Automatic Camera Identifier and Downloader (ACID) - Windows, OSX and Ubuntu Linux

This is the English version of the ACID Download Page. There's a German version here and a Spanish version here.

If you are interested in making other translated versions of ACID available, please see the ACID Internationalisation page.

ACID will download an SDM or CHDK build, but will not install it. To download and install a build, use my ASSIST app (for SDM) or STICK app (for CHDK). Both run under Mac OSX, Windows and Ubuntu Linux.

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Acid is a Java application designed to simplify the process of getting an SDM, CHDK (stable or trunk) or CHDK-DE build for your Canon camera. All you have to do is:

1. take a picture with the camera
2. put the camera card into a card reader
3. run Acid and drag the photo from the card and drop it onto the Acid window. If for any reason the drag-and-drop fails, use the Browse JPEGS button to locate and load the photo.

Acid will then:

• analyse the photo
• extract the camera model and firmware version information
• automatically download the appropriate build of SDM, CHDK (stable or trunk) or CHDK-DE (depending on which button you press) to a folder you choose

A few cameras, currently:

• Powershot N Facebook Edition
• Ixus 135 (Elph 120)

require special treatment. See this page for more details.

Acid requires version 1.4 or later of the Java Runtime. If you don't have Java installed, here is the official download site for Windows and Linux. For recent versions of Mac OSX (Yosemite and later) you need to install legacy Java 6 from Apple here..

If you want to install a build then my ASSIST (SDM) or STICK (CHDK) apps will do the whole job for you.

The image below shows the Acid window. As you can see, the photo dropped was taken with a Canon Powershot s90. The buttons show that there are builds of all five types - SDM, CHDK (stable and trunk), German CHDK-DE (stabile and experimentelles) versions. The "Download stable CHDK" button has been pressed and the build has been downloaded and unzipped.

Click on a field or button to get help about it.

To install Acid just download the appropriate file.

• the OSX version (contains the java App and a properties file). Download and install both in any convenient folder. Note: do NOT try to run the App from within the .dmg folder - this is read-only and as a result ACID will not be able to save builds there.
• the Windows version (contains the java jar, a properties file and a simple .bat file). Unzip and move the files to any convenient directory. Double-click the jar to run it. If this doesn't work (e.g it starts up Nokia OVI) then double-click the runacid.bat file instead.
• the Ubuntu Linux version (contains the java jar, a properties file and a simple bash file to run it).

Note: the tables ACID uses are checked daily against the content of the three download sites (SDM, CHDK and CHDK-DE).

Version History:

• 1.16 - September 2017 - properties files updated to point at new SDM
• 1.16 - March 2016 - updated to deal with SDM Version2
• 1.15 - August 2014 - updated to deal with the Powershot Facebook camera - see also here
• 1.14 - August 2013 - updated to access relocated CHDK-DE download sites
• 1.14 - February 2013 - SDM build 1.86
• 1.13 - January 2013 - support many new SDM cameras
• 1.12 - November 2012 - (Windows only - ensure zip files properly unzipped)
• 1.11 - October 2012 - support stable and experimental versions of CHDK-DE builds
• 1.10A - fix bug naming folder containing trunk versions
• 1.10 - add ability to download from trunk as well as stable versions of CHDK. 'Stable' versions have only minor changes and bugfixes, ensure backward compatibility between updates and have more stable code and behavior. 'Trunk' versions are where new development code is introduced. Eventually the trunk version replaces the stable one. Users are encouraged to try them so that bugs are located and fixed.
• 1.08 - December 2nd 2011 - fix drag-and-drop in Windows and Linux versions
• 1.07 - August 28th 2011 - add "Browse JPEGS" button
• 1.06A - April 12th 2011 - Linux (Ubuntu) version added
• 1.06A - March 25th 2011 - the "Browse" button now works on Windows (unlike OSX, Windows does not provide a "choose a directory"" dialog, but I've now written one).
• 1.06 - March 20th 2011 - first translatable version
• 1.05 - March 6th 2011 - download builds from CHDK-DE website
• 1.04B - February 9th 2011 - add runacid.bat file to Windows zip and ensure properties file is OK
• 1.04B - January 20th 2011 - put SDM common files in same folder as DISKBOOT.BIN (to simplify SDM installation)
• 1.04 - January 8th 2011 - add IXUS95/SD1200, SX30 and G12 to list of CHDK-supported cameras
• 1.04 - November 3rd 2010 - add IXUS900/SD900 to list of CHDK-supported cameras
• 1.04 - October 3rd 2010 - add many new models to the list of SDM-supported cameras
• 1.04 - September 20th 2010 - add D10 to list of CHDK-supported cameras, issue message for cameras currently being ported
• 1.03 - August 18th 2010 - catch and report problems loading CHDK and SDM download web-pages
• 1.02 - August 2010 - display image of dropped photo
• 1.01 - June 19th 2010 - add IXUS85/SD770 to list of CHDK-supported cameras
• 1.0 - May 14th 2010 - initial release

Many thanks to Drew Noakes for his MetaData Extractor java package here and to Ger Vermeulen for the tables of Canon Makernotes Exif information he maintains here.

Thanks to Sebastian Scholle the source code of ACID is now available on GitHub.

Comments, suggestions and bug reports welcome. Dave@zenoshrdlu.com.

All my apps are freeware, but if you've found them useful and would like to thank the author, you can make a donation (for example £1, €1 or $1) to show your appreciation for the many hours spent working on them!

For other SDM and CHDK-related stuff of mine, see here