70D frozen on "Firmware update program" Update file cannot be found . . .

[clicker]

My 70D is frozen on the screen that says "Firmware update program  Update file cannot be found.  Please check the memory card and reload the battery and try again".  This message still appears when the camera power is turned off - I have to remove the battery, or it just burns up the battery.   There are no updates available for the camera, yet the message persists, even when battery and memory card are removed and reloaded. 

[RobertTheFat]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@kcalpesh wrote:

Hi Bob, I tried 3 different cards. One fresh, brand new and 2 of them low level formatted. That didn't resolve the issue. I don't feel like the issue was with the cards. My best guess is that the issue is with the firmware. Something is triggering the firmware update automatically.

Like I mentioned the last time it happened was just 4 days back and in the middle of the shoot I got the firmware update screen.  However, the camera didn't freeze this time becuase it found the firmware update file in the memory card.

I have placed this firmware update file on all the memory cards that I use now. Saves me from letting the camera freeze. 

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Canon advises erasing the firmware file from the card by performing a low level format.  It doesn't hurt to have a spare card with the firmware file for an emergency.  But, I am pretty sure that you do not want it on the card that you are shooting with.  
You could have a bad circuit board in your camera, causing it to reboot.  Bad batteries could cause a false power cycle, too.

The only time the camera is supposed to look for the firmware file, is when the camera "powers up" and interrogates the memory card.  If it finds a firmware file, then the camera dutifully wants to load it.  But, even then, you are given the option to cancel or continue with installing the firmware file it found.

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I've never seen behavior remotely like that. If I have a firmware update on the card, it gets ignored unless I go to the appropriate menu item and tell it to update. It then provides all the usual warnings about using a fresh battery, touching no buttons, etc.

You're not using Magic Lantern, are you? I believe ML uses cards that are specially formatted to look for an executable file.

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@kcalpesh wrote:

Hi Bob, I tried 3 different cards. One fresh, brand new and 2 of them low level formatted. That didn't resolve the issue. I don't feel like the issue was with the cards. My best guess is that the issue is with the firmware. Something is triggering the firmware update automatically.

Like I mentioned the last time it happened was just 4 days back and in the middle of the shoot I got the firmware update screen.  However, the camera didn't freeze this time becuase it found the firmware update file in the memory card.

I have placed this firmware update file on all the memory cards that I use now. Saves me from letting the camera freeze. 

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Canon advises erasing the firmware file from the card by performing a low level format.  It doesn't hurt to have a spare card with the firmware file for an emergency.  But, I am pretty sure that you do not want it on the card that you are shooting with.  
You could have a bad circuit board in your camera, causing it to reboot.  Bad batteries could cause a false power cycle, too.

The only time the camera is supposed to look for the firmware file, is when the camera "powers up" and interrogates the memory card.  If it finds a firmware file, then the camera dutifully wants to load it.  But, even then, you are given the option to cancel or continue with installing the firmware file it found.

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I've never seen behavior remotely like that. If I have a firmware update on the card, it gets ignored unless I go to the appropriate menu item and tell it to update. It then provides all the usual warnings about using a fresh battery, touching no buttons, etc.

You're not using Magic Lantern, are you? I believe ML uses cards that are specially formatted to look for an executable file.

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I updated my T5 with the card one time.  When I powered up, it immediately went into firmware update mode.  Maybe I am just describing it wrong.  But, like I said, you should still get a prompt screen asking you to continue or cancel.

[TCampbell]

This is a zombie thread from April 2016.  

There are basically two official ways to do firmware updates with Canon EOS cameras...

(1) One method is to connect the camera to a computer and use EOS Utility.

(2)  Another way is to copy the firmware update to a file and then use the in-camera menus to initiate a firmware update.

Then there's the unofficial method that Magic Lantern uses... which is to flag the memory card as a "bootable" device and put the firmware on the card.

If your camera is spontaneously telling you that you have to do a firmware update and you aren't doing a deliberate firmware update (via EOS Utility or by using in-camera menu to force an update) then something else is wrong.

You should reformat the memory card use the in-camera format with the "low-level" format option enabled. 

Is there a possibility your memory card was used in a different camera?  Do not use a memory card in your camera if it was previously used in a different camera unless you reformat it (it's a bad idea to share memory cards between cameras.)  

[mhuang]

Perhaps I was not specific -- I had not applied ANY firmware modifications to the camera from the time I purchased it until it froze on me.

I used it purely as a black box product as any other amateur consumer would. Why should it lock up on me during normal, unmodified use?

[RobertTheFat]

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mhuang wrote:

Perhaps I was not specific -- I had not applied ANY firmware modifications to the camera from the time I purchased it until it froze on me.

I used it purely as a black box product as any other amateur consumer would. Why should it lock up on me during normal, unmodified use?

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I think we concluded that if the card 1) has a firmware update file in its topmost folder and 2) is formatted to perform a boot sequence when power is first applied, it will try to do a firmware update when you almost certainly don't want it to. To test that hypothesis, remove any .FIR file from the card and/or do a low-level format on the card. If we're right, you should have no further trouble.

[mhuang]

Bob, while I apprecaite your feedback, I think you missed my point.

In my situation, I used a brand new SD card -- purchased with the sole purpose of being used in this camera. It has never been in another camera, and in no way did I put a firmware file on it until I was forced to. (I know this because I hadn't downloaded one for this camera until yesterday.)

That said, the card has been in there in the camera for the past year when *poof* it decided to brick me.

Placing a *.FIR firmware file triggers the camera to pick up the update, which it does. Problem rectified for now.

The root problem I am unhappy with is that the camera should not randomly lock up (such as in the middle of a photo shoot) into a firmware update mode out of the box, with a new/dedicated flash card.

It is a completely different issue if an owner knowingly updates the flash on their own, or decides to play games with the firmware/configuration, etc. For this particular camera, I had no intention of doing either. I would have been perfectly happy using the firmware that the camera came with from the factory until it forced itself upon me at an inopportune time.

[Waddizzle]

I think Bob understood your point.  Did you understand the significance of our point?  You need to perform a low level format of the memory card before you use it in the camera.

[EDIT]. How old is the camera, more specifically, the batteries?  If they have seldomly been used, or are more than 3-5 years old, then they could be at the end of their usable life cycle.  I think you have a secondary problem, which is manifesting itself as a card related issue.

[mhuang]

The primary battery is new (came with the camera) which we purchase a year ago. We use the camera at least a few times a week, almost daily around the holidays. It still holds charge fantastic -- never any issues with running low, or errant behaviors with the camera otherwise, except for this one (very annoying -- and unpredictable -- anomaly).

Card was formatted as soon as I purchased it, before the first use.

[Waddizzle]

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@mhuang wrote:

The primary battery is new (came with the camera) which we purchase a year ago. We use the camera at least a few times a week, almost daily around the holidays. It still holds charge fantastic -- never any issues with running low, or errant behaviors with the camera otherwise, except for this one (very annoying -- and unpredictable -- anomaly).

Card was formatted as soon as I purchased it, before the first use.

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I see.  Does that mean you performed a "low level format"?  Are you using full size memory cards, not the micro-SD cards with an adapter?  Do you plan to reformat the memory card again, as has been suggested?

[RobertTheFat]

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mhuang wrote:

Bob, while I apprecaite your feedback, I think you missed my point.

In my situation, I used a brand new SD card -- purchased with the sole purpose of being used in this camera. It has never been in another camera, and in no way did I put a firmware file on it until I was forced to. (I know this because I hadn't downloaded one for this camera until yesterday.)

That said, the card has been in there in the camera for the past year when *poof* it decided to brick me.

Placing a *.FIR firmware file triggers the camera to pick up the update, which it does. Problem rectified for now.

The root problem I am unhappy with is that the camera should not randomly lock up (such as in the middle of a photo shoot) into a firmware update mode out of the box, with a new/dedicated flash card.

It is a completely different issue if an owner knowingly updates the flash on their own, or decides to play games with the firmware/configuration, etc. For this particular camera, I had no intention of doing either. I would have been perfectly happy using the firmware that the camera came with from the factory until it forced itself upon me at an inopportune time.

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Maybe I'm missing your point, but you seem to be missing an even more important one: A firmware update does not need to be applied more than once. If the update has managed to install itself properly (or even if it hasn't), you should delete it from the card, so that it can't cause any further trouble. And it wouldn't be causing trouble anyway if the card weren't formatted to be a "bootable" card, i.e., one that looks for an executable image on the card and executes it, bypassing (in this case) the normal behavior of the firmware already in the camera. How it got formatted that way, I have no idea. (Well, I could venture some guesses, but they'd be irrelevant to the solution.) But the point is that you have to either remove the firmware file from the card or do a low-level format of the card. The latter is preferable, because that should prevent a similar problem the next time you want to do a firmware update. If the reformat of the card stops the camera from working, it probably means that the first try to update the firmware didn't complete successfully, in which case you'll probably have to send it to Canon for repair.

The one case where you might actually want the behavior you're seeing is you're using a program such as Magic Lantern, which fully or partially (but temporarily) substitutes itself for the camera's firmware. If that's the case, then the problem is probably that you're not using the correct version for the camera.