G1000 wants to overwrite active database with old one

[Diamond_Dan]

I can't seem to get rid of this prompt on my PFD. I have updated the navigation database a couple of cycles and it persists. I am careful to update the active and standby databases but it still wants to overwrite the active with an old database. There is no SD card in the top PFD slot. Ideas?

[Chris]

I've seen this happen as well. By any chance did you accidentally write a NavData update directly onto the PFD card at some point (like last November)? You may be able to track down which files to delete, but I ended up just reformatting the card and installing all of the databases from scratch.

[dmloftus]

I always reformat the top SD card when I update. It takes about 5 seconds to do and eliminates that annoying problem.

[Diamond_Dan]

I've seen this happen as well. By any chance did you accidentally write a NavData update directly onto the PFD card at some point (like last November)? You may be able to track down which files to delete, but I ended up just reformatting the card and installing all of the databases from scratch.

That's it! I didn't know that the G1000 would look at the lower card for the nav data so I didn't worry about deleting it.

Dan

[Diamond_Dan]

I have a Mac now. Any special concerns with formatting the MFD card before reloading?

[Boatguy]

I have a Mac now. Any special concerns with formatting the MFD card before reloading?

No. Leave the card formatted as it was on your PC (FAT32). Don't reformat it on the Mac. The database manager app will overwrite the files already on it as needed.

[Diamond_Dan]

I have a Mac now. Any special concerns with formatting the MFD card before reloading?

No. Leave the card formatted as it was on your PC (FAT32). Don't reformat it on the Mac. The database manager app will overwrite the files already on it as needed.

Problem is that I accidentally installed a navigation database update on the MFD card and now it asks me every time I boot up the G1000 if I want to copy old over new. I can't figure out which file(s) to delete. Just running the database manager doesn't fix the problem.

[Boatguy]

I'm not sure what you do and don't know and I'm leaving early tomorrow so I'm just going to throw a bunch of stuff out there. Sorry if I'm telling you what you already know.

There are two slots in the MFD.

The top slot is for logging data from the G1000. You leave the card in there more or less permanently. I pull it out once a month and upload the log files to FlySto.com for analysis. I also export a copy my "crew" profile onto it which is useful if they ever update your software and wipe out your profile / preferences.

The lower slot is used for the FS210 / FS510. Of if you don't have either of those, it is empty.

The G1000 always has two sets of databases, active and standby, stored internally.

Once a month, the database SD card is updated by the Garmin DB Manager. With the power off, you insert that card into the lower slot. Then you power up the G1000 (preferably while on a GPU) and it copies the new databases (not all are updated in every 28 day cycle) into the G1000 and they become the "standby" database. You shut down the G1000, remove the card in the lower slot, and power up again. If the day you do this is on or after the date on which the old database has expired, then when you power up the second time, the G1000 will "sync" and make the new databases the "active" databases. The previous version becomes the standby. If the old databases haven't expired, then it won't do the sync until the first time you power up after they have expired.

If you have no FS210/FS510, you can leave the lower slot empty. After the new database is copied into the "standby" position, you do not need to leave the database card in the G1000. The charts and nav data are all stored internally in the G1000.

And to your original question. You can force the Garmin DB Manager to write all the files, not just the new ones onto the SD card. If you think a card is corrupted, format it with the MacOS DIsk Utility as FAT32. Or you can use some Windows machine to format it. You only ever need to format it once, and only if you're convinced it's somewhat corrupted.

Hope this helps!

[Chris]

You should be able to format the SD card as FAT32 using the Mac. Open the Disk Utility app, choose the SD card from the "External" list on the left hand side, select "Erase", and choose "MS-DOS (FAT)" from the format menu. Of course, you'll have to re-install all of the databases from scratch after that, but it should get rid of the annoying prompt that occurs when you accidentally install a NavData update onto the bottom-slot card.

Alternatively you could try to delete all of the files/directories on the card, but (IIRC) there may be some hidden files/directories as well. I think you can use the shift-command-. (period) key combo to show those in the Finder window. I'm not sure if any of the directories are write-protected, which would make it a bit more of a hassle, but it should be doable.

[Step]

I bet you haven't seen this document before
- Data Card Guide, 190-01464-00 Rev. C (attached to the post)

This small brochure provides basic knowledge of SD Card usage in Garmin equipment and can help you to solve such problem you faced.

As for you case, all you need is deleting "ldr_sys" folder from your MFD SUPPL CARD, P/N 010-00330-42 or -43.

For the future, I strongly recommend to use another SD card for the NavData database updating.
Please get/buy individual card that will be used for these purposes only.
Even cheap "no name" SD Card is ok, because it is used only for transferring db file from PC/laptop to G1000 system.