5D III totally dead during firmware update

[birdsofpreydave]

Attempted to upgrade my firmware tonight.  Followed the directions to download and unzip the file onto the CF card.  Menu recognized the file.  As soon as I clicked "OK" on the first option "Current Version Is" the whole camera went completely black.  I never got the second menu to select which version to load.

I let it sit for 20 minutes just in case it was doing something.  No change.  i've now removed batteries and attempt to restart.  The camera is still completely dead.

Any suggestions?  Am I going to have to ship to a service center?

I can't believe this!

[tcaperton]

I just did the same thing. It is "dead"...

[birdsofpreydave]

After sitting here reciting just about every four-letter word I know, removing the date/time battery + main battery, removing the grip, I took the Eye-Fi card out of the SD slot.  As soon as i did, the window came up saying Firmware update program loading...

It still says that after a few minutes, but at least it looks like I'm making some progress.

If you've got anything in the SD card slot, try removing it.

[tcaperton]

I also removed the Eye-Fi card from the SD slot and also removed the vertical grip and inserted the main battery. As soon as I inserted the battery, the firmware update program loaded.

All is well...

I was stressed to the max! I have a shoot tomorrow and was in fear that I had a "dead" camera.

[HDCamTeam]

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@birdsofpreydave wrote:

After sitting here reciting just about every four-letter word I know, removing the date/time battery + main battery, removing the grip, I took the Eye-Fi card out of the SD slot.  As soon as i did, the window came up saying Firmware update program loading...

It still says that after a few minutes, but at least it looks like I'm making some progress.

If you've got anything in the SD card slot, try removing it.

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[EDITED & CORRECTED]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for posting about it.

The firmware update 1.2.1 fixes list stated in point 9:

"9. Fixes a phenomenon in which the camera may not function properly when an Eye-Fi card is used."

This problem is probably fixed in the new firmware, but you still have a previous firmware to update, so the Eye-Fi SD card may not work properly.

So, the suggestion to users would be:

Do not use Eye-Fi SD cards to update the firmware.

Regards

[Assassin]

I removed the EyeFi card and its working now :).... thanks for the tip... i felt sick after it went dead....

[cicopo]

Very interesting. Might be something the rest of us need to remember when similar problems show up. By any chance did the instructions mention needing to remove the SD card before doing the update? I don't remember having to do it with any of the 1 series bodies I've updated but I may be forgetting having done so.

[birdsofpreydave]

The instructions indicate that the update can be loaded from either the CF or SD card.  It doesn't say anything about the other slot needing to be empty, though.  Although there isn't much evidence at this point (2 confirmed case), I'm inclined to believe it's an issue with the Eye-Fi card.  I would certainly hope that Canon tested the routine with cards in both slots, but quite possibly not with an Eye-Fi card.

[7D5D]

Thanks all for sharing. I'm out town and haven't been able to update mine and I do use CF and SD together. I'll be sure to pull my SD just to be safe. BTW, mine is not an Eye-Fi, maybe that is the culprit.

[Skirball]

Sorry for the thread drift, but seems there's several on here that use those Eye-Fi cards.  Do you shoot RAW?  Is the transfer quick enough for viewing while shooting?