I have an Xi5 that had the main control board replaced a few months ago to address a problem I had where the motor would not shut off when stowed. The motor is connected via the gateway and NMEA 2000 to a Lowrance HDS 9 Gen 3 running 7.0 software. Whenever I power up the HDS it says "trolling motor update required", but when I say OK, then nothing happens. Shortly after this the Xi5 loses GPS and then does not work - from the HDS or from the remote (manual functions work, but no nav or anchor, etc.). If I disconnect the motor from the network and restart the motor is fine stand alone. As soon as I connect to the NMEA network, the cycle happens again. I can repeat the issue - I have tried many times to get the update to take, nothing works.

I called Motorguide several times and they are claiming it is the NMEA network (which it is not) or the Lowrance (which worked just fine before I had the main board replaced in the Xi5).


Has anyone else had a problem with the Motorguide and Lowrance stuck in a broken update loop? Any thoughts on how to fix? Motorguide wants me to update the Lowrance units to 18.2, but I am reluctant to do that because of the issues I have heard of with that release.

Thanks.