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How to get the A1/A2 firmware source??

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Teja

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OK, KM is out of business and we are orphans. I was just wondering if anyone knew some Minolta engineers who could 'leak' the source code for the KM DiMAGE A1/A2/A200 series of cameras.

I thought of submitting a petition to Sony to release the firmware into public domain - but fat chance of that happening, and didn't want to waste time with that.

So dig into your contacts list and see if you know someone who knows someone who worked for Minolta, then get the connections going. If we can get our hands on the source, then the cams can get a new lease of life.

Heres to hope..
 
There was a huge post about reverse engineering of the A2 firmware, but it didn't pass the "project" phase. :-)

But now you're right, KM is no more, so they could release the firmware, like it already happened with so many electronic devices.

Anyway, assuming they would release the code, what would you implement in the firmware, and how would you do it?
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Yeah, I remember that reverse engineering theread. I made some contributions there - but as you said, it didn't go anywhere.

What I would like to see improved in the A2?
  • RAW magnification (shooting RAW +JPG just for this is a waste of CF space)
  • Display focus distance in VF/LCD (in m or ft)
  • RGB histogram
  • Better high ISO, maybe add ISO 1600
... I am sure you and others can think of a few more.

Don't know how much of this is firmware dependent and how much is hardware. But the point is, if the source is in public domain then interested people will get involved and we may get atleast some points from the list.
 
I would like to be able to see an image's file name, e.g. PICT4321, in the review mode. Maybe this can be done and I just missed it?

--
Gideon
 
In review mode, just pull up the information screen (up-arrow on the round selector on the back. It shows histogram and stuff like that. In the bottom right corner, is the 4-digit sequence number, which will be the last part of the filename.
--
A2 with ACT-100, CL49-200, EF500 Super, Extreme III
Scan Dual IV, Magicolor 2400W
WhiBal G6, RSP, Spyder 2 Suite
 
Without the PSOS development kit from Windriver, there is not much you can do with the source. Because PSOS is obsolete and replaced with VXWorks, your chances are near zero to obtain a new devkit.

Because nobody came up with any altered firmware till now, you will have to do it yourself. I won't even think about it.

--
tanti saluti,

coen
 
Yep, unfortunately even if the source was released, we couldn't compile it without a proprietary and rather expensive software set. And even if someone happened to have this set, it couldn't really become a true OSS project because not enough devs would have access to that VxWorks type software.

There are plenty of projects that would benefit greatly from a 'free' VxWorks/Tornado compatible compiler, but so far that is a pipe dream.
I'd love to hear otherwise.
 
I am not too knowledgable about this, but I thought that some open source tools are available for VxWorks development. A GNU cross-compiler can be used to compile code for VxWorks. And then there is VxTools that enables VxWorks development under linux.

http://vxtools.sourceforge.net/

Of course, I could be wrong. Anyway, all this discussion is moot without access to the source code...... OR we can try to resuscitate the dead horse that is "firmware reverse engineering" ;)
drlava said:
Yep, unfortunately even if the source was released, we couldn't
compile it without a proprietary and rather expensive software set.
And even if someone happened to have this set, it couldn't really
become a true OSS project because not enough devs would have access
to that VxWorks type software.
There are plenty of projects that would benefit greatly from a
'free' VxWorks/Tornado compatible compiler, but so far that is a
pipe dream.
I'd love to hear otherwise.
Click to expand...
 
Teja said:
If we can get our hands on the source, then the cams can get a new lease of life.
Click to expand...
Could you elaborate? Even if it were possible, it sounds like a hell of a lot of work, and the justification for it? OK, losslessly compressed MRW files (is this doable? does any other camera have compressed RAW files? Maybe add DNG?). What else? The other suggestions so far may pass as minor improvements, but not "a new lease of life".

As pipe dreams go, here's a question for the techies concerning what i'd regard as "a new lease of life": If the firmware could indeed be modified, would it be theoretically possible to replace the sensor in the camera with an identically sized but improved one? Could this be a way to produce custom-made "A3"s?

--
Gideon
 
If I remember right PSOS was sold with or without a copy of Borland C++ compiler and therefor I reckon PSOS is a set of libraries written in C, C++ or assembler. If you have source code which calls a function in a library you do not have, you end up with a non-working program. And because you do not know what the called function in the library does exactly, you have a serious problem to reproduce this library code.

Because PSOS is used for embedded processors in propietary appliances chances of finding the development kit on the used market will be very slim.

--
tanti saluti,

coen
 
Gideon01 said:
Could you elaborate? Even if it were possible, it sounds like a hell of a lot of work, and the justification for it? OK, losslessly compressed MRW files (is this doable? does any other camera have compressed RAW files? Maybe add DNG?). What else? The other suggestions so far may pass as minor improvements, but not "a new lease of life".
Click to expand...
It would be useful to be able to "dial in" the focal length. So when we add custom teleconverters (such as our Meade telescopes:-) we could get accurate AS. i don't know about other A1 users but i carry a bag of converters in my fanny pack along with my A1 and the little options from the firmware updates for tele/wide Minoltas, just does not do justice to what is actually in my bag.
Gideon01 said:
As pipe dreams go, here's a question for the techies concerning what i'd regard as "a new lease of life": If the firmware could indeed be modified, would it be theoretically possible to replace the sensor in the camera with an identically sized but improved one? Could this be a way to produce custom-made "A3"s?
Click to expand...
twould be nice to have a Foveon 2/3" sensor in that slot... Say a 2MPX3, that would give us about the same data rate and much improved sensitivity.

Personally i would also like to fix the 10000 shot rollover issue, minor but a nuisance. A biggie would be to be able to shoot much wider exposure sequences than is available in the crop shot feature - that is totally useless for HDR purposes. Then there is the issue of the limited utility of the timed sequence options... A lot of nigglees that really need to be done by the collective rather than some isolated gnome sitting in a florescent lit room in Japan.
--
http://public.xdi.org/=greg.heil
 
Picture file count starts like this: PICT0001 and ends at PICT9999, and camera start over again with PICT0001.

A five digit counter would enable the camera to count up to 99,000 instead of only 9,999. That's it!

--
Cheers, Feri

'I can look at a fine photograph and sometimes I can hear music. Ansel Adams.'
 
gheil said:
gheil said:
Gideon01 wrote:

As pipe dreams go, here's a question for the techies concerning what i'd regard as "a new lease of life": If the firmware could indeed be modified, would it be theoretically possible to replace the sensor in the camera with an identically sized but improved one? Could this be a way to produce custom-made "A3"s?
Click to expand...
gheil wrote:

twould be nice to have a Foveon 2/3" sensor in that slot... Say a 2MPX3, that would give us about the same data rate and much improved sensitivity.
Click to expand...
I wondered about this but didn't say it out aloud - thought it might sound silly. Glad to find there are other "silly" persons out there.

Yeah, it'd be great if we can pop in a 3MP Foveon X3 sensor for superb color reproduction or a 6MP Fuji Super-CCD sensor for low-light capability rivalling DSLRs. Now that would make one heck of an A3 - could easily steal many DSLR sales.

But do they even make 2/3" sensors anymore? I think we have 1/1.8" for P&S and then APS-C with nothing in between. Even if Fuji or Foveon did make a 2/3rd sensor how do we get one - the cheapest way to get them would be to buy a camera that uses it and cannibalize it.

Once you have the chip in hand, the connectors should match or the board will need to be modified. Then the camera OS and firmware will need to be re-written with the instructions for the new chip (both Foveon and Fuji chips are significantly diff from Sony chips and will most likely have their own proprietary protocols). And then we can attempt a CCD transplant.... and while we are at it, may be even modify the body a bit to replace the tilt-&-fold LCD on the A2 with the flip-&-twist LCD form the A200

So unless someone has a 'significant other' working at the Foveon or Fuji labs, and we have access to the complete KM source code for the Ax camera, lets enjoy our pipes.... top-up my hookah fellas ;)

Cheers
 
If we all chip in a few bucks, maybe we can get him to make the changes for us! I'll bet that's how some hacked Canon firmware got out there.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony bought the rights to the Ax firmware, to protect others from trying to copy it legally. So saying that "KM could release the firmware", is probably not true. Sony likely bought all the IP (Intellectual Property) that belonged to the KM camera division, and the non-disclosure agreements that the Minolta/KM engineers likely had to sign, probably would still be valid. But if we got an engineer drunk enough...

Mike
--
A2 with ACT-100, CL49-200, EF500 Super, Extreme III
Scan Dual IV, Magicolor 2400W
WhiBal G6, RSP, Spyder 2 Suite
 
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