Magic Lantern wiki

You tried downgrading your firmware to an older version and got greeted by a message like this?

⇒ Jump to Method B for a quick solution or read the whole shebang:

According to Canon there is only one way for firmware versions: Up!
Firmware files should get updated. Installing lower firmware version? Simply not in the picture!

We beg to differ. We rely on having matching firmware versions on a camera in order to install and run Magic Lantern. This may in fact forcing us to use older firmware versions than actually installed.

The good news: If there is a firmware file designed for your cam it is possible to install it. No matter if version number goes up or down! After reading this wiki entry you will be able to understand how to do it and you will be able to do it by yourself.

Cam's mode should be in a “Creative Mode”: M, Av, Tv, …
Canon menu for firmware update is hidden in “Easy Shooting” modes. Same may go for video mode. Common issue for EOS M users!
Short: Start cam in photo mode and make it a “Creative” one!

Most cameras will accept any firmware file you have on a card und install it without any tricks. Esp. older cameras will act like this. Just extract Canon's zip or exe and copy FIR file to card and follow update instructions.

With 5D3 firmware 1.3.x to 1.3.5 installed you were not allowed to downgrade *in cam*. You get a message denying it! But using EOS Utility's firmware update option allowed it!

With 5D3 firmware 1.3.6 Canon introduced a new level: You couldn't do a downgrade using EOS Utility either! You got a message like this:

For some time we were in dispair. It looked like the only way to get a cam downgraded was Canon Support. They are able to do so if you ask/beg and - in most cases - pay a fee for service. (And if you got scared by this manual you may want to do it this way … each time your cam gets updated …)
Fast forward … ML user Apollo7 showed up. He found a way to overcome this lock by tricky handling the battery door during firmware update. (Sounds scary but behold! No cam treated that way got broken and reported to us! None!)
Main dev at the time was a1ex and he found a flaw in Apollo7's handling routine which made it possible to get harmed under certain conditions. Very unlikely to happen but very unpleasant in case it did! He came up with an improved handling routine which we are promoting and endoring to be used: We call it Method B. Sorry about naming but it is how it is …

Nowadays a lot of cameras got this kind of lock and all new camera firmwares work like this!

(Please read the whole chapter before proceeding. Handling requires quick reaction at a certain point and you will fail if you do it step by step along reading! We can guarantee this! We also think it would be best to use buttons instead of touchscreen!)

1) Prepare a card.
(No critical timing here!)
Recommended: Format card so you are starting clean.
Lookup firmware version number running on your cam. In this example it is 1.1.0. Yours may show a different version.

Copy extracted Canon firmware FIR with this version number to card. Make sure it is the only FIR file on card!
(You can download it from our trusted member pelican's site. Scroll down to a list of hosted firmware files.)

2) Run Method B
Caution: Whatever you do: DO NOT REMOVE THE BATTERY!
Use fully charged battery. Never use ac adapter! Power loss during firmware update procedure can cause serious (and costly) repairs!

2.1) Access Canon menu and select firmware

Press SET to access

Browse to OK button

Here comes the time critical part!
Immediately (!) after pressing SET to confirm you have to open the battery door!
(You may want to practice this time critical step with your camera turned off)
Also keep in mind: DO NOT REMOVE THE BATTERY! And do not turn off camera by power switch/button!

2.2 Remove card and change firmware file
Keep battery door open all the time!
Now remove card from camera. If your camera has its own card compartment: Keep battery door open and open card compartment door to access and remove card.

Now insert card into cardreader connected to your PC.
Copy FIR file version compatible with your ML version to your card (for 200D it would be 1.0.1). Insert card into cam. If your cam has its own card compartment: Close card compartment door and make sure it fits properly.

Now close battery door!

You will be greeted by Firmware update message screen. This may take some seconds.

After that you have to select the firmware update file (downgrade for you but cam can't tell the difference) and wait for update confirm message.

And you did it! Congrats!

2.3 Video tutorial:

User cleanshirtuk created a short video showing the whole process for 200D! Thanks for providing and supporting ML community!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9klJGjvDvPk

- Cam will teil you it cannot find the firmware file. First check and verify FIR file is in card's root directory. If it is actually there: This may happen with SDXC cards and older cams (Digic 4 generation). Explanation: Firmware update uses a very, very old software routine. It may have troubles dealing with SDXC cards. Use an SDHC or SD instead to run firmware update.
- Downloaded file is for Windows but your PC is running macOS or Linux!
Firmware file may have WIN in file name but you can use it anyway! If you can extract a zip you are good to go!
- Downloaded file is an executable for Windows! It ends with EXE!
This is a thing from the past. Before any PC could extract compressed ZIP without an additional program. It is a so called “Self-extracting archive”. Any unzip utility will just be happy to extract it for you!

You may have to deal with unwanted firmware updates after cam visiting service facilities. It looks like Canon trained staff to update each camera with latest firmware. You may even get firmware versions not available via Canon's support site! So check your cam for firmware updates after service! If you try to use ML with firmware not matching requirements: Won't work and cam will get stalled with cards prepared for ML!