Endura GPS stopped reading card

[fishinmedic]

Hi all

I've got a Lowrance Endura Safari with a LM chip. The unit hasn't even lasted a year before the card stopped reading. I tried the card in a different unit and it worked fine. I tried a different LM chip in my unit and it wouldn't work. So I called Lowrance and they want to basically pay them the price of a new one, to fix my old one? So as I'm talking to the CS people and they are trying to trouble shoot my unit, I explain to them that the only way that they unit will read the card is to plug the card in with the unit already turned on, they proceed to tell me that that is not possible because the card slot is not hot swappable.

So here's the symptoms. With a card in the unit, powering on the unit freezes at the 'palm tree' logo and will not move, no flashing lights. Only was to unfreeze is to pull the batteries. Take the card out, turn unit on, it works fine...plug in chip, map loads, unit works great. Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

[leech~~]

If you seem to have a process where it works "Great"? Stop pulling the chip out and use it. Not sure if your swaping back and forth between two units or why you keep pulling the chip out but I would just leave it in and get a new chip for the other unit which would still be cheaper then sending in the unit to get fixed at Low-endura!

[Jim Almquist]

Not sure if this will help but might just be worth a try. My H2o will not read my chip unless I put some folded up paper on top so it is pushed harder on to the contacts. Maybe its shorting two contacts and needs to be a little more snug. Make sure none of your contacts are bent as well.

[fishinmedic]

to clear this up a bit. I only have the one Endura. I tried the different card at Fishlectronics, my card worked fine in their Endura display model, I also tried one of their LM chips in mine, which didn't work. I did some further reading and it turns out that the unit is hot swappable for cards. I'm working on trying to update the unit, but it appears that it must load the update on startup, which doesn't work, because whenever I have a card in it on start up, it locks up.

Thanks for the replies. Tried the paper thing, didn't work.

[leech~~]

It is kind of interesting that the last LakeMaster chip packaging says Endura compatible on it in big letters? Out of all the units out there they actually added a note for just one type? Makes you think that there must have been some kind of issue with them in the past?

[bbfenatic]

Fishinmedic:

With the newer units you have to actually download the LM chip the first time. It will ask you if you want to load the GPX software (or something like that) and you have to choose YES, then it downloads and will be on the unit going forward. I have H20 but buddy bought an Endura and had the same issue but I played with it and got it to download and now works great, actually like it better than mine.

[PerchJerker]

It is kind of interesting that the last LakeMaster chip packaging says Endura compatible on it in big letters? Out of all the units out there they actually added a note for just one type? Makes you think that there must have been some kind of issue with them in the past?

Prior to the Endura coming out the Lowrance GPS units used MMC / SD cards. The Endura came out with a microSD card slot so none of the "old" LakeMaster cards would fit in them. There was a long period of time where you could get an Endura but you couldn't get a LakeMaster card for an Endura.

When the Lowrance LakeMaster cards switched to the microSD format (with a SD adapter for older units) they started putting "Endura Compatible" on the packaging ...... all it means is that it's a microSD card. Later on they came out with the Elite series which also uses microSD cards, but by then the LakeMaster cards were already out in the microSD format.

For the guy having trouble with his Endura, I have had some luck cleaning the contacts on the card and the contacts in the unit with a pencil eraser, although you probably can't get to them in the Endura. Have you tried a software reset on the Endura? And if that doesn't work, can you hot-swap in the card with the update, then browse the files on the card and kick off the update that way? Good luck, hope you get it working again.

[fishinmedic]

Perch Jerker,

I did try to force an update onto it. I tried to get it to load the 1.5. I put the update on a different micro sd card, turned the unit on, and it froze (but this is what it has been doing). I hot swapped the update card into it with the unit on. .... it told me that the map was loading or something like that, no real mention of an 'updating' or anything. I turned the unit back off, restarted it (w/o card) and the update didn't take. So not sure. Still trying various ways of trying to force an update, but I'm not sure if the software version is the error or not.

I've tried to soft reset it a number of times to no avail, can't find a hard reset anywhere on it (or the web)

[fishinmedic]

Yet another update.

I figured out how to force an update. You put the update onto a sd card. Then hot swap it into the unit, then do a soft reset and the update will install. So now the unit has 1.5.1 on it, nice interface. With the unit on, I put the LM card in, map loads, works great. Turn it off, turn it back on, freezes.

So, hot swap LM chip in, do a reset under settings, unit resets, reboots, card loads....but on the first time. When I turn the unit off again and on again, freeze. So made a little ground but still not there. I continue to search the net, finding people with the same problems, most have pitched their endura/safari for different units, I can't afford to do that. I mean seriously, I spent $500 buck plus on all of this and it didn't even last a year. The local bait shop where I bought it told me to pack sand, despite continually asking me if I had a problems with it right after I bought it because some people reported the same issues.

So what I'm working on now it trying to get the old 1.4 version back on it to see if the 'reset' issue works better with 1.4, but I can't get it to load because the new 1.5.1 won't let it. So I'm searching for a hard reset, to no avail.