FLIR E4 Wifi Resolution and Menu Hack Thread

[Bud]

Thanks Fraser for your reply
the E4 product is old and discontinued, means there's no more production, i can't see the logic or good reason for putting that inconvenience pop up. it's like a helpless man that has been helped, but he is being reminded everyday that he has been help. LOL
a genuine help and support should be free... thanks anyway

E4 is still being sold by Flir.

"Help and support" - we are not running a charity or help desk here, you must have confused this forum with the camera manufacturer's services.

[Janzobanzo]

Hello fellow Thermoimagers!

I'm looking into purchasing thermal camera and came across this beautiful post!

I'm specifically looking into purchasing FLIR E4 camera, and I was wondering if the Resolution and menu hack is still possible?
I've read that FLIR released new FW few years ago, to make it harder to upgrade the camera to 320x240.

I'm wondering what version of E4 should I purchase?
I've found E4 WIFI FOR 999€, and I'm wondering if it can still be upgraded as of 2020

(link: https://si.farnell.com/flir/flir-e4-wifi/thermal-imager-45x34-deg-1-6ft/dp/2819816)

Thank you for your answers!
Apprechiate it

Jonathan

[Fraser]

The E4 remains upgradable thanks to the Stirling efforts of certain very knowledgeable forum members, most recently “Bud”. Just follow the instruction for Bud’s upgrade and you will be fine 

Fraser

[Bud]

Check the end of this post for a list of firmware versions.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-wifi-resolution-and-menu-hack-thread/msg1336326/#msg1336326

[OneTreeHill]

Is it still hacked to E4 E8 in the new version as before? Since I haven't followed for a long time, I wanted to ask.

https://karakoydepo.com/flir-e4-ir-wifi-msx-termal-kamera

[Bud]

Information is in the link right before your post.

[spirch]

just saying that i was able to do a no wifi version, re calibrated last summer with 2.0L and 3.16 without issue

I used winxp and was able to do everything with the USB

i did the "unlock" and when i saw that i had the proper resolution, i did the system folder of basic/advanced/advanced-v2/christmas in one shot (i didnt want to do one by one haha, everything seem to be ok)

but damn it took me a while, 3-5 hours, to find all the information, read them, understand them, etc

side note, anything else/new that i can do that i missed? i just followed what Bud say from his basic thread and link in them (reply #183)

[Bud]

It appears you've done all of what was published 

[Narkoa]

Hi everyone,

I just registered to say a big thanks to all the people that provided this amazing work to better understand and liberate the E4 camera.
In particular thank you to Mike, Fraser, Taucher and Bud, along with all the contributors that helped me in understanding and tweaking the device.

Thanks to you I was able to perform the full liberation on a second hand non-Wifi E4 HW1.0 under FW3.16.

Because I made my homeworks, here are some information to humbly contribute and help newcomers.
I did everything from a Windows10 x64 platform.

Steps I followed :

• Registered on Flir website to retrieve the drivers (I took x86): flir-device-drivers.exe
• Retrieved python-2.7(x86).msi from https://www.python.org/download/releases/2.7/
• Retrieved the python conversion tool cfccfg_v2.py from https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg596959/#msg596959
• Retrieved 3.16 common_dll from https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-wifi-resolution-and-menu-hack-thread/msg2252082/#msg2252082
• Retrieved Basic package from https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-wifi-resolution-and-menu-hack-thread/msg1336326/#msg1336326
• Retrieved Advanced package from https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-wifi-resolution-and-menu-hack-thread/msg1382599/#msg1382599
• Retrieved Christmas package from https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-wifi-resolution-and-menu-hack-thread/msg2844300/#msg2844300
• Edited the Christmas toolbar-config.xml file to enable user preset selection as explained here https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-wifi-resolution-and-menu-hack-thread/msg2909216/#msg2909216
  Be carefull, the "B" in <Toolbar name= shall be uppercase or it wont work.
• Edited the Basic startup pop-up message since I wished to keep the disclaimer about modified content but wanted my name added in the popup as proof in case the camera is beeing stolen.
  I share the how-to since I did not find the procedure : To do so I changed facet.rcc archive as per suggested here https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg326705/#msg326705.
  This point requires to unpack the .rcc file, edit qml/Desktop.qml file to change the message and repack facet.rcc. I share a tool I found to ease the process as it is able to unpack/pack QT archives directly from Windows10 without QT libraries nor sources (see https://github.com/zedxxx/rccextended/releases)
• Installed/updated everything through FTP by following the very good readme files provided in each Bud's releases.
  (I directly put the camera in RNDIS mode from the hidden USB menu, hold right 10 seconds from device info screen, I did not use the .fif method at all)
• Profit

Next step is I will have a look at close-up lenses tests and results you have made for macro electronic boards investigation.

Thank you again for your help, I am now very happy with my new toy.
Regards,
Narkoa

[todd_fuller]

Just a heads up to anyone looking for an E4 upgrade candidate, Flir's online store has refurbished (with warranty) E4's with and without WiFi for $650 and $600 respectively.

https://www.flir.com/promotions/open-box-refurbs/

[Narkoa]

You can't take videos with E4.

Hello Bud,
Just to be clear, I have no particular knowledge of the development from flir. I just had been taken a look in the extracted files for the past days and try to undestand how you did achieve to unlock features (Amazing work, thank you again).


I am wondering about the ability of the Ex serie firmware to handle other recording modes.
I noticed two modes that do not seems to be accessible yet but implemented in the firmware : in the facet_ui_qml.dll (wich I did not know how to fully open, any hint?). I found references with a basic text editor to "recordingMode_panorama" and "recordingMode_video"

I added both to the appropriate toolbar and even if panorama did not show up, the video recording one actually did.
When I select it, a timer is displayed on the top of the screen (please see attached picture). Nothing happens when I trigger the capture though...

I also noticed some video-related settings that I don't know how to force the display of (as you did in Christmas package for User_Preset):

Code: [Select]

VideoTypeSettingsModel
ID_SETUP_VIDEOTYPE_MPEG_BRIEF   ID_SETUP_VIDEOTYPE_CSQ_BRIEF   
ID_SETUP_VIDEOTYPE_MPEG   ID_SETUP_VIDEOTYPE_CSQ
 
VideoFormatSettingsModel   
ID_SETUP_VIDEOFORMAT_NTSC   VIDEOFORMAT_NTSC    ID_SETUP_VIDEOFORMAT_PAL    VIDEOFORMAT_PAL
Regarding panorama I found numerous of handler references and a related caps : caps.config.image.framegrab.panorama but no way to activate it so far.

I dont know if I am really onto something or if it is just a waste of your time...
Do you think you could help with this please? Any hint or advice for things I overlooked or tools to help going further?
Thank you,

Narkoa

[Bud]

Yes i've tried that but concluded that the required event handlers were missing in E4 firmware. There were some API calls from one one file to another but there was no exported functions in the second file to process the calls. So nothing happens when trying using those features, and this is what you are observing.

[Narkoa]

Wow, thank you for that quick answer.

I had the felling - since the whole VideoPlayback feature seems available from archive - it was strange the recording is not possible.
Too bad

Have a nice day,
Narkoa

[Undo It]

can someone give me help with this problem
my camera is a flir E4 with resolution 320 x 240 msx by mistake update to version 3.16 where I thought it was going to have some improvement where it was not like that the images were all pixelated and in poor quality I contacted the technical support of flir attended me one such Daniel Cuervo where I hurt the camera more than I was. I entered by team viewers and did the procedure and now my camera is completely in bootloader mode when you connect to the computer an ASCO unit with 23 mb comes out.
There is some solution for this problem since in Brazil or the USA they want to fix it after doing the damage.
I have not been able to work for 2 weeks this was my job and now I have no way to support my family since I depended on the camera to work

I wasn't able to find solution to this forum related to this issues,
so here's what i did.
I have Flir E4, version 2.0 with firmware 3.16, after liberation and successfully hacked the menu and resolution, including the modification of popup message (in respect to the author not to remove it). i tried to play and installed old firmware, and ended up with the same issues as per the above message, where there's no access to RNDIS and the USB is ASCO with two text error message. and only flir logo appears on the unit.

Procedures:

1. Turn on the Flir E4
2. Once the Flir logo appears, keep pressing and releasing the power button several times within one or two second, just enough not to shut down or close the unit. this will force the bootloader to response, either to goes through or shut down. (on some other flir unit you have to press the back button within 10 seconds)
3. Flir E4 may or may not load all the configured file, but you will have access to either RNDIS or normal USB MSD mode.
4. Don't close or power off the unit until you load the the necessary files
5. if it is in MSD mode rename the  correct and latest firmware with autoload.fif and save the files into the root directory of the camera's storage including eFLIRInstall.exe, or install it directly using Flir install
6. If it is in RNDIS mode you can use total commander. filezilla or Win Ce to return back the original file.

This works for me and  i did it twice, but there's no guarantee that it will works for you.
hope this can contribute something.

[spirch]

got to love using this around the house to find issue, question incoming.

last summer i had electric work done around the house and this is a place where they put a brand new cable, i dont think i would have noticed the issue.

fix was easy at least! 

question, is it possible to increase image quality, if yes how?

[Bud]

Not likely unless you change the lense or use a tool to adjust focus. I am assuming you are asking about thermal image part of the camera. For image resolution you already reached the limit by modding the camera. Some improvement can be achieved through superresolution post processing but it is not practical.

[spirch]

Not likely unless you change the lense or use a tool to adjust focus. I am assuming you are asking about thermal image part of the camera. For image resolution you already reached the limit by modding the camera. Some improvement can be achieved through superresolution post processing but it is not practical.

thanks, it's always good to ask just in case 

[Bud]

Wow, thank you for that quick answer.

I had the felling - since the whole VideoPlayback feature seems available from archive - it was strange the recording is not possible.
Too bad

Have a nice day,
Narkoa

Technically speaking it is possible to take short (a few seconds) videos, limited in size by the device's small memory size, using the command interpreter scripting language. But this is not portable and as such not much practical because it would typically require connection to a computer. The computer could configure and launch a script on a schedule and manage the video clips. I.e. moving them from the camera to the computer to free the device memory after each take. If connection to a computer and the burst  format of such videos is not an issue then this should be doable.

[Bud]

By the way, another feature that remains unexplored is the camera's ability to automatically trigger and upload shots to an FTP server. This may be of a practical value for specific use cases where a camera is set up to work in unattended mode, as long as a WiFi connection is maintained. I've seen the related configuration entries but never got to trying it.

[agiorgitis]

Bud, sometimes time=money.
If not done just for hobby, the time you invest on making an E4 behave like an E60 (for example), may be more that just buying a new camera.

[Bud]

It was simply a technical challenge, and a few nights of digging in, that is all.

[spirch]

It was simply a technical challenge, and a few nights of digging in, that is all.

(in case someone read my previous post, i used the wrong word...)

finding something new and making it work is priceless 

[charoy]

Hi Guys,
Good Day!
I am new in this thread and recently bought a Flir E4(wifi resolution).May I ask your help please from which updated thread I can follow step by step on how to backup my flir directories/libraries stock camera and an updated steps on how to maximize its resolution into the highest resolution. I really appreciate your response.

[QLF]

Hello Guys,

I have received my E4 Wifi just today ..

Freeware 3.16.0 - 2.0L

Please guide me on how/which threads should I go through to successfully done the steps ..

Thank you,
Yousif

[Ribster]

When i load this onto my E4 WiFi version 3.16.0 i get the following:
(I am using the 3.16 common_dll)

- Flir logo boots
- I see the thermal view, but without menu
- The blue loading bar goed past the middle, and then the screen goes black
- Loadbar keeps progressing, eventually shuts down

Restoring the dll to the original version gives me back original functionality.
Any idea's ?