Garmin GNS WAAS Data Card requires GNS430W SW version 5.4?

[CCAS]

Having issues with my Garmin GNS WAAS nav data card and previous posts don't seem to help with this one.

Background: I bought a second GNS WAAS nav data card (orange label) from Garmin directly back in 2022; my original nav data card is a Jepp card and it works perfectly and always has but I wanted to have a second card to make new uploads more convenient.  I have my nav data subscription with Garmin. 

Issue: Within 6 months of using the new Garmin card, my GNS430W started to not always detect the nav data when powering up. I contacted Garmin and they sent me a replacement card.  That card worked fairly well for about 2 years with an ocassional issue loading data but if I rebooted the GNS430W it would work fine.  But this past summer I started having consistent issues again specific to that Garmin nav data card: 

1. About 40% of the time the GNS430W doesn't recognize a nav database present at all during power up and displays "Aviation Database Not Available" where I'd normally see the database cycle/expiration date. Once the start up is complete, I receive a MSG saying "Aviation database integrity error".

2. About 40% of the time the GNS430W recognizes the correct nav database and expiration date during the power up screeens but after the system fully boots up it still behaves like there's no database and I receive the same MSG saying "Aviation database integrity error". When I select FPL to load waypoints, and highlight the first waypoint to enter data, there isn't the automatic first letter "K" displayed....it's just blank.  At that point if I enter a valid airport/waypoint the system doesn't correlate the identifier to a known database point and it asks me if I want to create a User Waypoint.   

3. About 20% of the time (but becoming more rare) the card works ok after a new database update. 

Garmin support has been less than useful so far. 

I called yesterday and the tech told me to reload my desktop version of Garmin Aviation Database Manager (even though I've been updating that software whenever Garmin released new ones).  He then had me reload my card and everything looked fine (like it always does on my computer). He told me next to try the nav card in the airplane and report back. 

Today I went to the airplane and had the same problems as in items #1 and #2 above.  It never recognized a valid database and never loaded data correctly. 

I called Garmin back and a different tech told me that I needed to have SW version 5.4 loaded in the GNS for the "new cards" to work properly (I have SW version 5.3).  He was unwilling to send me a replacement card and suggested I have my avionics shop upload the SW version 5.4 (at whatever labor rate they charge for that). I asked him to elevate this issue to his supervisor and I'm waiting for a call back but not sure if I'll get one. 

Has anyone else had a similar issue or been told by Garmin that you had to upgrade hardware SW before you could use their nav data cards?