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eXplorist 500/600 (EU) Firmware Upgrade Version 2.57


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just got the download from the link in the beginning of this post. took the advice and backed up my basemap file. and installed on explorist 600 north america. worked great. poped my 1gb map card in and off I went.

 

best of luck to ya.

 

the new screens are really nice addition.

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I'm trying to get the 2.57 EU fw update from the website, but they're not letting me download it without registering on their site that I have a 500LE EU version...anyone feeling generous enough to post the actual file?

EDIT: nevermind, I found it elsewhere. Works great btw!

Edited by tophski
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OK, 3 questions about this FW.

 

1) Is there a way to hide the extra screens if they are not used?

 

2) Will this void my warranty(since I have a North American 500LE)?

 

3) Is it possible to revert to old FW if needed?

 

It seems that pretty much everyone is liking the updates to it. I'm always a little hesitant with upgrading relatively new toys. I actually completely killed my PocketPC this way.

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OK, 3 questions about this FW.

 

1) Is there a way to hide the extra screens if they are not used?

 

2) Will this void my warranty(since I have a North American 500LE)?

 

3) Is it possible to revert to old FW if needed?

 

It seems that pretty much everyone is liking the updates to it. I'm always a little hesitant with upgrading relatively new toys. I actually completely killed my PocketPC this way.

 

1. Yes, you can turn off the screens that you don't want to see. All but the Map screen

 

2. I don't see why it would. A call to Magellan can confirm this though.

 

3. You should be able to revert back to your old firmware if you decide to. I haven't tried it with my Explorist but I have with my Meridian Plat. and it worked. I doubt very seriously that you'll want to go back though

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... they won't let me download it because I have the North American LE version.
Go back to the Magellan website and register your GPS again - use the same serial number you have, but when prompted for the type, say that it's the EU version. Edited by lee_rimar
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just completed the F/W upgrade I like it! 1 thing though, has anyone noticed that the basemap seems to be off? I live relatively close to the ocean and on the unit i'm now about 10-15 KMs off from where I know I should be, any ideas what could cause, and more importantly fix this?

 

Nevermind, I just reloaded the basemap and everything is fine now!! YAY!!

Edited by bassmig
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Does anyone know if when you up-grade the FW you have to erase everything on the sd card to make it work, or can I just remove it before hand and do the re-set/download? I havent been on here in a while, and the last firmware upgrade for the 500 I tried to do for the last version wouldnt work. I was wondering if it was because I didnt erase the sd card?

 

Lee

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I never removed my SD card from the reader and everything went fine. **DEFINITELY BACK UP YOUR INTERNAL MEMORY** just in case! Like I said in my previous post, I had to reload my basemap as it was about 15-30KMs off. I like the fact that you can chose which screens to keep active! And I for the first time has actually seen that I have a WAAS connection.

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I never removed my SD card from the reader and everything went fine. **DEFINITELY BACK UP YOUR INTERNAL MEMORY** just in case! Like I said in my previous post, I had to reload my basemap as it was about 15-30KMs off. I like the fact that you can chose which screens to keep active! And I for the first time has actually seen that I have a WAAS connection.

 

How do I back up internal memory, Im a little rusty at this. Since me and my wife had our daughter my gps has been put on a shelf except for the odd cache hunt.

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Hello.

 

Could someone who has that 2.57 version please share it? Due to being new with Magellans and not acquainted with their version numbering, I mistakenly downgraded my brand new unit to 2.03. :laughing:

The story: I registered my 600 with Magellans website and it showed me that I have new firmware available. I happily downloaded it, installed just to find out I have downgraded now. <_<

Since the link posted in the beginning of this thread is empty again I am asking if comeone could care to send me over that 2.57? At least 2.03 is c.a. 1.5mb , email should handle it.

My address is ervins <at> gmail.com

 

Thanks in advance,

Ervins

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I just want to say, great source of information. I'm looking to try and upgrade the firmware on my 500LE (N.A.) that i got yesterday. Everyone is talking about 2.03 and 2.57, but my gps came preloaded with a software version of 2.17 and the date on that (found under the about screen) is apr. 24th 2007. So far, i havent been able to find anything about this particular version.

Even so, i was feeling adventurous and tried updating the firmware, cause i wanted those new screens. I tried three different upgrades, 2.03 (downgrade, but just wanted to see if it would work), 2.57 without the base map, and 2.57 with the base map, on two different computers When i executed the install, it ran, did the upload, but then the unit just sat there in file transfer mode and never did reset. Not that i could tell anyways... so i turned it off, and turned it back on. And when it came back on, it was still Rev. 5.2.17, but with a European base map the one time.

Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!

-jason

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French option is still there(would have been hard to ignore considering there are a whole lot more French people in Europe than in Canada)

 

To be able to download from the Magellan site you have to reregister your unit as a European version. There are quite a few other places where you can download it. The European is the only version 2.57. NA only is up to 2.03 I think. I find the 2.57 has a lot more options and screens(all of which can be turned off). I would read most of this thread as it does have ALL of the pertinent information regarding the f/w upgrade including some issues that some people had.

 

Enjoy, and happy caching!!!

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Tried uploading the new EU firmware update to my 500LE and it would not upload the basemap, erase the old files or write the new ones. Had to upload the old 2.03 version to get the thing to work. I thought I'd have to send it in for repair and never see it again.

I'd like to have all the new screens but I'm happy with a working GPSr.

I was thinking there was a problem with the download file. I might try another computer with DSL. This one is dial-up. Maybe it dropped a bit or two. Anyone else have a similar problem?

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Tried uploading the new EU firmware update to my 500LE and it would not upload the basemap, erase the old files or write the new ones. Had to upload the old 2.03 version to get the thing to work. I thought I'd have to send it in for repair and never see it again.

I'd like to have all the new screens but I'm happy with a working GPSr.

I was thinking there was a problem with the download file. I might try another computer with DSL. This one is dial-up. Maybe it dropped a bit or two. Anyone else have a similar problem?

 

Pierre, I have had a similar problem. I just purchased a 500LE and attempted the the EU 2.57 upgrade. After the 2.57 upgrade my basemap was lacking detail and there were no new screens. I have since replaced my basemap with a backup. I too would love the new screens and was wondering if anyone had any ideas. There was a download for the explorist 210 software with the basemap that fixed my 210 (something Magellan refused to do since they said they are not making the 210 anymore). MY 210 now has more screens than my 500le. Also my 500 says it's running 2.17 firmware, and the Magellan offers a 2.03 as an upgrade. This makes no sense to me. Wouldn't the 2.17 be "better" than the 2.03???

 

Any tips from any one would helpful.

 

Many thanks!

 

Evshro

Edited by Evshro & son
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Pierre, I have had a similar problem. I just purchased a 500LE and attempted the the EU 2.57 upgrade. After the 2.57 upgrade my basemap was lacking detail and there were no new screens. I have since replaced my basemap with a backup. I too would love the new screens and was wondering if anyone had any ideas. There was a download for the explorist 210 software with the basemap that fixed my 210 (something Magellan refused to do since they said they are not making the 210 anymore). MY 210 now has more screens than my 500le. Also my 500 says it's running 2.17 firmware, and the Magellan offers a 2.03 as an upgrade. This makes no sense to me. Wouldn't the 2.17 be "better" than the 2.03???

 

Any tips from any one would helpful.

 

Many thanks!

 

Evshro

 

Go to this site: http://rhamphorhinkx.ecohost.ru/firmware/ and down load the Readme.txt file and the

ex_500-600_5257_usb.rar compressed firmware file. You will also need to download the .rar extraction program referenced in the readme text. Follow the instructions exactly and it should get you going again. I have a copy of the Explorist 500 LE basemap I can e-mail to you if you need it. Good luck.

 

Pierre

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Pierre, I have had a similar problem. I just purchased a 500LE and attempted the the EU 2.57 upgrade. After the 2.57 upgrade my basemap was lacking detail and there were no new screens. I have since replaced my basemap with a backup. I too would love the new screens and was wondering if anyone had any ideas. There was a download for the explorist 210 software with the basemap that fixed my 210 (something Magellan refused to do since they said they are not making the 210 anymore). MY 210 now has more screens than my 500le. Also my 500 says it's running 2.17 firmware, and the Magellan offers a 2.03 as an upgrade. This makes no sense to me. Wouldn't the 2.17 be "better" than the 2.03???

 

Any tips from any one would helpful.

 

Many thanks!

 

Evshro

 

Go to this site: http://rhamphorhinkx.ecohost.ru/firmware/ and down load the Readme.txt file and the

ex_500-600_5257_usb.rar compressed firmware file. You will also need to download the .rar extraction program referenced in the readme text. Follow the instructions exactly and it should get you going again. I have a copy of the Explorist 500 LE basemap I can e-mail to you if you need it. Good luck.

 

Pierre

 

Thanks, I did do that today, but the last part scared me about rewriting the script if the upload did not start right. Also, I didn't mean to make it sound like the 500le is not working. It is, I was just hoping for the EU firmware with the extra screens.

I called Magellan today and boy were they kissing up to me with their "please-stay-with-us" attitude. Anyway, the 500LE I have has the latest firmware regardless of what their site says. I am thinking I might be better off waiting for a North American upgrade so I don't mess anything up. As I said, I downloaded the EU version, followed the upload procedure, and even though it seemed to do everything, I was still left with the 2.17 firmware. I can't figure that one out??

 

Evshro

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I updated mine yesterday and it worked perfectly (are we sure this is actually Magellan software here? <_< ) Coming from a sportrak i kinda missed the extra screens and you can shut them off if you wish.

 

Just finally updated my 600. Works great and I love it.

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About how long does this take? I tried it on my 600 and I got the screen about the software updating, it said erasing for about 3 minutes, then the screen went white, and has been sitting here for about 10 minutes. Is this normal?

 

*Edit* I think something went terribly wrong. My unit went from the white screen, and then shut off. It never came back up. I let it sit there a bit, and then gave up, and tried to turn it on. I cannot turn the unit on. The battery was fully charged. I tried powering it on with no external power, only external power, battery and external power. No matter what, I cannot get the unit to turn on.

 

I just killed my unit, didn't I?

Edited by Empty_One
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*Edit* I think something went terribly wrong. My unit went from the white screen, and then shut off. It never came back up. I let it sit there a bit, and then gave up, and tried to turn it on. I cannot turn the unit on. The battery was fully charged. I tried powering it on with no external power, only external power, battery and external power. No matter what, I cannot get the unit to turn on.

 

I just killed my unit, didn't I?

It doesn't sound good. Try going here and see if you can power up in the service function menu. If you can't, you'll probably have to send it to Magellan to reprogram the firmware.

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*Edit* I think something went terribly wrong. My unit went from the white screen, and then shut off. It never came back up. I let it sit there a bit, and then gave up, and tried to turn it on. I cannot turn the unit on. The battery was fully charged. I tried powering it on with no external power, only external power, battery and external power. No matter what, I cannot get the unit to turn on.

 

I just killed my unit, didn't I?

It doesn't sound good. Try going here and see if you can power up in the service function menu. If you can't, you'll probably have to send it to Magellan to reprogram the firmware.

Yeah, I tried all of those, nothing worked. This stinks, as I just got the unit back from Magellan last month when they fixed the keypad. I hate dealing with those people.

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So, I have a 500LE and uploaded the 2.57 upgrade. The result is a brick! Is my only recourse sending the unit to Magellan? Or has any one been successful with making a serial cable a la http://rhamphorinkx.newmail.ru/.

Unless you can get some sort of response to go to the secret menus (as described on the rhamphorinkx site), I think Magellan is your only recourse.

 

I'm not sure that Magellan is still repairing Explorists. If they don't say things that you like to hear, I would give consideration to investigating whether you could send it to Bill's Electronics (somewhere in Canada). Our friends to the north have been very pleased with the services of this authorized Magellan repair station. I don't know of any stateside people that have actually tried this (so I'm not sure it's a viable option), but if you're going to have to pay something anyway you might as well go with someone who still knows the meaning of customer service.

 

I'm thinking Bill's is in Toronto, but I'm probably mis-remembering. A search of this forum should turn up more specific contact information.

 

On another note, it seems like too many people are winding up in your situation trying to do the 2.57 upgrade. I don't know why this is, but it suggests that the risks of an unsupported firmware upgrade now outweigh the benefits.

Edited by embra
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WIth Magellan off to other things(Triton) I guess there will NEVER be an approved US 2.57 firmware update. It seems to have added a bunch of nice features(some of which I asked for early on in the Explorist lifecycle). Unbelievable that people will pre-order or rush out to buy a Version 1.00 Triton with the way support is sadly lacking on the Explorist line. Or maybe the support just sucks for US customers.

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If you read nothing else in my post, and are considering upgrading to 2.57, read the following few lines:

 

---------Back up your Basemap!!---------

----If you have trouble - Don't Panic----

--Educate yourself re: Service Menus---

 

I just upgraded my 500 to 2.57. I followed all of the instructions, backed up all internal data I could, and tested out a few non-destructive service menu options for fun.

 

I am a rather technical person. I deal with electronics for a living and was not intimidated by the potential (if not likely) death of my unit. You see, the Tritons are coming...and so is Christmas...you get my drift.

 

Here's how it went.

I was only able to find the firmware by going directly to Magellan. I had to re-register it as a European unit. No problems here. I had the firmware in 10 mins.

 

I removed my SD card. Its contents are backed up, but why take a chance?

 

Note-I never connect my unit to my computer. I can't remember the last time I did this. I simply remove the SD to upload the maps or Geocaches. So the longest step in all of this was finding my USB cable! I charge the unit exclusively in the car, so I kinda buried the USB/power cable that came with my unit in the bottom of a drawer. Actually 2 drawers...but I digress.

 

I connected the cable to the unit...turned it on...plugged 'er in...*beeboop*. The file window pops up, and I change the explorer settings to view system files. Browse to background maps folder - yup, there is one there. So I back up to the root of the GPS and select all the folders and copied them to a folder on my PC.

 

Now I'm feeling cocky. So I decide to jump right in and double click on the firmware executable. Can't find GPS. HUH? It just transferred files...and, what's this? Where's my GPS drive letter go? HMMM.

 

Thinking I'll go whole hog without messing about, I reboot all of the players at the table, GPS, PC, even replug the USB and power cable. At this point I am still calm. I pour myself a drink.

 

Rerun the executable. Found the GPS. Good stuff. I click the button to start the upgrade.

5.7% ... 12.6% ... 26%... Feeling good. All the way to 96.4%.

At this point you have one of those "I am almost not positively uncertain that this will definitely probably not stop working" moments.

Then woohoo! 100%. But wait....

*Can't upload basemap*

Oh God. I'm a statistic.

 

Ok, don't panic. Disconnect the unit as it has stopped responding and will not do anything except beep when any buttons are pressed. I stare forlornly at the GPS. My calm is starting to crack. My sheen (or estevez, if you prefer) of confidence is showing signs of wear. When the unit is turned on, I get: No Basemap Loaded : Initializing Data Transfer. Don't believe it. It's not.

 

I go through the above process 3-4 times. Each time my confidence a little less strong. Still nothing. The unit just shuts itself off after smugly declaring that it has no basemap.

 

I revisit the forums. Every time I read this thread there are posts that I haven't seen before. I decide to try something I saw embra write. By the way, embra, thanks for all of the information you have provided to this forum even after you completed the upgrade.

 

Service menu 95. Saved my bacon. After entering the service menu from the power off (nav+pwr) I keyed in the magic 95. I can't remember what it said on the screen, but the writing was pink. No matter. It worked. There was some rejoicing.

 

After that, the upgrade went smoothly. Connected, updated. All good.

 

One caveat. The basemap is European. I had to upload the NA basemap to get that back to normal, but all is well. And I also have all of those extra nag screens at startup. But I have all of those screens that I sacrificed when I upgraded from my Meridian. Woohoo!

 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their experiences in this forum. Good luck to all those who attempt this upgrade.

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We are planning on caching in the Czech Republic in a few weeks. The European Basemap this thing loads has exactly what on it? The link I used above also caused my antivirus to go hog nuts and had to remove something the page loaded. So I'm not going there again.

 

Edited to add...

 

Just did the update on the eXplorist 400 we are planning to take overseas. I looked for any real detail in Europe and didn't find much at all if any. Is there any Magellan software out there that does add any detail for the central European region?

Edited by Sileny Jizda
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I just upgraded my 500 to 2.57.

Here's how it went.

I was only able to find the firmware by going directly to Magellan. I had to re-register it as a European unit. No problems here. I had the firmware in 10 mins.

 

I removed my SD card.

 

I connected the cable to the unit...turned it on...plugged 'er in...*beeboop*. The file window pops up, and I change the explorer settings to view system files. Browse to background maps folder - yup, there is one there. So I back up to the root of the GPS and select all the folders and copied them to a folder on my PC.

 

It just transferred files...and, what's this? Where's my GPS drive letter go? HMMM.

 

Rerun the executable. Found the GPS. Good stuff. I click the button to start the upgrade.

5.7% ... 12.6% ... 26%... Feeling good. All the way to 96.4%.

 

Then woohoo! 100%. But wait....

*Can't upload basemap*

Oh God. I'm a statistic.

 

Ok, don't panic. Disconnect the unit as it has stopped responding and will not do anything except beep when any buttons are pressed. When the unit is turned on, I get: No Basemap Loaded : Initializing Data Transfer. Don't believe it. It's not.

 

I go through the above process 3-4 times. Still nothing. The unit just shuts itself off after smugly declaring that it has no basemap.

 

I revisit the forums. Every time I read this thread there are posts that I haven't seen before. I decide to try something I saw embra write. By the way, embra, thanks for all of the information you have provided to this forum even after you completed the upgrade.

 

Service menu 95. Saved my bacon. After entering the service menu from the power off (nav+pwr) I keyed in the magic 95. I can't remember what it said on the screen, but the writing was pink. No matter. It worked. There was some rejoicing.

 

At this point your descriptivity starts to fade, . . . could you fill in the blanks?

are there screen prompts? if so, . . . on the pc, or the GPSr, or both?

 

After that, the upgrade went smoothly. Connected, updated. All good.

 

Did you start the whole procedure over again in '95' mode?

 

One caveat. The basemap is European. I had to upload the NA basemap to get that back to normal, but all is well.

 

I'm thinking a simple delete of the EU basemap, and a drag'n drop of the NA basemap?

 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their experiences in this forum. Good luck to all those who attempt this upgrade.

 

I found your delivery entertaining, a job well done,THANK-YOU!

 

Norm

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If I turn on my Magellan Explorist 500 LE and select Menu> About it tells me it is running Rev 5.2.17. How do I figure out if that is equivalent to the posted 2.03 or the European 2.57? Does that mean I'm running a 2.17?

Edited by Oreb
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If I turn on my Magellan Explorist 500 LE and select Menu> About it tells me it is running Rev 5.2.17. How do I figure out if that is equivalent to the posted 2.03 or the European 2.57? Does that mean I'm running a 2.17?

 

Yeah, you are running 2.17. I have communicated with another fellow who was trying to upgrade from that version and he had difficulty. He assumed it was because the European 2.57 release is actually dated after the 2.17 and appears newer. Could be.

 

When I say difficulty, I mean that the unit simply didn't perform the upgrade. It stayed at 2.17.

 

I suppose you could do a "95" in the service menu and then run the upgrade, but you need jumbo cajones for that!

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I just upgraded my 500 to 2.57.

Here's how it went.

I was only able to find the firmware by going directly to Magellan. I had to re-register it as a European unit. No problems here. I had the firmware in 10 mins.

 

I removed my SD card.

 

I connected the cable to the unit...turned it on...plugged 'er in...*beeboop*. The file window pops up, and I change the explorer settings to view system files. Browse to background maps folder - yup, there is one there. So I back up to the root of the GPS and select all the folders and copied them to a folder on my PC.

 

It just transferred files...and, what's this? Where's my GPS drive letter go? HMMM.

 

Rerun the executable. Found the GPS. Good stuff. I click the button to start the upgrade.

5.7% ... 12.6% ... 26%... Feeling good. All the way to 96.4%.

 

Then woohoo! 100%. But wait....

*Can't upload basemap*

Oh God. I'm a statistic.

 

Ok, don't panic. Disconnect the unit as it has stopped responding and will not do anything except beep when any buttons are pressed. When the unit is turned on, I get: No Basemap Loaded : Initializing Data Transfer. Don't believe it. It's not.

 

I go through the above process 3-4 times. Still nothing. The unit just shuts itself off after smugly declaring that it has no basemap.

 

I revisit the forums. Every time I read this thread there are posts that I haven't seen before. I decide to try something I saw embra write. By the way, embra, thanks for all of the information you have provided to this forum even after you completed the upgrade.

 

Service menu 95. Saved my bacon. After entering the service menu from the power off (nav+pwr) I keyed in the magic 95. I can't remember what it said on the screen, but the writing was pink. No matter. It worked. There was some rejoicing.

 

At this point your descriptivity starts to fade, . . . could you fill in the blanks?

are there screen prompts? if so, . . . on the pc, or the GPSr, or both?

 

After that, the upgrade went smoothly. Connected, updated. All good.

 

Did you start the whole procedure over again in '95' mode?

 

One caveat. The basemap is European. I had to upload the NA basemap to get that back to normal, but all is well.

 

I'm thinking a simple delete of the EU basemap, and a drag'n drop of the NA basemap?

 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their experiences in this forum. Good luck to all those who attempt this upgrade.

 

I found your delivery entertaining, a job well done,THANK-YOU!

 

Norm

 

Sorry, Norm, I totally missed this post. Here are the answers to your questions:

 

Screen prompts in service mode. Basically it gives you a 2 digit field to enter a service code. there was no input after that.

 

I did not need to re-run the upgrade after the Service menu dealie.

 

The basemap was just a file transfer. I was able to do this on the GPS as the NA basemap was on the SD card. I still actually have the EU basemap on the unit itself. Lazy? Why yes I am!

 

Good luck. Hope it works.

 

Scott

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If I turn on my Magellan Explorist 500 LE and select Menu> About it tells me it is running Rev 5.2.17. How do I figure out if that is equivalent to the posted 2.03 or the European 2.57? Does that mean I'm running a 2.17?

 

Yeah, you are running 2.17. I have communicated with another fellow who was trying to upgrade from that version and he had difficulty. He assumed it was because the European 2.57 release is actually dated after the 2.17 and appears newer. Could be.

 

When I say difficulty, I mean that the unit simply didn't perform the upgrade. It stayed at 2.17.

 

I suppose you could do a "95" in the service menu and then run the upgrade, but you need jumbo cajones for that!

 

I tried upgrading and it happily got to 100% and told me the upload was complete. However when I powered it off and on it still shows as 2.17. :D

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Is there anywhere to get the 2.57 upgrade now? I cannot seem to get it from the Magellan site. The originally posted link shows nothing, and if I register my product as the EU version, I get a "file not found" error from Magellan to download the software. (somewhere on http://magellan.cachefly.net/ )

 

I doubt it will matter as it seems I have 2.17 anyway. Is there a way anyone has found to upgrade from 2.17 yet?

Edited by casadelrut
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Is there anywhere to get the 2.57 upgrade now? I cannot seem to get it from the Magellan site. The originally posted link shows nothing, and if I register my product as the EU version, I get a "file not found" error from Magellan to download the software. (somewhere on http://magellan.cachefly.net/ )

 

I doubt it will matter as it seems I have 2.17 anyway. Is there a way anyone has found to upgrade from 2.17 yet?

check your email

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