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gh2-hack:gh2-hack-faq

This is an old revision of the document!


I'll be answering people's questions regarding Driftwood INTRA patches & a few other things shortly. -driftwood

To Authors: I suggest not to make one huge page, but to split it in parts and provide illustrations (step by step guides, pictures and videos, you can embed any vimeo or youtube videos) Just remember to use gh2-hack namespace (all your pages must have gh2-hack:: before them and have /faqs/gh2-hack/my-super-page URL)

GH2 Hacking FAQ

Where can I learn more and get help?
What is PTool, and what does hacking do?
What patches can I apply to a GH2 firmware image?
  • AVCHD encoding bit rates, GOP lengths, quantizer settings, and many more video encoding parameters
  • “Maximum ISO limit removal” allows manual ISO selection of up to 12,800
  • “All interface languages” lets you select any language via the menu
  • “30 min limit removal” lets you record longer than 30 minutes on PAL-county camera bodies
  • “PAL↔NTSC menu” so that you can shoot 720/50p or 720/60p, and 1080/25i or 1080/30i, no matter what camera body you have. Format your memory card after changing this setting in the camera's menu.
  • MJPEG resolution settings
  • Audio encoding bit rate
  • Microphone gain settings
Known issues and bugs
  • When recording video, the LCD will display “Auto” for ISO, no matter the actual ISO setting. This is just cosmetic. Your actual ISO setting is being used.
  • Videos recorded with some high bit rate patch settings don't play back in the camera. In some cases, turning the camera off and back on after a playback error will resolve the problem.
  • If anything unexplained happens after flashing, try resetting the camera. (Menu, Setup, Reset)
  • There are sporadic reports of a “file number limit exceeded” error message when attempting to record with 64-GB SDXC cards. Details are sketchy, but it looks like the problem is fixed by reformatting the card, and avoided by recording a short clip after spanning and before turning the camera off. We need more information about this problem.
Misc. stuff
  • It is recommended that you format your memory card in the camera before recording video, especially if you have deleted any files from the memory card, or if you are using high bit rate patches. Formatting reduces the chances of a memory card write error.
What memory card should I use?
  • SanDisk Extreme HD Video SDHC 30 MB/sec, 16 GB
  • SanDisk Extreme HD Video SDHC 30 MB/sec, 32 GB
  • SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC 95 MB/sec, 64 GB
  • The above cards have proven to be reliable, consistent from card to card, and fast enough for even the most extreme high bit rate patch settings. Other cards will work at lower bit rates, but they will hardly be worth your trouble to figure that out. Please just buy one of the above SanDisk cards. The 32 GB card, in particular, is a great value. Most patch settings are designed for these cards. discussion
  • The 95 MB/sec 64 GB SDXC card allows spanning at the highest possible bit rates, whereas the 30 MB/s HD Video cards do not. At somewhat lower bit rates, all of the SanDisk Extreme cards will span. discussion
  • Buy from a SanDisk Authorized Reseller. Fake memory cards are rampant on eBay, and even on Amazon it's hard to be sure you're getting what's advertised.
  • The SanDisk Extreme Pro 45 MB/sec cards are not recommended. The SanDisk Extreme Pro 32 GB 95 MB/sec card is not recommended.
How do I use PTool? How do I flash my camera?
  • Please see the PTool FAQ.
  • A few users have reported that new camera bodies wouldn't accept a hacked v1.0e firmware image. This problem was solved by first flashing the official v1.1 firmware, or by increasing the “Version increment” patch value. Otherwise, it works to flash firmware images in any order: you can go from hacked 1.0e to official v1.1, or the reverse.
Where can I download patch settings for PTool?
  • Popular tried & tested patches can generally be found in the patch vault.
  • BETA patches are often found in personal-view discussion threads, where you can also report the results of your testing to the patch developers.
What patch settings should I use in PTool v3.63d for the v1.0e firmware?
  • What follows are merely suggestions of patch settings that have proven to be reliable and give good or excellent video quality. The state of patch settings is evolving, and there is not consensus around which patch settings are best for any particular purpose. If you are interested in eeking out the last bit of video quality, try some beta patches from the forums, and give feedback to their developers.
  • Higher-than-stock quality 1080/24p, 720p, and 1080i: Cbrandin 44M: 24H=44 Mbps, 24L=32 Mbps w/ spanning, FSH/SH=32 Mbps, FH/H=24 Mbps
  • High quality Intra with spanning for all modes, using almost any Class-10 memory card: Driftwood SpanMyBitchUp: 24H and 24L=66 Mpbs, 720p=65 Mbps (effective bit rates, due to frame limits)
  • Very high quality Intra 1080/24p and 1080/30p (VMM 80% mode), supports ETC and spanning: Driftwood Aquamotion v1: 24H and 24L=88 Mbps, 720/60p=60 Mbps, 720/50p=66 Mbps (effective bit rates, due to frame limits). Spans with all SanDisk Extreme cards. Or use a successor, Aquamotion v2
  • Highest possible quality Intra 1080/24p: Driftwood Reaquainted: 24H and 24L=146 Mbps (effective bit rate, due to frame limit). Works with all SanDisk Extreme cards, but spans only with the 95 MB/s cards. Or use a successor, Aquarius, Aquarius v2, Seaquake, Quantum (beta)
Driftwood intra-frame encoder patch settings

in order of development. Only the most important releases are shown here.

effective bit rate (24H and 24L) 66 Mbps 88 Mbps 146 Mbps
SD cards most class 10 SanDisk Extreme SanDisk Extreme
spans spans spans w/ 64-GB 95 MB/s only
vmm80% 30p yes yes no
ETC yes yes maybe
simplest & most reliable Aquamotion v1 Reaquainted
higher bit rate 720p Aquarius v2
new encoder settings SpanMyBitchUp Aquamotion v2 Seaquake
AQ=4; 24L=100 Mbps
encoder settings mostly changed back
much higher bit rate 720p
anamorphic MJPEG with new encoder settings
Quantum (beta)
Patch setting bit rates & compression ratios
24H 24L 720/60p SH 720/60p H 720/50p SH 720/50p H
Driftwood Reaquainted 146 Mbps (1:4) 146 Mbps (1:4) 50 Mbps (1:13) 35 Mbps (1:19) 50 Mbps (1:11) 35 Mbps (1:16)
Driftwood Aquamotion v1 87 Mbps (1:7) 87 Mbps (1:7) 60 Mbps (1:11) 60 Mbps (1:11) 66 Mbps (1:8) 66 Mbps (1:8)
Driftwood Quantum beta 5 146 Mbps (1:4) 100 Mbps (1:6) 89 Mbps (1:7) 89 Mbps (1:7) 79 Mbps (1:7) 79 Mbps (1:7)
Intra-frame video compression
  • Most video compression is inter-frame: it exploits similarities between frames so as to achieve better compression efficiency. Intra-frame compression doesn't: it's less efficient, but has more consistent performance, especially for high noise and high motion video. Setting the GOP length to 1 frame means using intra-frame compression.
gh2-hack/gh2-hack-faq.1326913144.txt.gz · Last modified: 2012/01/18 18:59 by balazer