Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[mikeselectricstuff]

I just noticed from the photos posted here of Taucher's menu hack, that a wifi strength bar and some other icons that possibly don't relate to the Ex cameras appear with the mod installed. Are these files from a different camera model? The menus of the Exx cameras are completely different, so I can't see it being that.

Yes - there's a wifi and SD card icon, but they, along with the battery icon only appear when there is a menu onscreen so not a big deal - I'm sure they could be removed in the same way the Flir logo was.

[London Lad]

I've done the resolution hack but even after reading the thread from beginning to end, can't quite build up the confidence to do the menu hack.

If any of you guys have the time could you please post up a brief step by step guide. I don't quite need a 'baby walk' but a step by step on setting up the modes / connectivity prior to copying the files across with filezilla would really help in my case.

*Warning* Don't mess about with the files on your camera if you don't understand what you are doing.

Otherwise, if you just want to install Taucher's menu hack...

1. Install the RNDIS drivers on your PC. (http://cdn.cloud.flir.se/swdownload/assets/other/flir_device_drivers.exe)
2. Turn on RNDIS on the camera via the hidden menu (Settings>Device Settings>Camera Information - Press <right> for 10 seconds, select "USB Mode" then select "RNDIS")
3. Connect camera to PC via USB.
4. FTP to camera (eg. with FileZilla): Normal logon type, Host "192.168.0.2", user name "flir", password "3vlig"
5. Make a back-up of the files on your camera (copy files from camera to your computer into a back-up directory of your choice)
6. Copy the ADDMENU-Beta files over the files in the camera (eg. unzip the files to your computer then copy the folder "FlashBFS" from your computer over the folder "FlashBFS" in the camera - overwrite files)
7. Power-down the camera, remove battery and USB cable.
8. Re-insert battery and turn on.
9. Enjoy! 
 
If you don't completely understand the above instructions then it would be best to not attempt the menu hack. Better to have basic functions than

Thank you very much. Your step by step gave me the required confidence and the jobs done, I have new menus 
Thanks to every one else who has contributed as well. Hope I can repay here one day.

[dustout]

I'm really hoping this upcoming batch of E4s is still hackable. I purchased an i3 just before they announced the E4 and was already regretting it.  This hack improved my i3 a ton but I'd still like to purchase an E4 then try to sell off my i3 to someone I know.  I waited a bit too late before deciding to do that and shop around for an e4 though -- oops.  I tried ordering from 3 different places that assured me they had some in stock only to be later notified that they had made a mistake and already sold them all.  Very annoying... There could be a new poll option "I already had an i3 but decided I want to buy another TIC I don't need so I can make it even better"...   The free gift promo makes it even sweeter.  If they severely lock down after things get back in stock I'm going to be sad.

[BigClive]

Well I got my new toy yesterday.  20/11/13.

Calibration date 13th Nov 2013

Serial 63906XXX

Software 1.19.8

And here's the really interesting bit.  When I powered it up for the first time it came up with an error message:-

Application appcore.exe encountered a serious error and must shut down.

I had to remove the battery and then restart it to get it going.  And this was new from the factory without any hack being done.

So perhaps the report of an error message after the hack was actually just a pre-existing bug occuring.

Now I just have to get past that "new expensive toy" stage before I even consider doing the hack.  Although right now it's impressive enough as it is.  Based on Mikes original teardown I was going to be buying one anyway, even without the "boost".

[mrflibble]

Well I got my new toy yesterday.  20/11/13.

Congrats on obtaining your shiney new toy.

And here's the really interesting bit.  When I powered it up for the first time it came up with an error message:-

Application appcore.exe encountered a serious error and must shut down. 

I had to remove the battery and then restart it to get it going.  And this was new from the factory without any hack being done.

I got the same thing first time. I just discounted it as the Elbonian tech not doing the last step in the procedure before shipping. Combined with this being a windoze ce device, I just went  and did a reboot. Worked fine after that.

Now I just have to get past that "new expensive toy" stage before I even consider doing the hack.  Although right now it's impressive enough as it is.  Based on Mikes original teardown I was going to be buying one anyway, even without the "boost".

Be sure to take extra long operating it in 80x60 condition. After that 320x240 will look awesome! 

[EEVblog]

Holder added to thingiverse, thanks George.
Any updates to these, best to just email me direct because I don't follow this thread, so could miss them.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:188312

[georges80]

Holder added to thingiverse, thanks George.
Any updates to these, best to just email me direct because I don't follow this thread, so could miss them.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:188312

Will do.
cheers,
george.

[EEVblog]

I checked the dead pixels on my camera and it seems to be similar to the others that were posted. It will be interesting to see how Dave's E8 compares.

How do I do that? Sorry, I don't follow this huge thread closely.

[mrflibble]

How do I do that? Sorry, I don't follow this huge thread closely.

See my post here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg333207/#msg333207

[iceisfun]

Will anyone be making and selling those tripod mounts?

I don't have access to a printer.

[Taucher]

How do I do that? Sorry, I don't follow this huge thread closely.

See my post here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg333207/#msg333207

Also don't forget to read that post one above that linked one ( https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg333205/#msg333205 ) - it's more fun to do it over telnet

[mrflibble]

I don't have access to a printer.

Same here. I'm thinking of using the ghetto style 3d printer. Also known as scrap wood + some clay.

[mrflibble]

... it's more fun to do it over telnet

Heh, agreed. I use it almost exclusively through scripted telnet connection. Which is why by now the location of the usb connection is getting to be really annoying. Really, that was the best location they could come up with? 

[Taucher]

... it's more fun to do it over telnet

Heh, agreed. I use it almost exclusively through scripted telnet connection. Which is why by now the location of the usb connection is getting to be really annoying. Really, that was the best location they could come up with? 

it could be much worse... but probably it's intended as incentive generator for the wireless Exx series

[m4rkiz]

does anyone know where to look to improve picture quality on i3?
jpeg compression seems to be set very high and this results in plenty of compression artifacts around menu items i.e.



this is sample picture from i3 (sensor 144x144, original jpeg is 240x240, this picture is up-scaled to 960x960 to show problematic areas - especially cross-hair as it usually is most important piece of picture)

[Pinkus]

does anyone know where to look to improve picture quality on i3?

load into Flir Tools. Then the non compressed pictures are used. If you then want a high quality picture, you need to do a screen shot or use a screen copy tool to cut out the area of interest. Of course, this is a copy from the Flir Tools screen, it will not show the icons etc. like the camera does.
See attached sample.

[mrflibble]

does anyone know where to look to improve picture quality on i3?

If you want then a high quality picture you need to do a screen shot or use a screen copy tool.

Or the ever popular alternative, just use a decent tool:
http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/
http://u88.n24.queensu.ca/~bogdan/
http://u88.n24.queensu.ca/exiftool/forum/index.php?topic=2750.0

Never tested the gui, but the original command line version is damn handy.

[Pinkus]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think Exif tools does not have access to the raw data stream from Flir (uncompressed sensor picture and 640x480 digicam picture). Afaik there is currently no way around to make a screen shot to have access to the non compressed data.

[mrflibble]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think Exif tools does not have access to the raw data stream from Flir (uncompressed sensor picture and 640x480 digicam picture). Afaik there is currently no way around to make a screen shot to have access to the non compressed data.

Exiftool does have access to the raw data, and all sorts of meta-data. I use precisely that to extract raw image + embedded digicam pic. Think I even posted some of those waaaay back...

[mrflibble]

Too lazy to go hunt for the old post. Instead here's a random shot with pictures extracted by exiftool.

[Uup]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think Exif tools does not have access to the raw data stream from Flir (uncompressed sensor picture and 640x480 digicam picture). Afaik there is currently no way around to make a screen shot to have access to the non compressed data.

There is a way to access the separate images. The thermal image saved by the camera is actually two embedded images in the one jpg file. The first image in the file is the processed image as seen in the LCD (with UI inclusions such as measurements, cursors, logo, etc) and the other is the unprocessed thermal image. 

[olsenn]

I installed the driver and put my camera into the suggested mode from the hidden menu, but when I try to connect to 192.168.0.2 from filezilla it fails to connect. Any ideas?

[mrflibble]

I installed the driver and put my camera into the suggested mode from the hidden menu, but when I try to connect to 192.168.0.2 from filezilla it fails to connect. Any ideas?

I noticed that sometimes the network setup didn't go properly. In my case there was a 100% correspondence between "rndis no workey" and "that crap flir tool in the system tray (lower right area) is still running". I think it's called IRCAM somethingsomething. I always nuke that first, and then connect the camera.

I also noticed that when the camera is in a "doesn't work" state, the easiest way is just to reboot the sucker. This because sometimes when it's tried a few times and failed, you cannot be all that sure of what kind of network setup you'll get. But after a reboot + IRCAM tool out of the way you get 192.168.0.2 (camera) and 192.168.0.1 (PC) consistently.

I am of course assuming that you didn't make a booboo, and that you actually are in RNDIS mode. Anyways, you can always check the network settings to see if the network adapter for your flir connection is setup properly.

The mode I found to be most useful / least problematic is RNDIS + UVC. That way you get networking and have the UVC video stream. Mass storage ... who needs it when you have ftp et al.

Hope that helps...

[olsenn]

Excellent, I found the problem; the IP address was not 192.168.0.2 for me... it was 192.168.1.2

Now I need to play with these new settings. What known bugs are there so far?

[mrflibble]

Excellent, I found the problem; the IP address was not 192.168.0.2 for me... it was 192.168.1.2

Out of general interest, was that after a reboot on both sides? If yes, what was the OS on the PC? Oh wait, maybe you just already have a 192.168.0.0 network, if so never mind.

Now I need to play with these new settings. What known bugs are there so far?

Dunno about any bugs. Mostly it seems that things are a little sluggish if you have 432439324 menu entries. Any crashiness I heard about seems to have been due to palette files which has been fixed AFAIK.