Thread: IMPORTANT! If you want HELP in case of a bricked Garmin device, please follow this

Please Help

I have US Oregon 550 which I tried to patch its firmware with Korean firmware and bricked it.

1. Bricked US Oregon 550 HWID 0896 S/W ver 660

2. I followed RGN_tools to change US to Korean. But Its instruction gave me "software missing error" and didn't work.
So I changed both boot.bin and fw_all.bin to Korean HWID 1209 sw 280.

3. Device now just boots into the software missing error then red screen, no filesyetem access to internl memory

4. No, PC does not see the device anymore

5. Downloaded GCD files from garmin download, Oregon550,Korea_GCDfile__280.gcd and Oregonx50_WebUpdater__660.gcd

Ran GarminCure and created cure file with ver 660
Applied using updater and updater gave me an error "invalid device"
The device is NOT detected by the PC. Garmin Webupdater see the device as Korean 550 and gives me errors

6. Yes, Garmin driver's are installed (as part of Garmin express)

7. HWID is 1209 (changed by boot.bin patch, original is 0896)

8. Yes, tried that (Pl. see #5 above)

9. Yes, In preboot mode I can see System (and loading when applying the update using Updater). The screen is turn off with updater saying invalid device
(my guess is cured firmware of US doens't match with current HWID 1209. Is there anyway to change HWID back to original??

10. Sorry No, my bad, No NV backup

11. Waiting for your response. If I can change HWID 1209(korean 550) back to original 0896(US 550), I guess cure and updater can work.

Is there anyway to change HWID 1209 back to original 0869??

Thank you in advance.

Originally Posted by sbihue

Thanks Butters. Unfortunately, No, I don't have any backup of either the NV or the FileSystem. All I have is the original GarminDevice.xml

Update:
.......................
Get content from Garmin
7. Used Garmin Connect to update the Device with all pending files (maps, other files). had to do this a few times as Garmin Connect would not identify the device and crash when starting the update
......................

If you'd put the old XML into a Garmin root folder before you connected to Garmin Express it probably wouldn't have crashed. I'd guess you finally rebooted the device which re-created the GarminDevice.xml so that GE could see it properly. You wouldn't have received another basemap from GE and will need to load one manually to ensure proper operation: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

Originally Posted by shawn_pa

Please Help

I have US Oregon 550 which I tried to patch its firmware with Korean firmware and bricked it.

1. Bricked US Oregon 550 HWID 0896 S/W ver 660

2. I followed RGN_tools to change US to Korean. But Its instruction gave me "software missing error" and didn't work.
So I changed both boot.bin and fw_all.bin to Korean HWID 1209 sw 280.

3. Device now just boots into the software missing error then red screen, no filesyetem access to internl memory

4. No, PC does not see the device anymore

5. Downloaded GCD files from garmin download, Oregon550,Korea_GCDfile__280.gcd and Oregonx50_WebUpdater__660.gcd

Ran GarminCure and created cure file with ver 660
Applied using updater and updater gave me an error "invalid device"
The device is NOT detected by the PC. Garmin Webupdater see the device as Korean 550 and gives me errors

6. Yes, Garmin driver's are installed (as part of Garmin express)

7. HWID is 1209 (changed by boot.bin patch, original is 0896)

8. Yes, tried that (Pl. see #5 above)

9. Yes, In preboot mode I can see System (and loading when applying the update using Updater). The screen is turn off with updater saying invalid device
(my guess is cured firmware of US doens't match with current HWID 1209. Is there anyway to change HWID back to original??

10. Sorry No, my bad, No NV backup

11. Waiting for your response. If I can change HWID 1209(korean 550) back to original 0896(US 550), I guess cure and updater can work.

Is there anyway to change HWID 1209 back to original 0869??

Thank you in advance.

Cure firmware won't help because it's used only to enable Mass Storage Mode so that any corrupt file stopping the device from booting can be removed or to allow a re-format. Your problem is that the Korean firmware has completely overwritten the device's regions and there is now incompatibility, perhaps due to differing hardware. Luckily you have preboot available otherwise it might be completely dead. Try to flash the original (unpatched) US/EU firmware in preboot as an RGN with HWID 0896. Don't use conventional safe-naming for the RGN file, that can't work. Name the file OUT.RGN to try forcing the flash.

Note: I can't say that will work for sure but if the device was mine i'd do it for sure, it's at your risk if you try it but it can hardly make things worse i guess.

Thanks Butters,

I save US/EU firmware as OUT.rgn and used updater to flush it. But I am getting this error in the middle and device turns off.

Is there any other way for me to try? It looks like boot.bin of US and Korean firmwares are very different :-(

I am learning these differences in a hard way.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

It's dropped preboot mode which shouldn't happen once a flash has started. You can see yourself that the device's details are no longer showing in the window next to 'USB Device' in your first image. This firmware-bricking stuff is right at the limit of my knowledge as I'm not a coder however no software expert seems to post much here lately. I'm away from my PC at the present using a tablet so give me some time to compare the two firmwares and get back to you. In the meantime keep trying over and over to flash the US fw, sometimes sheer persistence pays off. Also try using a different USB port (USB2 not 3 port and rear only) and as many different cables as you can find. If you can get the device to stay in preboot it should eventually flash fully.

Thanks Butters,

I will keep trying and let me try my persistence :-( Please let me know if you have better ideas.

Originally Posted by shawn_pa

Thanks Butters,

I save US/EU firmware as OUT.rgn and used updater to flush it. But I am getting this error in the middle and device turns off.

Is there any other way for me to try? It looks like boot.bin of US and Korean firmwares are very different :-(

I am learning these differences in a hard way.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

My persistence only let me get my old HWID and serial number back while on. But these info disappears when device is turned off and on again.

Changing USB ports and cables did do something...Instead of turning off and updater let garmin oregon 550 running with message "software loading"

I tried to run g7towin and checked that updater OUT.rgn did changed HWID SW serial back to original...But updater hangs with same error.

When I turns on this device again, all these info goes back to korean version (HWID=1209, SW=280, serial=0)
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

A couple of questions:
1. Do you mean you have to terminate Updater.exe because it hangs endlessly with 'Software Loading' on the screen?
2. Do you mean it will boot with the US firmware loaded? If it does boot then hard reset it and then clear nonvol memory if that's available to your Oregon: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

Usually a drastic change in firmware will cause the device to clear nonvol spontaineously on first boot after the flash finishes successfully, 'Locale' has to be re-selected on first boot afterwards. It seems that doesn't happen because the flash isn't completed. You could also try leaving it with updater running for an extended period to see if it will eventually finish the flash itself.

@shawn_pa
I've looked at the 2 firmwares and at least the region layout are the same although different sizes and quite different data.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

If you've not had any further success with the flash by leaving updater running i have a couple of ideas for the next move if you're game. While the device is alive there's still hope for recovery.