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Firmware update problem not cover by warrenty

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that's right! it's a firmware update, not some major electronic surgery. you can't short circuit a board by the process of updating.

Clive .. did you try to do the update again? Put the bin file on a cf card and just power it on again. After all, the boot routines are most likely in rom.
s&s said:
It is possible that a circuit has a defect that needs repair, but
the firmware update didn't cause it. Nothing in a software update
can do circuit damage.

Your download may have been corrupt, causing a bad flash to the
firmware. However, the EPROM chip in the camera that stores the
firmware is eraseable by its very nature (otherwise you wouldn't be
able to write to it either). If your firmware is corrupted, then
Nikon should be able to repair it by flashing the EPROM directly.

I suspect your Hong Kong Nikon Dealer has no idea how firmware
flash updates work and thus gave you an easy excuse.
Click to expand...
--
=====
from F801 to D70 is a small step ..
 
That's why I hate buying anything expensive in HK... Most stores here have a 'no refund, no exchange' policy and after 7-10 days you're on your own if it breaks down.

I upgraded my D70 with the firmware with no problems, but probably wouldn't have done if I'd know that Nikon HK provides such a poor level of service!!!

There's constant TV ads by the government here to try to get shops to provide a more professional and courteous level of service, but obviously the guy you dealt with managed to miss them all.
clive yip said:
I am rather cheesed off today. I tried to update the new Firmware
on my D70 yesterday. The first part of the update was ok. After
updating the 2nd part and getting the DONE screen, I powered off
and on the Camera just as instruction says but the camera seems to
have hanged with the message “ PC ????" (forgot the last part
of the message) displayed on the top LCD. I tried powering the
camera on and off a number of times without success. Next I tried
removing and inserting the battery. This action got rid of the LCD
message but the camera was totally dead.
Click to expand...
...
 
No can do. The Camera is dead. Nothing comes on. This is where Canon has a upper hand. Their camera checks the CF card automatically on power up hence able to update again. Nikon require the camera to be physically powered up and go into the menu system before it checks the CF.
gartnl said:
s&s said:
It is possible that a circuit has a defect that needs repair, but
the firmware update didn't cause it. Nothing in a software update
can do circuit damage.

Your download may have been corrupt, causing a bad flash to the
firmware. However, the EPROM chip in the camera that stores the
firmware is eraseable by its very nature (otherwise you wouldn't be
able to write to it either). If your firmware is corrupted, then
Nikon should be able to repair it by flashing the EPROM directly.

I suspect your Hong Kong Nikon Dealer has no idea how firmware
flash updates work and thus gave you an easy excuse.
Click to expand...
--
=====
from F801 to D70 is a small step ..
Click to expand...
 
PEHowland said:
Skidpan said:
And I will state categorically that if the design of the D70 is so
poor that it requires a board change in the event of a failed
firmware update then it has a MAJOR design problem. I think that
Henry agrees with that.
Click to expand...
I disagree - all corrupted firmware flashes would render a circuit
board useless. The only way round that is to have dual-firmware
chips, to allow you to swap between chips in the event a firmware
flash fails, thus allowing you to boot up and retry flashing the
original firmware.
Click to expand...
Not true. It is enough to keep a very small rescue code in flash at all times. This is the code that should be used for upgrades and it should never be overwritten. All that code needs to do is to boot up the flash upgrade from the flash card or USB, not anything else.
PEHowland said:
I doubt any camera implements this for space
reasons. A select few PC motherboards offer this though. Failing
that, however, the only solution is to remove the EEPROM and flash
it in a dedicated firmware flasher. If the firmware chip is
soldered directly on the PCB to reduce costs and space, then Nikon
are right - the only way to fix this is to replace the PCB. This
is not a design flaw, just a fact of life. The camera needs the
firmware to run the update utility.
If you corrupt the firmware, you can't update.
Click to expand...
If this is true it really is bad design. See my previous comments on how to implement this properly.
 
not nice at all..
only hope that nikon build in some kind of backdoor for their technicians than
clive yip said:
gartnl said:
s&s said:
It is possible that a circuit has a defect that needs repair, but
the firmware update didn't cause it. Nothing in a software update
can do circuit damage.

Your download may have been corrupt, causing a bad flash to the
firmware. However, the EPROM chip in the camera that stores the
firmware is eraseable by its very nature (otherwise you wouldn't be
able to write to it either). If your firmware is corrupted, then
Nikon should be able to repair it by flashing the EPROM directly.

I suspect your Hong Kong Nikon Dealer has no idea how firmware
flash updates work and thus gave you an easy excuse.
Click to expand...
--
=====
from F801 to D70 is a small step ..
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
=====
from F801 to D70 is a small step ..
 
Niklas Morberg said:
Not true. It is enough to keep a very small rescue code in flash at
all times. This is the code that should be used for upgrades and it
should never be overwritten. All that code needs to do is to boot
up the flash upgrade from the flash card or USB, not anything else.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Another possibility is to interface the flash chip to some sort of debug connector, so that it can be programmed without taking it off the board.

I'd be very surprised if they didn't have some way of recovering after a bad firmware upgrade.
 
I've been reading all threads here (well not ALL) regarding firmware

I havent seen another post re: dead cam with firmware yet ? can someone point me to there

(that DID follow instructions, did NOT use a microdrive as directions said not to etc)

and I m curious, I updated my firmware, I wasnt trigger happy in updating it - I put the card in, slowly went to look for the firmware, updated when said done, I looked, turned off a few seconds afterwards

i'm thinking why - someone see the word "done", WHAM! turn it off in a mili-second, eject the card making it fly out of the holder (ala-iomega zip drive eject early '93) and complain it broke their cam.
 
Well, I too am one of the unhappy ones after a firmware upgrade. Done many of these on computers, and even corrupted a bios in one of them. I guess I can now add a D70 to the list.

The upgrade actually went fine. But, after that, I shot a single photograph on RAW and Auto setttings. I use a Sandisk Ultra II card. After I clicked, the green write light came on, and then, just stayed on. Tried turning the camera off, but the light remained. After several minutes, the only option I had was to remove the battery.

Ever since that, I have lost the Menu (all scrambled). I can still click the shutter, but then the write light remains on. Forever.

In any case, sent it for NY for service. Will let you know what they say regarding warranty, etc.

M.
 
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=9372783
fletch said:
I've been reading all threads here (well not ALL) regarding firmware

I havent seen another post re: dead cam with firmware yet ? can
someone point me to there

(that DID follow instructions, did NOT use a microdrive as
directions said not to etc)

and I m curious, I updated my firmware, I wasnt trigger happy in
updating it - I put the card in, slowly went to look for the
firmware, updated when said done, I looked, turned off a few
seconds afterwards

i'm thinking why - someone see the word "done", WHAM! turn it off
in a mili-second, eject the card making it fly out of the holder
(ala-iomega zip drive eject early '93) and complain it broke their
cam.
Click to expand...
 
s&s said:
It is possible that a circuit has a defect that needs repair, but
the firmware update didn't cause it. Nothing in a software update
can do circuit damage.

Your download may have been corrupt, causing a bad flash to the
firmware. However, the EPROM chip in the camera that stores the
firmware is eraseable by its very nature (otherwise you wouldn't be
able to write to it either). If your firmware is corrupted, then
Nikon should be able to repair it by flashing the EPROM directly.

I suspect your Hong Kong Nikon Dealer has no idea how firmware
flash updates work and thus gave you an easy excuse.
Click to expand...
It doesn't make sense that a circuit board would be damaged.

It does make sense that it had in memory how to erase it's eprom and rewrite it. If it was turned off and then back on before the software it was entirely writtten to the eprom it wouldn't have the software to know what to do.
--
3fros
http://www.pbase.com/3fros
 
This is a quote from the D7o User Manual page 204 for the USA -

Firmware upgrades Firmware can be upgraded by user

It says nothing about voiding the warranty.

Good Luck.
clive yip said:
I am rather cheesed off today. I tried to update the new Firmware
on my D70 yesterday. The first part of the update was ok. After
updating the 2nd part and getting the DONE screen, I powered off
and on the Camera just as instruction says but the camera seems to
have hanged with the message “ PC ????" (forgot the last part
of the message) displayed on the top LCD. I tried powering the
camera on and off a number of times without success. Next I tried
removing and inserting the battery. This action got rid of the LCD
message but the camera was totally dead.

This morning I took the Camera to the Hong Kong Nikon Dealer ( as
instructed on the web page if something goes wrong ) and explained
the situation to them. Their conclusion is I did something wrong
and shorted a circuit board. They will find out which board need
replacing and I have to pay for the parts as THIS IS NOT COVERED BY
THE WARENTY. They also said I should have taken the Camera to them
for the firmware upgrade. Thinking about it I should have just said
I don’t know what happen and let them sort the problem out.
Anyway, what I don’t understand is

1. Why would Nikon post the Firmware on their site for people to
download and update if it would void the warranty? Since the D70
has only been out for ½ year, any body who do the Firmware upgrade
themselves risk having the warranty void. No doubt there would be a
lot of people out there.

2. Why there was no message on the Nikon Web site warning people
that the warranty would cover any damages if they perform the
Firmware upgrade themselves.

3. The Firmware upgrade function is a legitimate part of the camera
operation, so why would it void the warranty?

4. Why Nikon did not make their camera more fool proof. Sees to me
it very easy to kill the camera.

Not sure who I can write to confirm in writing about the warranty
issue. Maybe Nikon Japan or to the CEO of Nikon Hong Kong.

My message to everyone is DON’T UPDATE THE FIRMWARE YOURSELF,
especially with warranty. Sod’s law states “ If
something can go wrong will go wrong”. Let Nikon break the
camera. You can then give they a good telling off and let them fix
it.
Click to expand...
 
Dear Henry,

I wish I have read this earlier. I have the same problem when I updated the firmware a few days ago. The immediate response from Nikon Singapore was a case of human error and it will not be covered by the warranty. Do you mind sharing whether they charge you for the service?

Chee Chiang
Henry Goh said:
I had the same problem and went to Nikon Singapore. They
immediately said that this means they have to change some board and
that it was not covered and it will cost heavily.

I said BS.

They took the camera in and I will wait to hear from them. If it
turns out they want to charge me for this, I'm going to make sure
they pay heavily.

To start with, when a camera needs 2 firmware upgrade in less than
6 months, it is faulty.

Last month I was happy with their service and I posted to tell
everyone how good they were. Well, if they think after I have
spent so much time promoting the D70 because I felt it was good
from since 26th February and now stick this in me, they are going
to also know I can bad mouth them as nastily.

I sure hope Nikon get the act together and learn something about
technology products. They better don't assume that their software
is so perfect that anything failure in upgrading means it is caused
by the user. Furthermore, they had better learnt that they cannot
hide behind some legal clause on their web site and disclaim
responsibilty.

Let's see what teratment I get from Nikon Singapore.

cc this post to Nikon Singapore.

Henry Goh
Click to expand...
 
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