Can someone try a test with the USB ports on any Panorama please?

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OK I've been doing some digging today (across five different OS) and I need someone to try something for me please who's familiar with their way around Windows / Linux PCs or Macs.

First of all remove the SD card.

Can you please connect the Panorama to your PC or Mac via the micro USB connection - the camera won't power on at this point.

Now hold down the triangle button and press the power button to turn the camera on. During this process keep holding the triangle button and only let go after the camera has booted up.

Now this is a theory at this stage, but I'm guessing in Windows Device Manager you'll have a new device named either COACH DSC or Polaroid COACH DSC with a vendor id (VID) of 0546 and a product id (PID) of 4343. In OSX you can check this by running the Hardware Profiler and looking at the USB section. In Linux just run lsusb and look for a Polaroid or COACH entry - the numbers should match.

Here's an example from Windows Device Manager (ignore the name but this is me messing around):

upload_2014-10-16_0-11-4.png

Now turn the camera off either by holding the button or removing the cable.

This time connect the camera and just turn it on. Check the USB ids again and I'm guessing it may be a vendor id of 0546 and a product id of 2002.

upload_2014-10-16_0-8-53.png

Now in theory this should be the same across all Panorama cameras, so if someone could try this out I'm intrigued to see what results you get please :)
 
Panorama G / OS: Windows 7 64bit
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Happy days thank-you that confirms exactly what I was after :)

You'll be glad to know that subject to OS you can get PC webcam mode working in full 1280x720p on the Panorama - I'll get a new thread with details but it will certainly make focussing easier for anyone that needs to attempt it.

Here's one I made earlier!

vlcsnap-2014-10-16-08h16m02s218.png

It's not a simple process at all but works fine on 32bit Windows - it doesn't work on the 64bit Windows 10 setup I have here but that could be more related to that than anything.

This doesn't work in OSX or Linux as the zr643xx driver they use has an issue connecting - I tried Ubuntu 7 and 12 and various other drivers in debug mode with spoofing the hardware IDs but no joy.

Likewise I'm running Yosemite and that won't work with Macam either unfortunately.

Saying that I'm running a 32bit XP VM inside a 64bit Windows 10 install and that works - so if you're happy with the likes of VMware and Parallels you should be able to get this up and running :)
 
You'll be glad to know that subject to OS you can get PC webcam mode working in full 1280x720p on the Panorama - I'll get a new thread with details but it will certainly make focussing easier for anyone that needs to attempt it.


It's not a simple process at all but works fine on 32bit Windows - it doesn't work on the 64bit Windows 10 setup I have here but that could be more related to that than anything.

Awesome if I can't get it to work in Windows 8.1 x64 I'll have to get a spare laptop to install 32 bit windows on. This sounds very useful to check focus. Nice work.
 
It was @alexsoll and @niko I thought of who will definitely find this useful - I had it working last night but wasn't sure if you could get the Panorama into the same mode or whether it used the same device IDs.

Basically if you have a Coach device as long as it has hard buttons you should be able to tease it into webcam mode - I don't think this is going to work on the X2 though as it doesn't have any physical buttons and uses the USB port for something else so it's not technically USB - just a USB connector. I'll have a play when mine drops anyway :)

Should work on the Street Guardians too :)
 
Interesting.
I will have to test it on my Windows 7 64bit and Vista 32 bit. Can it be used on smart tv?
 
To be honest I don't know about the TV - if the TV understands the specific details then there's a possibility but I wouldn't get your hopes up to be honest.

I spent a long time looking for other devices based on Coach chipsets and then worked my way through various drivers and it took literally hours to find this one.

It may work on 7 & 8.1 x64 as the driver package does have an x64 driver in there - it just wouldn't install on my 10 x64 machine (unusual as all my other 8.1 drivers are ok).

I'm just writing the new thread up now with instructions :)
 
How about Mass Storage mode, does it actually work or just shows up as a Storage class device in Device Manager without any volumes?
 
Mass Storage mode works fine on the one I have here and is the default mode when you power on the camera without pressing any buttons :)

When you force the camera into PC camera mode this way it temporarily disables mass storage mode until you reboot the camera.
 
I was told the USB port was factory service only. You got mass storage mode working?
Same here. It's only my private opinion, but I find the lack of Mass Storage mode, if it's really lacking, extremely inconvenient and pretty unusual for such a reportedly high level product as Panorama.
 
I believe it was implied that even though the cables fit, it probably not use standard USB signaling so it would be very unlikely to work at all in that manner. Also does it even have any buttons to trigger the webcam mode?

KuoH

Will this work with the X2 rear usb camera? Someone was asking in the X2 thread.
 
Same here. It's only my private opinion, but I find the lack of Mass Storage mode, if it's really lacking, extremely inconvenient and pretty unusual for such a reportedly high level product as Panorama.

Will this might change that.

The full size SD card found in the single channel Panaorama's are very easy to handle though. The U-bracket used in the S is not very fast to take apart for 3m. This would make mass storage mode impracticable with the S unless you have your laptop in the car.

A USB 3.0 SDXC reader is also faster.
 
Yes that sounds better, BUT a card holder is a relatively complex element with spring loaded latch and a lot of contacts as opposed to a USB port. I have seen card holders fail mechanically several times, hence my concern.

But like every other aspect reliability will depend on quality of the parts used.
 
I was told the USB port was factory service only. You got mass storage mode working?
To be honest Mass Storage mode may be disabled on the Panorama firmware - this is a different Coach based device I tested the process out on and it works ok on this one.

pre-1246357780.jpg


I've got to admit as for the X2 mine is like you guys and possibly still being screwed together so no idea there - this only works via the ability to talk to the COACH processor, but I'm guessing that's sat in the main unit, and we have no buttons in there or ways to talk to each COACH CPU separately so this is a II / S / G thing only.

I've got to admit I just use a Kingston USB3 reader - take the cards out the camera in the car and then read them on this too. That's a very fair comment about the slot quality though - I've got to admit I've not heard of any failing on the Panoramas yet but I broke a card reader after I'd only had it two or three days!
 
all of the cams in my signature there have extra cards (all sandisk by the way :p ) that get swapped out twice a day: in the morning and the evening. the pano g's slot is so lovely (mostly because its a full size card) it takes no effort to remove the card.

those other cams have a sweet spot that I have to hit just right to ejac... I mean eject the card. :p;)

thus far after several weeks of doing this, the card holders in these cams have been solid and operating normally, but this is an area on the cams that's worth some thought. I admit up until this point I took that for granted....:oops:
 
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