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CHDK - on S3i - nothing seems to work

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Offline Nuuk

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    • Decibel Dungeon
CHDK - on S3i - nothing seems to work
« on: 03 / April / 2011, 10:32:49 »
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A few days back I installed the CHDK software on the SD card of my S3i. I can successfully boot the system but that's about as far as I can get, despite hours reading the user guide, and several other help sites including this one.

If I enable the OSD I get a dark rectangular box on the screen with numbers from 10 to 19 and numbers next to each of them. This display does nothing no matter which buttons I press. It also won't go away no matter what I try in the menu.

When trying to set a custom shutter speed, the fastest speed I can get is 1/3200, again, no matter what combination of entries I make in the menu.

I have checked that I have the correct version of CHDK installed (S3i 100a), and can't see anything else that I can do. So would appreciate some advice please.  :(

I may not be popular for saying this, but all the guides that I have read so far seem to assume that we know what each CHDK function is and does. I still haven't found a simple ((beginner's) guide that teaches by example. I hope that I don't come over as ungrateful. I spend a lot of my own time writing guides and reviews for other people and am not one who criticises for the sake of it.

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Online reyalp

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Re: CHDK - on S3i - nothing seems to work
« Reply #1 on: 03 / April / 2011, 14:03:32 »
Quote from: Nuuk on 03 / April / 2011, 10:32:49
If I enable the OSD I get a dark rectangular box on the screen with numbers from 10 to 19 and numbers next to each of them. This display does nothing no matter which buttons I press. It also won't go away no matter what I try in the menu.
It's really not at all clear to me what you did or what you are trying to describe here. 10 to 19 sounds like you've enabled one of the debug displays (misc->debug->debug data display)
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When trying to set a custom shutter speed, the fastest speed I can get is 1/3200, again, no matter what combination of entries I make in the menu.
How are you measuring the shutter speed ? The exif info in the jpeg and the camera display are generally not reliable. "No matter what combination of settings" doesn't tell us anything about what you actually did, so it would be impossible to say whether what you did was correct. If you want help, you'll have to be more specific.
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I may not be popular for saying this, but all the guides that I have read so far seem to assume that we know what each CHDK function is and does. I still haven't found a simple ((beginner's) guide that teaches by example.
The documentation sucks has plenty of room for improvement. CHDK User Manual - CHDK Wiki is probably the most complete and current. CHDK itself is also rather complicated and quirky, some of this is inherent in the fact it's a hack on top of an undocumented system, and some of it is just junk that no one has got around to fixing yet.
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Offline Nuuk

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Re: CHDK - on S3i - nothing seems to work
« Reply #2 on: 03 / April / 2011, 17:35:40 »
Thanks for your reply. I had indeed turned on a debug display and have managed to turn it off again.

I am not measuring shutter speed. I am looking at what it says in the display when I partially depress the shutter button.

When I said that I have tried everything, I meant every combination of 'Override shutter speed' value, 'Value factor', and 'Shutter speed enum type.

Let's say I want a 1/60,000 shutter speed, what are the three relevant settings?

And what are 'overrides'?

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Online reyalp

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Re: CHDK - on S3i - nothing seems to work
« Reply #3 on: 03 / April / 2011, 18:02:37 »
Quote from: Nuuk on 03 / April / 2011, 17:35:40
I am not measuring shutter speed. I am looking at what it says in the display when I partially depress the shutter button.
This does not necessarily reflect the actual value used.
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Let's say I want a 1/60,000 shutter speed, what are the three relevant settings?
See http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_User_Manual#Override_shutter_speed

FWIW, 1/60,000th is almost certainly useless, even if it does actually work... unless you are shooting closeups of welding arcs.
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And what are 'overrides'?
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_User_Manual#Extra_Photo_Operations where CHDK is used to override whatever the factory firmware would have used, e.g. override shutter speed.
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Offline Nuuk

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Re: CHDK - on S3i - nothing seems to work
« Reply #4 on: 04 / April / 2011, 05:05:46 »
Thanks again. I think that the displayed speed cannot not be relied on should be one of the first instructions in any manual about CHDK.

I can now get the longer shutter speeds working, but am still confused by the shorter ones. Also how do I get the flash to synch with the shorter shutter speeds, for instance to photograph running water? If I set a shutter speed of 1/10,000 and then use the flash in TV mode (flash setting is AUTO), the pictures are over-exposed.

I understand the overrides now but again, an brief explanation would have saved me (and I presume many others) from wasted hours of trial and error.

CHDK is a brilliant idea. It's just a pity that the interface isn't easier to use. I'm by no means a technophobe, and I find it daunting. But I will persevere.
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