[Galaxy S II General] E:V:A:
Sources of confusion

Hey Guys, I'm not here to fight with you! I just want to understand how to

update my device to make my camera working in a semi-reasonable way. So

instead of me asking you, again and again, about things that are getting

misinterpreted, I will just state the sources of my confusion.

First, my main source of confusion, is that there are 2 (two) firmware "types"

presented by the CameraFirmware.app like this:

ISP Ver: Fujitsu M5MOLS
Cam FW Ver: SCEF02
Phone FW Ver: TBEC28

[ISP = In System Programmable DSP]

But you are telling me to update my firmware with just 1 (one) firmware file

called: RS_M5LS.bin . So I would like to understand what parts this file

actually updates. Does it update both "Cam FW" and "Phone FW", or just one of

them? In case it just updates 1 of them, which one gets updated?

Second, Nedooo stated that I should just put RS_M5LS.bin to the SD-card. This

is clear, but I would expect it to matter WHERE on the sdcard you put it. Can

I just put it in the root directory of the sdcard, like this:

/mnt/sdcard/RS_M5LS.bin ?

Third, it was recommended that I update with either SEEH05 or SIEG03, but I'm

not sure what their difference is? I just need a slightly better camera +

flash and video, than what I already have with stock module. I don't care

about the "torch" or "video/autofocus light".

Fourth, another source of my confusion, was that some of the zip files I

downloaded, had a bunch of other files in them, and are named as follows:

rs_m5ls_ob.bin
rs_m5ls_oc.bin
rs_m5ls_sb.bin
rs_m5ls_sc.bin
rs_m5ls_tb.bin

Someone then said that these are for different camera modules (or sensors or

whatever), and since I don't wanna brick my camera module, I am not sure which

ONE to use and rename to RS_M5LS.bin. They are also referenced to in the

CameraFirmware.app java sources. I'd like to better understand what HW they

are intended for...

Fifth, my current understanding of the 8MP Camera Module is as follows.

(a) Consists of a camera sensor (also known as CCD) made by either Samsung or

Sony, and are identified with the following model/type codes:

Samsung - S5K3H2YX

Sony - IMX105(PQ)

(b) The CCD in (a) is controlled by the ISP DSP chip that is supplied by

Fujitsu, and is identified by the CameraFirmware.app by:

"ISP Ver: Fujitsu M5MOLS"

(c) The ISP in (b) is running its own firmware which is identified in the

CameraFirmware.app by:

"Cam FW Ver: SCEF02"

(d) Then there is another firmware which is identified in the

CameraFirmware.app by:

"Phone FW Ver: TBEC28"

which does WHAT? And goes WHERE?

Please correct me if I'm wrong. (I'm sure you will!)

---

@cedesmith: Its funny and re-confirming, that you recommend to ban me, when I

clearly stated in my first post that I was willing to help hack-up a working

module, while wanting to clarify and summarize this thread in a new one. If

you're such a genius, what are you actually trying to do/accomplish by

trolling around in this thread, banning at people trying to help?

---------- Post added at 05:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:54 PM ----------

The Samsung Business Model

If you are lurking around this thread in hope that one day, Samsung will

provide you with a working and wonderful piece of camera firmware, you are

probably quite disillusioned about how Samsung works. It couldn't be closer to

a fact, to state that this will probably never happen. You see, the successful

Samsung business model is to "Build, Sell and Forget" (BSF). This has only

been possible by using as much open source software as possible, while keeping

a very strict lid on the data, hardware and firmware used for their various

devices. In this way they can maximally profit from the open source community

to resolve most of their software issues, while little money is spent on the

outsourcing of testing and development of their new creations. Thus they are

free to spend their new profit dollars on new hardware development. Everybody

wants the latest processor!

This is in complete opposition and contrary to the Apple business model of

"Design, Sell and Support" (DSS). But this is also what you (used to) pay for

when you bough an Apple device. You not only paid for the support, but also

for the employment security and expertise of their employees, although rarely

publicly visible. Samsung could never compete on these same terms, and this is

what we see the results of right now. Samsung releases several new devices

every 3-4 months which are continuously suffering from quality control problems

and poor software development practice. Some of these devices should never

even have left the assembly line. The Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100) is one of

them. But Samsung is mainly run in/from an Asian country where loosing face is

one of the worst things that can happen. Therefore they never admit to any

fault, and instead try their best (of imagination) to blame anyone or anything

else. The result:

GT-I9100: Serious Echo/Feedback problem, due to poor design & software practice
when implementing the Advance Noise Reduction features.
GT-I9100: Serious Camera Issues with blurry, discolored and non-functioning
HD video
Sources: The inexerienced development of the problematic FSA9480 kernel driver.
That chip never existed outside the drawing board! Confusing
developers trying to fix a wide range of things like battery
charging/discharging issues etc.

I could mention many more, but these are enough to make most people want to

buy an HTC next time!

And guess what? I actually like Samsung devices, but believe that they would

profit much more from releasing essential hardware documentation and open up

their hardware to the public.