How to open .bin files on MacBook Pro running Sonoma 14?

danuke wrote:

I could open these .bin files from Nikon with a simple double click, at least until I went to a Sonoma, M2 machine Mac mini; i.e. my old intel iMac running Ventura. So something in Sonoma dumbed down.

Then I would simply move the extracted file to the Camera's SD card's root directory and install the upgrade. No issues.

FYI, the .bin file is the extracted file needed to be transferred to the camera. Files downloaded from the Internet are typically stored in a .zip archive which Safari "opens" by default. When Safari "opens" the .zip archive, it extracts the contents....namely the .bin file needed for the firmware update (macOS then automatically deletes the downloaded .zip file leaving only the extracted contents behind).

You don't open a .bin file (at least not .bin files associated with firmware updates).

You can prevent Safari from automatically "opening" files by going into "Safari --> Settings", clicking on the "General" tab. At the bottom of that page uncheck the option 'Open "safe" files after downloading'. This will prevent Safari from automatically extracting the contents of archive files such as .zip files & deleting the downloaded file. Of course people may want other document type files to open automatically so changing this setting may not be an option for them.

That kind of depends on what these files are for or where they came from.

Bin files can be any number of things, and how you open them will largely depend on what they are meant for.

They can be as mentioned binary files which would be meaningless to a user, but may may used by an application for something.

Contents of Bin files can be anything from video to disk images.

Where are you getting these bin files from? What are they meant for? What are you doing that produces these bin files?

If you provide some context, someone may be able to explain how to open or use those files.

> how do I access it to install on my camera?

Usually you copy the .bin (extracted from .zip.bin file) to a flash drive or card formatted as FAT (MBR), insert it to the device, push some buttons on the device (as instructed at the site where you downloaded the .zip.bin file), and then the device should update its firmware. YMMV.

.bin files are usually associated with firmware upgrade files. These files are usually meant to be pushed to a particular device in order to update that device's firmware.

Apple users get confused trying to follow instructions written for Windows systems. The default Safari setting is to open known files such as .zip files which are typically used for downloads from vendors & manufacturers. Normally after downloading, the instructions tell the user to extract the contents, but they really mean extract the contents of the .zip file since that is rarely automatic for many browsers or Windows OS. Safari already performed the extraction step. Re-read the instructions you are following carefully so you don't miss a step. If you are trying to upgrade the firmware of some device, then skip to the next step since you have already extracted the contents of the downloaded file and those contents are the .bin file.

VikingOSX wrote:

You don't. They are binary and unopenable via any user interface. If you downloaded these, what was your intent?

+1 I'm with you.

Google "Hex editor for Mac" and you can get a number of choices.

A hex editor will let you open a binary file and look at the individual bytes, but unless you *really* know what you are doing, it is easy to damage things.

HWTech wrote:

You don't open a .bin file (at least not .bin files associated with firmware updates).

In this context we must not forget something completely different, an important factor in the distribution of Macintosh files in the nineties, MacBinary. These .bin files were often decoded via StuffIt Expander.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBinary

Hummm,

I think that there is usually a

chmod +x command line associated with the file to make it executable also.

ludditE321 wrote:

Unfortunately there are no instructions, just the file. And if already extracted why would the message say 'it's an unsupported format?

The Archive Utility might be testing the contents of files with generic extensions like .bin to see if the contents are consistent with a compression format, or other encoding, that it understands. Because the contents of your .bin file are meant for your camera, they probably didn't have the right "magic values" in the right places to convince Archive Utility that it was looking at a format that it understood.

ludditE321 wrote:

I actually have a 'real-life' contact in Ricoh's tech dept that I've spoken with...to no avail. Thx for the link and I'll give that a shot!

Unless they require you to use a proprietary Windows based app, then you would just follow whatever instructions are given for a Windows user. If the Windows instructions require you to utilize a system app to push the downloaded .bin file to the camera, then perhaps there is an equivalent one for macOS. Usually if it doesn't involve a Windows only Pentax app, we can take the Windows instructions & interpret them for use on macOS. More than likely @Matti Haveri is correct regarding a USB stick.

Do you have a link to the Pentax support website for this firmware update so we can review the information Pentax provides to the public? I just looked for one of the Pentax K1 (non-Mark) cameras (not sure if this is your exact model though)....they provide instructions on what to do which is what @Matt Haveri was suggesting:

https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/k1.html

Download the updated firmware file

* For Windows/Macintosh: k1_v230.zip zip type 9,043 KB

Updating Procedure

1. Provide a formatted SD memory card for the update software.

2. The download file is self-extracting. The following file is extracted.

3. Fwdc228b.bin: This is the updated firmware.

4. Copy the above Firmware file [fwdc228b.bin] to the root directory in the SD card.

5. If your computer does not have a card slot, you can copy the firmware update file by inserting the SD card into your camera and then connecting the camera directly to your computer.

6. Insert the D-LI90 battery into the camera and confirm the battery is full by battery level indicator then turn the camera off.

7. Insert the update SD card (prepared in step 1) into the camera (slot 1) and close card cover.

8. Turn the camera power on while pressing the MENU button.

9. "Updates the camera firmware" appears in the LCD monitor.

10. Ver: 1.00/1.10/1.20/1.30/1.40 /1.41/1.42/1.43/1.50/1.51/1.52/1.53/1.54/1.55/1.60 /1.70 /2.00 /2.10　/2.20 →2.30　will be displayed.

11. Press the four-way controller to select "Start" and press the "OK" button.

12. "NOW LOADING" appears on the LCD monitor and updating starts.

13. Please do not under any circumstances switch off the power before the update is completed.

14. When update is completed, the "COMPLETE" will be displayed at the left bottom of the LCD monitor, then turn the camera off.

15. Remove the update SD card from the camera.

16. *Confirm the version of firmware with above [How to check version].

17. [Caution]

18. When updating is finished, the update SD card still contains the Firmware file.

19. If you want to use this card to take pictures, format the card by the camera to delete firmware file first.

FYI, here is the link to the Ricoh/Pentax camera firmware download site where you can select your exact camera for the proper instructions.

https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/download_digital.html

Jan Hedlund wrote:

HWTech wrote:

You don't open a .bin file (at least not .bin files associated with firmware updates).

In this context we must not forget something completely different, an important factor in the distribution of Macintosh files in the nineties, MacBinary. These .bin files were often decoded via StuffIt Expander.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBinary

To this day, Macintosh filesystems support resource forks, and metadata not always found on other filesystems.

The introduction of packages in Mac OS X – and their use for storing Mac GUI applications – greatly reduced the Mac's day-to-day dependence upon resource forks. However, these resource fork and metadata capabilities are still there, and the Finder's attempts to preserve them are behind another problem.

That's the one where, e.g., non-Apple systems choke on flash drives full of .JPGs or .MP3s from a Mac, because the Finder has "helpfully" created a bunch of "._" files in its attempts to preserve metadata:

PHOTO1.JPG
._PHOTO1.JPG
PHOTO2.JPG
._PHOTO2.JPG
etc.

The ._*.JPG files do not contain photos. They are empty or contain metadata. The leading "." is a Unix convention for hiding a file from normal directory listings, but a smart TV or digital picture frame might not know that. Playing the ._*.JPG files will, of course, reveal that they are hopelessly "corrupt."

According to the SD Association,

• The standard filesystem for a SDHC card is FAT32
• The standard filesystem for a SDXC card is exFAT
• They recommend formatting cards in-camera

Here are Ricoh's instructions on how to install a firmware update on a K-1. (They're near the very bottom of the page, after all of the "Changes" sections.)

https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/k1.html

As expected, the procedure involves

• Making sure the camera's battery is fully charged
• Copying the .bin file from the Mac to the top-level directory of the card. (I would suggest formatting the card in the camera, as per SD Association recommendations.)
• Transferring the card to the powered-off camera

If I was being paranoid, then just before ejecting the card from the Mac, I might go into Terminal and check and see whether the Finder created a ._fwdc228b.bin metadata file corresponding to the main fwdc228b.bin file. If I found such a file, I would remove it. Such metadata files have been known to confuse non-Mac devices looking for .JPGs, .MP3s, and the like. Hopefully the camera would ignore a ._ file, or at least would complain about it instead of using it, but removing the (hidden) ._ file would avoid putting that to the test.

It looks like you do have to press a button when powering on the camera to trigger the update. See the instructions on the Ricoh/Pentax site for details.

You need to transfer that bin file to an SD card and insert the SD card into your camera.

Once in your camera, make sure it has a full battery, and turn it on while holding down the menu button.

Then follow the onscreen prompts.

click here ➜ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzIBDx9LKPU

I could open these .bin files from Nikon with a simple double click, at least until I went to a Sonoma, M2 machine Mac mini; i.e. my old intel iMac running Ventura. So something in Sonoma dumbed down.

Then I would simply move the extracted file to the Camera's SD card's root directory and install the upgrade. No issues.

So now I will either have to wait for 3 weeks until I can get back to East Texas and my iMac or see if there is a 3rd party software that can open the .bin file.

AND APPLE calls my iMac and Ventura LEGACY!! KISS MY FOOT!!!

danuke wrote:

Hummm,

I think that there is usually a

chmod +x command line associated with the file to make it executable also.

That's different. In Windows, an .exe file is one containing machine code. You can't magically change a file that contains text – which is what the .txt extension usually denotes – to one containing machine code – by renaming the file.

In Unix, when you try to execute a command, the shell will check whether the file is in executable format. If it is not, the shell will try to interpret the file as a shell script. If you put a bunch of shell commands in a text file and use chmod +x to give execute permission, that works because the system is set up to check the contents of the file and run it in the appropriate way. Not because chmod +x is converting text to machine code (it isn't).