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G3X Software Updates on a Mac

T

Tango Mike

Well Known Member
I have been unable to find out how to do this.

Garmin's WebUpdater for Mac won't do it, nor will the Communicator Plug-In. I've been unable to find any information on the Garmin website, and the only comment I've found on this forum was dated and suggested that the OP could send an SD card in to have the update installed and the card returned, a cumbersome method at best.

Any streamlined solutions out there?
 
I had no trouble doing this the other day, could you post a screenshot of what happens when you use the web updater? There IS a bit of clicking around and prepping the card which is a little unintuitive the first time around.
 
WebUpdater use doesn't work for me

I can post the screenshots, but all they will show is a WebUpdater window that shows no device selected, and when I click on "Find Devices," I get a notice that says "No devices were found. Please ensure that your device is connected and turned on and try again." My card reader is connected with an SD card installed and the icon is on the desktop. I have no idea what's going on.
 
Thanks for your efforts to help, but the problem is that I cannot extract the file. Macs can't open .exe files, and everything I've read so far indicates that the only way to do that is to use a third party software that allows me to partition my hard drive and install Windows, which I have no interest in doing for any reason other than to be able to update the software for my two G3X screens.

There's an application called Parallels9, or something like that, that supposedly allows switching back and forth between Mac OS and Windows with the click of a mouse. But I'm not eager to spend about $80 to be able to do something that Garmin should make simple and easy for any owners of their products regardless if which platform they're using. They may have done it, but it's been very well hidden from my efforts to find it.
 
Thanks for the link. Tim at Garmin's G3X help desk gave me the same one. It links an info page for an application called, "The Unarchiver"

This is an iTunes issue and not all that relevant here, but while iTunes Store had multiple choices for iOS systems, I never found this application designed for OSX. I did find an outside link to the Apple Store version of the app for OSX and downloaded it. Then:

1. Used it to unzip the .exe file from Garmin and saved it to a folder with the default name "GDU37xCockpitDisplay_850"
2. In that folder: Copy2Card.exe, LICENSE, NOTICE, and a folder titled "root."
3. In the root folder: a "Garmin" folder and :Updateinfo.xml.
4. In the Garmin folder: gupdate.gcd.
5. With a card reader and SD card connected to my computer, dragged and dropped the gupdate.gcd file into the Garmin folder on the SD card.
6. When prompted, replaced the existing file on the card with the new one.

And that's how I finally got it done. For what it's worth, and that's probably not much, owners of G3X systems and Mac computers might appreciate a note from Garmin somewhere that explains this process.
 
Glad to hear it. Just as a final note, that link on the information page should take you to the App Store program on your mac, not iTunes. If you have an old version of os x it might have been giving you some trouble with it. Hope you enjoy the G3X as much as I do.
 
Thanks again, and I'm in the process of learning the system and how it integrates with a G400W for approaches. It's hard to believe the avionics capability we have in E-AB aircraft, which can now provide almost everything I had in a C-650.

I'm using Snow Leopard, so you may be right about the link, although I went to the the Apple Store and tried to find the application there. We may have operator error going on here . . .

But to follow up on how I finally got The Unarchiver for Mac OS, here's the story:

I found a link to an alternate source for the Mac OS version of The Unarchiver application here: http://unarchiver.c3.cx/unarchiver.

At the end of this post I inserted a screenshot of the page at that link.

Even that page is misleading, however, because the "Download it now from the Mac App Store" link took me right back to the iTunes Store.

But in the "Other links" section of the page, the link titled "Mac App Store version" took me to a source that allowed me to download the application that works on a Mac computer. I was able to extract the .exe file from Garmin and find the "gupdate.gcd" in the resulting folder by the path root > Garmin, then place it into the "Garmin" folder on the SD card and replace the older version with the newer one.

 
Okay, Mac G3Xers, after all my fumbling around and rotary57's inputs, don't bother with the Webupdater or Communicator or contact Garmin.

Here's how to solve a problem that isn't a problem once you avoid all the false leads I followed:

1. Click on the Apple logo in top left corner of your screen
2. Click on App Store
3. Click on the categories link at the top of the page
4. Click on The Unarchiver in the Utilities category
5. Download the free app
6. Double click to open it
7. Use it to open the .exe file downloaded from Garmin and save to the default folder suggested
8. Open that folder, then root > Garmin > gupdate.gcd
9. Connect your reader and insert the SD card with the outdated software
10. Drag and drop the gupdate.gcd file into the Garmin folder on the SD card to replace the existing one
MacAppStore_zpscb22b11b.jpg
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Really? Only Windows?

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I believe it's relevant.

The Unarchiver method does not work for me with update 3.00. :( Has any mac user gotten it to work?

I've tried with unzip, 7zip, wine, and The Unarchiver.

Very annoyed that the software updates are being distributed in such a stupid uncompatible format, especially when they're being extracted by the user anyway so there's no protection of the data being gained.

Lots of ways to distribute software out there, and this is what they choose. Boo.
 
Hello freefly42,

We periodically get requests to support G3X software updates on non-Windows computers, so I'm pleased to be able to report that we plan to add an alternate download link in conjunction with a future software release.

thanks,
- Matt
 
Thanks!

Your responses are awesome, one of reasons I bought a G3X, btw.

I was able to extract it with Stuffit Expander, from the App Store for OSX.

Kent
 
Great news - as of today we now have an alternate download link for software updates for G3X and G3X Touch displays. When you visit the G3X software downloads page, you can select either a self-extracting Windows installer or a .zip file that can be used with other operating systems. For the non-Windows downloads, a text file is included that contains some simple instructions for copying the required files to the SD card.

- Matt
 
The one step in the instructions that always messes me up is ...

"Insert the SD card containing the software update. You will be prompted to confirm before the update is installed."

For whatever the reason - the insertion of the SD card does not register with the GDU, the GDU is busy doing something else, or I'm not waiting long enough - I find I have to do this step 2 or three times before I get the message (at the right time).


Can I get some G3Xpert-ise ?

My guess is that we need to be more prescriptive - is it something more along the lines of ...

Boot the GDU without inserting the software update SD card
Wait for the GDU to boot, initialize, and calibrate. You will know it is ready once all the notices have cleared.
Wait another 30 seconds
Insert the software update SD card
Within 30 seconds You will be prompted to confirm before the update is installed.​

Anyway, whatever the mistake I am making, I've made it with the 3.00 update and now with the 3.5 update. Eventually I get it right but it's an uneasy feeling until I do.
 
humptybump said:
The one step in the instructions that always messes me up is ...

"Insert the SD card containing the software update. You will be prompted to confirm before the update is installed."

For whatever the reason - the insertion of the SD card does not register with the GDU, the GDU is busy doing something else, or I'm not waiting long enough - I find I have to do this step 2 or three times before I get the message (at the right time).


Can I get some G3Xpert-ise ?

My guess is that we need to be more prescriptive - is it something more along the lines of ...

Boot the GDU without inserting the software update SD card
Wait for the GDU to boot, initialize, and calibrate. You will know it is ready once all the notices have cleared.
Wait another 30 seconds
Insert the software update SD card
Within 30 seconds You will be prompted to confirm before the update is installed.​

Anyway, whatever the mistake I am making, I've made it with the 3.00 update and now with the 3.5 update. Eventually I get it right but it's an uneasy feeling until I do.
Click to expand...

Hello Glen,

You probably already know this, but the software loading procedure for your G3X Touch display is on page 29-3 of the Rev. R G3X Installation manual.

You may insert the software update card into the display before applying power, or after the display is completely powered up and ideally you have acknowledged the startup messages.

There is a third method of loading software, and this is used should you ever have a need to reload the same software. Insert the card then press Menu, Menu, Tools, Database Information, then select Menu, Load Software.

One recommendation is to keep your cards simple. Use one card for software updates, use one card for database updates, and use one card for flight data logging. Don't use these cards in your cameras, phones, or other devices. You don't want your PFD having to look at video files from your vacation on startup trying to figure out what is on this card and what it should prompt you to do with this card.

There is no Windows, iOS, Linux or any other non-Garmin operating system on these displays. They are programmed to be very reliable and mission specific, which means that any files on your cards which are not necessary to the operation of the display are just something that the display has to be programmed to ignore, and some files are so large and spread around on the file system that they are hard to ignore.

Another recommendation is to reformat or run error-checking on your SD card if you ever see anything odd like you are reporting. We will occasionally see cards that have file access table problems which do not work properly in the display. Again, keep things simple and you should never have a problem.

Let us know if you have additional questions.

Thanks,
Steve
 
Thanks Steve,

I do use separate cards for "software update" vs "database update" vs "runtime logging and screen shots".

I'll incorpoarate two pieces of your advice going forward: (1) format the card before each update, and (2) be more patient :eek:
 
Sucess on a Mac

I did my update using my iMac today. Easy peasy! Thanks for offering alternatives to windows!
 
It's great one can now use a mac for the G3X software updates. Is it also possible to update the Airport Directories, NavData, Terrain, Obstacle, Chart, and Safe Taxi databases using a mac?
 
New mac

At a friend's with a new mac , the software page at garmin showed a windows upload and another , i think it was labeled other system....the other system downloaded ver3.5 and it installed easily . Used an 8mb sd card which went into the back of the mac screen ??

Good luck Jim v
 
I was able to download database files on my Mac, but the G3XT didn't recogn them. I then downloaded the same files on the Windows partition of the same Mac and the G3XT updated them just fine.

G3Xperts, is Macintosh upgrading of the databases also supported like the system updates are?
 
Hello Spirko,

Database updates are performed via a web browser plug-in, so I would assume they are relatively independent of operating system. Although we would like to help you with your issue, we are not IT experts, so perhaps it would be best for you to contact the main Garmin aviation product support number (866-739-5687) with database download questions.

- Matt
 
I know this is an old thread, but I finally updated my databases (US Lite Database Bundle) using a Mac today, with this help from Garmin:

"Just make sure to use Safari and the Communicator Plugin.

You can check the plugin here:

http://software.garmin.com/en-US/gcp.html

Then go to fly.garmin.com and download the databases."

It's not entirely intuitive (if it was, Garmin would have had an extra year's subscription out of me) but beats the heck out of using a Windows emulator.
 
Last edited:
Spirko said:
I know this is an old thread, but I finally updated my databases (US Lite Database Bundle) using a Mac today, with this help from Garmin:

"Just make sure to use Safari and the Communicator Plugin.

You can check the plugin here:

http://software.garmin.com/en-US/gcp.html

Then go to fly.garmin.com and download the databases."

It's not entirely intuitive (if it was, Garmin would have had an extra year's subscription out of me) but beats the heck out of using a Windows emulator.
Click to expand...

Just a few days ago without a word about this from Garmin, I decided to try using Safari. The update was still taking forever, so I walked away (in disgust, mostly) and came back a few hours later to find that all the databases had been updated successfully.

The assurances that they would get back to me with a solution sort of went by the way of the buffalo, it seems.
 
Tango Mike said:
Just a few days ago without a word about this from Garmin, I decided to try using Safari. The update was still taking forever, so I walked away (in disgust, mostly) and came back a few hours later to find that all the databases had been updated successfully.

The assurances that they would get back to me with a solution sort of went by the way of the buffalo, it seems.
Click to expand...

The download did take some time for me as well. For database questions [email protected] seems to work, they got back to me in 2 days. When I have a question about the G3X itself I write to [email protected] and they usually get back to me the same day.
 
Two good tips for this thread-

1.) if you put the /Garmin directory on the SD card and your G3X is not prompting you to update, you may have some hidden/shadow files on your sd card that is preventing it, for whatever reason- format the card following the next step

2.) if you're not sure how to format the SDcard on your mac, goto the finder (little magnifying glass in top right corner) and type "disk utility" then select the SD card in the left menu, and select Disk Erase, it will then give you a drop down for the format type- pick FAT

3.) if you have to format a SD card with your mac, use the "FAT" format, not "ExFAT"

FAT = FAT32
ExFat = ExFat, it's not what you need

FAT16 is not supported by mac any longer



you're welcome!
 
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