Firmware 1.2 Upgrade - Who's had success?

[Paul Curtis]

Hi,

I've kinda ignored the firmware updates, if it aint broke etc,. However i suddenly at the last minute need to do some long recording and i can't offload SxS cards during. So, in order to be able to use a SDHC card adaptor winging its way to me, i need to upgrade my firmware.

I see that there's a tutorial on v1.1 and also there's a sony end user upgrade to 1.2

However i see that some people have managed to brick their cameras with the 1.2 upgrade. I've downloaded everything and it seems simple enough...

What i would really like to hear is who has managed to do the upgrade successfully? And which platform did they upgrade from. A mac would be easiest but win xp 64 is possible too.

Would really appreciate some upgrade stories! Good and bad...

cheers
paul

[Craig Seeman]

There's entire threads devoted to this. Why not just read through and ask questions in the appropriate thread otherwise you're just going to get the same people reposting.

[Jim Forrest]

Well you must know where it is, why not give us a link. I can't find it either. Just firmware examples with SD cards.
I am also unable to find what firmware version I have with my EX3. There is no 'version' in my 'others'.

[Craig Seeman]

Basically the same upgrade for different EX cameras.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...explained.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...2gb-cards.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...something.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...-firmware.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...ake-sense.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...-10-6-2-a.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...-0-1-10-a.html

[Jim Forrest]

Thank you Craig. Are you able to shed any light on why I don't see my version number in the Menu under 'others'. Before I bought the camera the person who sold it to me said they took the camera to Sony in NJ and had the latest firmware installed. If that is so wouldn't I be able to see versions in the 'others' menu?

[Craig Seeman]

Firmware 1.20 for EX was very recently released just a few weeks back. He may not have been aware of it. It's possible he was talking about 1.11 or thereabouts which one still needed to go into the service menu to see the Firmware version.

1.11 can handle the SDHC cards but 1.2 is much more reliable at it. The latter was distributed by Sony as something the end user could do for free (with some small risk of bricking) otherwise Sony will do it for $135.

[Dean Harrington]

The firmware for the ex3 is 1.10 up from 1.02. While there are upgrade disasters reported, I had no problem upgrading via Mac. If you follow the directions ... it should be a snap. Just make sure you electric connections are secure and be patient.

[Garrett Low]

Originally Posted by Dean Harrington

The firmware for the ex3 is 1.10 up from 1.02. While there are upgrade disasters reported, I had no problem upgrading via Mac. If you follow the directions ... it should be a snap. Just make sure you electric connections are secure and be patient.

As an added measure of precaution I had a battery in my camera and I had the camera power supply and computer plugged into a UPS. The Firmware upgrade went without any problems exactly as the instructions said.

Garrett

[Paul Curtis]

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

There's entire threads devoted to this. Why not just read through and ask questions in the appropriate thread otherwise you're just going to get the same people reposting.

Craig most of the threads i found are about problems, like most things - people tend to post when they have a problem. I wanted to gauge whether there were a lot of people who had upgraded successfully - get some idea of the balance.

Thanks for the links though, i think i missed some of those

cheers
paul

[Ed Kukla]

I bought my ex-3 a year ago and it worked with sdhc right out of the box. I think that is true for all ex-3's. so I don't think you need a firmware upgrade just to use sdhc cards

[Colin Rowe]

I think the main point of the upgrade is that it improves on the performance / reliability of SDHC card / adaptor useage.

[Paul Curtis]

I'm potentially upgrading an old version v1.03_0351

I'm not even sure i can go from that version to 1.2 direct. I've not read about anyone doing this and in fact i saw a note to suggest that less that 1.05 needs to go to a sony centre. However i can see a vimeo tutorial upgrading to v1.11

So it's all a bit confusing.

My issue is run times, normally i have plenty of time between shots however i have a performance to record and little time to offload. Made worse by the fact that i switched from sony vaio to macbooks a while back and overlooked the lack of Express 34 slot, otherwise i could record on one SxS and offload the other.

I'm assuming i can download footage over USB, but i'm also assuming i cannot do that whilst the camera is recording? (I can't test right now...)

cheers
paul

[Craig Seeman]

Paul there are plenty of success in those threads. You're certainly not going to get a equal distribution though as more failures will post than successes. I'm not sure what you're looking for but all you need is a couple of successes and their step by steps to know success is possible. It will be virtually impossible to get any kind of idea of the "balance" on a forum. There are very few failures really but they are catastrophic. As one person noted, Sony would actually repair in their Japan shop only at this point for $390. Others have been told $2000 but that's replacing the board rather than sending to Japan.

It's really best to get info from Sony and I find calling them gets more current information than what they have on any of their Pro websites. Note that I had a thread quite specific to that which I included.

It's really not clear what you're looking for.
If it's a successfully protocol, that's already there in the threads I posted.
If it's the benefits (or lack thereof) of the upgrade, that's already there too.
If it's the risk of upgrade, that's already there also.

Redundancy but you seem to want that.
For EX1 Sony said on the phone not to risk it if you're at 1.11 and below (bring it in) although sites say 1.0.5.
The upgrade will give you more reliable results with SDHC. Many cards that used to get media error will now work. Some cards can now overcrank at maximum data rate. There is a loss of a couple of minutes of record time amount depending on whether it's 16GB or 32GB card.

The new 13" and 15" MacBookPros have SDHC slots and you can transfer that way or use any number of inexpensive USB SDHC readers. It's certainly less expensive to buy four 32GB SDHC cards than the equivalent SxS cards. Offloading and erasing cards of any type is a MAJOR RISK during a shoot as it introduces possible human error when one may be distracted.

[Paul Curtis]

For EX1 Sony said on the phone not to risk it if you're at 1.11 and below (bring it in) although sites say 1.0.5.

That's the key.

I thought i had explained quite clearly but apologies if that hasn't come across

- I have an old firmware EX1 (v1.03)

- I was weighing up the risk up updating it myself so that i could use SDHC cards otherwise i'm going to have a complete data management problem tomorrow

- Because people tend to only post problems i wanted to get an idea out of the dvinfo audience who had managed the upgrade successfully.

So far in those threads i've not found anyone that has clearly been through 1.03 -> 1.2 in one go. And with the line you added then i think i'm going to have to stick to a data management nightmare and see about upgrading via sony.

thx
paul

[Craig Seeman]

Sony told me $135 and 5-8 day turnaround for them to do the firmware upgrade.
People were weighing that against the small risk of brick and $2000 repair.
One person mentioned that Sony would send to Japan for $390 and 10-15 days to fix a brick. I haven't confirmed that from any other source though.

Personally $135 seems safest (just like buying insurance) rather than taking the small $2000 risk but that's just me. Many have done it themselves with no issue beyond a temporary increase in heart rate and blood pressure. One of my concerns is that an apparently good DIY upgrade can have hidden issues. Sony did my upgraded to 1.11 and I found a "hidden" issue and they had to do it a second time. I'd rather pay $135 for an upgrade they warranty.

I could have sworn someone started with 1.0.3 but generally it's been 1.11 and up with some starting at 1.0.5. If Sony is saying 1.11 is risky on the phone and below 1.0.5 risky on the web . . . I wouldn't risk it. Send it in locally. The biggest potential expense would be being down for 8 days depending on your business mode. I'm at 1.11 btw.

You hadn't mentioned 1.0.3 in your original post. That can make all the difference in the world.