Modding the Kodak Reels 8mm Film Digitizer (Firmware Hack)

[Federico]

Yeah! first of all a giant THANK YOU to @LordMiG for having been much clever than me and a second one for having shared the new (perfectly working) firmware!

I've flashed 2 modified versions (one with the high bitrate standard resolution and one with high bitrate and 1080p resolution as suggested by @dynaflash) and both - obviously - looked good.
I have no films to scan yet (they are at my mom's house in Italy and will have to wait a bit longer before I can test it) but everything looks great now.

My label only reports a generic model 'RODREELS', with no US as I was for some reason expecting.
I surely agree with @Mac84 about the two original HW versions become one, maybe evolved in a third. It makes sense. Pity they didn't identified it in the firmware too, but at the end of the day it's not relevant now.

Ok, thank you again guys, to all of you!
Ciao, Federico

 

[jandreu]

Hi all!

I'm also from the EU and my Kodak Reels filmscanner showed the same symthoms as with other EU-models after flashing the modified firmware. The interesting thing here is: I knew flashing to the modified firmware will mess up my screen. Thats why I've first tried to flash the latest official firmware on Kodaks EU website. Found here: https://eu.kodakphotoplus.com/pages/how-to-install-firmware

After flashing the latest official firmware my sceen showed the same inverted colors defects. So I've contacted the Kodak support and after 24 hours they sent me a new firmware to correct the issue. After updating to the new firmware everything is back to normal. My screen is working perfect now.

I've uploaded the unmodified original firmware to my Mega account. I hope that's allowed in this forum.
Link: https://mega.nz/folder/p4RS1Dzb#nNqzJgAlHQhkk7OfYukuQg

Disclaimer: Be aware that this firmware is likely only intended for the EU model with firmware 2.0. My Reels is a model RODREELSEU.

Best regards,
Mike

Hello everyone.

I just updated the firmware on my My Reels reels model RODREELSEU and the screen has gone completely red and changes depending on the key I activate, all the functions work correctly but I don't know what I'm doing since I don't see anything at all.
I have left the original firmware again and nothing has changed.

Do you know what could have happened?

Jordi

 

[jandreu]

Hello everyone.

I just updated the firmware on my My Reels reels model RODREELSEU and the screen has gone completely red and changes depending on the key I activate, all the functions work correctly but I don't know what I'm doing since I don't see anything at all.
I have left the original firmware again and nothing has changed.

Do you know what could have happened?

Jordi

After installing the US firmware version, the screen has returned to normal although it now has two horizontal stripes that, although they do not affect the quality of the capture, are visible to the naked eye.
Be careful with the firmware.

 

[jandreu]

After installing the US firmware version, the screen has returned to normal although it now has two horizontal stripes that, although they do not affect the quality of the capture, are visible to the naked eye.
Be careful with the firmware.

After scanning for several hours, the lines have completely disappeared, thank goodness.
Thank you all very much for the contributions and improvements of this film digitizer.

 

[Mac84]

I'm very thankful that Kodak has supplied (via their website and email) a firmware update that is seemingly letting users fix the problems that were earlier experienced with screen colors and issues. It is annoying that there is seemingly a "silent", non-numbered 3rd hardware revision of these units, but at least we now know not all 2.0 models can take the same firmware.

EDIT: Their website seems to no longer have the firmware... maybe they are updating it? Good thing it was saved!

Now that Kodak has released a firmware file on their website, this opens the doors to genuine support instances where some people may run into a firmware file not ideal for their hardware, allowing Kodak to perhaps get better at identifying these updates in the future. I wish they'd use their efforts to give us some easy-to-use bit rate and resolution options on the digitizer... but I'll keep dreaming. This is a very welcome outcome I did not expect.

Thank you to everyone for your efforts at exploring this scene and those who have tinkered around with their digitizers to try and produce better results!

I have updated the initial post to clarify the versions of these products and to hopefully underline the different models and the risks involved updating the firmware. I"m thankful that we have such an awesome community here.

Keep it up!
-Steve

 

[LordMiG]

Short update: It looks like Kodak has responded to my request and has now provided a new firmware update page on their website. After entering the serial number, you should get the correct firmware file for your device. This is big news!

Edit: The site won't let me click the submit-button after entering my serial number. I'm guessing it's is still under contruction. I've tried it with Safari, Firefox and MS Edge. Maybe we have to wait a few days...

 

[LordMiG]

Good news: Kodak's new firmware download page is up and running now! After entering my serial number, I was able to download the correct firmware for my device. Interestingly, the file appears to be 100% identical to the firmware that Kodak support sent me a few weeks ago.

Mike

 

[MichaelDola]

Hey everyone. First off, thank you for those BIN files! This morning I updated my Kodak Reels (US) to the latest firmware provided by Kodak, and I got the red screen others had mentioned. Was able to get the machine back to normal thanks to this forum.

Now, a question. Every time I turn off the Reels scanner and turn it back on, the file name output resets to 0001. Coming from a Wolverine Pro, this is unexpected behavior, given the file number acts as an odometer I called Kodak, and they hadn't heard of this either. Neither has the Internet from my search. Has anyone else encountered this?