Firmware update for Mio 168 / PiN

icsys · Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 3:58 pm Post subject: Firmware update for Mio 168 / PiN

There appears to be a firmware update available for the Mio 168 / Navman PiN

Newer 168 units (mfd since Aug 04) are apparently SiRFxTrac ready and updating the firmware makes use of this.
The firmware revision is updated from:
version 2.3.2-GSW2-2.05.024-C1PROD1.0_6A
to:
version 2.4.12.09-XMitac-C4PROD2.00000003729*76

The update appears to improve time to aquire a fix and increases the number of satellites used for a 3D fix.
There are also reports of the date error being fixed although it may be too early to tell.

You can check which firmware version you have with this Firmware check tool then if required, apply the Firmware update

The above are available from www.mio168.it therefore details are in Italian but the programs are English.

This information is given in good faith so applying the update will be at your own risk.
_________________
Ian.
iPAQ 2210 | Navman 4100 BT Receiver
Navman iCN 635
TomTom GO
Anquet OS mapping

DavidW · Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 6:14 pm Post subject:

I'm unclear what the "date bug" referred to is - I'd be interested to hear what that is. If it's not in the GPS, this won't affect it, as the firmware talked about here is GPS firmware only. If it is in the GPS, I'd like to see if I can find it in other SiRF based GPSes.

The version numbers sound right for fairly recent GSW2 (standard SiRF) firmware (though apparently not quite as recent as that in my Clip On) and SiRF XTrac II firmware respectively. Be aware that there's advantages and disadvantages in making the change - especially as it sounds as if there's no way of going from XTrac back to GSW2 with the available files.

GSW2 has SBAS (WAAS / EGNOS etc.) support - XTrac II does not. It is true that XTrac tends to be able to get usable signals from more satellites, and can fix faster - but some have reported problems with it at walking speeds with XTrac II (XTrac 1 had lag problems in car, which don't appear to be in XTrac II).

It looks as if the firmware file may not be available any longer anyway.

David

icsys · Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 1:53 am Post subject:

DavidW · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 2:05 pm Post subject:

I've never seen that happen with either of my SiRFstar IIe/LP based receivers, though none run the precise GSW2 version mentioned in your post.

The GPS date is somewhat ambiguous as the problem description you've posted indicates. The problem will be with the GPS - but it's a firmware rather than hardware bug.

It may be interesting to see if the bug affects both SiRF binary and NMEA modes - but if it's not reliably reproducible, that makes such an experiment rather tricky.

SiRF do not offer technical information, including firmware release notes, to the public - nor is there any way of asking them technical questions about firmware versions unless you've got an established relationship with them.

David

UKHABU · Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:22 pm Post subject:

Well it certainly appears in the Navman Pin I have!

I have contacted Navman about this and they claim not to have heard about it before but I would suggest they are being economical with the truth as I personally know of 3 people who have had the same problem and told Navman about it.

But just by chance! they then said that if you apply SP2 then all will be OK - I had already installed SP2 on my NavmanPin/Mio 168 before I contacted Navman and it had no effect.

I was later told I had to de-install on PDA - re-install from the CD's and then re-apply SP2 - I haven't done this yet as it's a pain in the bum and I guess I will have to re-register at Navman. The normal installation of SmartST V2 is done from a dedicated SD card and registration is not neccesary. I was going to be a "do at Xmas job" but never goot around to it.
Not sure if this affects the PiN 300 with the SmartST V3 software though?

The incorrect date is displayed in both SmartST V2 and Memory Map OS 2004 - it DOES NOT affect any positional data just the UTC Date.

It is only GPS software that has this problem on the Pin as any other Pocket PC function like the Calendar is perfectly ok.
_________________
Silva MultiNavigator
GSAK V4.2.2
MemoryMap OS 2004 & V5 Navigator
Navman Pin(Mitac Mio 168)
Navman SmartST Pro V2 & V3
Mitac Mio 558

icsys · Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 2:19 am Post subject:

There is a discussion going on over at Expansys regarding this firmware update which apparently cures the incorrect date issue. It is evident on some PiN300's as they are the same hardware but with v3 software.
_________________
Ian.
iPAQ 2210 | Navman 4100 BT Receiver
Navman iCN 635
TomTom GO
Anquet OS mapping

DavidW · Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:32 am Post subject:

The problem reported is fairly clearly a bug in the GPS firmware from the description given.

The thread on Expansys is somewhat misleading. The firmware being talked about isn't XTrac ready - there's no such concept. The SiRFstar IIe/LP chipset is XTrac ready - it's XTrac if XTrac firmware is loaded and non-XTrac if GSW2 firwmare is loaded.

You therefore have a choice. XTrac firmware can use satellites with signals too weak for GSW2 firmware to use them, but it has no SBAS support, and may suffer weird 'artefacts' under some usage conditions.

It sounds like the particular GSW2 release used on Mio 168 (and rebadged) hardware has a bug in the handling of the GPS date. I haven't seen the problem in the (apparently very slightly later) GSW2 revision in my Clip On - though I can't be sure whether I've just been fortunate, or whether SiRF has fixed the bug in this version.

I would urge extreme caution in using what is not necessarily an official firmware release just to correct what is, for most people, a cosmetic bug. You may void your warranty, and if things go wrong with the firmware version change, you may land up unable to access the GPS hardware.

It looks like there may be two firmwares in the ZIP file, which is available again. The Expansys thread indicates that the other one is the GSW2 release originally supplied; so at least you appear to have the option of reverting.

David

Chrisw · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 18, 2005 Posts: 1

I have a Navman PIN and the date was 25 years ahead.I applied the new firmware and hey presto It now reads the correct date.

Kaiserfakir · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 18, 2006 Posts: 1

I can't seem to download the firmware from the site (get a page cannot be found or error 404 message... I'm desperate for this firmware upgrade does anyone know how I can get a hold of it??

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