Garmin 4008 chart plotter date rollover fixed

[andyc352]

Others with “legacy” Garmin gps units may find this useful: My Garmin 4008 chart plotter is now of an age when it’s no longer supported by Garmin. At the last satellite date rollover a few months ago, it entered a time warp and reverted to August 1999. This in itself didn’t cause a major problem but I lost the ability to see past tracks on the chart plotter, presumably due to an internal date conflict. I find this feature very useful so checked the Garmin website for help. I already had the latest software version (from 2015) installed so ended up calling Garmin support. They were extremely helpful and said if I downloaded the software update again it should fix the problem but just in case it didn’t they emailed me a direct link link. I now have a fully functioning chart plotter again. It would appear that although the software version number for the 4008 plotter hasn’t changed since 2015, it nevertheless contains current updates for peripheral network devices (in my case the gps antenna which handles the date information and passes it along to the chart plotter, and also an update to my AIS system). The lesson is that just because the software version number hasn’t changed it’s still worth downloading and reinstalling if you have problems. I did ask Garmin how users were supposed to know if their software was up to date if they didn’t change the version number. I didn’t really get an answer. They said that people just called them when they had a problem!

 

[biscuit]

Good for you Andy C. Thanks for posting.
I have tried this more than once, but with no success. Seeing your thread, I re-downloaded the latest 4008 software update today, and tried yet another reinstall, with the same unsuccesful result as far as the date goes. (I used the Garmin 16x aerial too.) Any idea why that should be? I guess I will have to call Garmin (again!).

 

[andyc352]

Hi biscuit.
I’m not sure which aerial model I have but it’s the one that was bundled with the 4008 unit when I bought it. Garmin did say that a last resort fix if all else failed would be to replace the aerial. I found Martin, the guy I spoke to, very helpful on the phone so hopefully they’ll get you sorted out. This is the direct link he sent me which did the trick. Give it a try if you wish but no guarantee it’ll work for you of course. Let me know how you get on. Best wishes.

Andy

https://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=8745

 

[richardbrennan]

I had this problem some months ago on my 5012 and posted the fix on the Forum that I got from Garmin. I too had trouble with the update and I seem to recall that the Garmin guy talked me through it whilst on the phone. I will try and find the post and repost it.

 

[biscuit]

Thanks guys, I will have another go next time I 'm at the boat and post again.

 

[richardbrennan]

I cannot find my post, but I seem to recall that the unit software updated, but getting the antenna software to update was the difficulty.

 

[vas]

out of curiosity do you guys have NMEA2000 GPS antennas on your setups?

I'm asking as I have an extensive NMEA2000 bus with a Garmin NMEA2000 GPS antenna (something xxx17 I think...) as well as a 4008 and a 5008 plotter.
All's working fine but I do update s/w (just in case...) a couple of times a year. Granted plotters wont update but various peripherals occasionally do.
I guess if you also have a non-Garmin GPS antenna, you'll have to find a way to update that as well.

cheers

V.

 

[tjbrace]

My Garmin gps17x was updated to 2.90 to overcome the date rollover. This is on the nmea2000 network.

 

[biscuit]

Now fixed.
Thanks to all respondents. Andy C's original post was spot on : "......the gps antenna [which] handles the date information [and] passes it along to the chart plotter...."
It simply needed a new 19xHVS aerial instead of the old 16x (which can't be updated) to fix the date rollover problem. (NMEA 0183 by the way).
Now to sort out the RJ 45 radar connections (a whole new other story)