Hacking the Kodak Reels 8mm Film Digitizer (New Thread)

[0dan0]

Ok great I will try that.
When you change the Qp during a live capture, is it adjusting the bitrate on the fly or only when it finishes and writes the file to the SD card? (while stored in the buffer)

*BTW, I love the auto stop function! I thought it may have detected an empty scan with only white and stopped it.
What are the requirements to auto stop the scan? Does it test for white, and frame count?

On the fly, data is encoded and write to the sd card continuously.

Auto stop is looking of about 20 frames of nothing.

 

[ThePhage]

Ok great I will try that.
When you change the Qp during a live capture, is it adjusting the bitrate on the fly or only when it finishes and writes the file to the SD card? (while stored in the buffer)

*BTW, I love the auto stop function! I thought it may have detected an empty scan with only white and stopped it.
What are the requirements to auto stop the scan? Does it test for white, and frame count?

As a public service announcement for those who are relatively new here and trying out 0dan0's custom firmware (hardware units A, B, and C), please review the User Guide posted here as it is a helpful resource:

https://tinkerdifferent.com/resourc...irmware-for-the-reels-8mm-film-digitizer.165/

 

[HGSiegel]

Device: Kodak Reels Type D (H-series, Serial: H2825148BK...)
Achievement: 1600x1200 output resolution working on D variant hardware!

Background​

The Type D variant has been unsupported by existing firmware mods due to significant differences from A/B/C variants. After extensive reverse engineering, I've successfully ported core functionality to D hardware.

What's Working​

1600x1200 output resolution (vs 1728x1296 stock) Device boots normally Menus fully functional
Stable recording Currently recording at 20fps (stock)

Technical Details​

Key Discovery: Type D firmware cannot use simple offset calculations from Type C. Each data location and function address must be individually mapped.


Process:

1. Identified device-specific addresses (NVM: 0x80E0D600)
2. Mapped 17 external function calls from Type C to Type D equivalents
3. Updated 0dan0's ~29KB custom code block with D-specific addresses
4. Inserted custom code at 0x0033a08c
5. Found resolution values via pattern matching (not offset calculation)

Confirmed Mappings (Type C → Type D):

• Console Print: 0x80080160 → 0x80080c60
• Resolution Width: 0x00ddb754 → 0x00ddc718
• Resolution Height: 0x00ddb758 → 0x00ddc71c
• Input buffer setup: 0x802ea95c → 0x800160a0
• Plus 13 other function mappings

Critical Finding: Offsets vary wildly across the firmware:

• Console print: +0xb00
• Resolution: +0xfc4
• Some functions: negative offsets!
• Conclusion: Each address must be found individually

Current Limitations​

Only basic resolution change implemented so far OSD, histogram, RGB controls not yet functional 18fps not yet working (requires additional mapping)

Next Steps​

Working on:

1. 18fps frame rate (finding correct location)
2. White balance controls
3. Hooking custom code for OSD/histogram features
4. Full feature parity with 0dan0's Type C firmware

For Other D Variant Owners​

DO NOT flash Type A/B/C firmware on D hardware - it will not work.


If you want to help test D variant firmware development or have a D variant device, please reply. The systematic porting approach I've developed can be applied to add more features incrementally.

Files​

Attaching:

• FWDV280.BIN - D variant firmware with 1600x1200 resolution
• Based on 0dan0's freed-space D base firmware
• Flash at your own risk (standard firmware update procedure)

To flash:

1. Copy FWDV280.BIN to root of FAT32 SD card
2. Create empty folder "NVTDELFW" on SD card
3. Power on device with SD card inserted
4. Wait ~30 seconds for flash to complete

Huge thanks to:

• @0dan0 for the original firmware work and ReelsChangeNotes.txt
• @Mac84 for the extensive documentation
• The TinkerDifferent community

This is just the beginning for D variant support. More features coming soon!

Hi, I have a new Kodac Reels bought at Amazon recently. The serial is K2225148BK00779 and it is supposed to be a D version. I am very keen on using your firmware. Before I take the risk of loading your much appreciated software can you tell me, what resolution your D firmware reels has? My manual states it is a 8.08 megapixels (3280x2464) 1/3" CMOS sensor. Native reolution is 1296p. I take it that if yours should be different I might have a differnet hardware setup which means I will brick the reels?