How to dump firmware?

[gwynevans]

Anyone got any pointers as to what would be involved in dumping firmware such that someone with a UK 505 could dump their 1.2 firmware and the result could be added to the Universal Flasher/PRSCustomiser?

[igorsk]

I have the dumps of the UK and (just got it today) the FR versions. I'll be updating Universal Flasher to deal with those versions.

[gwynevans]

I wondered when I was posting it, if I should just PM you instead! :-)

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by igorsk

I have the dumps of the UK and (just got it today) the FR versions. I'll be updating Universal Flasher to deal with those versions.

That's very good news igorsk - I assume this is the UK firmware I sent you? As I hadn't heard from you for a while I was wondering...but I didn't want to pester you again.

[gwynevans]

If you've still got a dump, I'd be interested in taking a look? (It might not be anything I can make sense of, so don't expect anything, but I'm curious!)

[JeffElkins]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

That's very good news igorsk - I assume this is the UK firmware I sent you? As I hadn't heard from you for a while I was wondering...but I didn't want to pester you again.

Shellshock, how did you dump the firmware?

[sealbeater]

Originally Posted by JeffElkins

Shellshock, how did you dump the firmware?

I would like to know as well.

[porkupan]

Originally Posted by JeffElkins

how did you dump the firmware?

One can dump firmware with an autorun script, basically copying its cramfs image from a /dev/mtdX file onto the SD card.

[guguy]

Originally Posted by igorsk

I have the dumps of the UK and (just got it today) the FR versions. I'll be updating Universal Flasher to deal with those versions.

I've bought a French PRS-505 last week and its firmware is version 1.3.---
(but everything is in english), is it the version you have igorsk ?
If it isn't I could dump it, just give me your script.

I also have a CD of eBook Library software v2.4.

[igorsk]

Yes, I have version 1.3.00.22070.

[guguy]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Yes, I have version 1.3.00.22070.

By the way, why didn't sony release this version on the internet ?
Is there any difference with the current official version ?

[gwynevans]

Maybe the date or number format? 1.1 (US) has mm/dd/yyyy (if I recall correctly) whereas 1.2 (UK) has dd/mm/yyyy?

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by gwynevans

Maybe the date or number format? 1.1 (US) has mm/dd/yyyy (if I recall correctly) whereas 1.2 (UK) has dd/mm/yyyy?

France I believe uses the same date format, so their firmware should be 1.2 too. I'm interested in the diff between 1.2 and 1.3. I'm guessing there's more to these country-specific firmwares than date changes...

[JeffElkins]

Originally Posted by Valloric

France I believe uses the same date format, so their firmware should be 1.2 too. I'm interested in the diff between 1.2 and 1.3. I'm guessing there's more to these country-specific firmwares than date changes...

Well, as long as we're guessing, I'll guess it's marketing and eventually book-sales related. So far I haven't found any significant diffs between the US xml and UK xml. Date format appears to be hard-coded and not handled by the xml. I'm testing a common set of xml files for 1.1 and 1.2 and it seems to function w/o problems no matter which version Fsk.img I use.

There are some changes in the binaries:

                         UK      US
ebook.so         76628     76180
kbook.so        109236   109164
libtinyhttp.so  1034796 1034800

[igorsk]

The UK firmware is basically the same, the date format is changed and an error message added in case the book deletion fails. The French firmware is quite advanced, they added switchable localization, customizable date format, proper (locale-specific) title sorting and grouping.