Poll

Has the hackabiliy of the E4 made you buy one :  

Yes, I was already looking at the competition at a similar price, but the hack swung it to E4
274 (27.9%)
Yes, I'd not considered buying a TIC before, but 320x240 resolution at this price justifies it (as either tool or toy!)
444 (45.3%)
Yes, I was going to buy an E5/6/8 class of unit but will now get the E4
49 (5%)
No, but am looking out for a cheap i3 to hack
50 (5.1%)
Not yet, but probably will if now that a closed-box hack becomes is possible
164 (16.7%)

Total Members Voted: 803

Author Topic: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown  (Read 3769306 times)

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Offline Signal32

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7875 on: June 26, 2016, 11:01:34 pm »
With slight modifications of the 2.3  hack, I was able to create 2.11 hack.
congrats, you made this procedures persistent. This is a very good achievement for those who only want to install hires and simplest menuhack on their new camera.
I've read through the thread but no one has indicated what functions are missing if applying 2lps's hack to a 2.11 camera.
Can anyone say what are the specific missing functions that are present in any of the other versions but missing from 2lps's 2.11 hack ?

Thanks!
 

Offline Signal32

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7876 on: June 26, 2016, 11:12:03 pm »
  • Has anyone taken the core out of an E4 and used it in other "hosts"?  I know the Leptons can be connected to other boards
The interface of this sensor is undocumented. As far as I know no one has used this sensor in anything else. Also the sensor is 60 FPS natively and it would seem that FLIR is just discarding frames and dropping it to 8FPS.

  • Is it possible to cool the sensor and get better performance?
You won't get any significant image quality improvements. Even if you manage to cool it near 0K, the on-sensor ADC will still be the limiting factor ( I think it's 12-14 bits ).


    C
    • I know a few have messed with other lenses.  Is there a go-to Germanium lens to use?  I read that Germanium lenses are better
I don't know of anyone messing with other lenses, I know they added a lens on top of the current one ( not replace the current one ), in order to change the focal length. I don't think you'll get noticeable improvements from a germanium lens, the only significant improvement you can do is get a wider aperture lens, but then that gets too complicated.

  • Has anyone hacked the battery?  I'm guessing it's just an 18650 in a plastic case.  Not something I'm going to pay $50 for!

Yes the battery appears to be 18650 in a plastic case.
 

Offline mct75

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7877 on: June 27, 2016, 12:02:30 am »
(snip)

Many thanks!  I would love to see some research into adapting the sensor to another "host," the WinCE environment just seems so limited.
 

Offline OrBy

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7878 on: June 27, 2016, 08:19:27 pm »
Many thanks!  I would love to see some research into adapting the sensor to another "host," the WinCE environment just seems so limited.

The sensor's output is quite raw compared to what you get from a Lepton - be prepared to do a ton of lens, pixel, gain, and image corrections to it before your going to get anything remotely useful/visible. There is an entire FPGA in the Ex line dedicated to "preparing" the sensors output before WinCE gets the feed. Lepton's have that processing power already embedded in the package - witch is why they are able to be bolted on/in to everything + kitchen sink. Also reading back though this thread - the FPS limit may be burnt into the sensor itself - the output is 60Hz but is the same frames are being sent many times cutting the effective rate for ITAR compliance. (I would love this to be proved otherwise!)
 

Offline Signal32

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7879 on: June 27, 2016, 09:43:04 pm »
The sensor's output is quite raw compared to what you get from a Lepton - be prepared to do a ton of lens, pixel, gain, and image corrections to it before your going to get anything remotely useful/visible. There is an entire FPGA in the Ex line dedicated to "preparing" the sensors output before WinCE gets the feed. Lepton's have that processing power already embedded in the package - witch is why they are able to be bolted on/in to everything + kitchen sink. Also reading back though this thread - the FPS limit may be burnt into the sensor itself - the output is 60Hz but is the same frames are being sent many times cutting the effective rate for ITAR compliance. (I would love this to be proved otherwise!)
Yes indeed this has not been tested. What I can point out is that if ITAR requires that the sensor itself be restricted to 8fps and not the entire device, the seek camera seems to be violating this, since it's very likely outputting 25-30 different frames which are being averaged out in the MCU. It's not necessary true about the processing required though there's obviously dead pixel masking + calibration data adjustments + uniformity corrections being applied. The most compute intensive task is IMO the MSX. I'm curious if anyone knows if the older non-MSX models had an FPGA.
Also, does no one know what is missing from the 2.11 hack vs the old full ones ? :(
 

Offline Onyx12

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7880 on: June 28, 2016, 01:59:31 pm »
Hey there, I just got The E4 today with Firmware 2.11.0
Wanted to do the hack and put the Camera in RNDIS Mode.
When I used "ipconfig" to get The IP Adress it showed up that The device isn´t connected.
Also filezilla doesn´t get a connection.
Flirinstallnet didn´t show "USB CAMERA DEVICE". There was The IP 192.168.0.2 in this field.
I used Win7 Ultimate 32bit.

Anyone an idea where my mistake is?
« Last Edit: June 28, 2016, 02:01:08 pm by Onyx12 »
 

Offline Signal32

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7881 on: June 28, 2016, 03:10:53 pm »
Hey there, I just got The E4 today with Firmware 2.11.0
Wanted to do the hack and put the Camera in RNDIS Mode.
When I used "ipconfig" to get The IP Adress it showed up that The device isn´t connected.
Also filezilla doesn´t get a connection.
Flirinstallnet didn´t show "USB CAMERA DEVICE". There was The IP 192.168.0.2 in this field.
I used Win7 Ultimate 32bit.

Anyone an idea where my mistake is?
How did you try to put the camera in RNDIS mode ?
 

Offline Onyx12

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7882 on: June 28, 2016, 05:53:12 pm »
I used the fubar tutorial.
Just ran the flirInstallNet and selected the SET_permantent_RNDIS.fif
Without downgrading to 2.3.0

UPDATE: Sorry for wasting your time!!!
Just got a problem with the installation of the drivers.
Now everything worked fine!
Thanks to all of you Guys
« Last Edit: June 29, 2016, 07:02:17 am by Onyx12 »
 

Offline MF-jockey

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7883 on: June 30, 2016, 11:19:36 am »
Another focusing tool for Flir E4. Matches perfectly, easy to make (2 minutes), safe for the camera due to softness of the material.
Instruction:
1) Take a plastic bottle caps with diameter of sealing part 17mm
2) Heat up the bottle caps top part (see photo) to soften the light.
3) Insert immediately to the E4 cameras lens opening to make initial form.
4) Heat 1/3 of the tools working side to soften the light and insert the tool again (matching previous angular position).
5) Repeat 3 - 4 times to form full shape. 
6) Enjoy 8)

I made such a tool, but it doesn't work at my new Flir E4 lens. The tool-material is to soft and the lens to strong fixed.
Now I will order a tool (3D printed) with a hole, also to watch the focus point.
 

Offline Dynamics

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7884 on: July 01, 2016, 02:47:28 am »
Question!

I have successfully reshacked my 2.11.0 device using the 2lps method. I do not believe the "menu hack" is applied yet although I did get some extra functionality after the res hack in the menu system. Am I able to zoom at all with this E4? Does anyone have a 2.11.0 menu hack applied after doing the 2lps res hack and get zoom?
 

Offline difxati

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7885 on: July 01, 2016, 03:44:33 am »
Also, does no one know what is missing from the 2.11 hack vs the old full ones ? :(

Question!

I have successfully reshacked my 2.11.0 device using the 2lps method. I do not believe the "menu hack" is applied yet although I did get some extra functionality after the res hack in the menu system. Am I able to zoom at all with this E4? Does anyone have a 2.11.0 menu hack applied after doing the 2lps res hack and get zoom?

That means "zoom" is one of the missing item?
I planned to buy one but I'm changing my mind :  (
 

Offline difxati

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7886 on: July 01, 2016, 04:03:14 am »

Enhanced E4 menu functions

Image Mode:
Thermal MSX
Thermal
PiP Large
PiP Small
Digital Camera (Visual)

Measurement:
No measurements
Centre Spot
Auto hot spot
Auto cold spot
Center+Hot+Cold
Delta hot spot-Spot
Delta hot spot-Temp

Colour:
Iron
Raindow
Gray
Blue below 'x' temp
Red above 'x' temp
Rainbow High Contrast
White=hot
Black=hot
Arctic
Lava
Detect Condensation
Detect Insulation deficiencies
Interval

Temperature Scale:
Auto
Lock
Manual (set upper temp, lower temp or shift both + or -)
Unlock

Zoom (electronic):
1x - 320x240 pixels
2x - 160x120 pixels upscaled to 320x240
4x -   80x60 pixels upscaled to 320x240
8x -   40x30 pixels upscaled to 320x240


Can anyone hacked a 2.11 test which items are missing?
Thanks.
 

Offline Dynamics

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7887 on: July 01, 2016, 06:00:29 am »
I am very curious to know if the menu hack even works on a 2.11.0 reshacked device. Anybody able to use zoom functions on a 2.11.0? I don't want to apply the hack if no one has been able to apply it on this version. Dont want a brick either. Loving the res hack however.
 

Offline difxati

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7888 on: July 01, 2016, 06:27:18 am »
I am very curious to know if the menu hack even works on a 2.11.0 reshacked device. Anybody able to use zoom functions on a 2.11.0? I don't want to apply the hack if no one has been able to apply it on this version. Dont want a brick either. Loving the res hack however.
Would you mind telling the purchase date, software /hardware version and the calibration date of your device?
I am going to order one if the newest version can be hacked just like the old one.
 

Offline Dynamics

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7889 on: July 01, 2016, 09:03:09 am »
Update:  My model is a 1.2L with 2.11.0 from the factory model as of Jan of 2016. Did the 2.11.0 menu hack after I had already done the res hack.  It seems the only thing it added was 3 point measurement, a few more color choices, a splash screen that says "special edition", and thats about it. I was really looking forward to get zoom to work. Any status on zoom?
 

Offline difxati

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7890 on: July 01, 2016, 09:25:55 am »
@2lps and the guys,

congrats, you made this procedures persistent. This is a very good achievement for those who only want to install hires and simplest menuhack on their new camera. Which means, for the majority of us. Now the majority can install the hacks on the 2.11 firmware.

I have checked the new hacks and they really work. No ring of crap. No calibration issues. Awesome.

Drawbacks if any? Yes, unfortunately but quite expected.

Any advanced functions beyond the standard hacks require careful revisions now before being used on the 2.11 camera. Some of them I discovered to cease working, some malfunction. Some survived.

With this said, I would NOT recommend to those who don't experience any calibration issues like Ring-Of-Crap etc., and have their cameras running smoothly on 2.3.0 downgraded from the above version numbers, and using or plan to use the advanced features mentioned elsewhere,

to back-upgrade the core files to the 2.11 with this new hacks.



.....  It seems the only thing it added was 3 point measurement, a few more color choices, a splash screen that says "special edition", and thats about it. I was really looking forward to get zoom to work. Any status on zoom?

So only "3 point measurement, a few more color choices" survived?

 

Offline 2lps

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7891 on: July 01, 2016, 11:14:10 am »
Update:  My model is a 1.2L with 2.11.0 from the factory model as of Jan of 2016. Did the 2.11.0 menu hack after I had already done the res hack.  It seems the only thing it added was 3 point measurement, a few more color choices, a splash screen that says "special edition", and thats about it. I was really looking forward to get zoom to work. Any status on zoom?

2.11 has most of these, including zoom - https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg973883/#msg973883
Actually, the 2.11 menu hack is absolutely the same as the 2.3 one. The only difference between 2.3 and 2.11 is in the reshack, and how the common_dll.dll is patched to remove the signature checks. The 2.11 common_dll.dll is modified, and the 2.3 hack offsets didn't patch the correct bytes.

To me it appears, that you didn't copy the updated conf.cfc, created by the menu hack - http://fubar.gr/hacking-the-flir-e4/ (scroll to Menu Hack). A lot of the additional menu options are activated by changing conf.cfc, including zoom.

Quote
Go to command line interface (Windows key + R, cmd) and type:

cd \FLIRmenuhack

python menu_conf_e4.py

This will rename the original conf.cfc file you just downloaded from the camera to conf_reso_only.cfc and generate a new conf.cfc in C:\FLIRmenuhack.

Using Filezilla again, replace the conf.cfc found in /FlashFS/System/appcore.d/config.d/ with the one you just generated.

If you want to see how your conf.cfc looks decrypted, download your current conf.cfc from the camera and use cfccfg_V2 and your camera's SUID. Read here - https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg948898/#msg948898

For example the zoom setting is this:
.caps.config.image.zoom entry
.caps.config.image.zoom.enabled bool  true
.caps.config.image.zoom.maxFactor double 8

The conf.cfc generated by the menu hack, enables these additional option.
 

Offline Kai-74

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7892 on: July 01, 2016, 07:25:22 pm »
My updated Flir E4 (with Software 2.11) has all Functions mentioned above, including Zoom.
The one and only function missing is the Manual Temperature Scale adjust.

But before 2lps changed my config.cfc half of the (E8) Menu was missing.

Greetings
Kai
 

Offline Dynamics

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7893 on: July 01, 2016, 08:30:08 pm »
Update #2: VICTORY HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED ON 2.11.0.

Zoom works albeit the instructions I followed didn't render the result. I had to use the cfccfgv2 python script and the SUID to manually edit the zoom lines of code and then repackage it back into a CFC format from CFG format. For some reason running the conc_cfc_menu_e4.py file does NOT edit the zoom features. Intentional or not, this needs to be done manually as stated above.

So that leaves me with 2.11.0 Model 1.2L E4 with 320x240 resolution, 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x zoom capability, lots of color palettes, ability to take ALL the GUI off the screen when "No Measurement" is selected, photos can save as expected, and toggle between MSX and thermal hybrid modes etc. The only other thing I would manually have to edit in the CFC code is Picture-in-Picture PIP mode, however I dont have any need for that so I am 100% freaken satisfied!!!!!! GOOD JOB ALL ORIGINAL HACKERS  =D
 

Offline mct75

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7894 on: July 01, 2016, 08:32:07 pm »
I need to revisit mine.  I have 2.11 with reshack, but only about 1/3rd of the menu hack options.  My conf.cfg looks perfect though.   |O
 

Offline peperoca

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7895 on: July 01, 2016, 08:51:23 pm »
Hi everyone, possibly not the right place to post this, but desperate times need desperate measures.

Is there a way to install the firmware with out flir tools? My firmware update went wrong (doing it from a MAC) and the camera starts up, shows the flir logo and then dissolves to black, nothing else goes on.

I can connect to it with filezila (after the temporary RDNIS is runned from flirinstallnet) but don't know where to go from there. I don't have a local flir support center to take it for repair, and apparently it's illegal to take thermographic cameras from USA, so I don't know how to send it over.

Sorry for this post.
 

Offline Dynamics

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7896 on: July 01, 2016, 09:06:30 pm »
Before you made any updates, did you make a backup of all your original files? DO you still have the common.dll and conf.cfc files? Perhaps try getting a hold of a windows 32bit machine and replicated the firmware update process.
 

Offline peperoca

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7897 on: July 01, 2016, 09:40:07 pm »
Before you made any updates, did you make a backup of all your original files? DO you still have the common.dll and conf.cfc files? Perhaps try getting a hold of a windows 32bit machine and replicated the firmware update process.

Hi Dynamics!

Unfortunately I didn't make a backup and I don't have the common.dll and conf.cfc files. I guess this makes my case even worse?

I tried replicating the firmware update with a 64 bit windows 10 and flir tools, but after the loading the update into the camera and disconnecting the USB cable nothing happens.

 

Offline peperoca

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7898 on: July 01, 2016, 10:20:31 pm »
Thanks for all the help, I will report my camera now boots up and is running again just fine. The way it got fixed was to log in anonymously  and I had direct access again to the file system, I loaded my saved stock files and it was running again! Then I added the beta 3 file again and  a restart and have everything but no zoom? Unless I just can not figure out how the zoom works.  Do you just use the center side buttons or is zoom a menu item? Again thanks for all the answers. To help anyone who ever thinks they bricked the camera first try telnet to 192.168.0.2 to see if the camera is in fact alive, if you can connect then even though there is no GUI interface push the off button and if the telnet connection is interrupted that shows the camera buttons work you just can't see anything. Then use your ftp program to connect but do not enter any login information, this should allow you to make whatever repairs you need. In my case i just had only touched the FlashBFS folder so that is the only one I replaced.

Looking at this post, I believe I'm screwed! No backup at all… Didn't think I'll need one because I was using the official software
 

Offline Signal32

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #7899 on: July 01, 2016, 10:47:01 pm »
Hi everyone, possibly not the right place to post this, but desperate times need desperate measures.

Is there a way to install the firmware with out flir tools? My firmware update went wrong (doing it from a MAC) and the camera starts up, shows the flir logo and then dissolves to black, nothing else goes on.

I can connect to it with filezila (after the temporary RDNIS is runned from flirinstallnet) but don't know where to go from there. I don't have a local flir support center to take it for repair, and apparently it's illegal to take thermographic cameras from USA, so I don't know how to send it over.

Sorry for this post.
Can you try to re-flash the firmware from a Windows machine ?
I'm assuming you're not in the USA, right ? There are no export / import regulations for the FLIR E4, that's why FLIR limited it to 9fps, so they can avoid the regulations. The E40 (60fps) has export regulations.
FLIR will cover a firmware upgrade issue under warranty( I only paid shipping to their center for a failed firmware upgrade ). The turn-around time was less than 1 week.
 


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