Garmin Edge 705.. What firmware version?

springtide9

Just picked up a s'hand Edge 705. Unfortunately it had a fault that doesn't allow the firmware to be updated in the usual way - so you can't just drop the rom into the 'Garmin' directory.

I have a work around from Garmin using what looks like their internal flash tool (when you have to power up the device holding up the 'up' key).. and have successfully upgrade from 3.0 to 3.1.

I have requested the firmware v3.3 'reg' file from Garmin, but wondered that was considered the 'best' version? I have seen reports that 3.2 broke a few things as well as people not happy with 3.3 (although most seem to be Powertap users - which is not required.).

Any wise Garmin Edge 705 owners out there with a recommendation?

hugo15

I'm still running 3.1 as it works for me.

3.2 was withdrawn by Garmin as it didn't work for lots of people.

Not braved an upgrade to 3.3. yet.

sungod

3.2 was awful, so bad the even garmin withdrew it, that's *really* bad

3.3 is fine, can't say i've noticed it being better/worse than 3.1, the elevation is still absolutely barking

seen the reports of 3.3 issues with powertap, but it's ok with srm

springtide9

Thanks for the reply. I have read that v3.1 appeared to be the 'problem free' release (with lots of people happy with the revision)... but....

Well, looks like my decision might have been made for me!

After doing the 'Garmin' fix (which worked first time)... and trying to go to 3.3 several times.... it didn't work. I have left it for a few hours and just powered it on to test v3.1... and it started an update to v3.3! So I am now on v 3.3.

I will let you know how I get on... hopefully this means I will be able to revert to v3.1 is needed

springtide9

sungod wrote:

3.2 was awful, so bad the even garmin withdrew it, that's *really* bad

3.3 is fine, can't say i've noticed it being better/worse than 3.1, the elevation is still absolutely barking

seen the reports of 3.3 issues with powertap, but it's ok with srm

Thanks. Could you give more info on the elevation? Does it over estimate? And does the Garmin 'Elevation Corrections' within Connect fix the data?

Only done one ride with v3.0....

With Elevation Corrections disabled:
Elevation Gain: 5,433 ft
Elevation Loss: 5,387 ft
Min Elevation: 33 ft
Max Elevation: 946 ft

With Elevation Corrections enabled:
Elevation Gain: 4,924 ft
Elevation Loss: 4,866 ft
Min Elevation: 25 ft
Max Elevation: 954 ft

Is this what I'm likely to see with v3.3, or is it worse? (and is the data being fixed by the Elevation Corrections?)

Sorry for the questions...

mask of sanity

The newest firmware hasn't produced any problems for me. Just remember that you will have lost any settings should you have chosen any (like re-routing and auto pause).

I've found that my elevation data to be fairly consistent. The elevation gain and loss are normally within about 50 feet over a sixty mile circular. Whether it's accurate or not I don't know but at least with consistency you can confidently compare rides. make sure you turn it on ten minutes or so prior to leaving so it can calibrate your elevation.

redvee

Elavation is calculated on atmospheric pressure so the same location on different days will give you different heights, I think.

JohnnyAllez

Software version 3.3 has provision for "calibration" of the the elevation reading. If you know the exact, or near enough, elevation of a certain point, eg your home address or ride starting place, then you can set a waypoint marker at this position, then adjust the elevation figure to suit and save it. Then, when you switch on the unit next ride, if you`re within 25 meters of this saved point, when you press the start button to go for a ride, the unit "snaps" to this saved elevation figure and works from that. Mine seems to be a lot better after doing this.

switch unit on, wait til it finds sats etc.
menu
scroll down to "save location"
save location
use toggle button to move cursor down to elevation
press toggle button
adjust elevation figure to known elevation, then "ok" it
toggle down to "OK" box at bottom of screen and click that.
Next time you press "start" at beggining of a ride it should start with the correct elevation.

Also, on the above screen, there is an "avg" button, try clicking on this and leaving the unit to try and find the correct elevation, it runs through numerous attempts until it`s correct, then click "ok" again.

sungod

springtide9 wrote:

sungod wrote:

3.2 was awful, so bad the even garmin withdrew it, that's *really* bad

3.3 is fine, can't say i've noticed it being better/worse than 3.1, the elevation is still absolutely barking

seen the reports of 3.3 issues with powertap, but it's ok with srm

Thanks. Could you give more info on the elevation? Does it over estimate? And does the Garmin 'Elevation Corrections' within Connect fix the data?

Only done one ride with v3.0....

With Elevation Corrections disabled:
Elevation Gain: 5,433 ft
Elevation Loss: 5,387 ft
Min Elevation: 33 ft
Max Elevation: 946 ft

With Elevation Corrections enabled:
Elevation Gain: 4,924 ft
Elevation Loss: 4,866 ft
Min Elevation: 25 ft
Max Elevation: 954 ft

Is this what I'm likely to see with v3.3, or is it worse? (and is the data being fixed by the Elevation Corrections?)

Sorry for the questions...

i use the known elevation waypoint feature, which at least ensures the ride starts at the correct altitude, but then there can still be over 50 metres drift over the next 2-3 hours, but after a few hours it settles down

imho 3.3 elevation is better than 3.1, but still could be improved

it seems garmin don't use gps data to keep the barometric reading honest, it wouldn't be perfect, but when the signal quality and number of satellites are high they could take the opportunity to calculate a correction

fwiw i've got an srm pc7 as well, it only has a barometric sensor for elevation but it doesn't show the same large drifts as the garmin, so i'm satisfied that it's a design issue with garmin that is the cause

'fraid i don't use connect so can't help with that bit

wombler

I think I was running v3.3 when the device all of a sudden stopped connecting to my PC. The device still worked, but under no circumstances (and I tried all the suggested approaches from Garmin support and web posts) would it connect to the PC, which viewed the Garmin disk as unformatted.

The only option was to reformat the Garmin disk and reload the firmware image manually (which Garmin did provide).

Looks like quite a few people have had this problem. So keep hold of the firmware image.

springtide9

wombler wrote:

I think I was running v3.3 when the device all of a sudden stopped connecting to my PC. The device still worked, but under no circumstances (and I tried all the suggested approaches from Garmin support and web posts) would it connect to the PC, which viewed the Garmin disk as unformatted.

The only option was to reformat the Garmin disk and reload the firmware image manually (which Garmin did provide).

Looks like quite a few people have had this problem. So keep hold of the firmware image.

Thanks. I have the re-flashing utility and utility and firmware 3.1 + 3.3 in the 'reg' format (and instructions) - just in case
Looks like it's working fine now... the bug of it randomly not finding a route appears to have been solved (used to calculate the route, get to 100% - but no further)
Will stick with 3.3 for the time being as it sounds like the most common version. Just need a long ride to test it out again!

Thanks all
Simon

evil_breakfast

wombler wrote:

I think I was running v3.3 when the device all of a sudden stopped connecting to my PC. The device still worked, but under no circumstances (and I tried all the suggested approaches from Garmin support and web posts) would it connect to the PC, which viewed the Garmin disk as unformatted.

The only option was to reformat the Garmin disk and reload the firmware image manually (which Garmin did provide).

Looks like quite a few people have had this problem. So keep hold of the firmware image.

firmware image?

springtide9

evil_breakfast wrote:

firmware image?

There are two formats for the 'firmware image':

1) The standard 'gcd' file that you use to update the firmware - by putting it into the 'Garmin' folder (and it updates when it powers up). For this to work - the device has to power up (or in my case... it ignored the update)

2) An 'rgn' file that uses another "application" to perform the upgrade/downgrade - you hold the up key while you plug it into the USB computer port - and have 10 secs to start the application to perform the flashing.

I believe that (2) can be used if you have a corrupt firmware or the unit doesn't 'boot' etc.

wombler

I got a .img file from Garmin when all else failed...
This was applied after having to reformat the device (i.e. wipe everything off the device's disk and format it so the PC could see it), so it needed something on there with the firmware. The other two formats are fine if you can connect the device to a PC to do the update, but in my case that was't possible.

Butterd2

wombler wrote:

I got a .img file from Garmin when all else failed...
This was applied after having to reformat the device (i.e. wipe everything off the device's disk and format it so the PC could see it), so it needed something on there with the firmware. The other two formats are fine if you can connect the device to a PC to do the update, but in my case that was't possible.

Wombler, this sounds like the problem I have just encountered. When I now connect the Garmin instead of going into "Download" mode it just switches on and starts looking for satellites. If I press and hold the off button twice it eventually goes into download mode but only the window for the SD card opens on the PC and not the 2nd window for the internal memory. Is this the same?
If so how do I go about reformatting the internal memory given that the PC does not see it?
Thanks in advance.

mask of sanity

redvee wrote:

Elavation is calculated on atmospheric pressure so the same location on different days will give you different heights, I think.

I thought it had a built in thermometer to counter this?

redvee

Temperature isn't one thing the 705 measures.

mask of sanity

Oh, I thought I read that it had one for calibration but didn't display it, but not so. It does calibrate altitude using GPS though so in theory pressure shouldn't alter it to much?!