Chartplotter Rebooting Problem

R

RProffer

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 11, 2010
Messages
734
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C SE
Vessel Name
(2010) Therapist II
The last time we had our boat out, we had a problem where the Garmin 5212 Chartplotter started rebooting itself, over and over again. It would not come up. In my experience with computers, that would indicate either the operating system was corrupted or the hard drive was failing. All I could think of was a huge repair bill from Garmin. I searched Garmin's site and found a page that described how to reinstall the operating system upon start up. It involved downloading the latest software update on a SD card, insert the card into the chartplotter, then press and hold the power button until the word "Holding" is displayed. I did that and the operating system reinstalled and everything is working fine now. I now keep that SD card on the boat along with the instructions in case it happens again. Here is the link to Garmin that describes this https://support.garmin.com/support/...caseId={0ea84fd0-db12-11df-48fb-000000000000}
 
Rick: Thanks... very useful and a must 'to have' in case this happens out on the water.

I have the Garmin 5212 ChartPlotter. I downloaded this file... ChartplottersUpdatewithSDcard_20130515.exe. Is this the one you downloaded ?

I'm a little concerned here that you were not given an SD card by Ranger Tugs for re-installing the Garmin 5212 Operating System. It would seem that they would have this SD card in the first place for installing the software at the time of installing the ChartPlotter in a new boat. For the record, I don't believe I was given one when we bought our R-25 in Aug 2009. 🙁 :roll: Most new computer purchases these days come with a means for re-installing the Operating system either from a DVD, SD card, Memory stick or for downloading it from the manufacturer's web site server.

How old is your 5212 ChartPlotter ?
Since this continuous re-booting occurred one might conclude it will happen again. If so what would you think of doing to correct this ? I'm not sure how long the 5212's warranty is so dunno how this issue would be resolved free of charge. Do you know what kind of Hard drive is in the ChartPlotter, and are you sure it has one as apposed to flash memory ? I do know the ChartPlotter has a fan as I can hear it whirring at times, but this may also be the sound of a spinning hard drive as well.

Do you think that you are somehow overheating the ChartPlotter ? Electronics 'hate' heat.

Did the re-booting cycle start immediately when you powered up the ChartPlotter or did it start this cycle after it had been powered on for some period of time ?
 
If you have the radar option try and disconnect the radar, either on the back of the plotter or radar itself and see if the rebooting persists, during delivery I experienced similar rebooting at random and after we disconnected the radar it stopped. the fix for me was a new radar unit just fyi.
 
I have selected to buy the SD card from Garmin as their download file is only good for a PC running Win presumably. I have Macs only in my house so the *.exe file does me no good and I don't care to run Parallels/Win8 as it's so clunky and I'm not at all proficient with $MS Win systems any rate. In the past others here such as Herb (Willies Tug) have opened the *exe file on their PC and made me an SD card and don't want to ask for the same favor again.

I will purchase the Garmin Marine Network Update on SD™ card
Part Number: 010-00427-01 at https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/sho...rine-network-update-on-sd-card/prod10755.html and I assume this also contains the 5212's OS as well as the latest software update.

When will Garmin become computer agnostic... is any ones guess. :?: :evil:
 
I tried everything to fix the problem when I was on the water because it was fix'n to get dark and I needed the chart plotter to get back to the ramp because the waterway is narrow and shallow. I have Navionics on my cell phone as a backup, but my eyes are getting old and tired to see that little screen. I tried cold boot, warm boot, disconnected everything, etc. Nothing worked. Nothing in the manual. My system came without a SD card. Garmin gives you a choice of downloading updates onto your own SD card or buying a card from them. I guess the profit margin on their $3000 chart plotter is so slim they cannot afford to include a card with the purchase.

My chart plotter came with my new boat in April 2010. I believe the warranty is one year. I have over 30 years experience as a network systems administrator. Operating systems get corrupted and systems fail. It is not a matter of "if it might fail". It is a matter of "when is it going to fail". I have not opened up a chart plotter so I do not know what it has on the inside. It probably has a solid state hard drive.

The file I downloaded is GarminMarineNetworkUpdatewithSDcard_20130516.exe. This file should update the chart plotter and all the other Garmin equipment you have connected (except the radio).

FYI, I got an email from Active Captain that says "While the Macintosh has only about 8-9% of the desktop computer market, almost 30% of the access to the ActiveCaptain website is done on Macs using OS X."

FYI, Navionics is now available for MAC.
 
OK... I ordered the SD card -- Garmin Marine Network Update on SD card, SKU 010-00427-01 after sanity checking with Garmin's Tech Help to ensure it was the correct SD card with OS and latest update version 7.6 for my 5212.

I also asked them about the issue of the 5212 continuously recycling with re-booting, and what may cause it to happen. They said they've heard of it but indicated it was a very rare event being reported to them. Their guess as to why this happens was somewhat vague but their thought was that maybe some weird user data had been entered via the ChartPlotter's menu system or from a faulty SD card or the data on the card was somehow bad/corrupted which can/could cause the OS to get a real 'twist in its knickers' (my words).

This leads me to think that when downloading from the Garmin web site the downloaded file needs to be checksummed and verified it has been received without any transfer error. When I downloaded the GarminMarineNetworkUpdatewithSDCard_20130516.exe file it was 207,249,408 bytes in size or 207.2 MB reported for real disk allocation on my MacBook Pro's internal drive.

I shall be keeping this purchased SD card onboard to deal with the continuous booting cycle posted here... just another item to add to my spares-toolkit hamper... 😉 :roll:
 
The usual response of the usual manufacturer is "never heard of it" no matter what the problem is. The rumors on the boat chat groups (anecdotal) is that Raymarine tech support is expert at that. I have no direct experience.
Garmin, however, is vastly better than most manufacturers in providing support after the sale. And I have direct experience.

As far as buying the SD card from Garmin - we just use the nearest, cheapest, SD card not in use for something else (usually a 2 gig general purpose card is floating around on the electronics bench)
Download the Garmin "loader" software to create the Garmin file directory on the card, to your PC.
Run the "loader" with the card plugged into the PC
Download the latest update to the PC and move it to the card.
Stick card in slot and power up the MFD.
Done.

Had a major problem with the 4212 that finally required me to pay Garmin to replace the mother board. But in the interim I became quite expert at reloading the operating system with the latest update :mrgreen:
 
The point I was trying to make in my post is: this is a potential problem that could occur while cruising, and usually at the most inopportune time, and if you have a SD card with an update, you can easily fix the problem and save the day. I still recommend having a backup system such as Navionics on your cell phone or a hand held marine chart plotter. AND, always carry paper charts, and know how to use them.
 
Yes... I took Rick's point seriously and endeavored to make my own SD card at first.

However, after cranking up my Parallels/Win8 system on my Apple MacBook Pro I found that my 'old' USB 2.0 SD card reader would not accept/read the new SD HC card types (I had an 8GB SD HC card laying about). Everything worked fine using IE browser for unzipping the Garmin downloaded *.exe file until it wanted to find the removable SD card reader device... and then failed. I even tried using this 8GB card with the native Mac OS X 10.8.3 and it still was not recognized. I then placed a 16MB SD card in and that was found but of course 16MB was far too small. Sigh.... I guess I'm going to have to buy a more modern SD card reader to keep up with SD card format technology... :roll: :evil: I'm also guessing that my 'old' SD card reader has problems reading/accepting SD card sizes above a certain size. Regardless of all this, I do need to get/invest in a new SD card reader based on this experience any rate. 😉
 
According to Garmin, some older versions of their software will accept a SD card no larger than 2 GB. The update file extracted to the hard drive takes up 200 MB. The installation program says it needs 300 MB to install on the SD Card. If you have a 1 GB or 2 GB SD card, that should be sufficient.
 
The smallest SD Card I could find at my local photo store was 4GB.... 🙁
 
BAZ, You have a card on order from Garmin. That will do the trick. For future updates you will have to either find someone with a PC to update the card for you, or do your updates at a rendezvous, or (God forbid) buy a PC, or keep buying updated cards from Garmin. :?
 
I found the Garmin Update card on EBay for $12.00 including shipping.
I emailed the seller and was assured it was an original Garmin item.
Same part number for the latest update.
 
He sure is enterprising. You can buy the 2 GB San Disk cards on Amazon for $5.90 incl shipping. Install the software for free and sell it for $12.00. A $18.00 savings compared to Garmin's asking price of $29.99 incl shipping. Only in America.
 
Hmmmm... found a Kingston 1 GB and a SanDisk 512 MB SD card laying about on our boat... so now will try using my MacBook Pro's Parallels/Win8 system again... and this time it worked flawlessly, and much less expensive that buying a PC. 😉 The data written to the SD card was 554,987,356 bytes. So, a 512MB SD Card would not have been large enough for the . When I had version 7.4 it fitted onto a 512 MB SD Card. 😱

I also noted while on the boat that my Garmin 5212 is at version 7.4. So the 7.6 version will definitely be an update.

The eBay find was astute (but probably considered 'pirated' software :roll: )... please post back indicating if it really was a genuine Garmin produced SD card. 🙂
 
I used the SD card today that I created using my MacBook Pro's Parallels/Win8 system under Mac OS X 10.8.3 for placing the Garmin's Boot-Block and Version 7.6 software on. I used it to upgrade my Chart Plotter's 7.4 Version to 7.6 and it went flawlessly and was all done in about 5 mins.

This SD card is now stored safely onboard to deal with the Chart Plotter needing an OS refresh as described in Rick's OP. Thanks Rick. 🙂
 
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