Solix 3.970 update nightmare

[MichAngler]

Sorry for the length but I want to cover everything that happened

So every spring I wipe my Gen 1 units nav data and do a full factory restore so I can start fresh
I had some extra time and figured I might as well update to 3.970 from 3.890 on both units

I started with the 12” by wiping out the nav data and did the factory restore then did the update (took 30 minutes) within 15 seconds of the boot up after the update the screen goes black and then fills up with Warnings is a bunch of languages

WARNING: This unit encountered an error that requires all settings, preferences, sonar, subscriptions and network configurations to be reset. Waypoints, routes and tracks will not be deleted. This unit will now restart.

With a “CONFIRM” button at the bottom

I’m freaking out and with no choice I click confirm
After a couple of white flashes on the screen I get the following screen

IMG_0088.JPG

The 5 yellow boxes turn out to be progress bars and continue to build to the point they over lap

After 25 minutes and the bars overlapped to the point I can’t tell if they are still building I hit the power button (Nothing) I hold the button down for 10 seconds (nothing) I hold the button down for 20 seconds and when I let up the unit shuts off

I start it up again and after a few flashes and logos it goes back to the warning page again
So I click confirm and call Humminbird then I start digging out my paper work on the units (serial numbers, purchase dates and repairs)
I’m going through the prompts on the phone and sitting on hold for what has to be 30 minutes I look over and the unit is working and in simulator mode WTH?

I hang up since I’ve yet to talk to a real person

I do my next step and restore defaults again after an update and noticed during the boot up it has a couple extra white flashes and logos adding at least another 20 seconds to what is the longest boot up ever But the unit is working that’s all that matter I guess

NOW ONTO THE 10” unit

Same process - wipe all data and do a restore, once its back up I put the card in and Nothing! I try both slots and even put the map card and data card back in and the unit does not see them

Then I remember that update 3.900 was for “SOME” 10 units that fail to read one or both card slots after the last update GREAT of course I have one of these units
Now what? I download the 3.970 update again and load that on a different card and still NFG

Only choice I have is the FishSmart app on my phone. Now I have never used this for updates in fear of something going wrong but here we go. So of course I have to pair the phone and the app say I have an update

The only update it is offering is the 3.900 not the 3.970 but hell at least that should fix the card issue so I click down load (30 minutes later) it’s done downloading and then tells me that I have to transfer it to the unit and that will take another 1-1/2 hours WTF!

Good thing I have ALL FREAKIN DAY for this so an hour and a half the phone says the file is transferred but the unit just sits there
I start looking and pull up the file page and its says download in progress and it’s at 60% I literally yelled What The Hell! An hour later it finally finished and the updates starts (Another 30 minutes later) it finishes and I do a factory restore and start the 3.970 update (new download and card)

As soon as its finishes I get the same warning page and bizarre progress bars – this time it only took 10 minutes and it pops up with the default window (Simulator or normal use)

So after another restore and adding this years freshly culled nav data back in the units then syncing the network I was done for the day

I started this just before 1 o’clock and it was now 7PM – 6 freakin hours to do an update on 2 units and I still have to change all my settings including 178 globals but that’s for tomorrow

[bobcoy]

I can imagine! Luckily I did not have that situation with my 12 Gen 1. Boring is good sometimes. Bob

[SLYDoggie]

What a nightmare. Sorry you had such an issue with the upgrades but glad you are back up and operating.

You probably don't want to hear this but I just did the update to 3.970 on my Solix 15 G2 and 12 G2s. It actually went flawlessly. Did you do a Factory Reset both before you did the update and after? I always do both and have never had an issue with upgrades. I don't know if it is necessary but I also do resets on all of the items listed before I do the Factory Reset. Probably redundant and not needed but it has always worked well so I have stuck with the process.

[MichAngler]

What a nightmare. Sorry you had such an issue with the upgrades but glad you are back up and operating.

You probably don't want to hear this but I just did the update to 3.970 on my Solix 15 G2 and 12 G2s. It actually went flawlessly. Did you do a Factory Reset both before you did the update and after? I always do both and have never had an issue with upgrades. I don't know if it is necessary but I also do resets on all of the items listed before I do the Factory Reset. Probably redundant and not needed but it has always worked well so I have stuck with the process.

Yep I’m with you on that
It’s SOP for me to do a Factory Restore before and after each update

On the 10” Since I had to do 2 updates I did a restore between the 3.900 and 3.970

I have rarely ever had issues with an update and had read other post from folks dealing with nightmares like this I just guess it was my turn

The thing that gets me is this warning stating the unit has encountered an error came on both units even though I downloaded the update twice on different days and different cards so clearly the update has issues

It’s like playing Russian Roulette with these updates

[Wayne P.]

Looks like part of your issues was self inflicted, you didn't let the unit complete the update:

"The 5 yellow boxes turn out to be progress bars and continue to build to the point they over lap

After 25 minutes and the bars overlapped to the point I can’t tell if they are still building I hit the power button (Nothing) I hold the button down for 10 seconds (nothing) I hold the button down for 20 seconds and when I let up the unit shuts off "

[fishon396]

I also did the update yesterday and it took a long time but seemed to work ok. No on the water test yet.

[MichAngler]

Looks like part of your issues was self inflicted, you didn't let the unit complete the update:

"The 5 yellow boxes turn out to be progress bars and continue to build to the point they over lap

After 25 minutes and the bars overlapped to the point I can’t tell if they are still building I hit the power button (Nothing) I hold the button down for 10 seconds (nothing) I hold the button down for 20 seconds and when I let up the unit shuts off "

WOW

Had the screen showed one progress bar and it was still moving I would have waited an hour if that’s what it took

But 5 progress bars that overlapped after 5 minutes waiting 25 minutes not knowing if it was still progressing is generous

I’m sorry I couldn’t find my tinfoil hat that tells me when it would finish

The screen was clearly screwed up but hey I should have known it would take longer right?

[ntslam]

I have learned to get the update started and leave to go drink beer or wash the truck or anything else Than watch the unit go through the update. I'll check back on it after a while. Makes me nervous to sit and watch the update progress

[Phoenix Jim]

Uh oh, just did the update this morning and also got the bar graph but let it run. Now it is in simulation mode and home button shows several new tabs but not files tab

[TXSkeeterBells]

Mine updated without issue but haven't been back on the water yet to see if anything was messed up.

ETA mine is Gen 2 though so doesn't exactly match what MichAngler has so there is that. Worked fine yesterday on the water too.

[Phoenix Jim]

Uh oh, just did the update this morning and also got the bar graph but let it run. Now it is in simulation mode and home button shows several new tabs but not files tab

once I did a factory reset all was fine...I think

[SLYDoggie]

You have to press the link at the bottom of the home screen to get to the 2nd page where the Files option is.

[duckmanted]

My gen 1 15 did exactly the same thing as if I wrote your post, I removed power came back 20 minutes later and has worked fine ever since. That was after I tried updating 4 times and then it took but went crazy for a while

[MichAngler]

Seems they are not taking the time to test these updates on all the variants of each model

With updates to fix updates and even issues with the recent helix update I’d say they are dropping the ball here

It’s like playing Russian roulette these days

And knowing they had and update that caused the Solix 10” to not read the card slots you would think they would have issued an update that only addressed this and not take 3-1/2 hours to install via the fishsmart app

[CraftyBass]

My buddies gen 1 did the same. I just let them do their thing and they updated after a long while.

[Hollada]

This one took longer than any other. Same routine as yours with nav and factory restores. Just had to wait it out. I was getting concerned as well. I think each of my 12’s rook around 20 mins 3.64 (I think) to 3.97.

[Cougar76]

My Solix 12 Gen 1 at the bow pretty much did the same thing as MichAnglers. But all 3 of my solix gen 1's I had no problems updating them to 3.97 and everything looked fine as it fixed the gps lost alert I would always get and my units now read correct time even though before I had them set to correct time zone and daylight savings checked. Where my bow did the same as MichAnglers was a week later I wanted to fire them up and check my autochart live data and mess around with units in garage. I fired them all up all was fine then was zooming in on bow unit to lake X and that's when I got same error said everything needs to be reset in multiple languages. All I can say if this happens to you be patient and let it do its thing. Took a while but it did reboot and all I had to do was set a few settings and views and re-sync that unit. One tip I can give you after you invest in the time to update units and set all settings and views is export your settings right after you have them updated and synced.

[TroyBoy30]

WOW

Had the screen showed one progress bar and it was still moving I would have waited an hour if that’s what it took

But 5 progress bars that overlapped after 5 minutes waiting 25 minutes not knowing if it was still progressing is generous

I’m sorry I couldn’t find my tinfoil hat that tells me when it would finish

The screen was clearly screwed up but hey I should have known it would take longer right?

yes

you should always wait vs pulling power

[MichAngler]

TTT

So it may help even more people

[SLYDoggie]

I bricked an Onix once by being impatient and pulling the power after an hour when I thought it had frozen. Luckily Humminbird was able to reload the software so it wasn't a costly mistake.