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CHDK tutorial for RC AP - Scripting and remote USB triggering »
03 05 2008

CHDK tutorial for RC AP part 1

Posted by: Paul René Jørgensen in CHDK, Photography, tags: , , , ,

I’ve been putting this off for too long, and I know a lot of people have been requesting this for a while, so here we go. I’ve split the tutorial in 2 parts. Part one cover finding the correct CHDK build and installing it on your camera, the second part is about scripting and building a remote USB trigger. The CHDK project is a firmware add on for Canon’s Digic II and Digic III cameras unleashing the hidden power in your cheap or medium priced camera such as RAW format, live histograms, Zebra mode, battery indicators and my personal favorite, scripting!

Part 1 - Finding the correct build and install it on your camera

First of all, the modifications we are about to do is not permanent. You may at any time disable or uninstall the CHDK firmware. By removing the write protection on your SD card you disable the auto load of CHDK. And by deleting the CHDK files from the SD card, you totally removes any traces of it. After getting used to CHDK, you’ll hardly want to remove it, but now it’s been said :-)

CHDK’s home page is located at http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK and this is where our search for the correct CHDK build starts. Every camera model need a different build of CHDK, because they all are a little different internally. Customizing CHDK for a new camera model is a complex and time consuming task, so I encourage you to show your gratitude by writing about it on their thank you page.

As of today (3. May, 2008) these are the supported (See the CHDK page for an updated list) cameras:

The version number in green refers to the original firmware version of your camera. You need to now this to be able to find the correct CHDK build for your camera.

Locating the original firmware version of your camera

  1. Create a file called ver.req in root directory of your SD card using a card reader and your computer. This could be an empty text file, but remember that the file extension must be .req for this to work
  2. Put the card back into the camera and turn on the playback mode (Don’t turn it into rec mode first and then play, playback mode must be the first mode after power on)
  3. Press and hold the SET button, then press DISPLAY while keeping both buttons pressed

If this is done correctly you’ll see a text string that looks like Firmware Ver GM1.00E. The “1.00E” is the firmware version you need to remember when downloading the CHDK for your camera. Note: Some cameras even support a file called vers.req that will allow you to even view more information about your camera.

Downloading CHDK

Go to http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Downloads and search for your camera. Download the version that matches the firmware version that you found in the last step.

Installing CHDK on your camera

  1. Extract the PS.fir and Diskboot.bin files into the root directory of your SD card using your card reader and your computer
  2. Put the SD card back into the camera

Enabling / Starting CHDK manually

  1. Start the camera in playback mode
  2. Press the MENU button
  3. Go to the new menu entry called “Firm Update” (probably the last item in the menu list)
  4. Select that item and confirm you want to update by selecting “OK”
  5. The camera will now reboot and you’ll see CHDK’s splash screen when it boots up again

Auto enabling CHDK every time you turn on your camera

  1. Enable CHDK manually as described above
  2. Enter ALT mode
  3. Press the MENU button to bring up the CHDK menu
  4. Enter the “Debug Parameters” item
  5. Select “Make Card Bootable”
  6. Turn off the camera
  7. Take out the SD card and write protect it
  8. Put the card back and turn on your camera

CHDK will auto load every time you turn on your camera from now on. You may disable CHDK by turning off the write protection of the SD card.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 18:53 and is filed under CHDK, Photography.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “CHDK tutorial for RC AP part 1”
  1. Leif Johnson says:
    May 7th, 2008 at 03:16

    It looks like you are doing a great job! I am really interested in how you made your cord. Did you buy the Gentled CHDK?

  2. ggtronic says:
    May 26th, 2008 at 18:12

    thanks for the camera interface info… i wish it work on other type of camera…

  3. timmermann.tv says:
    July 4th, 2008 at 13:06

    CHDK: Freie Firmware für Canon Kompaktkameras…

    Für einige Modelle von Canon gibt es jetzt eine freie Software, welche die integrierte Firmware ersetzt. Damit lassen sich einige Funktionen nutzen, die sonst nicht möglich wären. Neben einer umfangreichen Möglichkeit, Skripte zu …

  4. Kent Empie says:
    December 9th, 2008 at 18:17

    I love the idea of using CHDK for arial photography, I did it with my 2M powered glider this summer, with a Canon Powershot SD1000 strapped to underneath one of the wings. Instead of worrying about triggering the shot remotely, I just set up the CHDK script for continuous shooting, once every second. With a 4GB SD card, that’s at least 20 minutes of shooting at 7megapixel shooting, then I just copy off the photos that come out the best, and delete the rest.

    The interval shooting .BAS file that’s on the CHDK site works well, I had to tweak the autofocus a little on my camera to get the shooting to be once a second, otherwise the focus took a couple of seconds between each shot. With a small change to the program, you can refocus every 10 shots or so, most of the time you’re focusing on infinity so it doesn’t matter very much once you’re up there.

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