Explorist Bug List (updated)

[+gconner]

It seems to me that we *are* getting info from Magellan. They are keeping lists of bugs, and have let you see the list and furthermore have shown you what progress they have made in "closing" bugs. Come on, do you seriously think they would "close" a bug without fixing it? If they thought it was a silly issue or one that wasn't worth fixing they probably wouldn't have put it on the list in the first place, much less assigned it to be fixed. As a friend of mine would say "What do you want, eggs in your beer?"

 

My guess is that Magellan doesn't want to be patching firmware every month, but would rather do it once a year or less. This means they have to be very very careful to test every patch they produce and be moderately picky in those problems they choose to address. For instance, in the case of the 600 there is a possibilty that there is a real hardware flaw and that the only way to keep it from crashing is to give the user the ability to disable some of the features. That would suck, but not suck as badly as having a crashing GPSr.

 

All of us who use Windows know about software patches that cause many more problems than they fix. Personally, I'm willing to be patient, and will be satisfied as long as the promised firmware update comes within the next few months and is rock-solid. If it has the laundry list of improvements and features we've been asking for I will be ecstatic (for at least 10 minutes anyway). However, I will be perfectly happy if the features that the unit already has are fixed to work reasonably well and the poor souls who bought a 600 (I have a 500) are taken care of. Unlike some of you, my unit works well (if not a bit strangely), but I definitely feel for those whose unit crashes or gets corrupted.

 

Being appreciative to the kind folks at Magellan who visit this forum and give us "inside" info would seem to be a good idea. The fact that at least two different people with connections to Magellan have not only visited this forum, and have posted, but have furthermore given us progress reports gives me confidence that Magellan really does care about its customers.

 

For contrast consider Apple Computer. Apple is well-known for fixing bugs quickly and having awesome customer support. However, I'll tell you what, try to find out what bugs Apple is currently working on in OS X, try to see if your favorite bug has been assigned to an engineer or will be "closed" in the next update. You won't be happy with the answer you get -- which is no answer at all. You just have to wait and see. In contrast, it seems that Magellan is doing pretty well, they are just being a bit pokey (in my humble opinion).

[+arie1]

So, gconner, do you think Magellan rethought its strategy? Otherwise I wouldn't state seriously that Magellan might be very cautious in bringing to the market a well tested bugpatch or firmware update, after dumping on the market too hastily a well-designed apparatus (hardware) with poorly developed and poorly tested firmware.

 

We are experiencing some serious problems here. They should be fixed. The sooner, the better.

 

Regards

Edited November 16, 2005 by arie1

[+D0T-C0M]

Well gconner, I wish I shared your optimism but unfortunately I don't. There's a bit more history involved than just this simple thread. Some items on the list are major items, ie USB lockup issue. The item has been resolved as per the list. Even the beta testers don't have the firmware to test. Furthermore, If the the items to me were fixed they would be marked resolved, not closed. I will be the first to gladly eat my hat if magellan comes out with a surprise firmware that addresses most of the issues on this list.

 

Even the ExploristXL has most of the items described on the list as per the feedback I'm getting from the betatesters I talk with. The XL still has joystick issues too.

Edited November 16, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[Ed ke6bnl]

Well gconner, I wish I shared your optimism but unfortunately I don't. There's a bit more history involved than just this simple thread. Some items on the list are major items, ie USB lockup issue. The item has been resolved as per the list. Even the beta testers don't have the firmware to test. Furthermore, If the the items to me were fixed they would be marked resolved, not closed. I will be the first to gladly eat my hat if magellan comes out with a surprise firmware that addresses most of the issues on this list.

 

Even the ExploristXL has most of the items described on the list as per the feedback I'm getting from the betatesters I talk with. The XL still has joystick issues too.

This stuff is way over my head I haven't bought a GPSR yet, my first choice was a Magellan Explorist 600 should I avoid this unit and does this apply to the merridian platinum also thanks. Hope to understand more once I get one and start using one thanks ED

[+GOT GPS?]

Meridian Platinum is an older GPS that works quite well, and I had one for awhile.

The Platinum I believe got the best Electronic 3 axis compass.

 

The bugs have not been worked out of the Expl 600, but the Exp. 500 is a good unit.

[+D0T-C0M]

Well gconner, I wish I shared your optimism but unfortunately I don't.  There's a bit more history involved than just this simple thread. Some items on the list are major items, ie USB lockup issue. The item has been resolved as per the list. Even the beta testers don't have the firmware to test. Furthermore, If the the items to me were fixed they would be marked resolved, not closed. I will be the first to gladly eat my hat if magellan comes out with a surprise firmware that addresses most of the issues on this list.

 

Even the ExploristXL has most of the items described on the list as per the feedback I'm getting from the betatesters I talk with. The XL still has joystick issues too.

This stuff is way over my head I haven't bought a GPSR yet, my first choice was a Magellan Explorist 600 should I avoid this unit and does this apply to the merridian platinum also thanks. Hope to understand more once I get one and start using one thanks ED

I will not advise to buy or not to buy this unit as this is very much based on my personal opinion. All I can say is to evaluate for yourself the issues brought forth by the users on this and other threads and decide if the issues are important enough for you to consider buying it. To be fair there are people who are satisfied with magellan and their products. Its just that I expected and demand better end-user product support when it comes to issues that IMO are major issues that need to be resolved immediately. Some of the items on the list are wish list items which would be very nice to have but the issues that I am basing my opinion on are the major and minor ones. gconner states that magellan might not want to put out monthly firmware patches. I say bring it on because I paid over $600 canadian for my E600 and I want the fixes/patches ASAP. The reasoning behind my purchase of the E600 was mainly because of the SD card capabilities and the Li-ion battery which I love that you can charge it while in the holder. After reading, witnessing and envying Garmin's product support, I long to have that same support from Magellan.

 

I appologize for straying offtopic here as this thread was designed to report bugs not rant about magellan product support or lack of.

Edited November 16, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[stutzismydog]

DOT-COM~

You are probably feeling like you are pushing a rope through the halls of the Magellan bureaucracy all by your self about now, but I would like to say a big THANK YOU !! for your constructive efforts to TRY and take a good product and make it a GREAT product to the benefit of us users and Magellan.

I now have a Meri/Plat a wonderful machine and I have no complaints as it has served me well. but I would like to purchase a new GPSr that has all the bells and whistles with the larger color screen as these old eyes need all the help they can get,.... and I was willing to spend the money and hoping that the XL was the way to go,.....looks like I need to rethink my next purchase and from whom I purshase from.

[+CaStarman]

Just getting caught up on all the comments on this thread.

 

Dot-Com, you are so right about Magellan losing customers if Garmin introduces a SD card port. I'm one of them. Garmin would be wise to do this simply to take market share. It seems like good business practices to me.

 

The biggest mistake any company can make is not to listen to existing customers' complaints. If they don't listen to their customers then they will certainly lose a good percintage of them, not to mention make it nearly impossible to attract new cusomers from the other manufacturers like Garmin. The best thing Matellan could do would be to get off the dime and do everything they can to correct their problems. I'll tell you one thing for sure, if Magellan simply introduces a new model that has the fixes and leaves current customers unsatisfied there will be no way for me to ever consider going back to them.

 

Iwould feel so betrayed that I would never consider the management at Magellan as reliable.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

CaStarman

[+The Great Redmondo]

Hi - First post from me.

 

I have read with interest the various issues other people have experienced. I have had an Explorist 500 for about 3 months now and have had many problems

 

MY experience:

 

(beeps configured on)

 

After switching on, [enter], there are these possibilities:

 

a. press a key (i.e. cursor down), eXpl doesn't beep

Sometimes even the animation is stopped and none of the keys respond.

(I have seen a green globe several times, i.s.o. a blue one.)

 

or

 

b. press a key (i.e. cursor down), eXpl beeps

 

in case a.

unit never becomes operational, seems to hang in "Loading..."

satellites never show up

keys do not respond, you can wait and wait...

only option is to switch off, by

.) on/off switch, (99.99% chance this doesn't work), so

.) nav+menu+pwr together (kinda "ctrl-alt-del")

 

in case b. also two possibilities:

 

b1. no map shows up, unit seems to hang in "Loading..." but finally

shows: "Your unit is having difficulty locating satellites. If you

are indoors, please go outside. Press [enter] to limit the search to

your current location."

0 Satellites are found, none locked.

So, go outdoors, wait and see if anything happens...

 

b2. wait and finally a map shows up, but, with hourglass

probably 1 or more satellites are found, but because of 'poor

reception' none locked

 

I have experienced both 'a' and 'b' type problems above.

 

I was out geocaching yesterday and could not get my 500 to work at all. It was continually showing 'Loading...' - we had to go home as I could not get the 500 to perform even after removing the battery several times.

 

So today I have read through all of these posts and have the following questions:

 

1. My firmware version is 5.1.61 - one post on this forum suggests there is a later version (5.1.63) - where can I get it ? I have tried the software support pages on www.magellangps.com but there were no software updates for the eXplorist range at all ???

 

2. In various posts 'Nav + Menu + power' has been cited as a 'reset' - I am very grateful for this information but ... How are users supposed to know about such options ? They are not contained within the supplied documentation. How did people on this forum find out about it ?

 

Finally - Well done Dot-Com and various others for driving this thread to Magellan.

 

Hopefully there will be a formal response soon.

[+D0T-C0M]

To answer your question about firmware 5.1.63 availablity, you cannot get it yet publically as magellan still hasnt made it publically available. This is sooooooooooo frustrating that even after almost a year that they havent even made the 5.1.63 available. Last I heard the latest firmware is v5.1.67 but again its not been made public.

[+The Great Redmondo]

Well today was another day of geocahing marred by intermittant GPSr performance. Having read all the advice on this forum, I was hopeful that however mis-behaved my 500 would be, a quick Nav+Menu+Power reset would sort it out but oh no... Just as we were about 500ft from the first cache I heard a 'beep' and when I looked down the 500 was 'Loading...'.

 

After several attempts to re-set it, removing the SD card (real problems seem coincident with the SD card that I have recently purchased) and anything else I could think of, we ended up using the clue to find the cache.

 

On the return to the car it seemed to sort it's life out only to start playing up near the second cache.

 

I am really frustrated that there is little course of action I can take. I will attempt to engage customer care (in France) tomorrow but I have little hope of resolving these issues if you guys haven't been able to in the time this forum has been running.

[+The Great Redmondo]

How do we know about firmware versions beyond 5.1.61 ?

[+D0T-C0M]

I know of latest version from private conversations with beta testers and others in the know. No official word yet from magellan and I'd be surprised if you hear of anything official in the near furture.

[+gconner]

D0T-C0M,

 

Your points are well taken. My sense of optimism comes from the fact that Magellan (in the past) has been a well respected manufacturer of consumer and commercial grade GPSr's and it doesn't seem that they are planning on leaving the consumer market. I assume they realize that if they don't fix the most serious problems with the Explorist line then the Magellan name will remain "mud" for quite some time. Also, if they are having as much warranty and retail return troubles as it appears then it is costing them a lot of money and possibly retailers. I'm surprised that they haven't come out with at least an interim fix by now since the Xmas shopping season will officially start in the morning.

 

My worry is that, for some reason, there are serious hardware problems with a large number of Explorists that cannot be fixed by a simple firmware revision. If this is the case, will they be willing to replace a large number of older units with newer revised units under warranty?

[+northernpenguin]

My worry is that, for some reason, there are serious hardware problems with a large number of Explorists that cannot be fixed by a simple firmware revision. If this is the case, will they be willing to replace a large number of older units with newer revised units under warranty?

If they don't want someone to launch a class-action lawsuit, then Magellan would be smart to voluntarily recall the defective units. These units were/are pretty expensive for Joe Consumer as well.

 

Mind you other companies have not learned much from the recent tech gadgets past. Annoy the early adopters and power users that are willing to fork over $$$ for the expensive units and you lose not only those customers. When newbies go looking for a new GPS unit, who do they talk to? The power users. Similarly the company will lose anybody who goes geocaching with a power user.

 

I bought into Magellan based primarily on the feedback from the expert geocachers in my area - the ones with 500 finds and more. Most of the issues I have with my 600 (my SECOND 600 now) look like firmware fixable things. Thermometer/Barometer are more gimmicky to me - the core features work and just need some polish, so when people ask me my choice of GPS unit, it's still the eXplorist.

 

It sure does seem that Garmin is more responsive to their customer base at the moment though. I've had my 600 since April, and in that time I've seen Garmin issue several MapSource updates, and even a firmware update for my wife's old eTrex.

 

Magellan, meanwhile have failed to even release a patch for MapSend that lets me use the long waypoint names my unit supports. You know how aggravating it is that I cannot import my waypoints into MapSend and organize them on the PC (I usually have to CTRL-ALT-DEL/End Task if I forget and import a waypoint file with long names into MapSend to get the dialog box to go away). No wonder the rubber seal on my joystick is worn off. Granted I can setup "databases" in GSAK but I should not have to do this. I should be able to use MapSend to move a waypoint from one file to another, and tweak icons/descriptions on my wapoints. In the field POI004 may be good enough, but once I'm home I like to clean it up to be a little more descriptive - like "GCABCD - Fouth Stage". This was a *breeze* in MapSource.

 

I bought the software that Magellan certified worked with my eXplorist, and they couldn't even be bothered to release a 20 character waypoint patch for the software.

 

It's the little things that are annoying to people, easy things that could be fixed very quickly would make the end-user experience a lot better and garnish Magellan a lot more customers. Garmin and TomTom (the only other units I've used) seem to have learned the value of a little spit-and-polish when it comes to which GPS the *average* consumer will buy. Right now Magellan is catering to the early-adopter technophile crowd, which is fine, but that crowd has a long memory when it comes to lemons.

 

Fingers crossed on that new firmware. There is a download link (not working yet) on the Magellan "software updates" page that indicates a firmware update for the 400 is coming. I really hope that includes the 600 too.

 

Also looks like they *may* be up to something -- check out the "MapSend Manager" new software product (again broken download link) at the bottom of the page. The link takes you to a page with a screen shot but no download (yet).

[+Cache Heads]

Well, in case any of you care (and if Magellan is still reading this thread)-- I think these "issues" are completely unacceptable. At the risk of repeating my previous rant, I have sent in my e600 to be replaced twice and I'm not doing it again. The newest (#3) unit still freezes and the joystick still sticks so I am returning the thing to Thales for a refund and buying a Garmin or a Bluetooth for my Treo. If you folks really want to send a message to Magellan, you'd do the same. Compiling a list of bugs is nice, but the only language that corporations like Thales understand is the language of MONEY-- and nothing says "you better start thinking about your customers" better than a wave of returns.

 

I can't believe the arrogance of this company. They STILL act dumbfounded when I tell them about the freezing-- I think they'd just keep sending me new units forever (and they still wouldn't have a firmware upgrade) .

[+D0T-C0M]

well said northernpenguin you echo my sentiments to a tee.

 

I too also have ahole in the rubber of the joystick. I'm going to send it out soon.

[Yessir]

I have now experienced another problem with my eXplorist 600.

I left the GPS sitting in a draw for a couple of days and when I returned to it the battery was flat. I charged the battery but then experienced problems turning the GPS unit on. I press the power button and then have to wait for about 2 or 3 minutes before it switches on.

I then get an error message "Unit Currently Contains no Maps Initiating Map Upload". I try connecting to my PC using the USB cable so that I can check the maps in internal memory, but it is not recognised by the PC!

I think that the internal memory must be screwed up!

Does anybody know how to fix this problem?

Regards

Jason

[+The Great Redmondo]

Hello folks, lots to tell you,

 

I used the request for Tech Support from the Magellan website on 21 Nov 05. Here is what I said (copy of email that I recieved):

Original Message Follows:

------------------------

The following Support Request was submitted on the Magellan website and has been routed to you:

 

Site M

Product eXplorist 500 Europe

Serial xxxxxxxxxxxx

Name Paul Redmond

Description

After a period of functioning correctly (in the 'map'

view), unit beeps with no key press and the screen goes blank except for 'Loading...' in the bottom left hand corner.

 

Sometimes the unit re-loads the map and functions OK for a while. Other times the unit remains like this and never completes loading. Some times the buttons don't work and the unit cannot be turned off, the only option is to remove the battery.

 

If it is possible to turn the unit off, it fails to function correctly on switch-on. The unit does not 'beep' when a button is pressed and the unit searches for satellites without ever finding any.

 

There are a number of other mi nor symptoms but the above describes the

basis of the problem.

 

Firmware 5.1.61

 

 

Then I recieved this reply on 22 Nov 05:

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Thales Navigation Support

[mailto:MagellanSupportEMEA@thalesnavigation.com]

Sent: 22 November 2005 15:48

To:

Subject: Re: Magellan Support Request Form : GBR : eXplorist 500 Europe

(KMM166534I6774L0KM)

 

Dear Paul,

 

Thank you for contacting Thales Navigation Customer Support.

 

I would advise you to reset your unit. Indeed this could solve the problem.

 

In order to reset your GPS unit, we recommend that you follow the instructions below:

 

*** WARNING : ALL data (waypoints, routes ...) will be deleted ***

 

- Switch the GPS unit off.

- Press the "Menu" and "Power" buttons simultaneously.

- The following message appears on the screen: "Clear all memory and shut off unit?"

- Select "Yes" and press "Enter".

 

Once GPS memory is cleared, start it again and set it up. Let it track satellites signals in an open space. This might last 30 minutes up to 2 hours.

 

We remain at your disposal for further information.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lucie

Thales Navigation Customer Support

 

Tel : 00800 MAGELLAN or 00800 624 355 26 E-Mail : magellansupportemea@thalesnavigation.com

 

If you need any additional information about your request, please include this message in your reply.

 

 

This seemed to work for a couple of days and then on the 25 Nov 05 I needed to reply...

 

Lucie,

 

Thank you for the email sent on Tuesday  22 November 2005.

 

Your suggestion did improve things for a day or two but my eXplorist 500 failed again last night, symptoms as follows:

 

1. Working fine for a couple of hours - no problems, switched unit off.

2. Switched unit on 3 hours later - hourglass showing that satellite

lock not achieved but map data showing.  Explorist beeped and then the screen went blank except for 'Loading...' in the bottom left hand corner. This repeated endlessly.

3. Unit would not turn off. I had to use 'Nav+Menu+power' to turn unit off.

4. On switch-on same symptoms - cycled through power on, power off

several times - no progress.

5. Final resort - reset as suggested in your email.

6. This worked but it takes a very long time to get satellite lock and is not a practical way forward.

 

My questions are simple:

A. Why is this happening ?

B. What can be done about it ?

 

At present, I do not consider this product to be fit for purpose !

 

Regards,

 

Since then I have noted the following issues with my '500' (have started a log to keep track of it all):

 

26 Nov 05

New symptoms

Explorist using ‘Redmond1’ detailed map (topographic map of GB) – satellite lock achieved but screen updating every 10-12 seconds. Changed to a different detailed map region (‘Worcester trip’ from topographic map of GB), screen updating every second or so (as it should). Cycled between these two maps several times and got the same symptoms each time.

 

During this period, I noticed that every time I changed detail map, the explorist would beep once, clear the screen and ‘Loading…’ would appear in the bottom left hand window – these are the symptoms I have seen when the unit is failing.

 

27 Nov 05

Unit would not switch on. Connected to the PC and it beeped, showed a completely blank white screen. The unit beeped for every button press but would not change display. Had to use ‘Nav+Menu+Power’ to reset.

 

Set off geocaching – first cache was a multi-cache. Got to the first waypoint no problems, put the GPS down to write the log. When I picked it up, the eXplorist was showing some new and very strange symptoms as follows:

 

Similar to the fading screen invoked by pressing ‘Nav+Menu+Power’ but the backlight remained on, the fade was much slower and a blue patch began to appear in the middle of the screen about 30mm in diameter.

 

Unit wouldn’t power down so had to resort to ‘Nav+Menu+Power’ to reset. I had to switch on/off, reset (‘Nav+Menu+Power’) several times before the unit started to behave. The selection of symptoms I got were the following:

 

1. Switch on and would get the ‘eXplorist – checking media’ screen but then the next screen (satellites flying round earth showing firmware version number and copyright notice) would have vertical ‘corruption’ lines in the display.

2. Switch on and the unit would go straight to the ‘map’ display without showing either the ‘eXplorist – checking media’ or ‘satellites flying round earth showing firmware version number and copyright notice’ screens.

3. Seems to boot up OK but then there is no ‘beep’ when a button is pressed and the ‘map’ screen keeps re-booting (satellite lock achieved, unit ‘beeps’ screen clears and ‘Loading…’ shown in bottom left hand corner).

 

The unit then seemed to be OK but when I got satellite lock and the icon changed from an hour glass to a black arrowhead, the unit said we were approximately 50 miles into the North Sea off the coast from Skegness (we were actually geocaching just south of Bath), then after a few seconds, the hour glass reappeared for a minute or so and then the unit declared we were somewhere in Lincolnshire. Then eventually the unit put us back south of Bath and behaved for the rest of the day.

 

Apart from that, I am finding my eXplorist 500 really reliable - NOT.

Edited November 27, 2005 by The Great Redmondo

[+embra]

In reading your account, I wondered if a corrupted detail map file was goofing up the operation. As an experiment I would remove the SD card and reset the unit again. If things seemed to work ok again, I would re-install the card, but replace the Redmond1 map (or whatever seemed associated with problems.

 

If it were possible, I would want to re-install the firmware. Too bad they haven't put one up on the web site yet.

[+northernpenguin]

Wonder if Garmin's New Expandable Memory GPS Units will get Magellan to act a little quicker. The eXplorists look like they may be getting some competition in the expandable handheld market space.

[+maleki]

How do we know about firmware versions beyond 5.1.61 ?

Yes, does anyone ACTUALLY have an Ex500 or 600 with greater than 5.1.61 on it? Was it purchased that way or somehow upgraded.

 

Sad to hear that there might be firmware updates at version 5.1.63 and maybe higher without public release or perhaps this is just rumor. Perhap Thales/Magellan took care of some hardware issue in newer units that might make the firmware update incompatible with 'older' units. THAT WOULD BE NASTY.

[robertlipe]

Sad to hear that there might be firmware updates at version 5.1.63 and maybe higher without public release or perhaps this is just rumor.

Magellan has done this LOTS of times in their history. You'll ship a unit in for repair and it'll come back with firmware version X when the web site has only version X-Y. If you call or email support about version X, they'll deny it exists even though you're holding it in your hands. Even if they do ever release version X (and sometimes they don't) they don't say what's changed so you're left on your own to see how many of the problems you reported didn't get fixed.

[+The Great Redmondo]

In reading your account, I wondered if a corrupted detail map file was goofing up the operation. As an experiment I would remove the SD card and reset the unit again. If things seemed to work ok again, I would re-install the card, but replace the Redmond1 map (or whatever seemed associated with problems.

 

I had considered this and intended to use the 1 hour /26 mile run to and from work each day to confirm or otherwise. Trouble is, I couldn't actually get the unit to switch-on this morning.

 

I will conduct a controlled experiment over the course of the week.

 

As an aside, I recieved the following response from magellan today:

 

Thank you for contacting Thales Navigation Customer Support.

 

I would advise you to go back to your local supplier and get him to send the unit back to us in order to expertise your GPS unit. Please join a copy of the invoice.

 

To find your local dealer, please visit :

 

https://www.magellangps.com/en/store/dealerlocator/

 

Kind regards,

 

I purchased a Garmin etrex on ebay last night as a back-up. Once it arrives, I guess I will have to send my '500' back but judging by the posts here, this will do little to correct what appears to be flaky firmware.

 

I firmly believe that some of my problems are caused by either the map region I have loaded or the SD card itself, so I will pursue this line of attack before sending the unit back.

[+D0T-C0M]

does anyone ACTUALLY have an Ex500 or 600 with greater than 5.1.61 on it?  Was it purchased that way or somehow upgraded.

 

Sad to hear that there might be firmware updates at version 5.1.63 and maybe higher without public release or perhaps this is just rumor.

I can confirm I originally had the 5.1.63 on my e600. I cannot discuss publicly the firmwares that are available due to an agreement I have to not disclose, but can only confirm, that the assumption that there is a higher firmware is a rumor, is false.

Edited November 29, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[+BadAndy]

I just bought an explorist 600. It came with firmware 5.1.67. I literally just opened the box last night so I can't report too much about the listed bugs status. I loaded some waypoints and headed out to find a cache this morning. The connectivity seemed ok, no lockups or anything foul. My topo3d cd's were bad (something to do with the "burn vendor messing up the copywrite thingy), new disks are in the mail.

 

I did have a problem that makes it practically useless for geocaching, and I can't find a way around it.

 

Heres my problem...bear with me.

 

When I set a goto and am in my car driving to it, the compass screen refuses to point towards the cache. The distance counts down accurately, but the compass pointer is about 45 degrees off. I assumed this was due the my car interferring with the magnetic compass, so I turned off the "electronic" compass under prefs, powersaving features. After I did this, the compass (goto arrow) screen only refreshes about once per minute. distance countdown, speed direction...everything on the screen lags terribly. If I switch to the map screen and back to the compass screen, it refreshes once...then goes into 60 second lag mode.

 

Out of the car, with the mag compass turned back on, everything seems to work ok again....until I got within about 30 feet of the Sherman tank...then the pointer was once again useless.

 

Am I missing something here? I've calibrated the compass numerous times. I'm currently on hold with thales tech support waiting for a live body. I've had enough time on hold to read this entire 5 page thread and type this message.....hope someone answers soon.

[+maleki]

I'm currently on hold with thales tech support waiting for a live body. I've had enough time on hold to read this entire 5 page thread and type this message.....hope someone answers soon.

Sadly, I held for well over an hour one day and I seem to recall another thread where someone was on hold for several hours. Good Luck!

 

Was there any kind of lot number or date code with the Mapsend Topo. I'm looking to buy a copy eventually and would like to avoid the bad lot if possible. Just don't need the grief of dealing with hold times.

 

Thanks

[+BadAndy]

No lot number or date code. The guy I talked at Thales said their vendor had a burner that wasn't calibrated properly causing it to not recognize cd#3 when you try and run the program. It installs great...you just can't run it. Anyone know of a workaround for the cd in the drive at startup requirement?

 

Still on hold.....

[+BadAndy]

Finally got a live body, and I must say he was as helpful as he could be. He sounded a bit surprised that I had the new firmware though. Looks like my e600 is bad out of the box. Got an RA# to return it for service.

 

I'm a diehard magellan fan, so this is hard to say, but I can't express how dissapointed I am. I waited weeks for this unit to arrive, bundled with every mapsend title there is. When I get it, the topo3d cd's are bad, the mapsend cd that came with the e600 was blank, the gps itself is bad and I've just read 5 pages of reasons why this was a poor choice to begin with.

 

My old sportrak isn't looking so used up anymore......

[+BadAndy]

Is it possible to make a backup of my firmware onto my pc??

[+embra]

Is it possible to make a backup of my firmware onto my pc??

There is no known way to do this. (well, ok, no way that *I* know)

[+northernpenguin]

The download links for the eXplorist firmware and the Magellan MapSend Manager disappeared from the support section of the website today... I love this game that Magellan does with their incompetent webmaster. Here's the update, no wait there is no update, oh hang on that person got the update...

 

Meanwhile Garmin sends me an e-mail everytime they update the firmware for my wife's eTrex.

[+Barjon]

Hi - First post from me.

 

I have read with interest the various issues other people have experienced.  I have had an Explorist 500 for about 3 months now and have had many problems

 

MY experience:

 

(beeps configured on)

 

After switching on, [enter], there are these possibilities:

 

a. press a key (i.e. cursor down), eXpl doesn't beep

Sometimes even the animation is stopped and none of the keys respond.

(I have seen a green globe several times, i.s.o. a blue one.)

 

or

 

b. press a key (i.e. cursor down), eXpl beeps

 

in case a.

unit never becomes operational, seems to hang in "Loading..."

satellites never show up

keys do not respond, you can wait and wait...

only option is to switch off, by

.) on/off switch, (99.99% chance this doesn't work), so

.) nav+menu+pwr together (kinda "ctrl-alt-del")

 

in case b. also two possibilities:

 

b1. no map shows up, unit seems to hang in "Loading..." but finally

shows: "Your unit is having difficulty locating satellites. If you

are indoors, please go outside. Press [enter] to limit the search to

your current location."

0 Satellites are found, none locked.

So, go outdoors, wait and see if anything happens...

 

b2. wait and finally a map shows up, but, with hourglass

probably 1 or more satellites are found, but because of 'poor

reception' none locked

 

I have experienced both 'a' and 'b' type problems above.

 

I was out geocaching yesterday and could not get my 500 to work at all. It was continually showing 'Loading...' - we had to go home as I could not get the 500 to perform even after removing the battery several times.

 

So today I have read through all of these posts and have the following questions:

 

1. My firmware version is 5.1.61 - one post on this forum suggests there is a later version (5.1.63) - where can I get it ? I have tried the software support pages on www.magellangps.com but there were no software updates for the eXplorist range at all ???

 

2. In various posts 'Nav + Menu + power' has been cited as a 'reset' - I am very grateful for this information but ... How are users supposed to know about such options ? They are not contained within the supplied documentation. How did people on this forum find out about it ?

 

Finally - Well done Dot-Com and various others for driving this thread to Magellan.

 

Hopefully there will be a formal response soon.

Hi "Great Redmondo",

 

What you quoted, was my story about my Magellan600.

I got it in july 2005 and finally it was replaced in november. In 5 months it got worse and worse every day, until one moment in november (when I tried to start it up for the sixth time) my wife and me got so angry that we threw it in our backpack and continued Geocaching with our old Yellow Meridian.

Back at home I mailed my distributor all the nasty things (you all know) and much much more, proposing him to replace the unit very quickly.

Two days later I received a new M600 and returned the nasty unit.

---> I love my distributor! <---

Since then, I'm back to where it all begun. Same unit, same firmware and the same 'problems', you can all read about at this forum. All the well known flaws are also in the fresh new unit! BUT, this unit I can switch on without problems and it does not switch off at unpredictable moments. So 'a kind of relief'.

All my M600 experiences in this thread, stay valid, also for this new M600.

The bad hardware interfacing to my PC and 'hanging' of either the 600 and/or the PC, ennoys me the most at this moment.

 

Keep my fingers crossed for Thales solutions.

 

Rudolf. NL

[+D0T-C0M]

I just bought an explorist 600.  It came with firmware 5.1.67.

BadAndy Can you confirm a bug I've have noticed in the 5.1.67 firmware. I havent seen this in the older firmware. In the compass screen I have one of the data fields set to display speed. In my case it's in km/hr but regardless I have noticed some severe lagging or complete freezing of the speed value. While driving in my truck the speed is very slow to update and sometimes only changing screens and returning back will update the speed reading but it still lags. It sometimes updates correctly but most times it is lagging bad.

 

Please confirm if you can with 5.1.67. This was not an issue with older firmware so I might just flash back

Edited December 5, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[+BadAndy]

I just bought an explorist 600.  It came with firmware 5.1.67.

BadAndy Can you confirm a bug I've have noticed in the 5.1.67 firmware. I havent seen this in the older firmware. In the compass screen I have one of the data fields set to display speed. In my case it's in km/hr but regardless I have noticed some severe lagging or complete freezing of the speed value. While driving in my truck the speed is very slow to update and sometimes only changing screens and returning back will update the speed reading but it still lags. It sometimes updates correctly but most times it is lagging bad.

 

Please confirm if you can with 5.1.67. This was not an issue with older firmware so I might just flash back

If this only happens when the electronic compass is turned off (under prefs, power management), then it's the same bug I have noticed. The Thales tech support guy swears he can't duplicate it on his unit running the same firmware, but I'm not sure he really understood what my complaint was. I decided to not send my e600 back just yet, but to wait until after the holidays when people get their new units and compare notes.

 

so to verify.... turn off your electronic compass, set a goto and move to the compass screen.. Does the arrow or speedo update properly or does it freeze/lag?

[+D0T-C0M]

Well I never tried a goto yet but your right my electronic compass was turned off when I noticed the speed lagging. I will test more this weekend with the goto function you mention and turn my electronic compass off and on to see if it makes a difference.

 

I would take what the tech support guy says on the phone with a grain of salt. They are most likely told not to confirm any bugs or issues over the phone until the officially announced and a fix is available. At least we've confirmed that this bug is present in the 5.1.67 firmware.

Edited December 5, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[+BadAndy]

I get the same freeze/lag whether or not I have a goto set, but only when the electronic compass is off.

 

I'm glad I didn't return my unit...since it appears that the problem is in the firmware.

[+D0T-C0M]

hold back your joy as we have been waiting since they came out almost 10 months now for firmware updates but so far nothing publicly available and apparently now they will only be available in the new year but nothing about bugfixes. Seems the 5.1.67 is a step backwards from the 5.1.65 from what I see.

Edited December 5, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[+BadAndy]

This new bug and the usb freeze are the only things I can see wrong with my unit. I don't experience any of the other reported issues.

[robertlipe]

Seems the 5.1.67 is a step backwards from the 5.1.65 from what I see.

Kinda like the way 5.36 for Meridian rejects map changes, loses your current position on a power cycle and thus requires a cold acquisition, and erases your track every time you did a goto? And this a mere year after 5.12 was released, yet not actually fixing any of the problems with 5.12.

 

I know that since it's not an officially released version that it's hard to complain about it much, but after ten months of problem reports on Explorist, the thought that a version that's measurably worse than its predecessor without visibly addressing any of the complaints seems all too familiar.

 

I'm saddened.

[+D0T-C0M]

Well I beg to differ that it isnt an official release as they are shipping new unit with this firmware but not offering it as an upgrade to previous models. If its shipping in newer units than it has got to be official IMO.

 

What is disturbing is that it doesn't seem that much beta testing went into this version and also from what I read in BadAndy's posts, it seems the USB lockup issue is still present even though Buckhunter reported that it was resolved.

Edited December 6, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[+D0T-C0M]

This new bug and the usb freeze are the only things I can see wrong with my unit. I don't experience any of the other reported issues.

well I can report that most of my issues the the first post are still present but now you can add this latest speed freezing bug to the list.

[freeday]

I am really happy that Garmin will bring new units.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000960069764/

Waiting for a new firmware for the EX600 is really boring.

[+BadAndy]

Is the XL more stable than the 600?

[robertlipe]

Is the XL more stable than the 600?

Initial reports show the XL is exactly what I expected - a repackaged 500 (no sensor kit, so it's a 500, not a 600) with a bigger LCD and keypad. The firmware may not be bit identical, but reports are coming in that they share most of the defects - right down to bad click sticks - of the Explorist.

[+geognerd]

...but reports are coming in that they share most of the defects - right down to bad click sticks - of the Explorist.

Interesting, because the clickstick looks a little different in the large product image on Magellan's site. All the XL's buttons look concave on the surface instead of the flat or convex surfaced buttons on the smaller eXplorists. What's with the engineers or designers? You'd think that while they were redesigning the case and the packaging of the guts of the XL, they would've come up with a more robust clickstick.

[robertlipe]

...but reports are coming in that they share most of the defects - right down to bad click sticks - of the Explorist.

Interesting, because the clickstick looks a little different in the large product image on Magellan's site. All the XL's buttons look

The "knob" probably is different. That is likely independent of the actual switch under it. We can be reasonably sure that the underlying electromechanical switch isn't designed in house; it's bought from somewhere and there's likely economic incentive (volume pricing) to use the same one. Whether it's the same as in explorist or different, I don't know. But we're already seeing people returning XLs for repair becuase it doesn't register presses when moved in a certain direction, so whether it's the same or different, the failure case seems familiar.

 

These tiny click sticks have been a problem in the industry - I think every local that I know with a Legend or Vista and more than about a thousand finds has had to RMA the units at least once for problems.

[freeday]

Does that mean that Vista-Joysticks have the same problem as explorist-Joysticks?

That would be an important information for me as i maybe change to Ga...

Please could anyone confirm this.

[+D0T-C0M]

well looks like the 5.2.02 firmware (e400) has a few issues resolved in this version, its a step forward for sure. Hopefully more to come!!!

Edited December 20, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[+geognerd]

well looks like the 5.2.02 firmware (e400) has a few issues resolved in this version, its a step forward for sure. Hopefully more to come!!!

2.02? Is that a fixed version of the vaporware-like 2.01 that disappeared? No updates are listed for the eX400 now.