Gen 2 Solix locking up

[Jig_Man]

I have 3 Gen 2 Solix units. They are powered by a Lithium battery and receiving 12.8 to 13 volts. They are Ethernet connected. My Solix Gen 2 Cho is mostly used for mapping and three times in as many weeks it will lock and the only way I can get it to work is restore factory defaults which is a pain on the water.

What can be done to fix this?

[DQM]

If you have not done it, back up your nav data and factory reset all of the units. Turn just one on, factory reset it, turn it off, turn the next on, same thing, turn it off, turn the last one on and reset it. Restore the nav data. The power on one at a time the other two so they can sync.

With three Solix units, depending on how much data you are sharing (one map card being shared amongst all three units, for example) you may be running low on network bandwidth as well.

I ended up putting a Lakemaster chip in each of my units and it helped a lot with random freezing up and slowdowns. The new Ethernet switch might help as well, but not an option when I was having intermittent issues.

[Jig_Man]

It has its own map card.

[SLYDoggie]

It has its own map card.

Map cards have nothing to do with Navigation data (Waypoints, Saved Tracks, and Saved Routes). The Nav data is just an overlay on whatever map you are using.

Corrupted Nav data can cause all kinds of strange behaviour on a Solix. I developed some detailed instructions on how to save, reset, and restore Nav Data to see if Data Corruption is your problem.

Solix are prone to NAV data corruptions which can cause strange side effects (loss of network, loss of gps, intermittent sonar issues, touch screen issues, lockups, and etc). This will usually fix the issues:

1. With all other units off, save your NAV data using the "Files" utility on the home screen.
2. Save your settings using the "Files" utility on the home screen.
3. Perform a NAV Data Reset.
4. Perform a Restore Factory Defaults.
5. Turn unit off.
6. Repeat steps 1 - 5 for each unit on your network, with only that one unit turned on. You could do just steps 3 - 5 for all units after the first, but I like to have the extra backups on separate cards for safety purposes.
7. Boot the control head which you want to be your "Master" (if you are on a version prior to 4.190... 4.190 and beyond removes the Master & Sync requirement) and do the initial setup or load your settings file using the Files utility on the Home Screen.
8. Boot all other networked control heads.
9. Sync the network (on versions prior to 4.190).
10. Load your NAV data to the "Master" unit using the Files utility on the Home Screen... it will be automatically copied to all other units on the network.
11. Redo any custom views on each unit.
12. Redo Data Overlays on each unit.
13. Set up your Favorite Views side bars.

Hopefully, this fixes your issues.

[kybluebullet]

Humminbird had me download all nav data onto a card and restore units and clear all nav data. Then load the data onto humminbird PC and check for corrupt data, routes,and tracks. I found a corrupt waypoint that had all zeros for longitude and latitude. I asked how this occurs when I've never uploaded any data and was told the unit can corrupt itself. Humminbird customer service has been nothing but good to me and top notch service. The units, somewhat of a pain. Humminbird site has instructions for taking care of corrupt data but the PC will not upload the waypoints from Solix by using the written directions for helix units which are the only ones shown. You have to click on files and open from there at top left of PC page instead of on the SD card arrow or it will tell you no waypoints.

[Hollada]

Map cards have nothing to do with Navigation data (Waypoints, Saved Tracks, and Saved Routes). The Nav data is just an overlay on whatever map you are using.

Corrupted Nav data can cause all kinds of strange behaviour on a Solix. I developed some detailed instructions on how to save, reset, and restore Nav Data to see if Data Corruption is your problem.

Solix are prone to NAV data corruptions which can cause strange side effects (loss of network, loss of gps, intermittent sonar issues, touch screen issues, lockups, and etc). This will usually fix the issues:

1. With all other units off, save your NAV data using the "Files" utility on the home screen.
2. Save your settings using the "Files" utility on the home screen.
3. Perform a NAV Data Reset.
4. Perform a Restore Factory Defaults.
5. Turn unit off.
6. Repeat steps 1 - 5 for each unit on your network, with only that one unit turned on. You could do just steps 3 - 5 for all units after the first, but I like to have the extra backups on separate cards for safety purposes.
7. Boot the control head which you want to be your "Master" (if you are on a version prior to 4.190... 4.190 and beyond removes the Master & Sync requirement) and do the initial setup or load your settings file using the Files utility on the Home Screen.
8. Boot all other networked control heads.
9. Sync the network (on versions prior to 4.190).
10. Load your NAV data to the "Master" unit using the Files utility on the Home Screen... it will be automatically copied to all other units on the network.
11. Redo any custom views on each unit.
12. Redo Data Overlays on each unit.
13. Set up your Favorite Views side bars.

Hopefully, this fixes your issues.

Looks vaguely familiar….

Dan Holland

[bobcoy]

Still a good routine!

[Jig_Man]

I followed SLYDoggie’s instructions. I did not save any Nav data as I have a clean copy which was edited by a Hbird programmer a while back. Everything looks good but time will tell for sure.

Thanks again.

[SLYDoggie]

Looks vaguely familiar….

Dan Holland

Yeah, you and I had similar responses to this corruption issue so I decided to make mine more detailed for a multi-unit setup and try to leave nothing to the imagination.

[SLYDoggie]

I will get that done later today. Thanks

Good luck. Look forward to hearing if it solves your problem.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for my writeup... if anything is confusing or missing when you get into it.

[kybluebullet]

Good luck. Look forward to hearing if it solves your problem.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for my writeup... if anything is confusing or missing when you get into it.

The only reason I responded was because I still had problems after following your list. I guess I was removing everything and clearing the units but putting the corrupt waypoint right back on afterwards. By loading on to the humminbird PC app I was able to find the corruption before reinstalling my information. I also appreciate the help you guys provide Lord knows I don't have enough time in the day to figure all this stuff out.

[musky/ed]

As someone who owns two Solix's and went through this corrupt nav data network mess last year with less than 50 waypoints created, what we really need is a update that stops these Solix locators from creating corrupt waypoints so easily.
After trying to track down the issue with Humminbird on the phone for a half hour, then trailering my boat an hour and a half away to the dealer to be fixed, there has to be a better way. We need a unit that doesn't create corrupt waypoints in the first place. There is no excuse for this.
At the very least there should be some software that you can use to search out the corrupt files and either fix them or delete them.

[Hollada]

As someone who owns two Solix's and went through this corrupt nav data network mess last year with less than 50 waypoints created, what we really need is a update that stops these Solix locators from creating corrupt waypoints so easily.
After trying to track down the issue with Humminbird on the phone for a half hour, then trailering my boat an hour and a half away to the dealer to be fixed, there has to be a better way. We need a unit that doesn't create corrupt waypoints in the first place. There is no excuse for this.
At the very least there should be some software that you can use to search out the corrupt files and either fix them or delete them.

I don’t believe it’s actually a corrupt waypoint or track in most cases. I believe it’s an issue called a memory leak. It’s a coding error that allows for an application to overwrite memory in areas of the computers ram that the program should not be writing to. They tend to get worse and worse overtime until the program is reset as we do by doing a nav data reset.

[Hollada]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_leak

[chad202]

May be totally unrelated but I've had issues with my Solix G1 doing crazy stuff like zooming on it's own, acts like someone touching the screen, locking up, etc.... I tried all mentioned above and it seemed to work for a very short time, like maybe just a few hours or a day. I read a post where someone said an old gentlemen that works for Humminbird told them to clear there current track because when that gets full, the unit does stupid stuff. BINGO, since doing this on a regular basis, never had another issue with my solix.

[AndrewM-Fishing]

May be totally unrelated but I've had issues with my Solix G1 doing crazy stuff like zooming on it's own, acts like someone touching the screen, locking up, etc.... I tried all mentioned above and it seemed to work for a very short time, like maybe just a few hours or a day. I read a post where someone said an old gentlemen that works for Humminbird told them to clear there current track because when that gets full, the unit does stupid stuff. BINGO, since doing this on a regular basis, never had another issue with my solix.

I've noticed the same thing. If the chart view starts lagging really bad when I zoom in/out I clear the current track and it's smooth as butter.

[Hollada]

CLear current track at the end of every trip.