Hacking the FLIR E4 thermal camera (2.3.0 resolution and menu hack)

Update 17 Dec 2015: New E4 cameras are coming with firmware version 2.8.0. The hacks cannot be applied on those cameras, however there’s some indication that it’s possible to downgrade to 2.3.0 firmware and then apply the hacks. Results so far have been inconclusive, with some cameras getting bricked in the process. If you have a 2.8.0 camera please wait and stay tuned. I will post an updated guide as soon as the problem will be sorted out. Thanks!

 

The FLIR Ex series is the latest line of entry-level thermal imaging cameras by FLIR Systems. The cheapest of the series is E4 with a resolution of 80 by 60 pixels, while the top of the range E8 has a 320 by 240 thermal image resolution.

 

However, Mike from Mike’s Electric Stuff in this teardown video found that the E4 camera is equipped with the same 320 x 240 sensor as the E8 and it is simply software limited to 80 by 60.

In this article I will describe step-by-step the procedure to unleash the full potential of the FLIR E4 and effectively convert it to an E8.

See here for some before and after the resolution upgrade photos: http://toolguyd.com/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-enhancements/

Also see this video to get an idea of how the extended menus look like:

The procedures, scripts, hacks, etc. are not mine. The hack is the result of the hard work of several people from the EEVblog forum and specifically this thread. However, this thread is becoming quite a beast and all the good info is scattered all over the place.

What I am trying to do here is to make a clearly laid out guide for performing the hack, without having to rummage through the 500 pages of the original forum thread.

Warning!

This guide is only for the E4 cameras with the 2.3.0 firmware. You can find the firmware version by going to Settings, Device Settings, Camera information, Software.

Edited April 15 2015:

If your camera has an older firmware, upgrade it first to 2.3.0 and then perform the hack.

There seems to be some issue with cameras that have been upgraded from 1.xx to 2.3.0. For the time being it is recommended to NOT upgrade the camera and use the hack technique for 1.xx firmwares described in the eevblog thread instead. I hope this  problem will be sorted out soon!

If it has a firmware version greater than 2.3.0 you’ll have to wait until a new hack comes out. Check the EEVblog thread for updates.

This modification involves replacing some important files from within the camera’s internal operating system. The hack so far has been successfully performed on hundreds of E4 cameras, however when meddling with OS files there’s always the possibility of something going wrong and the camera may end up permanently BRICKED!

Don’t blame me if this happens!

Also performing this hack could result into voiding the warranty and/or legal action against you from FLIR Systems or the United States government.

You are entirely on your own here.

I will also show the procedure to revert the camera back to its original state. But it is quite possible that there are tamper counters inside the camera. In that case, even if the camera is reverted back to normal, FLIR repair personnel will still be able to tell if the camera has been tampered with and may void your warranty.

 

Prerequisites

Enough with the disclaimers, let’s cut to the chase!

What you will need:

1. A computer running Windows XP 32 bit or Windows 7 32 bit.

There have been some reports of the hack being successfully deployed from Windows 8, 8.1 or 64 bit Windows versions, but it’s mostly hit-and-miss.

So it is strongly recommended to find a Windows XP or 7, 32 bit PC. To see which version of Windows you have, right click on My Computer and select Properties.

The image below is from my laptop, Windows 8.1 AND 64 bit, not good!

windows version

It also works from a virtual machine too. Actually, all screenshots below are from a Win7 x32 virtual machine running on Oracle VM Virtualbox. However, and especially if you don’t have experience in using virtual machines, I’d recommend to use a physical machine.

 

2. FLIR device drivers

Download and install the drivers from here: http://cdn.cloud.flir.se/swdownload/assets/other/flir_device_drivers.exe

 

3. FLIR Tools

This is the older 4.1 version that is compatible with XP too. Download and install them from here: http://cdn.cloud.flir.se/update/flir tools/4.1.14066.1001/flir tools.zip

 

4. Python 2.x

Python is a programming language and is needed for running the hack scripts. Don’t get the newer 3.x versions!

Download it from here: https://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.9/python-2.7.9.msi

When this dialog comes up during the installation, click the little box on the left of Python and select “Entire feature will be installed on local drive”, then click next and finish the installation.

python

Edited, 21/09/2015: When the installer finishes, restart the computer, else the python scripts described later in this guide might not run properly.  (thanks to marcins, from the comments)

5. Filezilla

Filezilla is a free FTP client. We will use it to move files to and from the camera filesystem. Download it from here: https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client

 

6. Script pack

Download the script pack from this link: FLIR_E4_2.3.0_hack

This pack contains the files found here and the 2.3.0_menu_2014_EX_6_fix.zip found here. I am not taking credit for any of these. I simply combined all these files into a single convenient zip file.

There are three folders in the zipped file, FLIRfif, FLIRmenuhack and FLIRreshack. Copy these folders to the root of the system hard drive (C:\).

 

General description of the hack

The procedure can be broken down in three parts

  1. Switching camera to RNDIS mode
  2. Increasing resolution to 320 x 240 (resolution hack)
  3. Enabling PIP, extra measuring options, color palettes, etc (menu hack)

 

Switching camera to RNDIS mode

Normally, when the camera is connected to a PC via USB it is recognized as an external storage device (similar to a USB stick) and the captured photos can be accessed. By turning the RNDIS mode on, the camera is converted to a virtual FTP server and then we can gain access to the embedded OS files.

Assuming you have installed all the software and drivers I mentioned earlier, we can start.

The first step is to connect the camera to the PC using the USB cable provided. Windows will detect the camera and automatically install the drivers:

driver installation

When the installation is complete, navigate to C:\Program Files\FLIR Systems\FLIR Tools\bin\ and run FLIRInstallNet.exe

(Since we will be using this program a lot, it is a good idea to make a shortcut to the desktop)

Under Camera you should see FLIR USB video. That means the drivers were installed correctly and the tool can communicate with the camera.

Hit Browse… , navigate to C:\FLIRfif, select Set_RNDIS_permament.fif and hit the Run FIF button.

rndis permanent

Don’t worry about the permament [sic] in the file name, this can always be reverted by repeating the procedure using the Remove_RNDIS_permament.fif file instead.

When the program has finished running, remove and replace the battery from the camera to do a hard reset (the camera doesn’t turn off completely with the on-off button, it simply goes to low-power mode).

Turn the camera on. Windows will again start searching for drivers, because now it is in RNDIS mode and needs a different set of drivers.

Note:

When the camera is in RNDIS mode and connected to the computer, it is possible that your Internet connection will go down. This is normal and your Internet connection will be automatically restored when the camera is disconnected.

So, don’t do anything that requires Internet at the same time!

When it has finished, go to Start, Run… (or alternatively, press the Windows logo button on the keyboard and ‘R’ at the same time). On the window that pops up type cmd and press enter.

This will bring up the command line interface. Now type ipconfig and press enter. This will do an enumeration of all network interfaces currently on the computer. Scroll a bit to the top and you should see this:

ipconfig

The word INFRARED is a dead giveaway!

Write down the Default Gateway. This is the IP of the camera, in this case 192.168.0.2

There have been reports that if the 192.168.0.x network is already taken, the camera will switch to 192.168.1.2, etc.

Now run Fillezilla. On the quick connect boxes enter the host IP (192.168.0.2 in this case), username: flir and password: 3vlig and hit Quickconnect.

 

filezilla

If you haven’t used Filezilla before, there are two main panes. The pane on the left shows the local filesystem, ie. the files and folders of your computer. The right pane shows the remote device files and folders, in this case the files inside the E4 camera.

So far we haven’t really modified anything, so it is a good idea to make a full backup of the camera files. Select a folder on the left pane, where the backup will be stored. Then select all files and folders in the right pane, right click and select Download.

Some files and folders will fail to transfer, that’s normal. Note that some of these files are UNIQUE for your camera. You can’t simply copy the files from another E4, it won’t work since they are different files. So keep these files safe in case something goes wrong.

Resolution hack

Now we are ready to do the resolution hack. Close Filezilla and bring up the command line interface (Windows key + R, cmd)

Type cd \flirreshack and hit Enter

then type python apply.py apply 192.168.0.2 (or whatever the camera IP is) and hit Enter

If you get: ‘python’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. then you forgot to tick the PATH option during the Python installation. Re-install python with the option enabled.

This is the expected output after running the script:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\user>cd \flirreshack

C:\FLIRreshack>python apply.py apply 192.168.0.2


E4HACK-2 v0.4

            **** DISCLAIMER ****

- You do this on your own risk.
- By using this tool, you agree that you will
  remove the hack before selling the device.
- TO REPEAT: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES you are allowed
  to sell a device that has this hack installed.
- Please also uninstall the hack before attempting
  to do any firmware upgrade.
- This was only tested with a factory 2.3.0 E4.


IF ANY OF THIS FAILS AND YOU NEED TO RESTORE THE ORIGINAL
CONTENTS MANUALLY: (which you shouldn't need to, but just
in case...)

A backup directory of relevant files is created for each "apply".
Simply upload the files manually using FTP. You may have to run
"stopapp" before you can overwrite common_dll.dll.

Make sure you keep a good backup of your .CFC files. They are
strong-signed so if you lose all your backups and the on-device
files, _THEY ARE GONE_.

(This script backs them up when you "apply", though.)

 = CONNECT TO FTP
 = CREATING BACKUP DIR backup-20150330124652
 = RETR /FlashBFS/system/common_dll.dll
 = RETR /FlashFS/system/appcore.d/config.d/conf.cfc
Applying 1 bytes of delta at 000053c7
Applying 1 bytes of delta at 000aeedf
Applying 4652 bytes of delta at 0000042c
 * stopping application...
 *  uploading common_dll.dll to /FlashBFS/system/
 * failed (error_perm('550 File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).',
)).
 * attempt 2
 * failed (error_perm('550 File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).',
)).
 * attempt 3
 * failed (error_perm('550 File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).',
)).
 * attempt 4
 *  uploading conf.cfc to /FlashFS/system/appcore.d/config.d/
 * PLEASE HARD-REBOOT DEVICE.

C:\FLIRreshack>

The script retrieves files /FlashBFS/System/common_dll.dll and /FlashFS/System/appcore.d/config.d/conf.cfc and backs them up in the backup-xxxxxxxxxxxx folder. Beware, the backed up files are UNIQUE to your camera, if you lose them you will never be able to revert it to its original state. So take good care to not delete them.

Then it generates a new common_dll.dll and conf.cfc files (saved in C:\FLIRreshack\) and replaces the original files in the camera with the generated ones. As seen in the printout, the script returns a 550 error, but after a few retries it manages to push them through.

Hard reboot the camera by removing and replacing the battery. Turn on the camera again. The crosshair will be off-center. Disable it from the camera menu and re-enable it and it should be centered again.

Now the thermal image should be much crispier. Congratulations, you now have a 320 x 240 resolution!

 

Reverting the resolution hack

To remove the resolution hack and bring the camera back to its original state,

First make sure that the camera is in RNDIS mode and check with ipconfig as shown in the Switching camera to RNDIS mode section of this guide.

Copy the original common_dll.dll and conf.cfc files from the backup folder (C:\FLIRreshack\backup-xxxxxxxxxxxx) to C:\FLIRreshack\. This will overwrite the modified files, but it doesn’t matter because they can be generated again with the method shown above.

Then type python apply.py revert 192.168.0.2

This should push original files back to the camera and bring the resolution to the original 80 by 60.

 

Menu Hack

You can do the menu hack independently from the resolution hack. To do it, first make sure the camera is in RNDIS mode with ipconfig.

Then connect to the camera with Filezilla as shown before. Using the right pane, navigate to /FlashFS/System/appcore.d/config.d/ and right click on the conf.cfc file and download it to C:\FLIRmenuhack\

menuhack

Go to command line interface (Windows key + R, cmd) and type:

cd \FLIRmenuhack

python menu_conf_e4.py

 

menuhack2

This will rename the original conf.cfc file you just downloaded from the camera to conf_reso_only.cfc and generate a new conf.cfc in C:\FLIRmenuhack.

Using Filezilla again, replace the conf.cfc found in /FlashFS/System/appcore.d/config.d/ with the one you just generated.

Then, run FLIRInstallNet.exe from C:\Program Files\FLIR Systems\FLIR Tools\bin\

Select the 2.3.0_Menu.fif from C:\FLIRfif\ and click on Run FIF.

menuhack3

When it finishes, your camera will have the E8 menu options!

 

Reverting the Menu Hack

To revert the menu hack, run FLIRInstallNet.exe from C:\Program Files\FLIR Systems\FLIR Tools\bin\

Select the 2.3.0_Menu_Restore.fif from C:\FLIRfif\ and click on Run FIF.

Then take conf_reso_only.cfc found in C:\FLIRmenuhack, rename it to conf.cfc and upload it to /FlashFS/System/appcore.d/config.d/ overwriting the file under the same name that is already there.

Do a hard reset on the camera and when restarted you should see the original E4 menus.

 

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166 Responses

  1. dp says:

    This is good single source of info.

    However I have tried on two different Win7 machines.

    I get :

    = CONNECT TO FTP
    = CREATING BACKUP DIR backup-20150401094151
    = RETR /FlashBFS/system/common_dll.dll
    = RETR /FlashFS/system/appcore.d/config.d/conf.cfc
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File “apply.py”, line 70, in
    http://ftp.retrbinary(“RETR ” + name, tmpfile.write)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 414, in retrbinary
    conn = self.transfercmd(cmd, rest)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 376, in transfercmd
    return self.ntransfercmd(cmd, rest)[0]
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 339, in ntransfercmd
    resp = self.sendcmd(cmd)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 249, in sendcmd
    return self.getresp()
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 224, in getresp
    raise error_perm, resp
    ftplib.error_perm: 550 File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).

    conf.cfc is in Filezilla , so it appears python can’t access the file.

    Any hints ?

    Thanks

    • fubar says:

      Something weird is going on with your Python installation.

      Try this:

      1) Uninstall Python by going to Windows Start menu, All Programs, and click the Python 2.7 folder. Right click Uninstall Python and select Run as Administrator. (for some reason I couldn’t uninstall it from the control panel)

      2) I updated the Python installation section in the article. In short, re-install Python and at one point it will ask about what features to install. Click on the box next to Python at the top and select “Entire feature will be installed on local drive”.

      I hope this does the trick!

  2. M says:

    Is this full menu hack like in hack old firmware?

    Image Mode
    Picture in a Picture
    Thermal Blending

    Measurement
    Auto Hot Spot
    Auto Cold Spot
    Delta Hot Spot – Spot
    Delta Hot Spot – Temp

    Temperature scale
    Manual

    Color
    Blue Below
    Red Above
    Rainbow high contrast
    White hot
    Black hot
    Artic
    Lava
    Detect Condensation
    Detect insulation deficiencies
    Interval

    Zoom (Digital)
    1x
    2x
    4x
    8x

    • fubar says:

      All these, plus there’s a 3 spot measurement mode (hot, cold and center spot at the same time.) This is why some people call it an E8+ hack. The camera after the hack has more features than a standard E8.

  3. Sakke says:

    I have Windows XP
    I got error message
    ‘python’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
    I resolved in CMD (xp, command pront) mode it something like this:
    assoc .py=Python.File
    after that
    ftype Python.File=C:\Python27\python.exe
    after that it works

    A little problem fith menu hack I have:
    I dont have:
    picture in picture menu
    In color menu i dont have Gray
    In temperature menu their is not manual, only basic auto and lock
    There is not digital Zoom menu

    Thanks by Sakke form Finland

    • fubar says:

      That was quite a convoluted way of solving the problem and I suspect this is the reason why the menus are incomplete.

      I suggest the following:

      Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, and select Environment Variables.

      On System Variables, there should be a variable called “Path”. Select it and click Edit… Click on the box next to Variable Value. Using the arrow keys go to the end of the long string and add “;C:\Python27\;C:\Python27\Scripts” without the quotemarks.

      Save the changes and restart the computer.

      Revert both hacks and bring the camera to its original state, then hack it again.

  4. Bill says:

    Great work you did! Thanks for the info.
    I have the older E4 fw 1.19.8 and have applied the hacks to my camera (resolution and menu) and it has been wonderful! but had to go through the “manual method” of calculating CRC, uploading with filezilla, etc., but it was VERY much worth it!
    I noticed on your screenshots that in the menu for image mode, on the far left of the menu bar there is an up/down “arrow”. What is that for? My hack doesn’t have that.
    Also, the image blending feature. I would REALLY like that on mine. Do you know if there is a hack for these features for my camera firmware?

    Thanks again for your hard work and the great description!

    • fubar says:

      Thank you for your nice comments!

      The up/down icon is the parallax correction and is available on the stock 2.3.0 menus too. Since the visible and thermal cameras on the E4 are offset by a few millimeters, they see at things from a slightly different angle. The result is that in MSX or blending mode and especially when viewing objects from a short distance, the two images will be out of alignment. By selecting this icon, you can set the approximate distance between the camera and the viewed object and the camera will automatically align the two images.

      I have no idea of how to add these features to your camera, apart from reverting the hack, upgrading to 2.3.0 firmware and reapplying the hack.

  5. Bill says:

    Another comment…
    About the power button. I think that if you hold the button for about 10 seconds, the camera goes past the standby or sleep to complete shutdown.
    Don’t know if these newer versions do this, but the pre 2.x versions do.

  6. Doug says:

    I just updated my E4 from V1.x to V2.3.0. I had the resolution and menu hacks installed in 1.x but I wanted to update to 2.3 to get the visible / IR parallax adjustment.

    After updtated to 2.3.0:
    /FlashFS/system/appcore.d/config.d/conf.cfg = 6297 bytes according to FileZilla

    I tried running the python script to do the resolution hack but the script bombed out similar to DP above.
    Below are the exact lines when I run the python script. I’m now stuck in low resolution mode. 🙁
    Can anyone help?

    Thanks,
    Doug

    = CONNECT TO FTP
    = CREATING BACKUP DIR backup-20150413224841
    = RETR /FlashBFS/system/common_dll.dll
    = RETR /FlashFS/system/appcore.d/config.d/conf.cfc
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File “C:\FLIRreshack\apply.py”, line 70, in
    http://ftp.retrbinary(“RETR ” + name, tmpfile.write)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 414, in retrbinary
    conn = self.transfercmd(cmd, rest)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 376, in transfercmd
    return self.ntransfercmd(cmd, rest)[0]
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 339, in ntransfercmd
    resp = self.sendcmd(cmd)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 249, in sendcmd
    return self.getresp()
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 224, in getresp
    raise error_perm, resp
    ftplib.error_perm: 550 File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).

    • fubar says:

      I’m out of town right now, so can you please send me your conf.cfc and common_dll.dll files? I’ll look into them as soon as I return. My email is admin@fubar.gr

      Looks like the script has some problem retrieving the files from the camera. Could be something as simple as changing file permissions with Filezilla.

      In the meanwhile, why don’t you post a question in the eevblog thread?

  7. Doug says:

    Thanks much for the fast reply. I didn’t notice it until after I had posted, but it turns out that the config.cfc above is conf.cfg, not conf.cfc. There is no conf.cfc file on my E4 the requisite directory so I’m guessing that is why the python script was upset. I don’t know why I don’t have a conf.cfc nor what the distinction is between a .cfg and a .cfc file other than g vs c, so I’m pretty much clueless. I’ll email you the conf.cfg file and common_dll.dll files. Meanwhile tmbinc from eevblog has offered to take a look at the files too. I’ll post to eevblog and this comment chain with any results.

    Thanks again!
    Doug

  8. dp says:

    I’m still investigating on mine. The conf.cfg isn’t visible to the python script, but can be visible in filezilla, I say can be because on one WIn7 PC it is and another it isn’t, but never visible to the python script. There is a slim chance it is something to do with the RNDIS mode as I have been using the hidden menu option to set RNDIS, but have also tried the method in the article.

  9. garrett says:

    Hello, I did the resolution last January, today I did the menu hack, everything went smooth just like in your guide for the menu hack
    but the result was a disaster; the resolution is back to 80×60 pixels, and the menu has only a few new items.
    See also my reply @ EEVblog for the flir e4 hack page 557 (garrett64)

  10. Yuriy says:

    Hack done on Win 7 64 without any issues. Thanks for helpfull post!!!

  11. max-bit says:

    I have a problem
    E4 updated firmware 1.19 to version 2.3.0
    Unfortunately it does not work HACK MENU
    First, the file extension “conf” is a .cfg ( my camera) and according to the description on this page conf.cfc? (new camera)
    Secondly, when trying to use a Python script, there is a mistake:

    applying 5178 bytes of delta at 000004d8
    traceback (most recent call last:)
    file “menu_conf_e4.py” line 12, in
    assert len(d) == len(delta)
    assertionerror …

    E8 menu exists but it is incomplete.
    Does not work “MENU free enhancend menu”
    etc …

    Does anyone know the solution?

    PS
    Camera had a previous hack to version 1.19

    Hack resolution from what I’ve seen has been maintained from the previous hack.
    I also wrote to the people of the website “fubar” because that’s where the problem was also prompted tem.
    Does anyone know what is the difference between conf.cfg files and conf.cfc (conf.cfc are in newer releases of cameras)

    • fubar says:

      The hack as is works only on cameras that originally came with the 2.3.o firmware, not on upgraded ones. People in the eevblog forum are working on it, so hopefully there will be some solution soon.

      It is interesting however that the resolution hack in your camera persisted after the firmware upgrade. This is an indication that the new .cfg file is derived from the .cfc already in the camera, and not simply overwritten with some generic file.

  12. max-bit says:

    And this is in a thread on the forum eevblog? Because I do not see.
    Q: What is the difference cfg files and cfc?

  13. max-bit says:

    Oh … for now 🙂 Forum quietly in this case 🙂
    Generally, you would have to give too clearly in the description of the procedure hack to understand not to raise the software to version 2.3.0 from version 1.19.
    Until the update procedure will be known hack (menu) on the firmware update. on the cameras

  14. znz says:

    Perfectly working on E4 2.3.0 with win7 32bit without any issues, now it is a working machine 😉

    This post is probably the only post people come to see over internet if they want to upgrade their E4 quickly.

    Thanks for all the works you put into the post, and all the hard works from EEVBLOG 🙂

  15. marcin says:

    Unfortunately, the topic of the problem files conf.cfc / conf.cfg on forum eevblog no one take.
    No one even wants to talk about the file structure conf.cfc and conf.cfg?!
    Is it possible to go back software from 2.3.0 to the previous ver soft 1.19.8?

  16. Garball says:

    I have a new E4 out of the box with firmware 2.3. I followed the instructions to the letter and there’s a problem right away. On my Windows 7 64 bit, There is no sub-directory under FLIR Systems called ‘Tools’, and thus no FLIRInstallNet.exe. What am I doing wrong? I also never got the ‘Driver Installation’ screen when running the driver install. It appears to run in the background. Tried running it again and it says it’s already installed. When I plug in the camera, Windows does detect it and opens up the file manager window to show it being mapped to drive H.

    • fubar says:

      The driver installation window is normally minimized to the Notification Area, on the right hand side of the Windows Taskbar.

      I have no idea why FLIR tools didn’t install properly, maybe it would be best to try again on another computer.

      • Garball says:

        FLIR tools is installed and the application runs. It’s FLIRInstallNet.exe and the programs in the folder I originally posted that isn’t installing.

        • Garball says:

          For some reason, it’s now installed after a second attempt. Will keep you posted.

  17. Dixon says:

    It works on my win 7 x64! It’s a great index for hacking E4!

  18. Garball says:

    This really isn’t going according to the above plan. Ran Flirinstallnet.ext, it didn’t show ‘flir USB video’ until I pulled down the drop down menu and selected it. When I did that, I browsed for the set_rndis_permanent.fif file and the Run FiF button was grayed out until I did it a second time! Ran this time with the correct messages as in this post. Then disconnected the battery, reconnected it and camera went back into USB mode. Nothing came up in ipconfig. Tried it twice. I have a bad feeling about this!

  19. Garball says:

    Part of the problem I see here is following the instructions to the letter. For example, it was neccessary to turn the camera on prior to pulling the battery for it to go into RNDIS mode. Got that working now. IP is however 192.168.1.1. Problem is now in FileZilla as follows:

    Status: Connection attempt failed with “ECONNREFUSED – Connection refused by server”.
    Error: Could not connect to server
    Status: Waiting to retry…

  20. Dixon says:

    One more question: can I switch the USB mode back after hacking?

    • fubar says:

      Of course. Run the Remove_RNDIS_permament.fif with FLIRinstallNet and the camera will switch back to USB mode

      • Dino says:

        Oh Noo its Impossible!
        I tryed to switch the Camera to RNDIS mode
        But I think it’s broken now. I can’t get acess to the camera again. its not listed in “IP Config” and not listed in FLIRInstall. And i can’t get acess viva USB.

        What can i do? The Camera still works but i can’t connect. It always says “Driver installed” if i uninstall and install the driver again but no ipconfig at all…

        Please help

  21. Tim says:

    Great job Fubar. Works great in Windows 7 for me.

    Could not get device connection or IP from Windows 8.1. Also attempted to do it in Windows 7 Oracle VM, but also could not get device to recognize on USB.

    Thanks again.

    • Daniel E. says:

      hi i got the same problem, i perform the hack and it was ok, but when i try to download the images windows do not recognizes the device.

      i hope you can help me too.

      Thanks a lot.

  22. John Koudal says:

    Can this resolution hack be done on an E40bx also?
    And if so, will it need a menu hack as well?

    Thanks in advance

  23. Mikhail says:

    Thank you so much for this very detailed guide!
    I’ve just finished upgrading my E4. Used Windows XP running in VirtualBox on Ubuntu.
    The only trouble was that both after resolution hack and after menu hack I couldn’t get the camera connecting for quite some time.
    Tried rebooting camera, OS, restarting network connection, etc. Both times the camera eventually showed up but I’m not sure what actions led to this.
    Once again, thank you and all the contributors from the EEVblog!

    • Brendan says:

      Hello, I am trying to do the same using Virtual Box, but with Windows 7 32-bit VM. I have been unable to connect the camera to the VM. Every time the camera connects, the VM Windows tries and fails to download the drivers. I tried to point it to the folder where the drivers I downloaded from this page were. Im inexperienced with VM USB issues, Any ideas? Should I download latest drivers from FLIR site?

      • fubar says:

        I think the problem lies with Virtualbox. I recently updated Virtualbox to the latest version and had similar problems with USB. Try downloading this version, I think it is the one I used back when I was writing the guide: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Download_Old_Builds_3_0

      • JimmyJane says:

        Hey buddy, I also had the same problem. The fix is that you need the virtualbox extension pack to enable usb 2.0 and 3.0. You can just download this from their website. I used Virtualbox 5.2 and then installed the extension pack, as soon as I did this, everything started working and finished everything within minutes. I had 2.11 and applied both the menu and the resolution hack.

  24. max-bit says:

    Can anybody answer the question already posed above (conf.cfc and conf.cfg)
    Nobody knows anything?

  25. max-bit says:

    And someone can provide conf.cfc file? (e.g.?)
    I myself will compare these files ….

  26. Lance says:

    For resolution hack I’m getting:

    = CONNECT TO FTP
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File “apply.py”, line 55, in
    Ftp =ftp
    .

    • Lance says:

      For resolution jack in getting

      =CONNECT TO FTP

      TRACEBACK (most recent call last):

      file “apply.py”, line55, in

      ftp = FTP

      File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 120, in __init__

      self.connect

      File “C:\Python27\lib\ftlib.py” line 135 in connect

      self.sock = socket.create_connection< self.timeout>

      File “C:\ Python27\lib\socket.py”, line 571 in create_connection

      raise err

      socket.error: [Errno 10051] A socket operation was attempted to an unreachable network

  27. cruzer says:

    http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg607266/#msg607266

    I hacked my E4 with your guide and success。 Then I update my E4 menu with “2.3.0 Menu 2014 advanced update”, but when I finished I found the menu fewer,“Delta Hot Spot – Spot” and “ Delta Hot Spot – Temp” disappeared,setting menu has no new options,Do you know where the problem yet? Thinks。

    • fubar says:

      I’ve never tried installing the advanced menu so I have no idea. I’ve come to the conclusion that the most important upgrade is the resolution hack. Most of the menu options are just gimmicks. You can do all these later if you want in FLIR tools.

      • cruzer says:

        Yes,I also found that the addition of the menu can be found and used in FLIR Tool . Thank you very much.

      • Nick says:

        Agree. Resolution upgrade seems the most important thing. The additional menu add-ons also take up processing/memory space.

  28. Thiago says:

    Hi there.

    Simple question here. I got a Flir E6 (didn’t know about the res hack before buying). Since all Ex cameras are the same below the surface, all hacks apply to E6 too?

    I know it got a good res, but a upgrade is always welcome. 🙂

    I bought it in August ’14, and recently updated to 2.3.0 (before it was 1.x.x – can’t remember the specific version).

    Anyone knows if the hack works for it?

    Thanks in advance.

    • fubar says:

      This hack can only be performed on cameras that came originally from factory with the 2.3.0 firmware. Upgraded cameras have a messed up filesystem that cannot be hacked, at least up to now.

      The only option is to leave it to 1.9.x firmware and use the old hack method described in the EEVblog forum. As far as I know there’s no way to downgrade the camera to a previous firmware.

      Maybe sometime somebody comes up with a new hack procedure for upgraded cameras, but for now you’re stuck!

  29. Rob says:

    Just want to say FUBAR you’re a legend.
    The reason I bought a Flir and didn’t even look at the competitors was because of this hack. I was going to get an e5 or e6 but saved myself thousands now.
    My brand new e4 turned up on Thursday and I did this hack two days later on a windows 7 64 bit system with no problems.
    My menu doesn’t have as many options as the video but has heaps more colours.
    For those still deciding whether this hack is worth it, the picture quality is a MASSIVE improvement. I wasn’t impressed with the original pixelated picture but as soon as I turned it on after this hack I was very impressed:-)

    Rob.
    http://www.bunburypestandweed.net.au

  30. Nick says:

    Does anyone know if the image counter can be reset? It seems that when you delete images from the camera, the image counter doesn’t revert to zero: i.e., new saved images get labeled with the next number in the image sequence as if the other images were still on file.

    This may just be an annoyance, unless it somehow eventually affects the ability to store future images…Also, not sure if this affects the original factory firmware or upgraded firmware.

    And another question regarding the camera settings for “Reset” (“reset default camera mode” and “reset device settings to factory default”), do you know if this will mess up the resolution and/or menu upgrades?

    Thanks

    • Nick says:

      I went ahead and did the factory default reset and this reset the image counter to zero and it doesn’t change the resolution when I tried it on an upgraded camera.

  31. marcin says:

    I repeated how to resolve a full upgrade to version 1.19.8 of cameras 2.3.0 (with full hack) online eevblog
    http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/7185/

  32. Mike says:

    just got the E4 new in the box with 2.3.0 , i am an industrial hvac mechanic and having this tool avaliable for checking motors , pumps & contactor etc. during maintenence is an awesome tool to have. The stock picture SUCKs for the 1000 dollar price tag would somone be able to assist me with this avaliabe upgrade process? Thanks for any help.

  33. John says:

    Just performed hack and all went as stated but resolution got worse instead of better. Can anyone explain this?

    • akiz says:

      same as John the resolution got worse ./..but new menu appears … what to check iout

  34. Andrew says:

    Just went through this, didn’t see to add file conf_reso_only.cfc to the menu hack. Started up the camera and got an appcore.exe error. Went to do a factory reset from my backup and the FTP password is now bad. Any help?

    • fubar says:

      I’ve got that error too sometimes, for no apparent reason. Try removing the battery for a couple of minutes to hard-reset the camera.

  35. Norm says:

    Interested to see the outcome from John and akiz issue before preforming the upgrade

  36. fubar says:

    Yeah, that’s weird. Can you guys post some photos after the hack?

  37. E4Fan says:

    Can not get my E4 out of RNDIS mode! FLIRInstallNet.exe no longer see’s my E4! What do I do?

  38. Mike says:

    I have flir E4 OS 1.19.8 (01.2014 )
    I have good resolution (320_240) but i don’t have a E8 menu (zoom and other features) Can I upgrade this device?

    • fubar says:

      First of all, Do not upgrade the firmware! There is a guide for upgrading the menu specifically for 1.19 cameras in the eevblog forum

  39. mrweek says:

    I upgrade my cam successfully with rom E4 1.2L 2.3.0, Thanks for the excellent information.
    The watermark “flir” in the lower left corner is missing after the upgrade,
    but some people posted the photos in forum, the watermark is still there although the cam is upgraded.
    I wonder to know can I control the watermark display on the screen and how ?
    Thanks a lot ^i^

  40. Kong-star says:

    I tried it today with a new flir e4. Despite the dealers protestations that the firmware had been upgraded to “later than 2.3”, the mod worked perfectly. I followed your instructions together with my 13 year old son and every step worked exactly as you suggested that it would!
    So thanks again for the needful work – much appreciated !

    Ps I did check the firmware when the camera arrived and it was 2.3 😉

  41. Lou says:

    At the top of the page you say that this will only work with an E4. I have the E5 with 2.3.0. Will this modification work with it? Thanks…

    • fubar says:

      The E5 is hackable too, but the process and the files needed are slightly different, so instead of writing several different guides for each of the E-series cameras I decided to focus solely on the E4 which I believe is the most popular one.

      For your E5 you’ll have to follow the relevant guide in the EEVblog forum.

      • Lou says:

        I have searched the EEVblog with no success. Have only found E4 info. Can you point me in the correct direction for search terms.???

        • fubar says:

          Ok, I went back and re-read everything. As far as the resolution hack is concerned, it seems that my guide can be applied to the E5 too, as is, without any modifications.

          The menu hack might be a bit trickier though.

          You could try proceeding with the resolution hack. Check first if the conf.cfc file in your camera is 6336 bytes long. If it is a different size the hack won’t work.

          Problem is that I personally haven’t tested it on an E5 and I believe neither has anyone from the EEVblog forum, so you’re on your own here

          • Lou says:

            Thanks, I am only interested in the resolution improvement. Will do a full back up and then give it a try.

  42. Olaf says:

    Nice manual… also the potholes are described well for a ,,I use windows only when I get payed for”-Linuxer. Excpet how to get a filezilla-version which runs under XP nowadays… But now the post mid 2015 bought E4 is also an E4to8+
    Thanks from nother germany

  43. marcins says:

    hi please add to tutorial that after install Python on win 7 32bit a reboot windows is required
    after reboot script works

  44. Lee says:

    Hi I upgraded to 2.3.0 and then made ​​the resolution of hack.
    I describe here is what happened:
    The Resolution stay at 320 but when I take a picture I get an error message appcore and sometimes appears that do not have SD card .
    Undid the hack Resolution, lost good image but can take pictures again.
    Has anyone had this problem ?

  45. Tinkerhaus says:

    Do you know what FW version cameras bought recently are shipping with? Is there a newer version than 2.3 that has not been hacked yet?

    • fubar says:

      AFAIK there’s no firmware version higher than 2.3.0. Also FLIR seems to be way too busy lately churning out new products, so it is safe to assume that they aren’t going to spend any time making a newer firmware for an old product such as the Ex series.

      • Tinkerhaus says:

        thank you!

      • Mauro says:

        Hi! I’m going to buy an E4 – 1.2L with 2.3.0 Firmware (checked during the a short test in the shop) . So do you think that should not be trouble to hack it? Thanks!

  46. Adhe gede says:

    very difficult for me to follow the tutorial above, because I am not a computer expert. why if shared via a video on youtube. donwnload file from the beginning until the end. Ithink more efective. Thanks

  47. Anonymous says:

    I pulled out an old 32 bit XP with service pack 3. Apparently Filezilla has been updated and will not run on XP. I get a message saying it is incompatable with the operating system…Any thoughts?

  48. Lou says:

    Fubar, I finally got around to it and was successful. Thanks so much for your help and support. E5 will upgrade.

    • Corrado says:

      Hello, I have a e5, you can send me information or file for the engraving? I fw 1.22

    • Jordan says:

      I have an e5 and all I want is the resolution hack. It’s got 2.3.0 … I just follow the normal e4 hack instructions??

  49. anonymous says:

    I had a bit of an issue and would like to advise others to do a run through first to make sure you know where everything is and how to get it.
    When I started I opened up Flir installnet and as expected under camera it stated Flir USB Video. I attempted to install Set_RNDIS_permament.fif. It installed correctly. I was on a roll. Then as i scrolled down the instruction I had to go into “Run” to find the IP address. From run I typed IPCONFIG (I had not followed the instructions to the letter) It flashed up on the screen but too quickly to read and then disappeared. I panicked at this point and pulled the cable from the camera. Not good. The camera still worked but it was in RNDIS mode and could not connect. I slept on it and today used the remove RNDIS permanent and had a fully functional E4 that would connect as a Mass Storage, So that was Good. I just now tried The Flirinstall net program and while it shows the camera it is referred to as “USB Video Device” not “Flir USB Video” Flir is no longer mentioned. I’m wondering if I can still upgrade or if I have caused an issue? any help would be appreciated…PS follow instructions to the letter!

    • fubar says:

      For the purposes of writing this article and capturing the screenshots etc, I hacked, un-hacked and re-hacked my E4 at least five times.

      No problem whatsoever. I think it is perfectly safe to try again.

  50. anonymous says:

    Success and thanks.Forget the menu hack, the res hack was way to stressful for this simple mind.
    The only thing I might add to the instructions is that after you finish, go back and use flir installnet and run the “remove RNDIS permanent” to allow it to communicate with Flirtools. I’m sure most would know that automatically but being a rank amateur, I had to figure my way through it.
    Thanks again

    • fubar says:

      Great! Don’t worry about the menu hack too much, the majority of the extra functions are mostly useless. The resolution hack is far more important than that.

  51. M says:

    Hi
    In 8:15 this video
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP8R7FRYU0k
    there is 13 color palets, in your video is only 12 (no “gray”)

    How many palets we get with your instruction?
    Can you confirm there will also option 100% jpg quality in no measurement and center spot option?
    Flir logo also will be removed?

  52. Flirx says:

    Great! I will try this hack within the next few days.
    Unless I find an alternative, it will have to be done on a win 7 64bit. I see some have succeeded with that.

  53. pinguin says:

    Hello, what about sensitivity? E4 is <0,15°C and original E8 <0,6°C. When I upgrade E4 is it 0,6?
    Thank you

    • fubar says:

      All cameras in the range, from E4 to E8 are identical as far as the hardware is concerned. But there are two issues here. First, although the sensors are the same for all cameras, there is some evidence that the lower noise ones are handpicked and used in the E8 cameras, while the higher noise ones end up in the lesser models.

      The other issue is that the E4 firmware will intentionally add some noise, this apparently makes the low res image look a bit better. Applying the hack will turn this injected noise to near zero.

      But here’s the catch: If you are lucky and your E4 has a low noise sensor, after applying the hack you’ll end up with a E8-like image quality. But if the sensor is noisy to start with, applying the hack won’t have the desired effect. You’ll end up with a higher resolution image but with quite a lot of noise.

      Generally, most E4 sensors are relatively low noise, so the end result is identical or nearly identical to the E8 image quality. But there are a (very) few people who lucked out and had too much noise in the sensor to start with.

  54. pinguin says:

    Sorry, <0.06°C

  55. longas2000 says:

    Hi … Your tutorial was perfect … FLIR E4 FW 2.3.0 Upgrade To E8 . My recommendation is use a windows 7 32 Bits machine or the same OS in virtual machine .. zero problems.

  56. JohnM says:

    fubar

    I tried the hack, which did not work correctly, and now I can’t get the camera to connect in RNDIS mode again. Any thoughts?

  57. Vincent says:

    I bought my E4 today and sucsesfully downgraded to 2.3.0 from factory installed 2.8.0. Then I followed your instructions and semibricked my E4 meaning it never showed in ipconfig and now its not showing in any program. I think I killed its USB interface. E4 works fine but I can’t get USB connection establish. I think its stuck on Set_RNDIS_permament.fif. It only shows up in Device manager as a FLIR Ex-Series with a question mark and no drivers…. Is there anything I can do?

    • fubar says:

      Try re-installing the drivers. If that doesn’t work, try on another computer.

      • Vincent says:

        Everything is fine now, I just forget to install driver pack… Now I have E4 fully updated to E8+ menu and resolution! Thank You for this great tutorial 🙂

  58. Toyoloog says:

    Did mine according to the posted procedure and worked flawlessl! Many thanks for writing / combining that. Note the latest version of filezilla (from the link) does no longer work under windows XP so I had to download an older version. installed under windows XP 32-bit.

  59. Vlad says:

    Thank you very much! Working awesome.
    As you recommended did via VirtualBox.
    P.S Windows 7 x32 – http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/windows-7-ultimate-download-official-iso-32-64-bit-dvd/

    • Brendan says:

      Hello, I am trying to do the same using Virtual Box and I have been unable to connect the camera to the VM. Every time the camera connects, the VM Windows tries and fails to download the drivers. I tried to point it to the folder where the drivers I downloaded from this page were. Im inexperienced with VM USB issues, Any ideas? Should I download latest drivers from FLIR site?

  60. Boki says:

    Success. I downgraded a new E4 from v2.8.0 to v2.3.0 and then succesfully applied all the hacks. I used an old WinXP notebook and followed instructions here… I used an older version of filezilla that runs on XP, other than that everything worked as described. Thank you for a great tutorial and this hack. 🙂

  61. Thierry says:

    Successfully dowgraded an E4 unit (calibrated on dec 15 2015). Then applied res and menu hack. All done on windows 8.1 64 with latest 64 bit Flir driver. Only temporary rndis fif used. Note that rndis interface did not configure itself correctly. Had to set Ip to 192.168.250.1, gateway to 192.168.250.2 and then connect to the gateway (not the main ip). Up to now everything is ok.

  62. Joep says:

    Hi There,

    when i`m trying to connect i get this faillure

    = CONNECT TO FTP
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File “apply.py”, line 55, in
    ftp = FTP(ip_address)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 120, in __init__
    self.connect(host)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 135, in connect
    self.sock = socket.create_connection((self.host, self.port), self.timeout)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\socket.py”, line 571, in create_connection
    raise err
    socket.error: [Errno 10060] Een verbindingspoging is mislukt omdat de verbonden party niet correct heeft geantwoord na een bepaalde tijd, of de gemaakte verbinding is mislukt omdat de verbonden host niet heeft geantwoord.

    Does anybody have an idea?

  63. Tom Müller says:

    Hi,

    thank you for this fantastic informations! I have an E5 with 1.22 Firmware and changed to 2.3.0. I made this changes for the new menu und resolution manualy and it works good. But I am missing some Options: It ist not possible to Change the Temperature Scale manualy. There is no Icon. Is there any trick? Is there is a need for a change in the conf.cfc file? I used the old modyfied conf.cfc file.

    Does anybody have an idea?

    • Matyas says:

      Tom Miller I also have FLIR E5 but can not hack me you send me the files to hack? Thank you very much for your help…

  64. john says:

    Hi
    I have successfully applied the hack on my E4, but I had to revert it back to its original software.
    The resolution reverted ok but the menu is missing picture in picture.
    Can Anyone help plz?

  65. john says:

    Also MSX is missing

  66. Tom Müller says:

    There must be some changes in the conf.cfc file and it will work.

  67. Tinkerhaus says:

    Has anyone been able to downgrade 2.11 to 2.3? Is this possible in order to apply the upgrades?

  68. Dave says:

    Just did the resolution hack and bricked the e4. Now when I turn the camera on it start the boot up logo and stays black. And suggestions on how to recover from this. The unit is bricked.

  69. spiros says:

    Hey.I`ve tried to hack a E6 with 2.3 but it was bad so i unhacked it.Is there any other method specially for E6 2.3?

  70. KorbenD says:

    Thanks for the easy instructions. Worked fine, even though I was performing it from a machine running Windows 10 x64.

    • fubar says:

      It did work on Windows 10? Thanks, That’s very interesting!

      • KorbenD says:

        The only extra step I had to do was set a manual IP on the E4’s network connection to 192.168.250.1. DHCP wasn’t assigning the correct address. Once that was done, I was able to FTP to 192.168.250.2.

  71. Vlad says:

    Hey guys. Month ago my camera stopped to work, guess it was cause of hardware, but eventualy after a lot of trying to fix it myself it stucked in RNDIS mode.
    Eventually I sent it to FLIR and they fixed it by guarentee. They wrote that it was not official firmware and it can be reason to lost guarentee. But the reason why Im writting is that they fixed it, even with hack on it. So if you will have any problems that you will not succeed to fix yourself – dont be afraid to send it to FLIR.

    Now doing hack again. Downgrading with this instruction http://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg839561/#msg839561 (direct link to file: http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=00983732806372988148). Good luck everybody!
    And thanks fubar.gr for the article.

  72. Salt says:

    I have a hacked flir e4 and purchased another e4 not hacked. Can i just copy paste hacked e4 files to unhacked e4 using Filezilla?

  73. Ryan says:

    Thank you for putting this together in a readable format with easy to follow instructions and screenshots! I’ve successfully upgraded my e4 v 2.3.0 according to your instructions on Windows 10 x64, and it took me a little less than an hour. I had set aside an afternoon to read through the eevblog thread, but thanks to this post I didn’t have to!

    The ip address does not get assigned automatically, but thanks to the tip from KorbenD, I was able to assign it manually. It took me a bit of trial and error to figure out how, but I was able to do it by going to Network Connections, finding the Flir device, right clicking for Properties, then editing the Properties for “Internet Protocol Version 4”. I used 192.168.250.1 for the IP address, 255.255.255.0 for the Subnet Mask, and 192.168.250.2 for the Default Gateway. 192.168.250.2 was the IP I used to FTP to the E4.

    Hope that saves someone else a bit of time – and thanks again Fubar for my E4 “Special Edition”/E8!

  74. Nasi says:

    Hi Fubar,

    I am getting the following message when trying to run the python script. I did not get the error the first time I ran it, and when I try to run it again I get this:

    = CONNECT TO FTP
    = CREATING BACKUP DIR backup-20160724131136
    = RETR /FlashBFS/system/common_dll.dll
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File “apply.py”, line 68, in
    assert not os.path.exists(name), “%s already exists, please run from clean d
    irectory” % name
    AssertionError: common_dll.dll already exists, please run from clean directory

    Any ideas on what steps I could take to implement the hack?

    Thanks in advance!

    • fubar says:

      If I recall correctly, the script makes a backup of the conf.cfc and common_dll.dll files found in the camera and saves them in the script folder.

      If you run the script a second time, the sript detects these backup files and halts, so it won’t accidentally delete them by overwriting.

      Simply move the conf.cfc and common_dll.dll files from the script folder to another folder and the script will work again.

      • Nasi says:

        Thanks fubar,

        That allowed me to run the script again to check the error message. This is what I get:

        (This script backs them up when you “apply”, though.)

        = CONNECT TO FTP
        = CREATING BACKUP DIR backup-20160726105337
        = RETR /FlashBFS/system/common_dll.dll
        = RETR /FlashFS/system/appcore.d/config.d/conf.cfc
        Traceback (most recent call last):
        File “apply.py”, line 90, in
        assert found, “UNKNOWN %s: digest/len is %s” % (name, h)
        AssertionError: UNKNOWN conf.cfc: digest/len is 6320

        C:\FLIRreshack>

        Thanks again.

  75. Trev says:

    Hi, I used your really helpful instructions to upgrade my E4. Thank you. I noticed though that I do not have the zoom menu or the manual temperature scale feature. Are there two versions of menu hack?

  76. Jim says:

    I did the resolution hack on my E4 (2.3.0) but the image quality got worse.
    Here’s a picture afterwards with the shutter closed: http://i.imgur.com/ZHueL9K.jpg – notice the grainy pixels around the boundry. I did the revert process but there’s no change.
    Any idea?

  77. Vas says:

    Well I feel like sh*t because I just bought an E4 solely based on being able to upgrade the firmware and have found it comes out of the box with software: 2.11.0

    I can’t seem to find anyone that has done the hack from this one? FUBAR do you know if I can perform your steps from this starting point?

  78. SteeledPick says:

    Upgraded my e4 camera and menu on win 10 x64, worked perfectly,

  79. inspector121 says:

    I am doing the resolution hack and everything goes expectedly as above but like a few others have said, the resolution is actually worse after the upgrade. I’ve tried reverting and doing it again a few times with the same results each time. It’s an E4 with the 2.3.0 firmware. I’m scratching my head on what could be going wrong.

    • inspector121 says:

      I also want to add that I did the upgrade to an E4 about two years ago and had no issues. I needed a 2nd camera so I am now trying to upgrade another one.

    • fubar says:

      A small number of cameras do that. No idea why or how to fix it.

  80. ryan says:

    Great information here. Why do you have to use a windows xp or a windows 7 computer? Why will my windows 10 pro not be able to complete the project?

    • fubar says:

      There have been reports that in other Windows versions it doesn’t set up the FTP virtual server properly, so it is impossible to copy the files to the camera. Of course you can try on Windows 10. If you can access the FTP server with Filezilla, then it will be possible to complete the hack.

  81. rory says:

    for some reason i cant access it camera as mass staoarge no more. only see it as a networrk still, any ideas how i get it back to mass storage so i can download my picks

  82. Anthony says:

    Hi Fubar,

    Thank you very much. Just followed your procedure with my new e4 with software 2.11 without downgrading. Using script pack files FLIR_E4_2.11.0_hack from eevblog thread flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown, page 312, post msg921880 by 2lps. It worked great and I have full resolution and thermal noise removed and lots more menu options and features.

    Changes were done on windows 7 64bit virtual machine on Virtualbox running on macosx hardware. Drivers were fine on windows 7 64bit. Only trick was trying to get Virtualbox to own the flir USB devices as macosx kept trying to mount the USB volume.

    Notes for people running a similar virtualbox set up:

    – connect the flir to the computer so Virtualbox can see that it exists, then go into the virtual machine settings to tell the virtual machine to own the device. This does not work instantly – you are just configuring it. Then try and unmount the drive in macosx and unplug the flir.
    – I think I shut down windows at this point and quit Virtualbox. Might not be needed.
    – Start Virtualbox and boot the windows virtual machine
    – plug in the flir and windows should see it and install drivers
    – once you go through the procedure to change to RNDIS mode, it is a different USB device so you will have to go through a similar procedure (adding the new device to the virtual machine config) to get Virtualbox and the windows virtual machine to own it. Less difficult this time because macosx is not trying to mount a USB drive.

    Cheers,
    Anthony

  83. Maler says:

    Hi Fubar,
    this hack Working also in Flir e6 version 2.8?
    Maybe different ?
    Thanks för help.

    • fubar says:

      Sorry, I have no idea about the E6. I think the original hack did include files for the E6, but I have no idea about the newer firmware versions. Better ask at the eevblog forum!

  84. Dennis says:

    i cannot get past the CMD prompt to access the flirreshack path.

    this is what i get:
    Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
    Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

    C:\Users\User>ipconfig

    Windows IP Configuration

    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 7:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : INFRARED
    Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::c9c2:42d5:89f9:890c%35
    IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
    Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
    Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2

    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vc.shawcable.net
    Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::bc73:6e07:1c1:1af1%11
    IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.102
    Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
    Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

    Tunnel adapter isatap.vc.shawcable.net:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vc.shawcable.net
    Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.1.102%18
    Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

    Tunnel adapter isatap.{CDE53766-B014-4AF7-8AA9-721AF4E5D3CC}:

    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

    Tunnel adapter isatap.INFRARED:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : INFRARED
    Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.0.1%33
    Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

    C:\Users\User>cd /flirreshack
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>cd \firreshack
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>cd\flirreshack
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>cd \flirsystems
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>cd \flir systems
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>d
    ‘d’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
    operable program or batch file.

    C:\Users\User>D;
    ‘D’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
    operable program or batch file.

    C:\Users\User>cd \flirfif
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>python
    ‘python’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
    operable program or batch file.

    C:\Users\User>cd \flirreshack
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>cd \flir systems
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>ipconfig

    Windows IP Configuration

    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 7:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : INFRARED
    Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::c9c2:42d5:89f9:890c%35
    IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
    Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
    Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2

    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vc.shawcable.net
    Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::bc73:6e07:1c1:1af1%11
    IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.102
    Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
    Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

    Tunnel adapter isatap.vc.shawcable.net:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vc.shawcable.net
    Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.1.102%18
    Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

    Tunnel adapter isatap.{CDE53766-B014-4AF7-8AA9-721AF4E5D3CC}:

    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

    Tunnel adapter isatap.INFRARED:

    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : INFRARED
    Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.0.1%33
    Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

    C:\Users\User>cd\FLIRmenuhack
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>cd \FLIRmenuhack
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>cd \flirreshack
    The system cannot find the path specified.

    C:\Users\User>

    Any suggestions are appreciated?

  85. Matyas says:

    Hello,

    I would like to buy Flir E5 and would like to apply hack it from you … Will it work? Or should I buy a new Flir E4?

    thank you for the advice

  86. Dennis says:

    update the above did not work on my windows 7 64bit machine but DID work on a XP 32bit machine.

    However, after doing the res hack, it worked fine. then when i did the menu hack it ruined everything.

    res is WORSE than 60×80. almost no menu options. AND i cant revert anything!!

    any help please?? all revert procedure followed several times with hard reboots between all.

  87. stan says:

    Anyone live in orange county ca that can do the hack for me? I would obviously pay you to do it. I have an E4 2.3

  88. Junior says:

    Hey folks! I’ve tried to register in the Eevblog but haven’t received the admin’s approval yet so I’ll share something interesting with you here. I’ve successfully managed to hack an E4 after upgrading its firmware from the 1.19.8 to the 2.3.0 version. Long story short, I managed to hack it with the old FW and it did work well for some time. After a couple of hours messing around with it I got the app core.exe error which made the every button except Power to stop working (camera worked fine though). I would do a hard reboot on the camera only for the error to show up again and again. Sometimes it took longer, sometimes it was right after boot but it never failed to show up. Really annoying stuff. So I decided to revert the hack since I had made a backup copy of my files with Filezilla before changing anything. First I removed the menu hack but the error kept showing up. Same thing after reverting the resolution hack. I tried replacing all the backed up files especially app core.exe itself and… nothing. Same annoying error. I did some research and found the post of a guy who had the exact same problem with an E5. He allegedly solved it by updating the firmware via Flir Tools. Since there was nothing else I could do I set out to do the FW upgrade even if it meant losing the hack. The update went fine and now I had a stock 2.3.0 E4 with bad resolution again. Reading through the eevblog I noticed that one of the main differences between the factory E4s that shipped with 2.3.0 to the upgraded ones was the settings file called conf.cfg (upgraded ones) and conf.cfc (factory 2.3.0 ones). I downloaded the.fif for the 2.3.0 and figured I could mess around with those configurations some more and in case the app core error showed up again I would try to reflash it (although I’m not sure this is even possible). I decided to simply exchange the conf.cfg file that was installed in the update with the one that I had previously generated for the 1.19.8 hack and to my surprise it worked! No error up until now (did it in the morning) and full smooth E8 resolution! I’ll describe the exact method below:

    1 – Upgrade to 2.3.0

    2 – BACKUP ALL YOUR FILES!

    3 – Download the files and follow the steps outlined in the following link until you have generated the “e8.cfg” file with the right CRC01 and serial number: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg321956/?PHPSESSID=f05b42fe095bb24e168c72c058bea5de#msg321956

    4 – Set your E4 to RNDIS mode. I did not use the.fif method, instead I went to Settings>Device Settings>Camera Information>Model and held the “right arrow key” in the camera for about 10 seconds until a hidden menu popped up where I could pick up the USB mode.

    5 – Connect to PC via Filezilla. I’m using Windows 10 x64 and had to manually set the IP for it to work properly.

    6 – Navigate to /FlashFS/system/app core.d/con fig.d/ and replace the conf.cfg with your newly created e8.cfg file.

    7 – Rename the e8.cfg to conf.cfg. I did it in Filezilla.

    8 – Disconnect from the server, remove USB and hard reboot the device (remove battery).

    9 – Boot up and you should have the E8 resolution working on an upgraded 2.3.0 E4.

    And that is about it. Nothing special. I’m kind of afraid to try the menu hack. I though of simply replacing/adding the files from the 1.1X. X hack to my E4 but since the resolution is what matters for me and it is working fine I think I’ll pass. Maybe if someone is willing to try it and guarantee it works I’ll do it, but for now I’m more than satisfied and relieved. And to be clear, I would not really encourage you to do it unless you run into the same app core.exe error. If the older FW hack works for you the stick with it. That’s it! Cheers!

  89. Junior says:

    Hey guys! Quick update here. I tried to replace the stock menu files with the 1.1X.X hack ones and it did not work. I got only a black screen after boot.

  90. Pinguin says:

    Hi, I got hacked FLIR E4 to E8. And I want to ask how can I refresh gallery. I mean that I have been in the order for example 2500 And I want to start again from 1 (FLIR0001,FLIR0002….) Is it possible?
    Thank you

  91. GBedo says:

    Best place to buy earlier <2.3.0 versions?

  92. Adam says:

    Excellent Instructions! Thanks A Lot!

  93. Timberwolff says:

    Thank you for your guide. I successfully upgraded my E4 to E8. I used Windows 10 Fall Creators Update 64 bit without any problem. My firmware was 2.11.0, but I used the correct files from eevblog (for firmware 2.11.0).
    Thanks again!

  94. xun says:

    Great work! Thank you and all the contributors! I just hack my E5 successfully. At first I just planned to hack the resolution only as I thought there should be some difference about the menu files between E5 and E4. Finally I did the both as I found the menu hack files for E5 and E6 are nicely provided as E4. Cheers!

  95. José María Roca says:

    Hi everyone.

    I have my E5 hacked a couple of years ago and it worked like a charm, however lately it was difficult to power on and yesterday it didn’t power off, so I took out the battery. Now it doesn’t power on again. The connection to the camera works well, I can set it to rndis and navigate the internal memory with filezilla.

    Any has a clue on whats going on? Has anybody went through this?

    Best,
    Pepe

  96. Jane says:

    I followed tutorial here
    but when trying to modify files with
    python apply.py apply 192.168.0.2
    I received the following error

    = CONNECT TO FTP
    = CREATING BACKUP DIR backup-20180509022127
    = RETR /FlashBFS/system/common_dll.dll
    raceback (most recent call last):
    File “apply.py”, line 90, in
    assert found, “UNKNOWN %s: digest/len is %s” % (name, h)
    ssertionError: UNKNOWN common_dll.dll: digest/len is 75b37c3c755409cc355d2875eadfa128f8e6e27a1b2adf92273656a20ceb5037

    Does it mean that my camera uses common_dll.dll of a different len?

    Firmware in my camera is 2.11.0
    In which way must files be modified?
    Thank you for your advice

  97. Lad says:

    when trying to modify files with
    python apply.py apply 192.168.0.2
    I received the following error

    = CONNECT TO FTP
    = CREATING BACKUP DIR backup-20180509022127
    = RETR /FlashBFS/system/common_dll.dll
    raceback (most recent call last):
    File “apply.py”, line 90, in
    assert found, “UNKNOWN %s: digest/len is %s” % (name, h)
    ssertionError: UNKNOWN common_dll.dll: digest/len is 75b37c3c755409cc355d2875eadfa128f8e6e27a1b2adf92273656a20ceb5037

    Does it mean that my camera uses common_dll.dll of a different len?

    Firmware in my camera is 2.11.0
    In which way must files be modified?
    Thank you for your advi

  98. Rene says:

    Hello, I have a Flir T630 camera to which I wanted to update the firmware but while updating it turned itself off and no longer rebooting, so I turned it on again and only appears thermal image on the screen with the start progress bar that seems fill up but it does not happen there. Any solution you can give me other than send it to the Flir service center?
    I thank you in advance for the attention.

  99. Markus says:

    Hi, just installed on Win 10 x64, but with software x86 mentioned above.
    I have found used E4 with 2.3 firmware after following instructions everything goes smooth.
    Many thanks.

  100. flarn2006 says:

    Why do you care if someone sells the device with the hack?

  101. kevin says:

    = CONNECT TO FTP
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File “apply.py”, line 55, in
    ftp = FTP(ip_address)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 120, in __init__
    self.connect(host)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\ftplib.py”, line 135, in connect
    self.sock = socket.create_connection((self.host, self.port), self.timeout)
    File “C:\Python27\lib\socket.py”, line 571, in create_connection
    raise err
    socket.error: [Errno 10060] A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond

    What did i miss?

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