My Raymarine A57D chart plotter freezes

[tchierici]

I have had a Raymarine A57D plotter for a few years now with a Navionics sd card. It worked fine until this season when every time I attempt to zoom in/out or pan around the chart it freezes then crashes and restarts itself. If I take the sd card out and reinsert the empty adapter it works fine. I am thinking it’s probably a corrupt sd card. But why now? And what’s the fix? I left the chart plotter on the boat but I have the sd card here with me so I can try and see if it’s fixable. Any advice would be great. Note that I have an update card but never used it. Not sure it’s going to fix the problem. Thank you

 

[DrSpock]

It's likely the internal memory has become fragmented over time. The only way to fix it is to delete all local data (waypoints etc) and perform a factory reset.

 

[tchierici]

It's likely the internal memory has become fragmented over time. The only way to fix it is to delete all local data (waypoints etc) and perform a factory reset.

I don’t have any local data on it and I did try a factory reset which works for a short time then it freezes again and reboots itself.

 

[DrSpock]

Was that System Settings & Data Reset? If so and it's crashing and rebooting after that then you have failing memory and at this age the only option is to replace it.

 

[tchierici]

Was that System Settings & Data Reset? If so and it's crashing and rebooting after that then you have failing memory and at this age the only option is to replace it.

Replace the memory card or the chart plotter? Reading around it seems this problem is associated with a bad sd card. The plotter works fine if I take the sd card out…

 

[DrSpock]

The plotter. I very much doubt it's the SD card as this happens to all Raymarine plotters of this era but you could swap it with another to try.

When you insert the card the CPU buffers data to the heap assuming it has enough available. This memory is reduced when chips fails so it crashes.

 

[DrSpock]

You can also try turning down the chart detail. Older plotters weren't designed to cope with modern charts and the LOD available.

 

[Sandy]

I have had a Raymarine A57D plotter for a few years now with a Navionics sd card. It worked fine until this season when every time I attempt to zoom in/out or pan around the chart it freezes then crashes and restarts itself. If I take the sd card out and reinsert the empty adapter it works fine. I am thinking it’s probably a corrupt sd card. But why now? And what’s the fix? I left the chart plotter on the boat but I have the sd card here with me so I can try and see if it’s fixable. Any advice would be great. Note that I have an update card but never used it. Not sure it’s going to fix the problem. Thank you

A) Have you tried another SD card in the plotter;

B) Have you contacted Raymarine or a chandler who is a Raymarine reseller?

 

[tchierici]

The plotter. I very much doubt it's the SD card as this happens to all Raymarine plotters of this era but you could swap it with another to try.

When you insert the card the CPU buffers data to the heap assuming it has enough available. This memory is reduced when chips fails so it crashes.

I understand. It seems strange that if the plotter is not designed to accommodate so much data, then why did it work fine for 6 seasons before all of a sudden deciding that it can’t cope. I’ll try testing the sd card in another device and contact Raymarine as well. Thanks

 

[tchierici]

You can also try turning down the chart detail. Older plotters weren't designed to cope with modern charts and the LOD available.

I guess it’s never been exactly quick in refreshing while zooming. Bit clunky but coped ok

 

[DrSpock]

I understand. It seems strange that if the plotter is not designed to accommodate so much data, then why did it work fine for 6 seasons before all of a sudden deciding that it can’t cope. I’ll try testing the sd card in another device and contact Raymarine as well. Thanks

That's the nature of failing electronics. Your plotter is at around 15 years old now which is pretty good going tbh.