Minor problem with Magellan Meridian Gold

[winston61]

Hello- I picked up a Meridian Gold at the local resale shop last week. It functions well and as soon as I get a data cable I will upgrade the firmware (still running 3.08). I thought I would try a memory card. I've got a Sandisk 64 MB Sd card. So read the pages in the users manual, and put the card in. No card utilities on the menu, no indication at all the unit knew it had a card in it. It's a good card, it works in other devices. It only took four calls to Magellan tech support to be told that the unit needed repair. Got an MRA number and the address for the repair center. Does anyone else have a Meridian that would not read a card? Anyone else have this kind of problem with Magellan tech support?

I know it's a crap shoot buying any electronics second hand, but at least there won't be any charge for the repair, just postage one way. No real point to the story just be sure you know what you are getting when you buy second hand.

[+Cacheoholic]

I would update the firmware before sending back to Magellan. I'm pretty sure that will fix it.

[+gpsjeep]

Hello- I picked up a Meridian Gold at the local resale shop last week. It functions well and as soon as I get a data cable I will upgrade the firmware (still running 3.08). I thought I would try a memory card. I've got a Sandisk 64 MB Sd card. So read the pages in the users manual, and put the card in. No card utilities on the menu, no indication at all the unit knew it had a card in it. It's a good card, it works in other devices. It only took four calls to Magellan tech support to be told that the unit needed repair. Got an MRA number and the address for the repair center. Does anyone else have a Meridian that would not read a card? Anyone else have this kind of problem with Magellan tech support?

I know it's a crap shoot buying any electronics second hand, but at least there won't be any charge for the repair, just postage one way. No real point to the story just be sure you know what you are getting when you buy second hand.

 

It could be the SD card.

I first tried a sandisk card in my Meridian and I experienced the same problem that you describe here. I purchased a a different brand, Lexar, and then everything was as it should be.

But before you go out and purchase another card, try formatting the SD card that you now have. That may do the trick. Maybe. But my guess is that you have a bum card.

 

Good luck,

-Jeff

[vagabond]

I would update the firmawre first before sending the unit in.

Also reformat the card in the gold when you reformat it.

You might ask around locally and maybe someone in your area will have a Meridian series and will let you use their datacable, just a thought.

[+traildad]

The following is a quote from the FAQ on the Yahoo group Magellan Meridian

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Magellan_Meridian/

There was a recent discussion about this very issue. You might fix it with an upgrade to the firmware or maybe you will need to get a different card. Ken

 

58) Troubleshooting – SanDisk SD Card Incompatibility One problem has been identified with SanDisk cards. Samuelhunt2002 provided this response from Magellan: “We have recognized that certain cards with certain date codes are not compatible with our receivers. The issue seems to be with the SanDisk brand cards (date codes 0307 or higher, this number is located on the back of the card). This may be due to a recent change in SD card manufacturing technology. At this time we are trying to identify these cards and determine if we can provide a software change to correct the issue. At this time, the only thing that you can do is to use a different card.” At the time of publication of this FAQ, there is a new release of the firmware, Version 5.12. Early users of this firmware report that they are now able to use SanDisk cards that they could not use previously. It appears that Magellan has solved this problem. Marine version 4.51 firmware should also contain this fix.

[winston61]

Hello and Thanks to all for your very fine suggestions. I got my power/data cable in the afternoon mail. Hooked everything up, upgrade the firmware. I had to remove/reinstall the batteries to get the device to power up after upgrade. Put the SD card in the unit and powered it up and bingo! There was the card and card utilities selection on the menus. Re-formatted and scanned and it seems good to go. Again thanks for the ideas. For what it is worth, the Magellan tech on my last call told me that even a Magellan unit purchased second hand has a 90 day warranty. Just get an RMA and photocopy the receipt from whoever you bought it from. Not too shabby. Back to the woods!

 

Ed

 

 

 

Hello- I picked up a Meridian Gold at the local resale shop last week. It functions well and as soon as I get a data cable I will upgrade the firmware (still running 3.08). I thought I would try a memory card. I've got a Sandisk 64 MB Sd card. So read the pages in the users manual, and put the card in. No card utilities on the menu, no indication at all the unit knew it had a card in it. It's a good card, it works in other devices. It only took four calls to Magellan tech support to be told that the unit needed repair. Got an MRA number and the address for the repair center. Does anyone else have a Meridian that would not read a card? Anyone else have this kind of problem with Magellan tech support?

I know it's a crap shoot buying any electronics second hand, but at least there won't be any charge for the repair, just postage one way. No real point to the story just be sure you know what you are getting when you buy second hand.