Updated: May 5th, 2009

NOTE: Please read the entire post. I have updated this blog entry several times to reflect changes in both the GPS and Chipset software since I originally posted this entry. If you have any questions or problems leave a comment and I will reply back to you. Thanks!

I thought I would take a moment to describe how to fix a problem that popped up with my GPSMap 60 this weekend in the event it happens to someone else who might be using this model. I have to tell you, GPS’s are great tools when you are traveling unfamiliar roads but it’s no fun at all when they stop working. I know you all have been lectured on the proper way to shut down your computers by we IT people and you might not really understand why or even believe that you can corrupt your system by shutting it down improperly but I am here to tell you, it can happen. In the process of trying to turn on my GPS’s back light, I shunted the system and corrupted the software on the chipset. I turned the unit on and in an attempt to turn on the back light while driving and paying more attention to the road than the unit, which is a good thing by the way, I turned off the unit while it was still in the process of booting up. Instant chipset corruption! You will know when this happens because your unit will be stuck perpetually at the screen seen in the second image of this post.
First GPS Screens

Believe me when I tell you, your GPS will not acquire a satellite no matter how long you leave it on, no matter how long you leave it off and then try turning it back on, removing the the batteries or swapping out the unit’s SD card. The chipset’s software had been corrupted and it will not work properly until you have reloaded the chipset software. The easiest way to tell if you have encountered this problem is to check the software version of your GPS. If the GPS SW version is 0.00, then you have indeed corrupted the chipset and will need to reload the software. The third image of this post will show you what version number I am referring to.
Second GPS Screen

As I have said, in order to get your GPS unit functioning again you will need to reinstall the chipset software. There are two ways to do this. You can use the Web Updater program that you probably installed when you first bought the unit. You will find it under the Garmin menu from your Start menu. The second way would be to install the chipset software manually using the the “G” chipset installer. The second method is the one I used as I kept getting a “Transfer Error” when I tried to use the Web Updater software. You can download this software directly from Garmin, if you can find it. I think they want folks to use the Web Updater software as they aren’t real up front on where to download the actual installer packages. If you like you can download the software from this site here.

NOTE: Here is the latest version of the Chip Set Firmware, V.3.00. I am providing this as a secondary download as some have reported to me that the V.3.00 caused their units to shut off prematurely. Try this version and if you have any problems roll your GPS back to the V.2.90 software.

I have tested this software and my unit does continue to function normally so if you want the latest version of the software (GPSMAP 60CSx Ver. 3.90 as of Mar 30, 2009) for the GPSMap 60CSX you can download it here. If you prefer you can download it directly from Garmin.

Click the image to the left to download the GPSMAP 60CSx User Manual

Installing the software in fairly simple. Connect the GPSMap 60 to your computer using the mini-USB cable that came with your unit and then run the installer. Refer to your Owner’s Manual if you need further assistance. All that being said, I love my GPSMap 60 and this minor bump in the road has not changed my opinion of the unit. It’s been a great little unit and I fully expect it to remain so for years to come.

Note: The screens above are not the actual screens, just approximations I created in PS to give folks a visual. The actual screens will looks slightly different. I wrote this post to help others should they have this problem with their GPSMap 60′s as I didn’t find a lot of clear help on the web when I researched the problem. If you have more questions, please feel free to comment below.

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