Software update V0.2

[tesla500]

Here's the first software update!

Not a huge amount in this one, basically a few features requested by a few scientific users, and a bunch of low-hanging fruit . More major updates will probably have to wait until after the backlog of Kickstarter rewards and store preorders have shipped, since it's so busy leading up to production. Once we hire a software engineer, updates will be much more frequent and significant.

Features added and bugs fixed:

• Added Triggered Exposure and Shutter Gating modes
• Fixed bug where video can be saved to the mount point if no storage device is present
• Fixed minimum exposure time (now 1uS instead of an impossible 10ns)
• Added "About" tab to Util window, showing software version, serial number, and camera info
• Added missing backer Jared Reabow in backers list
• Added support for LUX1310 image sensor silicon revision 2
• Fixed incorrect bitrate computation in save settings window
• Disabled H264 profile and level controls (certain lower levels caused encoder to crash)
• Fixed incorrect shutter slider and exposure text after changing resolution
• Fixed incorrect updating of ROI indicator in Record Settings
• Fixed allowable range of window offset to proper multiples (16, 2). Record settings would not be applied if offset was set other than proper multiple
• Moved close button on keyboard to bottom right
• Changed arrows on keyboard from text eg. "Up" to unicode arrow characters

Known bugs in added features:

• Horizontal line issue is present in Triggered Exposure and Shutter Gating modes, to be fixed

Installation instructions:

• Unzip the Zip file into the root directory of a FAT32 formatted USB stick
• This should result in a camUpdate folder in the root directory of the stick
• Boot up the camera and insert the USB stick
• Backup your calibration data. Tap "Backup calibration data" and wait for this to complete (about 5 seconds). The cal data is now backed up on the USB drive as cal_[serial number].tar
• To install the update, tap Apply Software Update
• A message box should pop up indicating the software update was found. Tap Yes to install the update.
• The screen will go blank for a few seconds, then the updated application will start.
• Done! No need to restart the camera.

What if something goes wrong?
Don't worry, it's impossible to brick the camera. If the update fails for some reason and the camera won't boot, you can reflash the OS SD card yourself to recover the camera. If you need the image file to do this, let us know. It's just like flashing the OS card for a Raspberry Pi. You will need to restore the backed up calibration data after reflashing the card. If you don't have a backup, we have a copy of the original factory cal, available on request.

Next updates in the pipeline:

• Proper trigger delay setting (Timeline/slider, pretrigger percentage, and setting by time rather than frames)
• Remembering settings across reboots
• Indication of dropped frames on save
• Proper boot splash screen

[gyppor]

question for you regarding the update and remembering the settings:

I've had issues with white balance, every time I try to set it everything gets a pronounced yellow hue. So far when this has happened I've shut the camera down and re-started to regain the default white balance. I always use the default and it works fine.

Is it possible to reset the settings to default in the firmware version 2.0?

Is it also possible to edit the power-on settings, rather than keep the same settings from one session to the other?
for instance, I'd like to be able to set the encoding to 30fps and the default resolution to 1280x720, but keep everything the same as in version 1.0.

Thanks!

G

[JamesB]

This is great, can't wait to get those dark pixels out of the way.  I know the camera will be amazing with the software development.  Congrats, I'll share this update soon!   

Update went without a hitch. Also kudos on making it update proof by not using a firmware flash but opening software from the card.  Glad to see a device that is ready to go after the update without a reboot. I was put off at first but it's a sweet feature to have.

[Electra]

Faultless upgrade. Quick and simple.
Can't wait for persistent settings, everything else I'll enjoy as they come.

[AimedResearch]

New update trigger issue...  I have a report that the new update will allow a trigger delay only for the on-camera trigger but not the BNC trigger input.  Can anyone verify, I am not with my camera.

[tesla500]

New update trigger issue...  I have a report that the new update will allow a trigger delay only for the on-camera trigger but not the BNC trigger input.  Can anyone verify, I am not with my camera.

I cannot duplicate, trigger and trigger delay works as expected on both V0.1 and V0.2, can anyone else check?

[Electra]

BNC trigger delay works fine on 0.2 firmware for us.  Both in the low hundreds and high thousands of frames.

[nik282000]

Went to do the update today, when I tried to backup the calibration data it gave me the error "Error: tar command failed" with a Lexar 16Gb (LJD550-16G). The calibration file was created but it is only ~30Mb, trying again with a different USB drive created a calibration file that was ~60Mb and is populated by about 80 files. I'm not sure what it is about the Lexar but it is strange that the error is related to the tar archive creation and not read/write related.

Otherwise the update went fine, thanks!

[tesla500]

Went to do the update today, when I tried to backup the calibration data it gave me the error "Error: tar command failed" with a Lexar 16Gb (LJD550-16G). The calibration file was created but it is only ~30Mb, trying again with a different USB drive created a calibration file that was ~60Mb and is populated by about 80 files. I'm not sure what it is about the Lexar but it is strange that the error is related to the tar archive creation and not read/write related.

Otherwise the update went fine, thanks!

A correctly saved calibration backup should be 70,073,856 bytes. The cal folder should have 12 files and one folder called factoryFPN. The factoryFPN folder should contain 80 files.

[nik282000]

File size and contents is like you said (Windows rounds down and reports it as being 68Mb).

[Camoit]

Any time line on when the Audio input and the HDMI Output will be supported?
Those 2 items and RAW would make this camera sell like hot cakes.

Three things I noticed that there needed
#1 A factory reset button for all settings or per page.
#2 A percentage meter like you have on the battery but for the amount of storage left.
#3 A button to clear the cash or ram. Unless it's set up for roll over.
If it is there needs to be something in the manual stating it.
I'm just used to cameras you do not edit on. You shoot it. It saves the hole thing. In point at record start. Out at record stop. Perhaps that can be a button we can X on, or X off. 

[NoDak]

I'm just used to cameras you do not edit on. You shoot it. It saves the hole thing. In point at record start. Out at record stop. Perhaps that can be a button we can X on, or X off.

Just reading through the threads and I came across this. I agree that it would be nice to have a "Point and Shoot" option like that. I'm sure I'll have a better idea how things work once I get my camera, but flash storage is cheap nowadays. Just have a couple flash cards to store everything. If you are doing a lot, just dump one card to a laptop while you film with the other.

Not having to edit before saving would be very important when accessing the camera between triggers is impractical. An example would be filming the sawmill at one of the nearby steam thresher reunion cutting the logs into boards. They may let me setup when the saw is shutdown, but they are NOT gonna let me anywhere close a running 5 foot sawblade every time I trigger the camera. This would probably be welcome in scientific environments as well.

Thanks again for the hard work you do.

[jasonfish]

Not sure how that would work, since you still have a max 4 or 8 second record time. At what point would the camera decide, without your interaction, to stop recording and begin flushing the buffer to disk?

Seems that a remote RF trigger would be a good addition to your kit.

[NoDak]

Not sure how that would work, since you still have a max 4 or 8 second record time. At what point would the camera decide, without your interaction, to stop recording and begin flushing the buffer to disk?

Seems that a remote RF trigger would be a good addition to your kit.

Oh, you would still trigger it like you normally do and then it would start writing to the SD card or whatever you have setup for storage.

You would have to know ahead of time how long it takes to write to the buffer, though once HDMI is working it will be easier to monitor.

Sorry for the confusion.

[jasonfish]

Oh I gotcha. I misunderstood, my bad. Depending on the frame rate, flushing the entire buffer could take many minutes, but at least it would have a head start.

I wonder if this would be an opportunity to use a long press of the Record button. Normal press = normal operation. Long press raises a menu of post-trigger options.