PV2Tool

PV2Tool
Forkboy has kindly placed his pv2tool 2.0.6 source under the GPL license, and has passed on the stewardship of the pv2tool code to me. In his words, "pv2tool belongs to the pv2 camera hackers", and I couldn't agree more. I have released a 2.0.7 version at the sourceforge site: https://sourceforge.net/projects/pv2devkit/ It's mainly a bugfix+resurrector merge release, but I have a lot more planned for future versions. Also, being Free Software, anyone can feel free to fork it under the terms of the GPL, and create other camera communication utilities. I hope this is as good news to everyone as it was to me. 2.0.7 Change Notes: -Added root node to the file directory view -Changed "file upload" to use the camera's built in file-creation routines. Consequently new files, different sized files, etc., can be uploaded now. -Removed the "15 RAW" display limitation. -Added "Run PV2 Code" button. -Added "Format Camera, Preserve System Files" button. -Compiled binaries against common libusb-win32 versions.

Yay! Just yesterday I sent ForkBoy an email asking if he was going to release the source - and today it appears, with enhancements. Sweet! Sounds like this has been in the works for a bit... And I'm glad that there was a 15 RAW limit there - that means I wasn't entirely crazy when I could only see 13 RAW files in my full (i.e. 25 pix) camera. Thanks Bill - I'll take a look at whether it is a proper base for my Program (B) concept, though it also clearly has a life moving forward as a camera hacking utility.

Just yesterday I sent ForkBoy an email asking if he was going to release the source - and today it appears, with enhancements. Sweet! Sounds like this has been in the works for a bit... Heh, I aim to please! Forkboy let me know about it last week, but the actual work didn't take a lot more than 6 hours or so. It helped that I could crib stuff from Resurrector, where it had been -*test*-('")ed thoroughly. The "15 raw limit" was real alright - the actual number may vary a bit because it was a limit on all displayed files. I'll take a look at whether it is a proper base for my Program (B) concept, though it also clearly has a life moving forward as a camera hacking utility. The functions are pretty well self-contained, so cut-and-paste into another app is an option too.

PV2Tool 2.0.8 release
PV2Tool 2.0.8 is now available from the sourceforge site: https://sourceforge.net/projects/pv2devkit/ brite_eye, it now has the $10 take-a-pic command. sailpix, I don't think $10 will be useful for a webcam mode, since it stores to flash, compresses, and is very slow. :( Changes from PV2Tool from 2.0.7 to 2.0.8 ---------------------------------------- -Added "Get My Raws" button. -Added "Erase My Raws" button. -Added "Take a Picture" button. -Changed flash upload to procede and report on upload errors. -Fixed progress-bar missing-initialization bug. -Added gradient effect to progress-bar to celebrate erradication of previous bug. -Enhanced logging. Debug window is now never cleared. -Combined "Find Camera" and "Connect" buttons into one "Open Camera" button. -Relabeled "Disconnect" button to "Close Camera". -"Close Camera" now sends a 3-byte reset pv2 program to the camera. -Added long timeout for long-running commands like formatting and picture taking.

Cool... A 1.3 megapixel color webcam for $9 that will only take one frame every 2 seconds would be good for monitoring what's going on somewhere! Now we just need software designed for that - or some way to wire a SMaL camera into existing webcam software (write a Windows Motion Video driver?). :-) Other ideas that might be good for PV2Tool - Some sort of cable -*test*-('") command? That is the first hurdle for most SMaL camera hackers... Maybe this is just a "can we talk" check of some sort. - ID-my-camera command that displays the vendor ID, product ID, firmware ID, imager ID and the "official" model name. I would also want to supply some notes based on the above fields where we can tell someone that their pictures are gonna be blue via Foxz2 drivers or that we can't unlock it yet (6550 - if you could get this ID without unlocking...). I can see all this popping up in a dialog box. If you can get me the ID numbers then I'll code the rest. - Show other camera information: SRAM memory size?, SDRAM memory size?, battery level?

A 1.3 megapixel color webcam for $9 that will only take one frame every 2 seconds would be good for monitoring what's going on somewhere! Now we just need software designed for that... It should be easy enough for someone to take the pv2tool source and create something like that. Basically they could combine the "take a pic" and the download/erase raw buttons. <1 ed.> - Some sort of cable -*test*-('") command? That is the first hurdle for most SMaL camera hackers... Maybe this is just a "can we talk" check of some sort. <2 ed.> - ID-my-camera command that displays the vendor ID, product ID, firmware ID, imager ID and the "official" model name. I would also want to supply some notes based on the above fields where we can tell someone that their pictures are gonna be blue via Foxz2 drivers or that we can't unlock it yet (6550 - if you could get this ID without unlocking...). I can see all this popping up in a dialog box. If you can get me the ID numbers then I'll code the rest. <3 ed.> - Show other camera information: SRAM memory size?, SDRAM memory size?, battery level? <1> I don't see how this would really differ from the "open camera" command, or are you perhaps thinking of something more like the libusb -*test*-('") program? <2> This is definitely doable, but only with *unlocked* cameras. Locked cameras only respond to the key exchange commands as far as I know. <3> SRAM size will always be 64k. SDRAM size - I have no good way of querying this over USB, or even programmatically for that matter. Battery level is doable. I'll look at adding a "camera info" button for the next release. Truth be told, I'm probably going to take a small break from pv2tool upkeep for a few weeks. I have a couple of other pv2 projects I want to look at... I started a case mod last night, and I also want to start revisiting morcheeba's firmware.comments with an eye to some of the memory locations I've discovered. Then the devkit badly needs some examples of some of the new stuff we've learned about the camera like watchdogs, etc.

Wow! And if all that doesn't fit the bill, I just offered Bill 1 of my 4 dead FF2s as a bonus if he provides software that resurrects one of those (limited time offer expiring an unknown amount of time past 2 weeks).

Damn you, bright_eye - I'm easily distracted normally, let alone with a bounty involved! :lol: I'll take a long look at my last "easy" universal resurrection idea and see what comes of it!

Thanks for the update Bill. I got it to take a picture on my Red but not on my 6520/2F Blue. Message comes back saying picture taking failed, though it sounds like the shutter is activated. Flash did not go off and the LCD decrements the "pictures left" count, all the while flashing "wait..." FWIW, response is the same with the batteries in or out. If I then disconnect the cable, it acts like its hung up (LCD screen goes goofy). When I hit the Timer button it seemed to snap out of it, picking up where it left off (the flashing "wait"), but this time it completed whatever it was doing. Hope this helps ... somehow!

It worked fine for me. I like the "take picture" feature. It forces the camera to take a snap indoors without a flash. Some things I've noticed which aren't really big deals: If I click then , it will show the old error screen directing you to disconnect the camera and then click on buttons that have been renammed to something else (, ). As I said, no big deal. It would be nice to have a feature to reset the file name counter. If you're using TWAIN, it's built into the utility but for those who are using RAWGL Viewer, they don't have that option. Thanks for the updates and bug fixes.

It worked fine for me. Was that on a "2F" version?

Matt, it's normal for the flash not to go off - that's the way the built-in "take a pic" USB command is implemented in the firmware. Regarding your problem, I guess it's either a problem with Blue cams (they do run a slightly different firmware) or with the 2F hardware. If anybody has -*test*-('")imonials in either of these cases I'd love to hear it. In any case, it might go away if I increase the USB timeout for that command. It may be that your camera is a bit slower than the others, for whatever reason. It also may be that the USB "take a pic" is implemented differently in your cam's firmware, but I think that's less probable. Binaryweaver, thanks for the bug-find. I'll fix the message in the next rev. Good idea on the counter-reset. So far, this is what I'll target for next release, listed in no particular order: -longer timeout on "take a pic"(mconsidine) -"reset counter" button (binaryweaver) -"camera info" button (sailpix) I don't think I'll get it into the next release, but I'd like to smarten up the unlocking routines so there's just one "unlock" button. There's no reason why pv2tool can't look at the challenge key sent to it from the camera and give the appropriate response. If anybody else has feature ideas, lets have them on the table!

A process request... If we stick this into the SourceForge CVS repository then I could be working on one source file for Camera Info while you're working on the other files. Any one who wants to be bleeding edge can get our checked-in changes before it releases. This has become the central SMaL/PV2 tool, so it could be good to do this to distribute development I could start things by adding the 2.07 and 2.08 code, but it's sorta pointless if you're not playing along too. :? You game?

All this on the PV2Tool has just made my day!!!! Thank you! Tinkertoy.

...If we stick this into the SourceForge CVS repository... I've only used CVS in the most rudimentary sense (eg. checking out whole trees) but I'm game! I could start things by adding the 2.07 and 2.08 code, but it's sorta pointless if you're not playing along too. :? I'm there, though you probably won't see me check anything out and in for a couple of weeks, as I'll be wrapped up in bounty hunting and other stuff. :P

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