Can you upgrade the R7 Camera using a USB cable?

[mmills79]

Hi,

I am using UHS-II cards in my R7. I don't have a UHS-II card reader. So I use the USB cable to upload my pictures from the camera to my Windows PC. That works well.

However, I can't seem to be able to use the USB to C cable to download the newest firmware version to the root of a reformatted SD (UHS-II) card. I can clearly see the root directory of the card on my PC using the USB cable (when the card is mounted in the camera slot 1). Why shouldn't you be able to use a USB cable to download the firmware to the SD card when the card is in the camera and you have set up a connection to the PC?

[jrhoffman75]

---

@mmills79 wrote:

Hi,

I am using UHS-II cards in my R7. I don't have a UHS-II card reader. So I use the USB cable to upload my pictures from the camera to my Windows PC. That works well.

However, I can't seem to be able to use the USB to C cable to download the newest firmware version to the root of a reformatted SD (UHS-II) card. I can clearly see the root directory of the card on my PC using the USB cable (when the card is mounted in the camera slot 1). Why shouldn't you be able to use a USB cable to download the firmware to the SD card when the card is in the camera and you have set up a connection to the PC?

---

You could download the firmware app to the PC, extract the .fir file and copy that file to the card in camera. but a better method is to use the Canon EOS Utility application on the PC.

[mmills79]

Well, my experience is as I said in my post. I cannot seem to be able to copy the .fir file from the PC to the SD card mounted in the R7 over a USB connection. I regularly & successfully transfer the photo files from the camera to the PC using a USB cable. So, I can only say making a connection between a PC and the camera over a USB cable doesn't seem to work to transfer firmware updates (the .fir file) to the camera. Why would that be a problem?

[Waddizzle]

---

@mmills79 wrote:

Well, my experience is as I said in my post. I cannot seem to be able to copy the .fir file from the PC to the SD card mounted in the R7 over a USB connection. I regularly & successfully transfer the photo files from the camera to the PC using a USB cable. So, I can only say making a connection between a PC and the camera over a USB cable doesn't seem to work to transfer firmware updates (the .fir file) to the camera. Why would that be a problem?

---

You cannot write to the card in the camera from your PC when it is connected to your PC using a USB cable.  You need to use a card reader connected your PC or the SD card slot, if your PC has one.  I recommend using a dedicated SD card for firmware updates.

[mmills79]

Hi,

Just trying to understand this...
I agree it doesn't seem possible to use file manager to write files from a PC to the SD card in the R7.
I tried another experiment, I tried to copy a JPEG from my PC to the image directory on the R7 and that did not work either.
We know the camera can write to the mounted SD card when you take a picture so, the media is write enabled. We also know that the EOS utility can write to a mounted SD card in the camera. I successfully write to my SD card in my phone all the time from a PC over a USB cable.
Do you know why you can't write to the SD card mounted in the Camera from a PC using USB connection? What is the constraint or concern in doing so and why would that capability be disabled? Again, just for my education at this point but it could still be a bug. 

[Waddizzle]

It is not a bug.  The card is write protected to external devices when it inside of the camera.  This is done for security reasons.  This is not a bug.

[mmills79]

Ok...

I guess the EOS utility has a work around for that security protection?
When I talked to Canon tech support they told me the utility uses the USB connection to install the update.
It may seem like I am splitting hairs here but when I travel, I skinny down what I carry and I just wanted to go simple and use a USB cable for any kind of transfer when necessary. Is there a way to disable this security protection? I don't need this protection personally.

[Waddizzle]

Use a dedicated UHS-I SD card for firmware updates.  

[jrhoffman75]

If I was traveling I wouldn’t do a firmware update. Wouldn’t want a problem to brick camera. If you are determined to do it, a small SD reader is not much to carry. Less volume than a cable. 

[jrhoffman75]

Maybe it is how your computer sees the camera - what kind of device.

I always transfer the .fir to my card via a card reader.