Cannot update g3x database

[Ulysse]

I have a g3x and a gtn750xi. While I have no problem at all updating the gtn750xi database, the g3x doesn't seem to recognize the presence of the update in the SD card. ( It updated fine until last May). I tried various SD sizes (from 2 to 32 gb) on both Mac and windows without success. I could update the software to 9.01 though, which means that the g3x does read the card (it actually also writes the flight logs).

My installer asked me to check that the system ID on the panel matched the one on my fly.garmin account, and it does.

Any idea on what could be wrong?

[kortopates]

Just helped someone with this exact problem, make sure you have a data subscription for the G3x and not just the GTN. Seems obvious - but…


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[Ulysse]

8 hours ago, kortopates said:

make sure you have a data subscription for the G3x

I do. 

[kortopates]

8 hours ago, Ulysse said:

I do. 

I now its a pain to get on the phone in the queue for Garmin technical support but if still struggling with this that would be the logical step - while at the plane. On the GTN's in Setup/Config mode, their is way to force loading data from the card; perhaps such a capability exist on the G3X. But I'd triple check that System ID for a typo and also reformat the SD card; although from your description that's not likely to help (Garmin tech support has had me do that on their FS cards in the past). 

Edited August 17, 2022 by kortopates

[Ulysse]

Thank you for your suggestions.

I have tried new sd cards, reformat, various sizes etc. Also, I could not find any way of forcing the update in config mode. It is as if the g3x system does not recognize the update. A logical conclusion would be a system ID mismatch, but this is not the case. 

I wrote to Garmin but they refuse to assist me arguing that my plane being certified I have to talk to a dealer. The local dealer does not have a technician currently (they fired the previous one) and nobody knows when they get a new one.

I have been begging Garmin for help, without success.

On what number do you call Garmin support in the US?

[PT20J]

SD card size/brand doesn’t matter as long as it is 2 - 32 GB formatted FAT 32.

[carusoam]

8 hours ago, Ulysse said:

Thank you for your suggestions.

I have tried new sd cards, reformat, various sizes etc. Also, I could not find any way of forcing the update in config mode. It is as if the g3x system does not recognize the update. A logical conclusion would be a system ID mismatch, but this is not the case. 

I wrote to Garmin but they refuse to assist me arguing that my plane being certified I have to talk to a dealer. The local dealer does not have a technician currently (they fired the previous one) and nobody knows when they get a new one.

I have been begging Garmin for help, without success.

On what number do you call Garmin support in the US?

@TrekLawler is their goto guy from the internet space….

Trek can be found over at BT (which is code for BeechTalk) 

See if @KLudwick might be able to help…( Ulysse is needing technical help updating his G3’s data base, in Italy (?))

Good luck with your next steps… 

Best regards,

-a-

[kortopates]

22 hours ago, Ulysse said:

Thank you for your suggestions.

I have tried new sd cards, reformat, various sizes etc. Also, I could not find any way of forcing the update in config mode. It is as if the g3x system does not recognize the update. A logical conclusion would be a system ID mismatch, but this is not the case. 

I wrote to Garmin but they refuse to assist me arguing that my plane being certified I have to talk to a dealer. The local dealer does not have a technician currently (they fired the previous one) and nobody knows when they get a new one.

I have been begging Garmin for help, without success.

On what number do you call Garmin support in the US?

Contacting Garmin Aviation Product Support

• Go to fly.garmin.com/support for in-country support information.
• In the Americas, call (866) 739-5687.
• In Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, call +44 (0) 37 0850 1243.
• In Asia Pacific and Australia, call +65 6348 0378.

You should be able to have a Garmin support specialist go through the steps with you on the phone before declaring you'll have to go see a Garmin dealer because of a installation or hardware issue. 

[PT20J]

On 8/17/2022 at 11:25 AM, Ulysse said:

Thank you for your suggestions.

I have tried new sd cards, reformat, various sizes etc. Also, I could not find any way of forcing the update in config mode. It is as if the g3x system does not recognize the update. A logical conclusion would be a system ID mismatch, but this is not the case. 

I wrote to Garmin but they refuse to assist me arguing that my plane being certified I have to talk to a dealer. The local dealer does not have a technician currently (they fired the previous one) and nobody knows when they get a new one.

I have been begging Garmin for help, without success.

On what number do you call Garmin support in the US?

When you say you "wrote" to Garmin I assume you meant "email." If you email aviation.support@garmin.com they should deal with certified product owners. However, in my experience, their G3X knowledge is not deep. If you email g3xpert@garmin.com you are dealing with support persons more knowledgeable on the G3X, but this group primarily deals with the experimental side. Sometimes they will work with me on a certified product issue and sometimes not. Usually, when they don't know the answer, I find that they will fall back on telling me that I have to go through the dealer on a certified product. Sometimes aviation.support will punt an issue to g3xpert in which case they will work with me. 

Skip

 

[Ulysse]

On 8/18/2022 at 7:27 PM, kortopates said:

Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, call +44 (0) 37 0850 1243

Thank you. I'll call on monday

 

13 hours ago, PT20J said:

If you email g3xpert@garmin.com

Yes, I emailed them. Their answer is that since my plane is certified, i have ro talk to a Garmin dealer.

 

13 hours ago, PT20J said:

aviation.support@garmin.com

I'll also try emailing them.

 

Thank you

[Philip France 13]

Hello,

you should check if your dealer has registered both equipments GTN750 and G3X and if your Garmin suscription includes both.

in addition i update the database on garmin and jeppessen charts on jdm

also had problems the 1st time using SD Card adapter that was not reading properly the card 

Philip

[Ulysse]

Follow up on this topic: I got a quick answer from Garmin. For an unknown reason the type of equipment on my garmin account had changed to a g3x NON touch model! I wonder how this could have happened.

Garmin support reset it to g3x touch and I could update the database. 

[PJClark]

Greetings all,

Just adding a little experience to this thread.

As part of my GFC500 sofware update/fix in Jan 23 I had the software also updated on my G3X Touch, GTN750, etc.

Post update, I had one successful database load to the GTN, but the G3x would not update. Finally had time to work through it yesterday, and after a few calls with Garmin I did several things:

1. unilstall the Garmin database manager app from my windows PC

2. eject all USB connected peripherals including SD card reader

3. shut down and restart computer

4. connect USB card reader

5. reformat SD cards used for database transfers

6. re-download and reinstall Garmin Database Manager

7. REINSTALL ALL DATABASES on G3X and GTN750 datacards.

Update after all this was successful.

The odd thing is that the Garmin guy actually said that "it is possible for a corrupted card to actually look like it successfully updated in the Database manager without showing an error.  Then your cockpit equipment is not seeing the card since it's corrupt"

The combination of updates to the Garmin Database Manager application over the last 4-5 months apparently can corrupt your cards.

OH one small detail:  when you reformat datacards, use FAT32 and 4096 bit allocation....the latter appears not to be the default, you have to select it when reformatting.

Ought to be simpler than this.. and seems to me the last 3 years since I bought all this stuff it WAS simpler. Not "progress" at Garmin...

hope this helps someone else before they're driven mad by database update probs.

PJ

 

[PT20J]

I’ve also found that the database manager sometimes won’t recognize an SD card when I plug it into the external card reader (even though it shows up in Windows explorer) but will if I unplug the reader with the card in it and replug the reader back into the same USB port.

I always quick format the cards before updating just to be sure all the old stuff is cleared out. Shouldn’t be necessary, buy can’t hurt. 

Skip

[DCarlton]

I posted a thread months ago about the pain associated with updating my GNS430 database using an Apple computer.  Numerous calls to Garmin from home and then from the shop of a very experienced and capable Garmin dealer.  Talked to several Garmin reps all with their own guess at the problem.  Plenty of discussion about corrupted cards.  Garmin pointed fingers and took little ownership of their system of system interface problems.  In the end I had no confidence in their guess at root cause even after sending them logs.  It was so painful I haven't tried to update my database since then.  It's still on my to do list.  It's an essential part of flying now but at this point in life, I will do everything possible to minimize my dependency on Garmin and recurring data base updates.   

[Fly Boomer]

1 minute ago, DCarlton said:

I will do everything possible to minimize my dependency on Garmin and recurring data base updates.   

Shortest path to a solution might be reducing dependency on Apple?

[DCarlton]

3 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

Shortest path to a solution might be reducing dependency on Apple?

I considered that too but Garmin advertises that their system works with the Apple IOS.  They've blessed the interface.  BTW, we had trouble when I went to the avionics shop too and tried to use their computers with their support.  

[Fly Boomer]

Just now, DCarlton said:

I considered that too but Garmin advertises that their system works with the Apple IOS.  They've blessed the interface.  

All I know is that it can range from difficult to impossible to get a product to function on disparate platforms.  Before I got into ForeFlight, I owned zero Apple devices, and knew zero about the platform.  But ForeFlight has solved their problem with developing on different platforms by simply saying they aren't going to do it.

[ArtVandelay]

Shortest path to a solution might be reducing dependency on Apple?

PJ was using a windows computer…the problem is with Garmin.

[kortopates]

1 hour ago, ArtVandelay said:

PJ was using a windows computer…the problem is with Garmin.

Really? I thought the solution was to reload drivers and s/w on his PC after re-booting. That's sounds like the PC to me.

I have almost zero problems, but the data is downloaded to my iPad Garmin Pilot and from there WiFi transferred to the GTN which then disburses it to my other GTN, G500 Txi and GI-275 and I don't have all these problems, nor do I have to handle any cards. In fact for me, Garmin's technology makes it trivial for me compared to the old days of having to carry my PC to the airport and needing to pull out the cards and re-program them every few weeks twice for a pair of GNS's.. Its especially painful when one of those old proprietary GNS card stopped working as they often did from just pulling and re-inserting them into the navigator. Boy an I glad for the modern technology improvements; especially since the number of databases has more than tripled yet my workload and time to do it has become greatly reduced..   

[Fly Boomer]

21 minutes ago, kortopates said:

I thought the solution was to reload drivers and s/w on his PC after re-booting. That's sounds like the PC to me.

Drivers are software.  The PC is the same before and after updating a driver.  Let's blame it on Microsoft.

[kortopates]

34 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

Drivers are software.  The PC is the same before and after updating a driver.  Let's blame it on Microsoft.

Quite true and there is plenty of blame to go around. 

In truth I should have more empathy for these issues. Technology can be a bitch; especially when it crosses multiple OS's and hardware, but seems when some folks have issues they just want to blame their favorite vendor for them.  

[ArtVandelay]

Drivers are software.  The PC is the same before and after updating a driver.  Let's blame it on Microsoft.

Garmin controls the installation/update process. I’m betting Garmin is making the writing of files more complicated than it needs to be. They should just write files like everyone else, no drivers or special software should be needed.

[Fly Boomer]

1 hour ago, kortopates said:

Quite true and there is plenty of blame to go around. 

In truth I should have more empathy for these issues. Technology can be a bitch; especially when it crosses multiple OS's and hardware, but seems when some folks have issues they just want to blame their favorite vendor for them.  

I certainly do, and I used to be the vendor.  

[DCarlton]

2 hours ago, kortopates said:

Quite true and there is plenty of blame to go around. 

In truth I should have more empathy for these issues. Technology can be a bitch; especially when it crosses multiple OS's and hardware, but seems when some folks have issues they just want to blame their favorite vendor for them.  

I didn't get upset with the vendor until I talked to multiple tech reps at different tier levels over multiple calls and realized there was little consistency in their explanations.  They were clearly grasping to identify root cause.  Then I discussed my issues with a major installer in their shop and sensed their highly trained technicians frustration with the vendor.  It's good to know the more modern systems are playing well together, but after wrestling with DOD systems of systems for 35 years that were rarely ready for prime time when they were fielded and declared fully operational, I don't have the patience for it any more.  I'd rather keep it simple and minimize exposure.