Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Epic Firmware Upgrade

Y

Yinka Edward

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hello friends,
I wish to upgrade the epic firmware but i can't get my hands around it. The camera and Redmote has never been upgraded. Can I upgrade the camera first before the Redmote or it has to be the Redmote first? I use a mac. I have tried upgrading the camera firmware by copying the force_upgrade folder into the SSD, I put the SSD back into the camera and powered on, the fan runs, two red lights blink but only for max 3 seconds and thats it.
Please can someone guide me.
 
Last edited:
for now, just take your redmote off the camera. hook your SSD up to your computer. drag the force upgrade folder on top of your SSD icon. after the force upgrade is copied unmount your SSD and put it in your camera. (camera is off). Turn on your camera. Your firmware should be upgraded automatically. Check your maintenance menu for upgrade version. Do a black shading. I think if you shutdown and put the redmote on, when you reboot you will be able to update your redmote from the camera. Make sure you have enough power for all this. The Black shading step is not necessary but should be done before you film stuff. Make sure you set your camera for desired settings for Black Shading for instance I Black Shade for my shooting settings 4K HD 48fps RC 8.1 not the default 5K 2:1. The upgrade only takes a few seconds, so check the menus to verify the version, it may already be done!
 
Thank you so much George for your reply, I've followed your instructions but it has just refused to work. Well I've shot some things before with the camera. COuld that be the reason why its not working. I even tried restoring factory settings. And it still did not work. I went over the process again but nothing. The version is still version 1.7.10. I even tried going into the SSD and I found a folder ( the folder was named: A002_0514G0.RDM) . I put the force upgrade folder into this folder. I ejected the SSD from the computer with my camera off. I put the SSD back into the camera, switched on the camera and it just came on and the version is still the same.
 
Hi Yinka, you do not want to put the force upgrade folder ino the "A002_0514G0.RDM" folder.

You want to put it at the "top floor" or root of the REDMAG. Meaning if you are on Windows or a Mac simply drag and drop the force upgrade folder onto the drive itself. Not in any subfolder.

When the upgrade initiates you will notice the fans coming on at full strength for a moment and then you're camera will shutdown. When you turn the camera back on, check the version. If it's been updated, format the REDMAG and you'll be on your way.
 
download the new firmware again.
format your ssd in your camera.
Then hook up your ssd to your computer.
move the force upgrade folder on top of your SSD icon to copy the force upgrade folder to the SSD.
unmount the SSD from your computer or turn your computer off and then unhook the SSD.
put the SSD in your camera and turn your camera on
let us know what happens, this should work
 
Once again thanks for all the replies. I've gone through the process again
1.) Formatted my SSD
2.) Downloaded a new firmware
3.) connected my SSD to the computer (mac). A hard drive icon appeared on the desktop and I
4.) dropped the force upgrade on top of the icon
5.) shut down my computer
6.) removed the SSD from the redmag and put it into the camera
7.) powered on the camera. Fans came on with full speed with two lights blinking then camera went off.
8.) powered on my camera again. And the version is still the same version 1.7.10.

Where am i getting it wrong?
Thanks
 
Format the SSD in camera (to make sure there is nothing on it).

When you drag the 'force upgrade' folder onto the (newly formatted) SSD, that should be the only folder in the root.

Basically, the Epic is forced to upgrade when the folder is in the root.

Question - are you inserting the SSD into the Epic whilst it is already switched on?

If so, it won't update - you need to insert the SSD then turn on the Epic and that will kick in the update process.

It's all detailed out at red.com also - https://www.red.com/downloads/4f56854e6261f95a5700069b

EDIT - just re-read your steps... you seem to be doing everything OK... I'd suggest maybe grabbing an older update and seeing if that works?
 
Yinka Edward said:
Once again thanks for all the replies. I've gone through the process again
3.) connected my SSD to the computer (mac). A hard drive icon appeared on the desktop and I
4.) dropped the force upgrade on top of the icon
Click to expand...

After step #4, if you open the SSD on your computer, do you see the Force Upgrade folder? Maybe the files are not actually copying to the SSD because itʻs in Read-only mode by default.

NOTE: RED Watchdog (MAC Only) mounts the MAG read-only by default. Change preference to mount Read-Write before attempting to copy firmware to the MAG.

https://www.red.com/downloads/4f56854e6261f95a5700069b

 
One more thing... make sure you drag the whole "Force Upgrade" folder to the SSD, not just the Force Upgrade file that's inside the folder. The camera looks for that folder.
 
Have you checked that the SSD actually has the force_upgrade folder on it?

I'm PC based - but you can simply open the SSD and see what folders it has on it - I'm sure the Mac can do this too ;)

It sounds like the SSD is empty, as your Epic is just reading it as a normal SSD (ready fro filming)... and that's why there is no force update process happening...

Maybe...?

EDIT - Jeff posted whilst I was typing... but I think this is the problem...
 
Jeff Whitehurst said:
After step #4, if you open the SSD on your computer, do you see the Force Upgrade folder? Maybe the files are not actually copying to the SSD because itʻs in Read-only mode by default.

NOTE: RED Watchdog (MAC Only) mounts the MAG read-only by default. Change preference to mount Read-Write before attempting to copy firmware to the MAG.

https://www.red.com/downloads/4f56854e6261f95a5700069b
Click to expand...

Yes I see the force upgrade folder in the SSD

[COLOR=#FFFFFF !important]
Christopher Barrett said:
One more thing... make sure you drag the whole "Force Upgrade" folder to the SSD, not just the Force Upgrade file that's inside the folder. The camera looks for that folder.
Click to expand...

Yes, and still not working.

Andy White said:
Format the SSD in camera (to make sure there is nothing on it).

When you drag the 'force upgrade' folder onto the (newly formatted) SSD, that should be the only folder in the root.

Basically, the Epic is forced to upgrade when the folder is in the root.

Question - are you inserting the SSD into the Epic whilst it is already switched on?

If so, it won't update - you need to insert the SSD then turn on the Epic and that will kick in the update process.

It's all detailed out at red.com also - https://www.red.com/downloads/4f56854e6261f95a5700069b

EDIT - just re-read your steps... you seem to be doing everything OK... I'd suggest maybe grabbing an older update and seeing if that works?
Click to expand...
[/COLOR]


Do you have any idea where I can get an older upgrade to see if it will work?

Thanks for all the help
 
Good luck!

If you're still having problems, open a ticket with RED and they'll help/guide you more.

Only other thing I can think is to repeat the process with a different SSD.
 
Thanks to everyone that posted suggestions. I appreciate all of you. It finally worked. What I did was that I went back to an earlier version as suggested by Andy. I first upgraded to version 2.0.5 and when that worked I upgraded to version 3.0.0 then when that also worked I then upgraded to version 3.3.15. And it worked. Thanks
 
Great news!

Looks like this might be useful info if anyone is updating very early Epics.
 
Christopher Barrett said:
One more thing... make sure you drag the whole "Force Upgrade" folder to the SSD, not just the Force Upgrade file that's inside the folder. The camera looks for that folder.
Click to expand...

Christopher,

I owe a beer! I've been trying to upgrade to 5.2.29 for about an hour and a half and was getting VERY frustrated. I didn't want to ask for help as I figured my issue had been posted many times before...and I know it's best to search the forum before posting a new question to the thread. For the life of me I thought you were supposed to unzip the .bin file. I'm on a mac so that was becoming impossible (even with going through the terminal screen). I thought you were supposed to drag and copy the file to the SSD...not the FOLDER with the file inside!...After many failed attempts of reformatting the SSD, putting it in read/write setting....I finally found your comment where you said to copy the file & the folder...it worked. Just wanted to say Thanks! Hope you have a great rest of your weekend!
 
Thanks guys. The info help me update 2 Epic to same versions. We had issues at a multi camera shoot as the two cameras had different looks and menus. The updates sorted the issues.
 
Darn, this is sad. I'm on V4 and can't seem to go to the next oldest one on REDs site. I've tried almost every version on the list while following the steps properly and it just won't upgrade. I wonder if all 3 of my older 1.8 SSDs just aren't doing the trick. I mean, hell, it even runs the fans and flashes the LEDs like it's doing what it needs to. Then, sure enough, no results :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top