so, the unit is acting differently - now it shows 'software loading', havent shown this in any previous attempts.... just from curiosity, how long should it show 'software loading' before i say it is hung and effectively dead? updater has closed, it said successful but unit still showing 'software loading'....

no worries on the v3 issue - i read it and was kinda figuring you knew indicated other issues as you mentioned....

but at least i have made every good effort and proved what i knew from the start with garmin - there is a way to bootstrap these things...