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Flash hot shoe - override the switch

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Offline srsa_4c

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Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« on: 11 / September / 2014, 15:32:33 »
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After seeing a request in the German forum, I thought it would be a good idea to provide an override for the switch that detects whether the hot shoe is occupied. The switch can also break (report wrong status) and people put devices other than an external flash into the hot shoe (and still want to use the internal flash).
The attached patch is a first draft, the necessary changes for a camera to get support are hopefully clear. The only purpose of this patch is to add an override for the switch, flash functionality is not altered in any way. It's probably obvious that this addition is only meant for cameras with a physical hot shoe. Tested working on my g10.
Test builds are available on request.

Possible improvement: the wording (and placement) of the CHDK menu entry is kind of lame, if anybody has better suggestions, don't hesitate to tell.

The added menu entry is:

CHDK Settings -> Flash hot shoe occupied [ Auto / Off / On ]


Note that I have tried the event procedure way (UIFS_MountExtFlash, etc.) and the logical event way (MountExtFlash), none of them seemed to have an effect.

edit:
patch updated to support more cameras (g10, s5is, sx10, sx20, sx50, g7, g12)
« Last Edit: 22 / September / 2014, 19:06:10 by srsa_4c »
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #1 on: 11 / September / 2014, 20:19:31 »
Looks good to me.
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Ported :   A1200    SD940   G10    Powershot N    G16
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Offline Werner_O

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #2 on: 14 / September / 2014, 16:48:58 »
Hello srsa_4c,

thanks a lot for your work!

Please view http://forum.chdk-treff.de/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3388&p=29891#p29891 for first test results with my SX20. The attached PDF-file includes my results also written in English.

Kind regards,
Werner_O
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Offline srsa_4c

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #3 on: 14 / September / 2014, 19:32:41 »
Quote from: Werner_O on 14 / September / 2014, 16:48:58
Please view http://forum.chdk-treff.de/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3388&p=29891#p29891 for first test results with my SX20.
Hi,

thanks for the detailed test. I have some notes however.

- when the new setting is set to "auto", CHDK doesn't influence the reported state of the hot shoe switch - this is what official CHDK currently does
- "on" means that CHDK reports "pressed" state to the camera
- "off" means that CHDK reports "unpressed" state to the camera

I can imagine that Canon-compatible flashes communicate with the camera through their connector, independently from the switch state.
Can you make a test with something other than an external flash in the hot shoe?
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Offline Werner_O

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #4 on: 15 / September / 2014, 15:03:17 »
Hello srsa_4c,

today I made additional tests with my contactless LED Video-Light instead of my external flash in mode off.
The updated PDF file is available in the already mentioned thread in the German CHDK forum.

Unfortunately I could not find any differences in the behavior.
Nevertheless the updated file is better organized and now shows exactly the problems which still have to be solved.

Good luck and kind regards
Werner_O
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Offline srsa_4c

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #5 on: 15 / September / 2014, 17:12:44 »
Quote from: Werner_O on 15 / September / 2014, 15:03:17
today I made additional tests with my contactless LED Video-Light instead of my external flash in mode off.
The updated PDF file is available in the already mentioned thread in the German CHDK forum.

Unfortunately I could not find any differences in the behavior.
Thanks. Your camera acts differently than the one I tested on (G10).

First of all, "auto" should not have any influence on the camera, it should behave exactly as without CHDK. According to the pdf, your camera does not allow taking a picture when the setting is "auto" and the internal flash is popped up. If this is really happening, it should also happen without CHDK. Can you re-check this?

The pdf also says that you can't take a picture either when the setting is "off" and nothing is put in the hot shoe. This should be the same issue as the previous one.

What's really sad is that you can't use the internal flash despite the "off" setting ("yes, but without flash (no "Short-Flash-Menu")" in the pdf). The pdf also suggests that the camera recognizes the external flash, even when the switch state is faked "off".

On my camera, the settings are working as expected, I can use the internal flash when CHDK fakes an unoccupied hot shoe.
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Offline Werner_O

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #6 on: 16 / September / 2014, 14:44:03 »
First of all, after new tests in MF mode or waiting for correct focussing in AF mode i can shoot with a free shoe - sorry for my mistake. I have already updated my test-PDF in the German forum.

<< What's really sad is that you can't use the internal flash despite the "off" setting ("yes, but without flash (no "Short-Flash-Menu")" in the pdf). The pdf also suggests that the camera recognizes the external flash, even when the switch state is faked "off". >>

That's in fact sad for SX20 (also SX30/40/50) user like me.
After a look at the G10 manual I perhaps found a difference to the SX20 according the internal flash:
The internal flash of the G10 seems to be in a fixed position, but the internal flash of a SX20 (or SX30/40/50) first has to be moved manually to the "active position".
Also I'm quite sure, that this "flash position" is protocolled in the cam in any way (which I don't know).

These thoughts of me might be helpfull for you to solve this problem - good luck...

Kind regards
Werner_O
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Offline srsa_4c

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #7 on: 16 / September / 2014, 19:20:52 »
Quote from: Werner_O on 16 / September / 2014, 14:44:03
First of all, after new tests in MF mode or waiting for correct focussing in AF mode i can shoot with a free shoe - sorry for my mistake. I have already updated my test-PDF in the German forum.
Thanks for the update.
Quote from: Werner_O on 16 / September / 2014, 14:44:03
That's in fact sad for SX20 (also SX30/40/50) user like me.
We don't actually know how other models behave (we'd need more testers). I don't think it's the pop-up flash that is causing the trouble. I suspect that the hot shoe switch is being queried directly somewhere in the firmware and the contradicting reports confuse the camera.
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #8 on: 16 / September / 2014, 19:26:06 »
I have access to an SX50 if you like me to test with that?
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Ported :   A1200    SD940   G10    Powershot N    G16
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Offline srsa_4c

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Re: Flash hot shoe - override the switch
« Reply #9 on: 16 / September / 2014, 19:31:17 »
Quote from: waterwingz on 16 / September / 2014, 19:26:06
I have access to an SX50 if you like me to test with that?
Yes, please. The patch does include support for the sx50, so you just need to apply it.
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