GPSmap 276C Problems

Problem happen as I just saved track file. Unit went blank and has " Software Missing " on screen. Tried taking batt off and reattaching, turning it off and on a few times. 'When I push the power button it sounds a little tone and the message " Software Missing " shows , then , blank.
Any suggestions?

try running garmin update, might fix the issue

It must have gotten infected with the Montana gps bug that is going around---a horrible thing that is hard to get rid of


Seriously tho-------never heard of this problem---but I think I would have suggested the same thing as a previous poster---and doing a update.

The update is here Andy

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=886

BigDog

Thanks, will try it tomorrow. Hey guy, closest Husky dealer to me is Austin Tx. Sigh! But, seeing what they will do for a trade on the 64,000 mile bandit. LOL:! Think I would love that Husky 650 for what I do. Fixing to get shy of that long distance road travel stuff. shortly, At near 70 and a bad hip, can't do it like I want to. The Husky gotta be lighter than the 400 lbs of KLR on the back of my truck. ;-)

You might try a master (hard) reset first. Note that it will reset any user selected options and settings and restore the factory settings.

Also, ever changed the onboard battery. Weird things start to happen when those go bad. Usually though, it is the "unable to find satellites" error.

Well, I did get it to boot up from the Hard Start. Thanks for that. Had it operating here in my room. Went into it to save track files and it shut down to " Missing Software " . Did get it to take the software upgrade Mark mentioned. Then was getting a " Charging software missing " when it would try to come on. Then back to " Software Missing "
May be the internal battery gone bad , or, it's charging circuit gone bad.
I'll call Garmin Tech Support in a few days and see what they have to say about it.
Was keeping this unit on my KLR and the other 276C on the Bandit or in the truck. But, the older one is starting to show a few small vertical lines on the display so will have to see about doing something with that in the future.

Thanks for the comebacks. Would hate to have to put these units aside and get a Montana sigh!

You might look into doing this:

$160 Garmin replaced my destroyed 276C with a new one.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=725079

They replaced one for me on 9/16/2011.

productsupport@garmin.com
Problem Description: Broken battery contact in battery compartment. I would like to have this unit repaired under the out-of-warranty program. How do I pay the $160? GPSMAP 276C Serial number xxxxxxxx.


The replacement looked brand new!

Just a few short months ago I had a smashed one and they sent me a new one for $160.
(It's stored in a sealed container now protected with a total security system)

But don't get too excited----I was one of the very last to get this---they say they are out of parts
and no longer support refurshing these now.

BigDog

The 276C I'm using now is a 2nd refurbed/new job. I had the first for about 4 years and it started getting dark spots on the screen. 160 bucks later I had a replacement unit. My first run with it was to Calif in '07 and it started turning it's self off and back on. Was in touch with Garmin via email on the trip and we tried different things till finally he told me when I got back home to send it back. I did and replace it for free. I'm still using that one. But, as said early on, vertical lines starting to show up on the screen.
If I can't get this newer one running, I'll just swap screens with the older one.
We'll know more after talking with Garmin. I just had a Zumo 550 redone for 160 and sold it via ebay a few weeks ago. Didn't really like it. That 276 has a way of spoiling you. ;-)

I'm not sure if it's even possible but could the track file be corrupt causing the unit to crash? As said before no more refurbs on them. The internal battery being dead only causes the loss of date/time every time the unit is turned off and makes aquiring satelites take forever. I just replaced mine and went from taking 5-10 min to aquire now it can find them in <1min.

During it's very short rebirth yesterday, I went ahead and deleted all track files. Had about 4 days of them but , none saved. But, had already downloaded them on Mapsource so didn't loose them.
I plugged it into the klr yesterday for several hours to see if anything would happen. Nada. Won't even do anything but beep and give a " Software Missing" or " Charging Software Missing" indication. I'll call tech todayish. ;-)

Glad you were able to make a little progress.

If they can't replace the one for you, it is possible to swap screens between the two.

The "replacing internal battery" thread has info on how to disassemble the units.

Ah, swapping screens on a 276c might be possible, but I couldn't do it and I've worked on electronics for MANY years.

First, the screen is laminated to the front glass - the actual LCD screen is very fragile and is laminated to the front glass so if you try to peel it off to put a new screen on the LCD tends to be destroyed.

Second, the connector on the main board that the LCD plugs into has a VERY fragile clip that locks the cable down to the connector. I have a 276c sitting here that works great - EXCEPT - I unplugged the screen when I replaced the internal battery and the clip broke. If I hold the cable in place everything works fine, otherwise the screen doesn't work.

Oh, and I've learned the hard way that if the backlight is out, you are better off leaving the LCD portion attached to the front glass and carefully removing the backlight from the LCD to replace JUST the backlight. That's how I learned about the screen being laminated to the front glass.

There is a thread in here somewhere of someone fixing their LCD.

I've disassembled my 376c to replace the battery. There is a picture in this thread 2

I don't remember the exact connector, but I thought it was the flip up kind. I think I knocked it loose when working on the battery, but I could be mistaken. Whichever connector I did knock loose, I just flipped up, inserted the cable, then flipped back down again. Didn't have any problems.

I had watched a YouTube vid of a guy replacing the broken glass on a 276c. Pretty neat operation. I'm still waiting for Garmin tech to answer my email on the subject. I won't mess with the older one that's still operating till the conditions get way more critical. This unit probably has about 70,000 + miles on it on 4 different bikes in all kinds of weather and roads. A replacement back in '07.

Thanks for the url, I have it book marked for the future ;-)

One other possibility: I don't remember the exact error message I got but unit would shut itself down repeatedly. Turned out to be a bad data card. Easy to check out if you have a card you know is good. (This was on a 376C).

Drew

The return message I received from Garmin yesterday.

Dear Andrus Chesley,


Thank you for contacting Garmin International.


You have done all the troubleshooting available for the device. Unfortunately, there is nothing left we can do. We can no longer repair the GPSMAP 276C due to a lack of parts. Please consider replacing it with another Garmin device. Here is a link to our current lineup: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=147


With Best Regards,


Christopher Bl.

Product Support Specialist

Marine

Garmin International

913-397-8200

800-800-1020

913-440-8280 (fax) Att: Christopher Bl., Associate #5842

www.garmin.com


Additional solutions may be found at http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/us/support/searchsupport


I'll just keep it for parts.
And, think Montana in the furture . Darn I llked having a unit for each bike that I didn't have to swap when I got off one and on the other. ;-(

I had a very similar (if not the same) message when I contacted Garmin Europe about getting my 276 fixed, seems like Garmin have turned their backs on the *76 range.

Well heck. Was reading about reloading software in Garmin's website and it sent me to the same EXE program that Mark Big Dog had suggested to me several days back. I had attempted a few times to load the software and it looked like it went into the unit but nothing changed. So, went and got the unit out of the shop and plugged it back into the computer. Hot booted it and had one of the same messages on the screen " Charging Software Missing " this time. So , went ahead and left it on that and run the EXE file Mark had suggested and Garmin suggested again.
Well Hells Bells, It downloaded and the screen come to life. Looking for sats. Woopie! Took it outside and set it on a trashcan and let it work. Finally found it's self and loaded the map and updated it's self with correct time and date and switched to daylight mode. Hmmmmmmm. Rolled KLR out and plugged unit into it. Went ahead and turn the unit off and the " Battery Charged " message came up. Yea!! Turned the unit back on. Booted right up. Deleted data on data screen and it cleared all to zero. Back to the Map page. Turn Unit off again. Waited about 2 mins and turn back on again. Booted right up. Left it hooked up to the KLR outside where it can see the sats and turned it off. Still showing " Battery Charged " with picture on it.
So, that's were we stand now with that unit.