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gmturner · 02-21-2010, 03:46 PM

Hard to say, so far only a few of us with the issue, first guys didnt actually brick it. And havent heard form the guy from this thread. I actually read this thread before i did mine and is why i actually did mine. i had the attitude of "ohh sweet, new firmware, that wont happen to me ive done 2 firmware updates before without a hitch" and then... yeh it happended. I got mine off the pentax US site and extracted to desktop. The fact it comes as a exe file and extracts itself is a measure to ensure its not corrupted yeh? so that should be fine, transferred to my camera via usb like usual and did update just like usual and she got stuck about 7/8 along the bar of phase 1/2 which apperently is the backup stage .. so i dont know if it had gotten further and the screen froze.. dont know what went wrong.

Im now madly trying to find the receipt so i can send it in to be fixed, i really hope they can fix her, i love my k-7.

creampuff · 02-21-2010, 04:55 PM

Why not update by copying to the root directory of a blank SD card as opposed to using the USB cable? It has worked fine in all the firmware updates of all my Pentax DSLRs.
I have never been entirely convinced using the USB cable method of connecting to the computer was the best way. YMMV.

mattdm · 02-21-2010, 05:42 PM

Originally posted by Eetu

I am seriously thinking about buying a K-7 in March. Is firmware a problem with Pentax K-7, or are these isolated incidents.

Isolated incidents. Mine went perfectly smoothly.

And I'm sure that despite the dire warning in the readme, if you used a full battery and it still froze midway resulting in a bricked camera, they'd repair it for free.

gmturner · 02-21-2010, 07:51 PM

when you use the usb cable it basically turns the camera into a card reader, that is all. So i dont see what is the issue with transferring the file onto the card via USB. Seems better to me then inserting said card into a non-pentax card reader and adding another few steps and inserting/removing the card.

If you think transferring data via usb is dodgy then you really dont have alot of trust in pentax.

I think what has happended is either two things.

1. Somehow the rom file got corrupted even though the self extracting exe file is meant to do a checksum of some sort and i think the camera itself should carry out some sort of check to make sure the file is complete before it allows update. As already mentioned it should also do a thing similar to modern motherboards for computers where it has a backup ROM/BIOS incase the flashing of the primary one goes bad, if when camera is powered primary ROM doesnt respond then it runs off backup.

2. the rom update itself has something in it that makes certain variations of the k7 freeze.. not all k7's would be the same, some would have slightly different chips depending on supply/revision of the camera etc and maybe caused a conflict.. or maybe just my camera was faulty...

mattdm · 02-22-2010, 08:42 PM

Originally posted by gmturner

1. Somehow the rom file got corrupted even though the self extracting exe file is meant to do a checksum of some sort and i think the camera itself should carry out some sort of check to make sure the file is complete before it allows update. As already mentioned it should also do a thing similar to modern motherboards for computers where it has a backup ROM/BIOS incase the flashing of the primary one goes bad, if when camera is powered primary ROM doesnt respond then it runs off backup.

Coulda been a bit-flip error on the SD card, or a gamma ray striking RAM at the wrong moment.

Honestly, I wish they'd spend a few extra dollars and put in a system where there's a way to boot to a "safe" firmware even if you've screwed up the current one. That firmware needn't know how to do anything fancy -- just read an SD card and, yup, do the main firmware update.

I guess the fact that they don't have this feature indicates that it's not a frequent problem.

DonRicklin · 01-13-2011, 10:48 AM

I just posted with the same problem in my own thread! I do have a grip and I have the grip as first source for the battery.

It has been some 10 or 15 minutes like this now!!!!

What IS next?

Don

DonRicklin · 01-13-2011, 10:50 AM

Just took the battery out of the base without appearing to affect the state of things on the camera!

What should I try next?

Don

DonRicklin · 01-13-2011, 10:57 AM

I am also posting in my own thread here.

New update to my situation there!

Don

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02-21-2010, 03:46 PM	#16
gmturner New Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Tasmania Posts: 12	Hard to say, so far only a few of us with the issue, first guys didnt actually brick it. And havent heard form the guy from this thread. I actually read this thread before i did mine and is why i actually did mine. i had the attitude of "ohh sweet, new firmware, that wont happen to me ive done 2 firmware updates before without a hitch" and then... yeh it happended. I got mine off the pentax US site and extracted to desktop. The fact it comes as a exe file and extracts itself is a measure to ensure its not corrupted yeh? so that should be fine, transferred to my camera via usb like usual and did update just like usual and she got stuck about 7/8 along the bar of phase 1/2 which apperently is the backup stage .. so i dont know if it had gotten further and the screen froze.. dont know what went wrong. Im now madly trying to find the receipt so i can send it in to be fixed, i really hope they can fix her, i love my k-7.

02-21-2010, 04:55 PM	#17
creampuff Veteran Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Singapore Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,953	Why not update by copying to the root directory of a blank SD card as opposed to using the USB cable? It has worked fine in all the firmware updates of all my Pentax DSLRs. I have never been entirely convinced using the USB cable method of connecting to the computer was the best way. YMMV.

02-21-2010, 05:42 PM	#18
mattdm Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Boston, MA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,948	Originally posted by Eetu I am seriously thinking about buying a K-7 in March. Is firmware a problem with Pentax K-7, or are these isolated incidents. Isolated incidents. Mine went perfectly smoothly. And I'm sure that despite the dire warning in the readme, if you used a full battery and it still froze midway resulting in a bricked camera, they'd repair it for free.

02-21-2010, 07:51 PM	#19
gmturner New Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Tasmania Posts: 12	when you use the usb cable it basically turns the camera into a card reader, that is all. So i dont see what is the issue with transferring the file onto the card via USB. Seems better to me then inserting said card into a non-pentax card reader and adding another few steps and inserting/removing the card. If you think transferring data via usb is dodgy then you really dont have alot of trust in pentax. I think what has happended is either two things. 1. Somehow the rom file got corrupted even though the self extracting exe file is meant to do a checksum of some sort and i think the camera itself should carry out some sort of check to make sure the file is complete before it allows update. As already mentioned it should also do a thing similar to modern motherboards for computers where it has a backup ROM/BIOS incase the flashing of the primary one goes bad, if when camera is powered primary ROM doesnt respond then it runs off backup. 2. the rom update itself has something in it that makes certain variations of the k7 freeze.. not all k7's would be the same, some would have slightly different chips depending on supply/revision of the camera etc and maybe caused a conflict.. or maybe just my camera was faulty...

02-22-2010, 08:42 PM	#20
mattdm Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Boston, MA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,948	Originally posted by gmturner 1. Somehow the rom file got corrupted even though the self extracting exe file is meant to do a checksum of some sort and i think the camera itself should carry out some sort of check to make sure the file is complete before it allows update. As already mentioned it should also do a thing similar to modern motherboards for computers where it has a backup ROM/BIOS incase the flashing of the primary one goes bad, if when camera is powered primary ROM doesnt respond then it runs off backup. Coulda been a bit-flip error on the SD card, or a gamma ray striking RAM at the wrong moment. Honestly, I wish they'd spend a few extra dollars and put in a system where there's a way to boot to a "safe" firmware even if you've screwed up the current one. That firmware needn't know how to do anything fancy -- just read an SD card and, yup, do the main firmware update. I guess the fact that they don't have this feature indicates that it's not a frequent problem.

01-13-2011, 10:48 AM	#21
DonRicklin Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Worcester, MA Posts: 29	I just posted with the same problem in my own thread! I do have a grip and I have the grip as first source for the battery. It has been some 10 or 15 minutes like this now!!!! What IS next? Don

01-13-2011, 10:50 AM	#22
DonRicklin Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Worcester, MA Posts: 29	Just took the battery out of the base without appearing to affect the state of things on the camera! What should I try next? Don

01-13-2011, 10:57 AM	#23
DonRicklin Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Worcester, MA Posts: 29	I am also posting in my own thread here. New update to my situation there! Don

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