Is Is Possible To Change The 64 Mb Chip In A 60cs

[zoohouse]

I recently read threads where someone had disassembled and reassembled their 60CS and also read a thread about the differences between the 60c/cs and 70c/cs. This got me thinking could someone with some knowledge and guts replace the 64 mb chip in the 60c/cs with the 128mb chip found in the 76c/cs? Is it a regular flash memory chip or what?

[+Sputnik 57]

Brighter minds than mine have suggested that the firmware (that resides on a separate chip) would have to be modified to recognize that you had a larger RAM chip. Also, the basemap resides on the map chip, so replacing it would lose the basemap. If the firmware could stand it, I guess you could replace the 64MB map chip with a formatted empty 64MB chip and get an additional 8MB that way, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[+IVxIV]

Wouldn't it be easier to just buy the 76c/cs?

[+jmstacey]

Wouldn't it be easier to just buy the 76c/cs?

Yes, but the 60cs looks better than the 76cs.

 

Hmm, Maybe I should try using my Ipod hard drive in place of the flash stuff.

40gigs of joy baby!

[vr12]

Brighter minds than mine have suggested that the firmware (that resides on a separate chip) would have to be modified to recognize that you had a larger RAM chip. Also, the basemap resides on the map chip, so replacing it would lose the basemap. If the firmware could stand it, I guess you could replace the 64MB map chip with a formatted empty 64MB chip and get an additional 8MB that way, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I think 60C firmware will recognize 128MB chip because it is the same in 60C and 76C.

As for the basemap, one in principle can copy it on a chip to be installed.

[tossedsalad]

There are a lot of pitfalls. First, not all Flash chips are the same. In fact, they have a manufacturer ID in them that may prevent the software from even trying to use the chip even if the flash protocol is compatible. Second, it is not clear if this flash part contains the application software or just the map data. Because it costs more to have separate chips for the two types of data, flash chips have anticipated this by having a protected boot block to hold the software while the data can be changed at will by the software. Finally, even if you get all this right the software may simply support only the one chip that the unit was built with.

 

Until we hear from Garmin or someone successfully does it, there is no point discussing the possibilities. So someone needs to ask Garmin if they will tell us what will and won't work, or someone needs to try it. If anyone is interested, I am an engineer and am willing to offer my "expert" advice.

 

Well, I can at least help you pick a replacement chip that should be as compatible as possible.