RAW noise, bricking while updating, and solutions

[Zigurd]

I encountered two problems with my a6000, and didn't find specific solutions to either here. I wrote up the solutions I did finally work out here: http://www.telirati.com/2016/05/telirati-tips-1-sony-raw-noise-and.html

 

The bricking problem was particularly scary. I thought I had a doorstop. Considering how easy it is to do, I'm surprised Sony doesn't have a returned merchandise problem because of it. The updater should be improved to prevent it.

[VTC]

Reading is good. Update page instructions MENTIONS not to allow Mac to sleep during firmware update. Couldn't get any clearer. I know 'cause I just updated mine to 2.10 little over an hour ago. Went smoothly. Had to reset the 'tweak' I applied from Sonys 30 mins to hacked 13 hrs for recording video but that was it. No problems when instructions are followed and I'm dumber than most. Now lets see if this puppy stops overheating shooting video on 86º sunny days.

[Zigurd]

Pfft. Who reads the instructions first?

 

Nevertheless, once I had bricked it, I had to piece together the knowledge of how to reset the camera into an update-ready state, run the updater despite the camera seeming to be dead, and skip the steps I could not do. That's undocumented and may be serendipitous. The updater gives no indication that skipping steps is OK and that the update is working. Even if Sony added this to their documentation, it's still a pretty user-hostile process that results in an apparently dead product. Upgrading the updater would be a friendlier approach.