Thread: GPSMAP 78s

Originally Posted by dave mercer

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2) after map install (and I am not sure is Express was doing something same time) - the unit started acting up and would act differently with and without sd card installed... with sd card installed it would act like a gps but would only turn off/on 1x before requrie batteries pull to continue acting like a gps...

What's on the SD? A map/chart only or ..? ... list everything.
What did it do without the SD inserted?

4) yes - the Indoseian firmware i found came from GMaptool
5) i tried yout adivce 5-6 times before trying the Indo software

Dave, i need a link for that exact fw you tried to flash. Was it this one? :

Code:

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Also, please say:
(i) HOW you attempted it (e.g. RGN with Updater.exe or GCD on SD Card);
(ii) if the ID fw flash started and if so whether it failed or succeeded; and
(iii) if the device behaviour changed in any way at all afterwards.

8) holding on SD card go for now - I believe you have given the best advice i have found to date. i did see your info on that and just trying to understand why garmin says cant happen when clearly a way to do it

Garmin service desk drones don't know this stuff. Ask them too many questions they can't answer and they just get p!ssed off. Rumour has it they have a box of kittens beside the desk and strangle one every time someone expects them to actually help with a difficult problem. Forget trying to get any sense out of them on this mate. Just give all the things i've asked above and i'll know how to move on next.

on the SD card:
1) my custom maps - png images from georeferenced to sit on gps basemap. these were years old and work in my gpsmap 79 and always worked in my 78s
2) y tops maps from Mapinstall
3) with SD card would load my custom maps - without if my memory is right would act only as gps and no map info

indonesia info:
1) link: july 6, 2020 from [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] for 62s/78s
2) it was from Updater - havent done anything via SD card yet
3) it went fast to 100% and then unit stopped (same as your 730 file)
4) only difference i noticed was updater said 'erasing' - when i retries your file i got same behaviour

no change in unit behaviour since i started trying your info or the indo info or now..

So you used the same file as I linked in P#12 as the source, the one named "GPSMAP62S_78S_Thai_Indonesia_GCDfile__320.gcd".

That fw is for SE Asian devices with HWID 1354.

What exact naming did you use for the RGN when you converted it from the GCD?

For completeness, please confirm the current HWID of the device using G7ToWin. See Method 3 here: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

Do you mean it's had Cure fw loaded to it, or did you use "original" Radio Button in the GUI? Any naming like "trail.rgn" would mean Updater.exe would flash it, regardless of the device's actual HWID so if that flash attempt even partially succeeded the device might now have a changed HWID to 1354 like the TH/ID fw.

Therefore an old backup from when it was working isn't what you need to look for, it'll show the HWID as 1113. That's why i want you to use G7ToWin to see what its HWID is now (i.e. after the failed TH/ID flash).

I'm a bit confused by what you wrote after ....renamed it to 'trial'. Because you used GarminCure3.exe to make the TH/ID *.RGN file, the default naming would be "135401000320.rgn", not "1113...." as you wrote.

BTW, CA devices use only US/EU fw and therefore have the same HWID as other major Western Markets. Map entitlements and associated files differ of course.

i will get the HWID in a few hours....

When i used Cure to generate the 1113*.* file from your 7.3 firmware, updater wouldnt work with the radio button - I had to move the 1113*.* file to folder with update and then open updater...

so, I have tried your version 7.3 and the Indo version - similar results all time, update progress very quickly and then fails when showing 100%... when i say i renamed to 'trial' that is i made a rgn file from the Indo and tried to upload that - i have noticed that Cure uses a proper naming convention utilizing regions, the 0100 rwrite/dont write and the version.

so, g7towin64 give following:
GPSMAP 78s
software version 3.00
ID: 1113
Unit ID: 0

The only good news from G7ToWin is that HWID is still 1113. It shows the last fw version successfully loaded was V3.00. It's a big jump to go from V3.00 to V7.30 but that's not causing the problem.

The bad news is that the device's 10 digit UID has been lost, indicated by it now showing as "Unit ID: 0". That's another strong indication of physical flash damage. There's still a slight chance it has very severe data corruption which involves multiple regions. Clearly at a minimum, regions 14 and 41 are known to be affected. They contain the main fw and nv memory respectively, both essential for proper working.

If it can't be recovered from SD it's a certain write-off. Try the following please, it uses a modified ramloader which bypasses involving the fw in rgn14 so can sometimes start corrupted devices which might otherwise be unresponsive to an SD's presence. It will attempt to dump a copy of its nv region:

Spoiler: Click for Files

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

• Extract "SD.zip" to a clean SD
• Insert the card in the 78
• Extract "RGN.zip" anywhere convenient on your PC, drag 111301000730.rgn onto Updater.exe and select the USB radio button
• Connect and power on the 78, watch Updater's GUI
• When the device's details appear in the window next to "USB Device", press "OK"
  [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
• If this works, "Loader" or similar should appear on the 78's screen within a few seconds. Wait for the flash to finish indicated by another reboot attempt to the "System Software Missing" screen.

If it doesn't do anything there's nothing else to try. If it does read the card, please post a link to the 2 new files generated on it, "41.bin" in Garmin folder and "Update.log" the 1113 folder. The LOG file can be read by any common text reader, the BIN file will show as it is with FFs only in a hex reader. It's encrypted but i can decrypt it to see what's really in it.

It's very likely V3 isn't the true latest fw on it for sure and it's only being mis-reported by G7ToWin because of corruption in the Nonvol rgn41 data. Like i said "that's not causing the problem" anyway. It is however a huge indication of seriousness of the wider problem.
I should have explained it more maybe, but my previous post is long anyway ....

Garmin's drones mostly don't have a clue about this stuff and even if they did they wouldn't bother trying to use a modded ramloader. Good luck with the attempt.