GPSFAQs.org: GPS Information

Magellan Explorist 400™ FAQ: Firmware

1. Firmware
1. How can I backup the included basemap to protect myself against the dreaded "Press ENTER to configure NAND problem"?
2. What's changed in firmware revisions?
3. Can I update the firmware?
4. Should I even try to update the firmware?

1. Firmware

1. How can I backup the included basemap to protect myself against the dreaded "Press ENTER to configure NAND problem"?
2. What's changed in firmware revisions?
3. Can I update the firmware?
4. Should I even try to update the firmware?

1.

How can I backup the included basemap to protect myself against the dreaded "Press ENTER to configure NAND problem"?

Conneect your Magellan Explorist 400™ to your computer. Choose menu->advanced->communications->file transfer->internal memory. The contents of the device's memory will show up as a mounted disk on your computer. The directory (folder) is 'Background Maps' and the file you need to save is 'BASEMAP.MGI'.

Windows users may have to explictly enable showing hidden and system files to see it.

2.

What's changed in firmware revisions?

These products have not seen a lot of updates and Magellan is pretty stingy with information on the various versions. (If you have the version numbers here, please do use the link at the bottom of the page to provide those.)

2.03 (Dec 2005): an update that corrected a lockup on invalid maps. If you were lucky and the map was on a card, you could remove the card to boot it; if you were not lucky, you had to RMA the unit. Added ability to mark geocaches as found.

  1. BlueNav XL3 support for both North America and Europe
  2. Updated Tides & Currents algorythm
  3. Improved Language Support
  4. Added card utilities to Advance Features
  5. Improved alarm backlight functionality
  6. Added Save As to the Mark function
  7. Used same datum transformation as eXploristXL and MobileMapper
  8. Added waypoint projection
  9. Modified the default USB mode from Power Only to File Transfer Mode
  10. Updated text strings for localization issues
  11. Made GPS performance improvements
  12. Added option to turnoff geocache and waypoint names to MapSetup
  13. Find geocache by date/time stamping
  14. List “found” caches
  15. Added show / hide found caches option
  16. Added point-to-point routing option to the reroute menu when using Direct Route
  17. ID/Name Cache Sorting Ability
  18. Improved Keyword Search to handle new language support

2.57 (March 2007): Added back some of the navigation screens (large print, "six fields" screen, "road view" screen, from Meridian, waypoint projection. Note that this version was released only for the European and Australian users, though some North America users report success with it. For the Explorist 210, this version was apparently called "2.53".

  • NAV screen
  • SPEED screen
  • TIME screen
  • LARGE FONT screen
  • Option in Preferences to select/deselect each of the navigation screens
  1. German grid fix regarding accuracy of position
  2. New Swedish grid for SWEREF99
  3. New SD Card management
  4. Main Menu changed to move Map selection easier to access,
  5. Map selection Title changed from “active setup" to “active map"
  6. Auto-detect on Plug in/out SD Card and popup menu to propose detail map selection
  7. SD-card folders not anymore renamed (from original English)
  8. Communication screen modified to add configuration between (USB and serial) for usage of new NMEA accessory cable
  9. New navigation screens added :
  10. VMG (velocity made good) added to information selected on configurable fields

3.

Can I update the firmware?

Magellan has been very scant with firmware updates on this product line. As mentioned above, 2.57 was only released for the European and Australian models. Some U.S. users report success upgrading their models; others silently ignore the upgrade attempt or just quit working. There have been attempts to correlate success with serial numbers, but the results are inconclusive.

4.

Should I even try to update the firmware?

Between the guarantee that WAAS will no longer work, the reality that the newest firmware isn't available for products sold into all countries, and the oddities of some units rejecting or even "bricking" during a firmware update, it's difficult to recommend the process.

Send Feedback for improving this page. (Not for general support.)
AddThis Social Bookmark Button