Oregon Ver. 3.01, Beta as of Jun 22, 2009

July 1, 2009

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4393

This update seems to be over a week old!

Edited July 1, 2009 by strumble

July 2, 2009

The 400t ver. 3.01 says as of June 30. Its odd the 2 different dates are several days apart.

edit: Upon looking at Garmin's site further under Updates and Downloads all Oregons show a release date of June 22, but under Products the 400t unit's software it states a release date of June 30.

Edited July 2, 2009 by eaparks

July 2, 2009

The Oregon 400t ver. 3.01 update from Garmin does not extract to my GPS. I go thru the download process and then I see files instead of an extraction process loading to my Oregon 400T. Anybody else having problems downloading the new update?

July 2, 2009

open up the file, open oregon file, open garmin file. Next copy the gupdate file on your garmin. Next restart your gps'r and it will install the new software. Let me know if you have questions.

1.2k · July 2, 2009

The Oregon 400t ver. 3.01 update from Garmin does not extract to my GPS. I go thru the download process and then I see files instead of an extraction process loading to my Oregon 400T. Anybody else having problems downloading the new update?

Have you run the Copy2Card.exe file? I started it and it looked as if it was going to work correctly ( didn't complete it as I want to wait for other guinea pigs to do it first ).

July 2, 2009

3.01 installs fine for me...

July 2, 2009

Brand new 300 GPSr, installed 3.01 with no problems. I have not noticed any bugs with it yet, other than the ladybug that landed on it while I was out caching.........

July 2, 2009

Brand new 300 GPSr, installed 3.01 with no problems. I have not noticed any bugs with it yet, other than the ladybug that landed on it while I was out caching.........

Installed on the 200 fine and seems to fix the shutdown issue, so far so good. The 200 3.01 update was dated the 30th of June.

Edited July 2, 2009 by talkytoaster

1k · July 2, 2009

Changes made from version 2.99 to 3.01:

* Fixed improper shutdown.

July 2, 2009

Is this version really works? I had bad experience with version 2.99 when my device turned into "brick" and only thing what even dealer could do is to exchange the units.

July 2, 2009

Is this version really works? I had bad experience with version 2.99 when my device turned into "brick" and only thing what even dealer could do is to exchange the units.

Ah, that is the eternal question. This time I sure will wait a couple of days before I give it a go.... will follow this thread with the utmost interest

July 2, 2009

Is this version really works? I had bad experience with version 2.99 when my device turned into "brick" and only thing what even dealer could do is to exchange the units.

Ah, that is the eternal question. This time I sure will wait a couple of days before I give it a go.... will follow this thread with the utmost interest

I still think Garmin's handling of the beta releases leaves much to be desired, but I am happy that this beta installs and runs without any obvious problems.

July 2, 2009

Glad to see this update. I was fearful of 2.99 due to the few reports of bricking of units.

Hope to see some good feedback on this one. Maybe I'll give it a shot this afternoon.

July 2, 2009

I went ahead and took the plunge. So far, so good. Nothing obvious broken. I renamed all my gmapsupp.img files to descriptive filenames and they load up and display fine. Happy so far.

2.1k · July 2, 2009

Loaded 3.01 just fine

I used my GPS extensively last night in the field marking 100's of waypoints, logging miles and miles of track as I drove through the heavily forested hills, switched maps several times, powerd down, powered up. Everything is working as it should with no apparent bugs or glitches.

The Alarm Clock remembering to stay "ON" after power down from clock screen bug has been fixed.

The Barometric pressure trend now records dynamically when powered off again as it did prior to 2.99

Looks like we have a winner, or at least I'm not experiencing any problems.

If they clean those messy tracklogs up in a future chipset firmware release I think the unit will replace my 60csx for most tasks.

3k · July 2, 2009

So far so good for me:

http://www.gpsfix.net/garmin-oregon-beta-301-available/

Although I'm hearing from some people on the wiki who are having problems powering on via USB when in Spanner mode. At least for one person this as related to having an SD card inserted which was formatted in FAT16 vs. FAT32.

July 3, 2009

Installed fine and fixed the Improper shutdown for me, so far so good

July 3, 2009

I haven't changed map names yet since I have mine organized with the old naming standards spread across the internal and SD card which meets my current needs.

Tomorrow I'm going out to perform an additional averaging on a recently placed cache and place a 2nd new one while on site to collect documentation for permissions.

All functions in a few short 'dry' runs around the neighborhood worked out including a few benchmark waypoints on manhole covers and water meter boxes

Planning a some cache hunts since tomorrow is a paid holiday for my wife and I both! Bonus!

July 3, 2009

Have you run the Copy2Card.exe file? I started it and it looked as if it was going to work correctly ( didn't complete it as I want to wait for other guinea pigs to do it first ).

I used the Copy2Card.exe file to install the 3.01 update on my 400t and it worked good.

July 4, 2009

So far so good on the download and start up. Everything looks fine. Will field test today.

July 4, 2009

I just updated to 3.01 on my 400t and it has fixed the improper shutdown problem. I'll be doing some caching later today and will report back if there are any oddities.

July 4, 2009

I'm still having a problem with one of my profiles in spanner mode. It'll only go into mass storage mode (or ask me) if the unit is already turned on. My other profiles seem to work fine. I sent my profile and image to OregonBeta ...

JetSkier

July 4, 2009

It still crashes on shutdown with an active route when powered by USB, never did that in 2.99

July 4, 2009

Installed it on my 400t Friday and went out and found 1 cache and the unit shut down 3 times for no apparant reason. I entered the coords in manually, since GC was down and a friend told me the coords over the phone. Maybe it didn't like it that it was navigating to a waypoint instead? (doubtful). I am using GARMIN'S car adaptor made specifically FOR the Oregon while in the car. Have a new set of Everedy Lithium batteries in unit and it is set to USE Lithium in the setup screen.

Kinda gripes me some.

On a good note however, the cache was down (and up and down and up) a Jeep trail and the final destination of the cache was in dense woods and the unit took me straight to it. (within 6 feet). The hider used a Colorado 300.

July 4, 2009

Did my first cache today with the new firmware on a 300 and had no problems. I was taken to within 6 feet of the actual location under trees so I was pretty happy with it. I have not yet picked up an automotive mount so I have not had the the occasion to test the routing and USB power issues. I can say that it will lock up when it powers on over the USB data port. If you start it and then plug it in it works fine but if it starts because the USB was plugged in then it locks up every time. Have not tried it yet without the SD card.

July 4, 2009

I just picked up an Oregon 300 from Dicks Sporting Goods today, not sure why but they had it for $265 and I couldn't pass it up. Now I'm wondering, is the beta without a doubt better than the version it comes with, or are the improvements that nice?

3.1k · July 4, 2009

I just picked up an Oregon 300 from Dicks Sporting Goods today, not sure why but they had it for $265 and I couldn't pass it up. Now I'm wondering, is the beta without a doubt better than the version it comes with, or are the improvements that nice?

In a word, YES.

July 5, 2009

I just picked up an Oregon 300 from Dicks Sporting Goods today, not sure why but they had it for $265 and I couldn't pass it up. Now I'm wondering, is the beta without a doubt better than the version it comes with, or are the improvements that nice?

The new firmware adds a lot of features that were missing in the original unit. 2.98 is a pretty good release if you are not ready to be on the bleeding edge.

July 5, 2009

I installed the beta, it was a very easy and fast upgrade compared to my eTrex Vista Cx. Took it out and after the fireworks display went out and found a micro. I'll play with it more later, but I think I'm in love with it so far. I'm used to having my iPaq and Gps with me, I think I'm going to get used to one device.

So far so good.

July 5, 2009

I went on a long drive down a Jeep trail to get a cache (approx. 4.65 miles 1 way.) When I got back to the main road, I checked the tracks and noticed that in several locations they were off about 70 or so feet, even though I never moved off this VERY narrow road!

I've been reading a little in the PN-40 threads and they are bragging that their GPS is INCREDIBLY accurate! Since they have the SAME chip, why can't Garmin get their act together?????

Are their programmers just "hobbiests"?

Sorry, just a little let down...

July 5, 2009

Seems there is a problem with the pointer when hiking. I get lots of periods of time where the pointer on the map is stuck pointing in some direction other than my travel direction. The tracklog shows the correct direction of travel as it updates but the map pointer doesn't. This was with the compass off. Kind of irritating.

July 5, 2009

I'm with you on that one Betaman. When I got my Oregon it was around 2.20 and I had read that the accuracy (especially for slow walking/hiking tracklogs) wasn't very good. But having a very good, but tired, 76csx I stupidly thought that they would fix it soon in firmware. Well that was 80-ish firmware releases ago and while sometime the tracklogs may be slightly better it's still no where near as good as my 76csx or from what I read the Delorme. Frustrating to say the least.

July 5, 2009

My wife and I both have Oregon 300's. I installed the beta on both units without incident. We've done a dozen caches and the GPS's have been right on. :unsure:

July 6, 2009

I haven't changed map names yet since I have mine organized with the old naming standards spread across the internal and SD card which meets my current needs.

Tomorrow I'm going out to perform an additional averaging on a recently placed cache and place a 2nd new one while on site to collect documentation for permissions.

All functions in a few short 'dry' runs around the neighborhood worked out including a few benchmark waypoints on manhole covers and water meter boxes

Planning a some cache hunts since tomorrow is a paid holiday for my wife and I both! Bonus!

Had a short day of caching on Friday. All found caches were as close to perfect as I can ask for. Just placed my first cache with 3.01 under heavy tree cover (awaiting publishing). We'll see how the coordinates work out with 5 samples on two different days. Going back on the 2nd day the 3 sample average put me right on target (6 feet).

Also had a driving trip with navigation - no problems there.

Still haven't played with map names - but others post that's working fine.

July 6, 2009

I took my 400T with 3.01 out for a 12 mile hike with my 60CSX. The 400T was pretty accurate but the compass needle pointed the wrong way repeatedly despite being recalibrated repeatedly. I had one moment where I had a terrible urge to bounce it off of a tree. The 60CSX preformed perfectly as it always does. When I am out in the middle of nowhere I cannot afford to have the needle point the wrong direction. Thank goodness I took the 60CSX along to babysit the 400T.

July 6, 2009

I took my 400T with 3.01 out for a 12 mile hike with my 60CSX. The 400T was pretty accurate but the compass needle pointed the wrong way repeatedly despite being recalibrated repeatedly. I had one moment where I had a terrible urge to bounce it off of a tree. The 60CSX preformed perfectly as it always does. When I am out in the middle of nowhere I cannot afford to have the needle point the wrong direction. Thank goodness I took the 60CSX along to babysit the 400T.

I agree. A navigation device that points you in the wrong direction is a fairly serious issue. I have set the maps to north orientation to at least keep some sense of direction when it starts that. It really ticks me off when you are closing in on something though and need that bearing indication. They need to fix that quick like.

July 6, 2009

I went out yesterday and did 10 caches, found 9 of them and didn't try hard on the 10th because I was in shorts and the area was a forest of Poison Ivy. So... My Oregon did have the compass stick a couple times which as soon as I took a couple steps fixed itself. The compass action seemed a bit better than my Vista Cx in terms of how sensitive it was in movement.

It also did something else odd, it lost lock and then would never reacquire lock. I turned it of and back on and it immediately relocked and never done that again.

Still, the compass issue didn't bother me. I'm used to navigation like Orienteering and there you look at it once in a while to establish the line you're on and keep on trucking. That's how I use my GPS compass, establish a direction that I know is legit and look at the distance to it and then head that way. If it's bouncing around I'll triangulate with the compass as to where the cache is. One of my caches yesterday was like that, no matter where you stood the gps said it was 10 to 20 feet the other way, and the undergrowth was so large you'd need a machete to see anything there. So I triangulated what the compass said and it all kept pointing at one tree so that's where I went, and found it.

I was happy with the performance, and at no time was it worse than my eTrex Vista Cx which my daughter used in concert with me.

July 6, 2009

It really ticks me off when you are closing in on something though and need that bearing indication. They need to fix that quick like.

It could be serious if someone in a deep wilderness area relied on that needle and wound up helplessly lost. I agree "fix that quick like".

It also did something else odd, it lost lock and then would never reacquire lock. I turned it of and back on and it immediately relocked and never done that again.

Mine lost lock several times too, it usually does not do that. It reacquired on its own after a few minutes.

The Oregon is a brilliant design with gee whiz bells and whistles but they desperately need a Doogie Howser software designer. Its like having a new Corvette with a persistent miss in the engine.

Edited July 6, 2009 by redhawk44p

3.1k · July 6, 2009

It really ticks me off when you are closing in on something though and need that bearing indication. They need to fix that quick like.

It could be serious if someone in a deep wilderness area relied on that needle and wound up helplessly lost. I agree "fix that quick like".

You should NEVER rely solely on a GPS in "deep wilderness". Electronics fail. Batteries die. You should always have an actual compass (and map) with you.

July 6, 2009

It really ticks me off when you are closing in on something though and need that bearing indication. They need to fix that quick like.

It could be serious if someone in a deep wilderness area relied on that needle and wound up helplessly lost. I agree "fix that quick like".

You should NEVER rely solely on a GPS in "deep wilderness". Electronics fail. Batteries die. You should always have an actual compass (and map) with you.

True enough. I've been out on very long trips in deep woods and I always have a map and compass. That doesn't excuse the device pointing you in the wrong direction. I bring a GPSr as a handy reference which means that I am not dragging out maps and compass and trying to keep them from blowing away every time I want to check which fork in the path I want to take. Having it pointing off in the wrong direction when you check could lead to a time consuming mistake and it's fairly basic function of the device to have it point the right way. Yes, I could compensate but that's not the point.

I don't bring it along cause it's pretty. I want a handy reference that I can put a basic amount of trust into when functioning. It's not that hard, even my old GPSMAP V pointed the right direction when you were moving.

July 6, 2009

Figured I'd do a looksie on here to see if there were any software updates before we headed out.

Sure enough seen the beta release addressing the dreaded shutdown issue. So updated and headed

out with our route. Prior to this release the 400T would shutdown maybe 3 - 5 times during a full

day of caching. No shutdowns at all yesterday, found 26 and the accuracy was even pretty good.

On a side note, my 400T did "lock" once while switching between Automotive and Geocaching mode.

Removing the batteries corrected that, but that was the only glitch...

2.1k · July 6, 2009

I think the compass direction problem is indicative of the larger inaccuracies at slow speeds that Garmin can't seem to work out of the Cartesio chips.

If you zoom in and observe your tracklogs closely you'll find that they zig and zag all over the place (set at 1 second interval recording). So in a matter of seconds your destination point can jump, for example, from being at 135 deg to 245 deg and back again depending on which direction your tracks are jumping. The Delorme PN-40 supposedly has more of a handle on their Cartesio's as they are purported to use an accelerometer to aid in smoothing tracklogs. This again is why many a PN-40 owners have compared their Delorme PN-40 to a Garmin 60CSX. If someone was to do the same with the Oregon line (compare with 60CSX) I would have to laugh.

So what's the fix? There isn't an accelerometer on board the Oregon line. This may be one case where you may have to live with garbage tracklogs and jumpy compass readings. Having paid alot to do so. That's why the Oregon 550's and the Dakota lines are so tragic to me since it's looking like the same chipset without the accelerometer. More of the same but with frivolous bells and whistles.

Edited July 6, 2009 by yogazoo

8.9k · July 6, 2009

I think the compass direction problem is indicative of the larger inaccuracies at slow speeds that Garmin can't seem to work out of the Cartesio chips.

If you zoom in and observe your tracklogs closely you'll find that they zig and zag all over the place. So in a matter of seconds your destination point can jump from being at 135 deg to 245 deg and back again depending on which direction your tracks are jumping. The Delorme PN-40 supposedly has more of a handle on this as they are purported to use an accelerometer to aid in smoothing tracklogs. This again is why many a PN-40 owners have compared their Delorme PN-40 to a Garmin 60CSX. If someone was to do the same with the Oregon line (compare with 60CSX) I would have to laugh.

So what's the fix? There isn't an accelerometer on board the Oregon line. This may be one case where you may have to live with garbage tracklogs and jumpy compass readings. Having paid alot to do so.

Or buy a DeLorme?? :drama:

July 6, 2009

I think the compass direction problem is indicative of the larger inaccuracies at slow speeds that Garmin can't seem to work out of the Cartesio chips.

If you zoom in and observe your tracklogs closely you'll find that they zig and zag all over the place (set at 1 second interval recording). So in a matter of seconds your destination point can jump, for example, from being at 135 deg to 245 deg and back again depending on which direction your tracks are jumping. The Delorme PN-40 supposedly has more of a handle on their Cartesio's as they are purported to use an accelerometer to aid in smoothing tracklogs. This again is why many a PN-40 owners have compared their Delorme PN-40 to a Garmin 60CSX. If someone was to do the same with the Oregon line (compare with 60CSX) I would have to laugh.

So what's the fix? There isn't an accelerometer on board the Oregon line. This may be one case where you may have to live with garbage tracklogs and jumpy compass readings. Having paid alot to do so. That's why the Oregon 550's and the Dakota lines are so tragic to me since it's looking like the same chipset without the accelerometer. More of the same but with frivolous bells and whistles.

I've had both the 60 and and Oregon on the same pack at the same time and the tracklogs trough the forest were basically the same when laid over each other. The 60 sometimes took an excursion and the Oregon did too and there was more movement in straight trail on the Oregon but I have never set a 1 second log on either. That's of far less importance to me if once second tracklogs are more jagged.

What is bad to me is the 'I'm walking north for 2 minutes and it's pointing southwest for two minutes' stuff that's going on with it now. Very different problem.

2.1k · July 6, 2009

I had no idea of the extent or duration of your problem. I only meant to point out what I've experienced at times with the compass's erratic behavior

If I were you, I'd call Garmin customer support and let them know. They may determine your unit is bad and in need of replacing. That's what it sounds like to me. The other possibility is that you have something on you that causes electromagnetic interference or there was something in your environment such as a pipeline, power line, iron ore, etc that could have caused it. I know your 60 series didn't behave in the same way but the Oregon's compass may be more sensitive to those types of things. It's a possibility.

24.7k · July 6, 2009

I think the compass direction problem is indicative of the larger inaccuracies at slow speeds that Garmin can't seem to work out of the Cartesio chips....

While I don't know about the Cartesio chips I have noticed that each generation Garmin gets more "spazzy" when it comes to where the pointer points at slower speeds. MY GPS V was great while walking at a snails pace. 60Cs. Spazzy. Oregon, Very Spazzy.

2.1k · July 6, 2009

I can't think of many reasons why as GPS technology advances we see true GPS performance decline.

As long as "High Sensitivity" and "WAAS"(even though you may rarely get it) are stamped accross the box your accuracy concerns should be put to rest. Right? :drama:

July 6, 2009

I think the compass direction problem is indicative of the larger inaccuracies at slow speeds that Garmin can't seem to work out of the Cartesio chips....

While I don't know about the Cartesio chips I have noticed that each generation Garmin gets more "spazzy" when it comes to where the pointer points at slower speeds. MY GPS V was great while walking at a snails pace. 60Cs. Spazzy. Oregon, Very Spazzy.

I actually believe that the problem with the chipset firmware has been there from day one, and Garmin have been putting in some software fudges to try and smooth it out. It also reeks of an RTOS problem deep within the Oregon, as opposed to earlier generation operating systems on more stable GPSr which were inherently more reliable and didn't go off to Neverland every now and then.

I am in no way a Garmin apologist, but I have done quite a bit of real-time embedded ucontroller programming, and can see that this complex problem will eventually get fixed. As I have said before, I want to be able to trust a track that I am retracing on water, and not have me on rocks in the dark. Garmin needs to fix it....

July 6, 2009

I had no idea of the extent or duration of your problem. I only meant to point out what I've experienced at times with the compass's erratic behavior

If I were you, I'd call Garmin customer support and let them know. They may determine your unit is bad and in need of replacing. That's what it sounds like to me. The other possibility is that you have something on you that causes electromagnetic interference or there was something in your environment such as a pipeline, power line, iron ore, etc that could have caused it. I know your 60 series didn't behave in the same way but the Oregon's compass may be more sensitive to those types of things. It's a possibility.

Oh I wasn't trying to be snotty, just pointing out what I saw and that I have no experience with the tracklog set to take so many samples. This problem seems to be different in that it correctly logs the motion but it doesn't update the pointer to reflect the motion.

I'll try calling but it sounds like other folks are seeing a similar problem.

2.1k · July 6, 2009

I am in no way a Garmin apologist, but I have done quite a bit of real-time embedded ucontroller programming, and can see that this complex problem will eventually get fixed. As I have said before, I want to be able to trust a track that I am retracing on water, and not have me on rocks in the dark. Garmin needs to fix it....

Thanks for the insight Haitoman. It's encouraging news since I'm addicted to the touchscreen interface and invested in Garmin map software. To switch now would be painful.

Oregon Ver. 3.01, Beta as of Jun 22, 2009

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