TAG :: Toronto Area Geocachers » GPS Firmware Updates

Sep 27 2011

Here’s an interesting update that just came out for the Garmin Montana series. You can tweak the paperless geocaching now to be more OpenCaching like, or more “Traditional” (aka Geocaching.com) like, or combine them both.

This is handy for telling at a glance whether the cache is listed on Garmin’s OpenCaching.com site, or elsewhere. My immediate thought turns to noting which site I’m going to log the cache find on or potentially seeing cross listed caches for logging both quickly.


  

In “Traditional” View (seen above), the list hows Groundspeak icons, and the Difficulty/Terrain stars. The same information shows on the map view.

  


Switch the unit over to “OpenCaching” mode and that all changes. You’ll now see the icons shown in OpenCaching.com’s brown palette and the radar view showing the Difficulty, Terrain, Size and Awesomeness rankings.

Of course, you can see them combined in list view as well.


 

The Dashboards and Filters also reflect the changes. To see the Opencaching filter screen, you have to set your “Geocaching Style” to OpenCaching.com, or if you have only OpenCaching caches on your unit you can use “Auto”

While Garmin says the changes are only available on their giant flagship Montana handhelds, the blog post promises more units will support the feature soon.

[ via GPSTrackLog  / Rich Owens ][ Garmin Paperless Opencaching ]

Jun 05 2011

Well it seems the Colorado has a pinch of life in it yet. After a solid week of Garmin announcements about new product lines I’m surprised to see there’s an update for my Colorado. This is mainly a BirdsEye bug fix release but still nice to see they are still taking care of us Colorado owners!

  • Increased the maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200
  • Fixed shutdown that sometimes occurred while scrolling through the list of background images

You can get it via WebUpdater

[ Colorado 3.70 Firmware ]

Apr 29 2011

Garmin has published some more Beta firmware updates. While these can enable additional functionality, they’re not always fully baked – you might have to deal with unexpected problems when you run a “beta”.

GPSMAP 62/78 2.95 Beta:

  • Fixed issues relating to WAAS performance.
  • Fixed issue where the device would not regain a GPS signal after losing the GPS signal in a tunnel.
  • Fixed shutdown on the map screen when a waypoint was being moved to the same location as a geocache or other POIs.
  • Fixed issue where proximity waypoint alerts could only be set in feet regardless of what was selected as a Distance/Speed unit in the setup page.
  • Fixed an issue where the enabled/disabled option for custom maps could not be changed when two or more BirdsEye™ Satellite Imagery providers were on the device.
  • Fixed an issue where the device would not beep when approaching a destination while routing off-road.
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

Oregon x50 4.49 Beta:

  • Fixed issues relating to WAAS performance.
  • Fixed issue where the device would not regain a GPS signal after losing the GPS signal in a tunnel.
  • Fixed shutdown on the map screen when a waypoint was being moved to the same location as a geocache or other POIs.
  • Fixed an issue where the enabled/disabled option for custom maps could not be changed when two or more BirdsEye™ Satellite Imagery providers were on the device.
  • Fixed an issue where the device would not beep when approaching a destination while routing off-road.
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

Thanks Allory_D (Twitter)

[ GPSMap 62/78 Beta ] [ Oregon x50 Beta ]

Apr 08 2011

Garmin has released another beta for the Oregon x50 series GPS units. It corrects a shutdown issue introduced in the last beta and some ANT connectivity issues (ie Chirp).
This is a BETA release so don’t use it if you are not comfortable with reloading your GPS, or dealing with odd errors here and there. If you need to rely on your GPS 100%, you should be using the production firmware instead.

Change History

  • Fixed shutdown when selecting an option on the ‘Where To?’ page that was introduced with 4.45 beta
  • Fixed ANT connectivity issues that were introduced with 4.45 beta
  • Fixed the slow rendering time of the ‘About’ page that was introduced with 4.45 beta
  • Fixed a bug introduced in 4.45 beta where JNX settings were not being saved for each profile
  • Fixed an issue with magnetic north reference and waypoint headings
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

[ Garmin Oregon 4.47 Beta ]

Mar 17 2011

Garmin has posted a batch of beta firmware downloads for their current outdoor product line. This affects the GPSMAP 62, GPSMAP 78, Oregon and Dakota lines. The updates are pretty much identical across the board, fixing GPS performance, JNX (Bird’s Eye) handling and a few crash bugs.

Please remember these are beta releases so while you are getting new features and fixes, there is nothing to say your GPS won’t do weird things after loading this software.

GPSMAP 62/78 2.93 Beta:

  • Improved GPS performance
  • Improved JNX file handling
  • Increased maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200
  • Fixed shutdown when unit had more than the maximum number of JNX files on it
  • Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size
  • Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field
  • Fixed problem with profiles and the fields on the map page
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

Oregon 200/300/400 4.16 Beta:

  • Improved GPS performance
  • Improved JNX file handling
  • Improved the usability of the main menu setup page
  • Increased maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200
  • Fixed shutdown when unit had more than the maximum number of JNX files on it
  • Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size
  • Fixed shutdown associated with certain custom POI files
  • Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field
  • Fixed an issue related to adding a geocache as a point in a route
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

Oregon x50 v4.45 Beta:

Changes made from version 4.32 to 4.45:

* Improved GPS performance * Improved JNX file handling * Improved the usability of the main menu setup page * Increased maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200 * Fixed shutdown when more than the maximum number of JNX files were present * Fixed ‘Search Near’ functionality on Hunt & Fish and Sun & Moon pages * Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size * Fixed shutdown associated with certain custom POI files * Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field

* Fixed problem with profiles and the fields on the map page

Dakota 4.01 Beta:

  • Improved GPS performance
  • Improved JNX file handling
  • Improved the usability of the main menu setup page
  • Increased maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200
  • Fixed shutdown when unit had more than the maximum number of JNX files on it
  • Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size
  • Fixed shutdown associated with certain custom POI files
  • Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field
  • Fixed issue with profiles and the fields on the map page
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

Update: Added Oregon x50 series Beta

Jan 22 2011

Garmin has released new firmware for the Colorado series, putting the current version at 3.60. This appears to be a rebrand of the 3.52 beta as there are no noticable changes between the beta and this final release.

Changes made from version 3.50 to 3.60:

* Added support for chirp™ detection. This software update will allow Colorado units to detect previously-programmed chirp™ units. See http://www.garmin.com/chirp for details on which units are chirp™ compatible. NOTE: Due to the hardware present in Colorado devices, chirp™ detection range may be less than that of other compatible devices. * Updated magnetic Earth field data. * Fixed issue with certain JPEGs not drawing from Custom Maps. * Fixed issue with Oblique Mercator User Grid distances.

* Fixed line color when navigating a track off-road.

[ Colorado 3.60 Firmware ]

Jan 15 2011

This tip is for the Colorado, Oregon, GPSMAP 62/78 and Dakota line of Garmin GPS recievers.

The story goes something like this.  You upgraded your Garmin GPS receiver to the latest beta firmware.  Perhaps it was because of a new feature, or a bug that was listed as fixed, or a bug that wasn’t listed but you were hoping was fixed, or you’re just a glutton for punishment.  Whatever the reason, you’re now running the latest and greatest.  Or so you thought…  You notice that a new bug, or two, has been introduced.  It’s serious enough that the reason you upgraded isn’t worth the aggravation.  You want to go back.

If you were running a previous beta it’s easy.  Just run the EXE file for that firmware and you’re back to where you were.

But what if you want to go back to a release version.  You don’t have an EXE for that since you’ve probably used Webupdater to load it.  No problem.  Webupdater puts the firmware file in the Garmin folder on your unit in a file called gupdate.gcd.  All you had to do was copy this file somewhere else before you rebooted your GPS receiver.  Just copy that file back to the Garmin folder and reboot.  You’re done.

“But I didn’t back up anything!”, you say.  Since this is the first time you want to go back you probably didn’t make a back up of the firmware file.  Fortunately you’re not stuck.  The good folks at gpsfix.net have prepared for this possibility and have links to the firmware files on their wiki pages.  Just download GCD file for the firmware you want, rename it to gupdate.gcd, put it in your Garmin folder on your GPS receiver and reboot.

There is one small gotcha.  Going back to a previous version of firmware will reset all the settings on your GPSr.  Your battery type, WAAS enabled, units, and other customizations will all go back to defaults.  Your loaded maps, geocaches and custom POI will be left alone.  Waypoints will probably survive as well.

Here’s the links to the wiki pages for all the GPS recievers:

  • Colorado
  • Oregon
  • Oregon x50
  • GPSMAP 62/78
  • Dakota

Jan 04 2011

If you’ve loaded up that 3.52 Colorado update, also run Webupdater as Garmin quietly posted a GPS Firmware update. At this point, we have no idea what changed. The GPS Software version stayed at 2.90 on my unit.

Jan 04 2011

Garmin has released a firmware update for the Colorado.  What’s exciting is that they added Chirp support.  There were mixed messages coming from Garmin tech support as to whether or not the Colorado’s hardware was capable of talking to a Chirp.

Colorado v3.52: Download

  • Added support for chirp™ detection. This software update will allow Colorado units to detect previously-programmed chirp™ units. See http://www.garmin.com/chirp for details on which units are chirp™ compatible. NOTE: Due to the hardware present in Colorado devices, chirp™ detection range may be less than that of other compatible devices.
  • Updated magnetic Earth field data.
  • Fixed issue with certain JPEGs not drawing from Custom Maps.
  • Fixed issue with Oblique Mercator User Grid distances.

Dec 22 2010

Garmin has release a second round of firmware updates for their Geocaching capable receivers.

GPSMAP 62/78 v2.92: Download

  • Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS
  • Fixed issue with progress bar displaying properly on power up
  • Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point

Oregon v4.12: Download

  • Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS
  • Fixed issue with photo viewer not displaying correctly
  • Fixed issue with 3D view
  • Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point

Oregon x50 v4.32: Download

  • Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS
  • Fixed issue with moon not showing on sun and moon page
  • Fixed issue with photo viewer not displaying correctly
  • Fixed issue with progress bar displaying properly on power up
  • Fixed issue with waypoint distances showing significantly off in the waypoint manager
  • Fixed issue with 3D view
  • Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point

Dakota v3.82: Download

  • Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS
  • Fixed a hang that occurred when a unit had 1000 auto-named waypoints
  • Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point

As always, use at your own risk.  If you have to go back  to a previous version of firmware it will reset all your settings to default.

Dakota software version 3.82