Date/Time issue

Hey everyone, I'm really hoping someone can help.

I updated the firmware to my 300D and now whenever I turn on the camera the input date/time screen comes up first, I can enter the date/time and it works fine until I turn it off where it then loses the date/time, next time I turn it on i have to input it again - very annoying even tho it doesnt take too long to do.

I have replaced the Lithium battery in the main battery compartment in the hope that it had run out but it still does the same.

It's not the biggest issue in the world but if I have to grab the camera to take a picture of something quick I dont really wanna be inputting the date/time

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

If you've already replaced the backup battery, then I think there is something wrong with the unit. My guess is the backup battery circuit is now faulty and needs fixing - that may be expensive. I hope you have an extended warranty!

hmm thats kinda what I was dreading, I havn't unfortuantely got a extended warranty, I may just have to put up with changing the date/time, although I use iphoto and you can modify the original creations date/time in there so i may have to do that in future, a pain but possible better than forking out the money for a repair.

Thanks Roy for ure advice

Don't turn the camera off...see what happens like that. Camera should sleep and wake up with activity. See if it maintains the time through a sleep cycle instead of an on/off cycle.

Anyone know what else, apart from date and time, is retained only by virtue of the button battery? If there was something else, and it was being retained, then there is a weird firmware glitch; if everything that should be retained is lost, it's a battery or battery circuit problem (or weird firmware glitch).

Is menu language one of the things? I suspect so. Try changing the language, then cycling the power and see if the camera remembers the change.

Thanks for your input everyone - I will check the last 2 ideas when i get home from work later, certainly it only started doing it after the firmware update, the issue i have now is that when I try and return the firmware to its original state or to try and install it again the camera won;t read a card with the firmware on it!

Will let you know how I get on

Seems like it has gone crazy. I haven't tried what happens to menu selections when you remove the backup battery, but it could be that menu selections are retained without power. That's technically possible, as they are static when the camera is off. But the date/time is not, so that does require some kind of energy source.

ronmaiden wrote in post #5276763
Hey everyone, I'm really hoping someone can help.

I updated the firmware to my 300D and now whenever I turn on the camera the input date/time screen comes up first, I can enter the date/time and it works fine until I turn it off where it then loses the date/time

Hmmm. To start at the beginning, you updated your firmware? To what version, for what camera?

The last official Canon firmware for the 300D that I'm aware of is 1.1.1.

The only update from there AFAIK is the hacked software from Wasia or UnDutchables.

If you think it might help to revert, I have the official Canon 1.1.1 firmware.

- js

Hey JS

I have a 300D and I updated it to 1.1.1, now I think I used the hacked firmware rather than the original version. I have tried going back to previous versions but now the camera won't recognise any firmware that I place on a CF card, the back just flashes 'EOS' and nothing happens.

Im convinced that wotever firmware I have used has buggered things up as it was all fine and dandy before the firware install (which seemed to install fine)

I would definately like to try and reinstall the original firmware if it would read it off the card.

According to the docs with the Wasia hack, you can't go back to the original firmware if any of the custom functions have been set to non-Canon settings. If your new firmware is the hack the "watchouts" page of the Wasia docs may be useful. This is page 3:

---------------

Watchouts
• Camera may lock up if you attempt to change the language, maybe possible to change the language but
must be done on the original Canon 300D 1.1.1 firmware
• Some features may not work correctly if you are using another language - use English as a workaround
• If you upgrade and some of the things don't seem to work properly, set the settings in the Custom
Function back to the original values (see below) and install the original 1.1.1 firmware, then upgrade to
the new firmware
• Change the SET button to something other than FEC before upgrading to this version
• If MLU does not work, ensure that the camera is in single drive mode
• When using a flash with the MLU enabled, the flash will fire when the mirror lifts and again with the
shutter opens
• Menu items for the MLU timeout will show a few arrows – ignore the arrows
• The quick erase may have altered something with the code used for monitoring the battery, and the low
battery icon may appear earlier than expected
• Numbering of the custom functions are incorrect but the functions themselves are correct
Issues resolved from previous version
• When using MLU and the countdown timer, the 10 second countdown now behaves normally, then
followed by the MLU
• Right button mapping has been removed as it didn’t do anything before
Revertng back to the original version
• Reset all the Custom Function values to the original 300D settings. Note, you cannot use the Reset
option in the menu, it does not affect these values. Below is a list of default binary values from left to right
(the bottom numbers in the CF menu):
0,0,0,0,0,1,0,11,0,0,0​,0,0,0,0,0,0
• Flash back to 1.1.1.
Web Resources
• Yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.co​m/group/canondigicamha​cking
• DPreview Canon 300D forum
http://forums.dpreview​.com/forums/forum.asp?​forum=1031
• Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel Tips and Tricks
http://www.bahneman.co​m …digital-rebel-tricks.html
• Canon 300D Firmware 1.1.1
http://web.canon.jp …ital/E3kr_firmw​are-e.html
• Canon10D manual (PDF)
http://www.powershot.c​om …ustomer/pdf/EOS​_10D_E.pdf
• Canon 300D manual (PDF)
http://www.canoneos.co​m …rebel/download/​manual.pdf

Hey thanks for this, I am gonna try this tonight, I need to use the wifes laptop as my mac has stopped recognising the 300D as an external drive so i can't flash the firmware straight onto the camera - will let you know how I get on, thanks for your help.

ronmaiden wrote in post #5283617
Hey thanks for this, I am gonna try this tonight, I need to use the wifes laptop as my mac has stopped recognising the 300D as an external drive so i can't flash the firmware straight onto the camera - will let you know how I get on, thanks for your help.

Can you do that? I know I can with the 30D using EOS Utility, but never tried it on the 300D.

Let us know what happens!

-js

Hmmm just totally confused now, have put the 1.1.1 firmware onto the card and put it into the camera with a fully charged battery, and nothing happens, all that does is on the display the word EOS just flashes and the firmware update never starts!

Have tried the Windows firmware and the OS X firmware and same result, also tried going back to an early firmware 1.0.3 and same thing, could it be the hacked firmware has totally ballsed up my camera?

It's possible, I guess. But I haven't heard of a case where the hacked firmware killed the camera.
Did you put the .fir file in the root directory of the CF card? And is the card is 2GB or less in size?

-js

When it popped up on my mac as an external drive I just dragged the .fir file into it, I have 2 cards, one is a Jessops own 1gb and the other is a SanDisk 256mb.

And I think you're right, Ive not heard of it either - maybe I'm just that unlucky lol

The settings on the camera tell me it's firmware 1.1.1, I tried getting the custom functions back to their original setting but still get the EOS word flashing, so annoying as it was all totally fine before the update - that'll learn me!