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Garmin Software Upgrade: GTN, TXi, GFC (v6.50)


Bryan

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1 hour ago, ilovecornfields said:

I just got off the phone with Garmin. I was supposed to do my 6.50 software upgrade today and decided to entertain myself on the drive to the airport with Garmin’s hold music. 20 minutes later the guy tells me there is NO issue with the screen going black. He said “did you read about this online or something?” I said “Yes. It’s on Beechtalk and Mooneyspace.” He said, “hold on, let me check with some other people.”

Comes back and says DO NOT UPGRADE. There is a known issue with the 6.50 software and the GTX-345/GDL 88. When the GTN receives the ADS-B information it can become “overloaded” and the screen goes black. They expect to release the 6.51 software in the next couple of weeks which should fix this bug.

Glad I called because my avionics shop was unaware of this issue. 

Go Mooneyspace! (and Beechtalk).

Garmin really has their head up their ass.  I spoke to the FAA office where their POI is located for their avionics approval process.  Garmin told me the FAA was totally aware of the issue and this FAA person in the office for their approvals knew nothing about it.

We should not have to be members of and read Beechtalk to get STC notifications for our very expensive avionics.  The last post the Garmin employee put on Beechtalk he wrote that they really do not know what is going on.

I reverted back to the old software and will not upgrade to a new one until about 6 months have passed.  

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1 hour ago, ilovecornfields said:

Glad I called because my avionics shop was unaware of this issue. 

Go Mooneyspace! (and Beechtalk).

Your avionics shop was unaware because Garmin is awful in the customer service side of their business.....They do not even give the shops clear instructions on what to do with behind the scenes settings on how to set up the GTN for VNAV after the upgrade.  Its all learned on 3rd party forums.

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Thanks for the follow up on the blanking issue with the 6.50 software Jim. my apologies to everyone for not getting on the Mooneyspace forum as often as I should, after I had the phone conversation with Jim I was immediately dispatched for business travel and just arrived home.

   as Jim has pointed out there is a blanking issue with the 6.50 software release, we quickly jumped on this issue and verified what is happening. Basically without getting into the deep weeds on it if you don't have a FIS B data input you will never notice this, in other words if you have a GDL 88 or a GTX 345 interfaced with your GTN you could see this issue. We will be posting a patch for this early next week for the dealers to install to correct this issue.

   I have spoken with our certification team who is working with the FAA on this as of this morning and I corrected some of the misquotes during the phone conversation between Jim and myself. This will not have any affect on the operation of the unit with the exception of the blanking, if you're not looking at the screen all of the other functions will continue to work and you will never see a problem other then this short blank screen when it is refreshing.

 

but please if there are any questions on this issue, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

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@TrekLawler Trek,

You might seriously consider putting contact information in your MS signature line...

It would be good for many people on many levels... It would certainly help with the Customer/Supplier relationship from a Mooney point of view.

Let me know if you need some help with this...

Best regards,

-a-

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On 10/12/2018 at 12:18 PM, Jim Peace said:

Your avionics shop was unaware because Garmin is awful in the customer service side of their business.....They do not even give the shops clear instructions on what to do with behind the scenes settings on how to set up the GTN for VNAV after the upgrade.  Its all learned on 3rd party forums.

My avionics shop has regular seminars for software upgrades, new products, and are trained on new features and configurations. I have the 750 and 345 but not had the issue described. Once the 6.5 package was installed, I watched them go thru 2 pages of config changes using a Garmin produced checklist.

Saying shops learn how these things off forums is untrue. My shop gets their direction from Garmin.

My shop is ready for the impeding fix and has already said they will contact me when it becomes official.

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11 hours ago, Bryan said:

Saying shops learn how these things off forums is untrue. My shop gets their direction from Garmin.

My shop is ready for the impeding fix and has already said they will contact me when it becomes official.

Thanks Bryan,

    yea, that's absolutely correct, as a matter of fact I just returned from a two day safety seminar/Fly in that one of our dealers held in the New England area for it's customers where I was asked to attend, answer questions with the FAA present as well to address any issues. these events happen all the time and we do our best to attend most of them, schedules allowing. my team also mans phones and averages almost 300 calls a day answering questions for dealers worldwide, so saying they only learn these things from forums couldn't be further from the truth. if this is the case I'd like to know more details about the dealer and we can provide them training on what learning options they have available to them.

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On 10/13/2018 at 6:24 PM, Bryan said:

My avionics shop has regular seminars for software upgrades, new products, and are trained on new features and configurations. I have the 750 and 345 but not had the issue described. Once the 6.5 package was installed, I watched them go thru 2 pages of config changes using a Garmin produced checklist.

Saying shops learn how these things off forums is untrue. My shop gets their direction from Garmin.

My shop is ready for the impeding fix and has already said they will contact me when it becomes official.

The same with mine.  My shop has no trouble getting information directly from Garmin and has even included me in email threads with the Garmin support people when there is an issue (this is typically frowned on by dealer support organizations because direct contact can bypass the dealer)  I've found the Garmin support people always helpful and willing to help with pre-project planning as well as post-project support.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The awaited GTN 6.51 fix is out today. Not that its important, but interestingly, it suggest the problem may have started earlier than 6.5 and in ver 6.0, as its states mandatory for for those with 6.0 through 6.5.

https://s23634.pcdn.co/en-US/aviationalerts/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1876A_ASDN.pdf 

 

 

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The awaited GTN 6.51 fix is out today. Not that its important, but interestingly, it suggest the problem may have started earlier than 6.5 and in ver 6.0, as its states mandatory for for those with 6.0 through 6.5.
https://s23634.pcdn.co/en-US/aviationalerts/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1876A_ASDN.pdf 
 
 


I also thought it was related to a number of additional configurations, not just the GTX-345 and GDL-88 integrations.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
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1 hour ago, Marauder said:

 


I also thought it was related to a number of additional configurations, not just the GTX-345 and GDL-88 integrations.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

Yes, it does also list that the fix included a problem where the map did not display newly received data from the GDL-69 and GSR-56 - but that appears unrelated to the blank screen issue. But if you are referring to the blank screen issue with weather processing, I thought I did recall Trek did say on Beechtalk in response to someone asking if it affected their GDL-69  that it didn't include the GDL-69 XM data and I was thankful that I was okay sticking to XM (I can display both). But I just tried to verify that and couldn't find that reference to it so my recall may be incorrect. 

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5 hours ago, Bob - S50 said:

So if the update is mandatory, does that mean Garmin will pick up the labor cost of having it done?

it says it is warranty reimbursable if you're currently at 6.0 to 6.5. I believe that is for up to 1 hr.

In truth, those of us that have a relationship with a local avionics shop don't typically ever pay for these s/w updates. That is one of the distinct advantages of doing business with a local shop. My shops have even printed out the updated AFMS when applicable at no charge.

Edited by kortopates
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17 hours ago, kortopates said:

it says it is warranty reimbursable if you're currently at 6.0 to 6.5. I believe that is for up to 1 hr.

In truth, those of us that have a relationship with a local avionics shop don't typically ever pay for these s/w updates. That is one of the distinct advantages of doing business with a local shop. My shops have even printed out the updated AFMS when applicable at no charge.

Ok, Ok, OK........I must confess something here, as an Avionics Shop.....I have to say that in my 30 years in the industry, all in Avionics, I have become a professional "Not it!" player.  Whenever a new software update comes out and the frisky young pilots come around because they track this stuff and want to "be the first guy with the new software" we tend to play the "Not it" game.  I seem to have to do it anyway because no one else wants to do it and I will give in most of the time......but I digress.......here is what I ALWAYS recommend, if you system(s) are doing what you want and need them to do, why change it?  If the "fix" in the software doesn't affect you, why do it?  When you delve into software you are opening yourself and systems up naked in a room full of stiff collars that will mess around and have no heart.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  My contact is always below and call me at anytime.  We are all in this together and if there is a question you need answered and I can get it for you, I will.  But as for the Garmin software updates, slow down on getting them and let the bugs get worked out for a few months.  This whole 6.50 debacle, I had to completely reconfigure 2 GTN750 with dual G600 in a King Air because of the update.  The thing is, there was no info on the wiring in for this aircraft so I had to follow everything out to figure it out.  It was quite fun.  Slow down and the aircraft and pocketbook will thank you.  And no, Garmin picks nothing up for these "Mandatory Updates"....

 

Be good and keep the info coming!!!!!  Mooniacs Unite!!!!!!

Edited by The Avionics Specialists
Misspelled a word
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16 minutes ago, The Avionics Specialists said:

 And no, Garmin picks nothing up for these "Mandatory Updates"....

 

Hate to disagree but according to Trek Lawler from Garmin:

 

It is a warranty update for any GTN that is interfaced with a GTX 345 or GDL 88. if not this is purely optional and will have to pay for the labor to have it installed. the dealer will need to provide the serial number of the GTX or GDL to have the 1 hour labor claim paid.

let me know if there are any other questions,


_________________
Trek A. Lawler
Supervisor, Garmin Aviation Field Service Engineering
Aviation Product Support

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2 minutes ago, 201Mooniac said:

Hate to disagree but according to Trek Lawler from Garmin:

 

It is a warranty update for any GTN that is interfaced with a GTX 345 or GDL 88. if not this is purely optional and will have to pay for the labor to have it installed. the dealer will need to provide the serial number of the GTX or GDL to have the 1 hour labor claim paid.

let me know if there are any other questions,


_________________
Trek A. Lawler
Supervisor, Garmin Aviation Field Service Engineering
Aviation Product Support

No hate felt, trust me, I just know the skinny as we are the ones waiting for payment.  Still........

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16 hours ago, ilovecornfields said:

I just heard 6.51 is having issues as well. Anyone do the 6.51 update? @TrekLawler?

type of issues? we need to know on these forums because it has been proven that Garmin will not do the right thing and notify the customers directly about any issues until they have a fix. In the mean time it is up to you to figure it out for yourself.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/7/2018 at 3:53 PM, Jim Peace said:

type of issues? we need to know on these forums because it has been proven that Garmin will not do the right thing and notify the customers directly about any issues until they have a fix. In the mean time it is up to you to figure it out for yourself.

I did the 6.51 update last week and only issue I found was that I lost the “ground” mode on the transponder. I spoke to the shop that had the issues with 6.50 and he said it seemed to randomly reset a lot of the settings so suggested writing down all of the settings prior to the upgrade (which you’re supposed to do anyway). Other than the transponder issue, 6.51 seems to be fine so far. Altitudes and TOD/BOD don’t display on the G500 but I don’t know if it’s worth upgrading to the txi just for that! Ended up having to update the G500, GDL88, GAD43 and flightstream software as well. 

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1 hour ago, ilovecornfields said:

I did the 6.51 update last week and only issue I found was that I lost the “ground” mode on the transponder. I spoke to the shop that had the issues with 6.50 and he said it seemed to randomly reset a lot of the settings so suggested writing down all of the settings prior to the upgrade (which you’re supposed to do anyway). Other than the transponder issue, 6.51 seems to be fine so far. Altitudes and TOD/BOD don’t display on the G500 but I don’t know if it’s worth upgrading to the txi just for that! Ended up having to update the G500, GDL88, GAD43 and flightstream software as well. 

So you did eventually get the ground mode back on the transponder?  

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9 minutes ago, Jim Peace said:

So you did eventually get the ground mode back on the transponder?  

Just connect a heavy-gauge wire directly from the engine to the transponder.  

Seriously — it is part of the GTX33ES configuration done via the GTN750 screen.  Once you find the sub-menu it is a moment’s work.  

 

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