as a "full press" and takes the picture.

So it's a two step process.

I have four different camera models that work correctly with the CA-1 so I would expect your's too as well. If not, there are things we can do to test using a special build.

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16

javedjoe90

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #4 on: 17 / February / 2014, 23:40:21 »

hi

thanks again for your reply.

unfortunately still no progress.

when i try the half press i get a single click and blank screen.
And when i try the full press i get two of these. the second is when i release the button and end of the full press.

Hope you can advise.

Thanks

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zeno

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #5 on: 18 / February / 2014, 04:16:09 »

To isolate the problem, try this - plug a USB cable into the camera and connect to a computer, then unplug it. If your camera takes a picture then you know that CHDK's usb triggering is working and the problem lies with the remote. If the camera doesn't take a picture then there's something wrong with your CHDK settings.

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A570, S100, Ixus 127
Author of ASSIST, STICK, WASP, ACID, SDMInst, LICKS, WICKS, MacBoot, UBDB, CFGEdit

waterwingz

11478

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #6 on: 18 / February / 2014, 12:31:02 »

Quote from: zeno on 18 / February / 2014, 04:16:09

To isolate the problem, try this - plug a USB cable into the camera and connect to a computer, then unplug it. If your camera takes a picture then you know that CHDK's usb triggering is working and the problem lies with the remote. If the camera doesn't take a picture then there's something wrong with your CHDK settings.

To be clear, this test works best if you set the input device to "one press" rather than "CA-1".

Let me know if the test works - I'll do a debug build for you to further help trouble shoot the problem. Its possible the same interrupt mechanism that causes "precision sync" issues on newer camera is also messing up the timing of the CA-1 code.

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16

waterwingz

11478

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #7 on: 18 / February / 2014, 23:36:32 »

Got some time to play with this tonight.

NOTE : when I first started this testing, nothing worked with my Ricoh CA-1. I got the same bizarre behavior you are seeing and worse. After a brief panic attack, I decide to replace the battery in the CA-1. Suddenly everything was good again.
So, please check to be sure that your battery is good - even with a very dead battery the CA-1 will appear to generate pulses.

I've attached a short script that monitors the USB input and reports & logs what kind of CA-1 pulses it sees. The output looks something like this :

Ricoh CA-1 test started press the Menu key to halt 001 0030:-220:0000 half press 002 0030:-030:0030 release 003 0030:-140:0000 half press 004 0030:-030:0030 release 005 0030:-120:0000 half press 006 0150:0000:0000 full press 007 0030:-030:0030 release 008 0030:-190:0000 half press 009 0030:-030:0030 release 010 0030:-100:0000 half press 011 0160:0000:0000 full press 012 0030:-030:0020 release *** FINISHED ***

where the four digit numbers are pulse timing information in milliseconds.

Please try this out and post the resulting LOG_0001.TXT from the CHDK/LOGS directory on your SD card ?

ricoh.lua (1.37 kB - downloaded 13 times.)

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16

javedjoe90

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #8 on: 20 / February / 2014, 21:11:57 »

Hi

Thanks for that research you did. I will get a new battery and try it. Although I used the one that came with the CA-1 package.

one more thing using the one press, two press and ca-1 switch type and usb into pc resulted in the following in my case.
when the usb was in, the screen went dark and the click sound, when removed screen went light and click sound, screen was dark for however long the usb was plugged into pc, i tried it with i don't know if that sheds any light on the situation.

did you try this with a sx160 is camera. I was even thinking of getting a different camera, thats how annoyed i was.

Again many thanks for your investigation.

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waterwingz

11478

Re: Help can't get ricoh-ca1 to work with sx160is

« Reply #9 on: 20 / February / 2014, 21:58:59 »

Quote from: javedjoe90 on 20 / February / 2014, 21:11:57

Thanks for that research you did. I will get a new battery and try it. Although I used the one that came with the CA-1 package.

I'm not sure that Ricoh has made a new CA-1 in a long time. So that battery it came with might be five years old.

Quote

one more thing using the one press, two press and ca-1 switch type and usb into pc resulted in the following in my case. when the usb was in, the screen went dark and the click sound, when removed screen went light and click sound, screen was dark for however long the usb was plugged into pc, i tried it with i don't know if that sheds any light on the situation.

Do you have the
Enable Sync [ * ]
setting selected in the Remote Parameters menu ? If so, please disable it and try again.

Quote

did you try this with a sx160 is camera. I was even thinking of getting a different camera, thats how annoyed i was.

I've used it with four different camera models released over a five year time span but I don't own an sx160 (or any of the other 119 cameras that support CHDK). To tell if it's an issue with the sx160, please run the script I posted and report back.

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16