CHDK Wiki
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Introduction[]

This page is intended to collect information about permanent (persisting after CHDK is removed) camera failures which are either suspected or proven to be caused by the use of CHDK. If a camera damaging bug does appear in CHDK, it is likely that it will take multiple occurrences to confirm that it is a caused by CHDK and not a coincidental malfunction. This is especially true if the problem involves reducing the life of a component rather than an instant failure. Having a central location should help identify any pattern that exists, and help users identify similar failures as part of a possible pattern.

The developers of CHDK believe that CHDK is unlikely to cause permanent damage to cameras. However, CHDK comes with absolutely no warranty, and users must accept that destruction of their camera is a possible result of using CHDK. See the FAQ for more information.

Actual reports should be made on the forum, preferably in the development thread for the specific camera. These reports should contain as much detail as possible, including the model, canon firmware version, CHDK build, and the details of the malfunction and when it occurred. A link to the thread with a brief summary should be added to this page.

This page should not be used for discussion. Use the forum, or if for some reason that is impossible, the discussion page.

Confirmed reports[]

IXUS160[]

2015 Two different cameras suffered unexpected lens movement and failure after running out of space and crashing while saving raw. One camera was permanently damage and the other recovered eventually.

http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php?topic=12321.msg123736#msg123736

(may not be 100% certain, but two cameras failing in the same way makes it extremely likely)

Unconfirmed reports[]

SX30[]

  • After I started using CHDK some messages like LENS ERROR start appearing... =(
developer note: User did not provide any specifics. As described above, the specific circumstances of the error should be described in a forum post. Without any details, the report is useless.

SX120[]

SX130[]

IXUS110/SD960[]

IXUS160[]

G11[]

  • 2010 A G11 with firmware 100k reportedly created files with exif date 1/1/1970 after loading CHDK. The problem persisted without CHDK, and was only resolved by Canon service. No firmware dump was obtained. forum thread
  • 2010 A G11 with firmware 100j reportedly crashed while accessing some Canon menu items after loading CHDK for 100f. No firmware dump was obtained. forum thread
  • 2021 A G11 with firmware 100k crashed on startup, except when started in clock mode by holding SET + PLAY. Five words in ROM with addresses ending in AA4 were found to have some 1s changed to 0, implying flash was written, rather than faded due to age. Root cause unclear, error reported after lens replacement and installing CHDK. Worked around using cache lockdown fix or bypass the affected words. CHDK forum thread, CHDKDE forum thread

Disproven reports[]

A2000[]


Definitions[]

Confirmed[]

A mechanism by which CHDK causes damage has been positively identified, or other evidence has established beyond reasonable doubt that CHDK causes some specific error.

Unconfirmed[]

A reported of a camera malfunction in association with CHDK, without other obvious causes.

Readers should be aware that

  • Humans tend to assume there is a causal relationship when events happen close together, even if there is none.
  • If a camera damaging bug exists, it will most likely affect many users of the camera, so a single occurrence on a widely used port is likely to be coincidental.
  • A failure that reduced the service life of some component would be very difficult to confirm.

Disproven[]

A reported failure for which other causes were conclusively found, e.g. a hardware failure. Collecting these may help others who experience the same problem.

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