If he cant get the CF card to work there lies the issue, while it is the standard firmware update method, it sounds like the Firmware instructions allude to the EOS Utility doing an upgrade over usb. 50D page at canon, you can find all your downloads and manuals and such here. https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/...upport-dslr/eos-50d?subtab=downloads-firmware I attached the instructions Steps 1-3 are CF card and say skip to 5, step 4 indicates eos utility and then go to step 5. It should work. The firmware came out in 2012 its 1.09 so verify the version you have first. It does say it increases card compatibility with newer cards so it may actually help your issue.
I very much appreciate all the help. It turns out I am on a steep learning curve but I feel it will be worth it. My last camera was when I did film photography in the 80's.
If it is any comfort to you, I have a 20D which is an earlier model than your 50D. It did not come with a CF card and I went and bought an 8GB card and it worked. It was much later that I found out that the 20D only handles up to 8GB cards and there is no firmware upgrade to use larger cards. So, I was a bit lucky. The 20D was made from the last half of 2004 to the end of 2005 so that makes it about 15 years old and it is still producing great images. Here are a couple of recent examples: _MG_3400 by Ray Allen, on Flickr _MG_3368 by Ray Allen, on Flickr
Finally back home. I have now verified that my CF Card is FAT 32, and the card itself is a 16GB San Disk CF Card. Fairly high speed. I have checked for errors by scanning it in my USB Drive CF Card reader device. Can't detect any errors with the card itself. The camera's pins look to me too. Now am wiping this card with the eraser tool that was recommended to me. Next I will put the card back in the camera and see if I can format it using the camera instead of the computer.
Well, back to square one. My 50D now says the card needs to be formatted but it says it can't format this card, and then says change card. Now I will look for a low mbs speed 8 gb CF Card and hopefully it will work then.