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G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 9:40 am
by Kai
I always felt a bit unhappy about not being able to backup my SD cards of the G1000 and in fact, Garmin did not allow it or did make it a bit difficult with the older databases I happily used although expired :oops:

The good news is that Garmin has improved its safety measures and it seems that they are no more concerned that someone could use a backup to share it with his buddies.

Bad news is that you will have to create the backup SD card from scratch and you cannot backup your currently installed databases if they are expired or if you don't have access to the Garmin account where they were created. Especially buyers of used Diamonds with G1000 should make sure to get a decent backup made by the seller if they can't take over the Garmin account.

Btw, this here is not a hack, trick, exploit or crack but a simple and fully legal Garmin procedure.

Here is how it worked for me:

1. login at https://fly.garmin.com/fly-garmin/
2. select "Aircraft" from the horizontal menu bar
garminaircraft.jpg
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3. select the database you have already purchased and would like to restore
garminselectdatabase.png
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4. click on "Install..."
garmininstallagain.png
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5. now it looks like you had to install the GARMIN communicator plugin or so. You don't have to. Personally, I like to keep things simple and I don't know what it does. So just click on the alternative download on the right hand side, see arrow in screenshot.
garmincommunicatorplugin.png
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6. You will now see the actual download link. Download and save to a safe location. Also copy and paste the unlock code and system ID to a textfile or so and save to a safe location.
garmindownload.png
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7. Have as many new SD cards ready as you want to produce and stick the first one into your PC's SD slot. Run the downloaded executable file and enter the codes when prompted to do so.
garmintao.jpg
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You can now theoretically produce as many SD cards as you want to simply hitting the "Program Device" button each time you inserted a new SD card.

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 5:37 am
by Kai
This thread has started somehow differently but needed to get corrected and simplified. So I deleted all replies, edited the initial post and we try again....

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:50 pm
by smoss
Kai,
A few questions for you:
1) When did you actually try this process, recently or in 2010 as the basemap cycle suggests? I don't recall having an option for manual download, and I didn't think they used unlock codes at all anymore.
2) Did you try it with only the basemap, or also the terrain and obstacle databases?
3) I assume you verified that it actually worked in you plane? (although not sure possible without the other databases also there)
4) Did you use a totally blank SD card, or one with your airframe info file copied on it. If copied AF info file, what did you do with SN?
5) Did you first format the SD card in FAT?
6) Did you have the communicator plugin already installed and still had the option for manual download, or did you never install the communicator and we'd need to uninstall ours first. (update-after trying myself, yes, you must uninstall the communicator ad-odd or you will not be given manual option).

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:12 am
by Kai
Steve,

here a few quick replies

1)I have tried the official Garmin procedure yesterday the first time. As mentioned before, I never updated from Garmin before, I just restored and a few other things.
2) Only basemap. Obstacle not covered in Thailand.
3) No, as mentioned before.It is in a container on its way to Bangkok. Why shouldn't it work?
4) Totally blank card. The G1000 will take care of it once you insert the card and start the system.
5) No. The blank Transcend SD card comes with FAT as default. You are asking because in previous versions of the operating software FAT32 did not work, but on G1000 systems with the .22 system software it should work fine either with FAT or FAT32.
6) I have tested both and didn't mention it here in order to keep things simple here. It will work even if you have the communicator plugin installed. (Tested only with a Chrome browser, version 19.0.1084.56) Still I recommended not using it to keep things simple as we don't know how the communicator works and from where it fetches the information.

Also, I have tested the procedure with and without network-access just to make sure that it is not reporting back and maybe triggering blocks from Garmin. Of course it doesn't do any of what I have feared. Neither way. They have made sure nobody can use their software on different G1000 systems and therefore they are relaxed.

I am glad they did do their homework and I am sorry I haven't realized before. The initial thread was deleted because it was misleading and would work only with older databases. Many of your questions are related to the "old" solutions to problems which were properly addressed by Garmin (FAT, airframe_info, backup)

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 8:51 pm
by Tim M
I thought the lower slot cards are TSO'd. I wanted to update our terrain data but the cards that I have don't have the capacity for the update. When I called Garmin about it they said I need to buy two new cards for $500 each.

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:30 pm
by Robert
You can use any 2GB cards. I bought Sandisk cards because that's what Garmin uses. Use a hairdryer to heat up the sticker and peel it off and move it. The sticker is TSO'ed, not the card. ;)

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:12 am
by Robert
Just in case it wasn't clear, I was kidding about the TSO.

However, I am sure that SanDisk has a special assembly line and fab facility different than the one used for the 100 million other SD cards SanDisk makes every year just for Garmin's special TSO version.

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 1:03 pm
by gsontheimer
My G1000 uses SD cards with 4GB in the PFD and MFD. Now, there are only 2 GB SD cards on the market (very few left), the 4 GB capacity comes as SDHC cards.

The 4 GB SDHC has not worked as a data card in the upper slots. It only works with 2 GB SD cards. Will the DSHC cards work in the lower slots?

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:43 pm
by Rick
gsontheimer wrote:My G1000 uses SD cards with 4GB in the PFD and MFD. Now, there are only 2 GB SD cards on the market (very few left), the 4 GB capacity comes as SDHC cards.

The 4 GB SDHC has not worked as a data card in the upper slots. It only works with 2 GB SD cards. Will the DSHC cards work in the lower slots?
The G1000 in my '04 DA40 would not recognize SDHC format cards, but would handle standard SD cards, including the 4Gb SD cards, just fine. I'm not sure if that has changed since then or not - I'm guessing not.

Here is one source for the old 4G non-SDHC-format cards.

Does anyone know if getting an SD reader to support SDHC is just a driver change, or is the hardware somehow different, too?

Re: G1000 SD cards backup

Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 4:28 pm
by acyr
Where was this info when I needed it. I ended buying 2 cards from Garmin for over $1k. They would not budge, after the software for my g1000 was updated to the lastest, i could not get any updates on the old cards.