At www.fitfileviewer.com , I received many similar corrupted FIT files in the past weeks. I have not seen this type of corruption before, so I assume it is a bug in a recent software update on some devices. Typical for this corruption is: There is a file_id messages, but all values are invalid Many messages are missing, most notably the record messages, but also event, device_info etc.. Summary messages, like activity, session and lap are there. In several cases, but not always, many messages are duplicates, e.g. there are two identical activity messages, each lap and session appears twice. FIT File Viewer can now fix these files, i.e. make it possible to import them in Garmin Connect, but of course it cannot restore the missing data. I have seen this happening on FR 255, 955 and 965, and also in these threads: forums.garmin.com/.../help-fixing-a-corrupt-fit-file and forums.garmin.com/.../corrupted-fit-file-for-my-5k-pb

We are happy to look into this concern. Since this involves multiple devices, please post under the product forum that matches the watch/device you are using. Thank you!

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New bug in FIT files: empty File ID and no Record messages

HarryOnline 9 months ago

At www.fitfileviewer.com, I received many similar corrupted FIT files in the past weeks. I have not seen this type of corruption before, so I assume it is a bug in a recent software update on some devices. Typical for this corruption is:

There is a file_id messages, but all values are invalid
Many messages are missing, most notably the record messages, but also event, device_info etc.. Summary messages, like activity, session and lap are there.
In several cases, but not always, many messages are duplicates, e.g. there are two identical activity messages, each lap and session appears twice.

FIT File Viewer can now fix these files, i.e. make it possible to import them in Garmin Connect, but of course it cannot restore the missing data.

I have seen this happening on FR 255, 955 and 965, and also in these threads:

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0 ArnoD 7 months ago in reply to 8463478

Make it the upcoming Athens marathon (the original) in that story and then it describes my fear rather accurate.

0 9953392 7 months ago in reply to CeeJayCee

This is exactly my issue as well (vivoactive 6 user as well). Running without courses uploads just fine, running with courses went well for me for 2/3 times, but the last 2 times went corrupt without timestamp/gps data. I have contacted Garmin Support and submitted a bug report. Just wait and don't run any courses for now was the advice...

0 constsalusso 7 months ago in reply to 9953392

Just wait and don't run? Is this serious? Sounds like a joke. What's the point of buying these watches then?

0 ekernodle 7 months ago

@HarryOnline - Thanks for this! I had a Multisport activity that would not upload, I contacted Garmin support and literally got a "sorry" as a response in chat from them. Some quick googling led me here, and the Fir File Viewer fixed it and I was able to import into Garmin Connect. Woot!

0 0x3D6139 7 months ago in reply to constsalusso

constsalusso said:
Just wait and don't run?

What 9953392 said was...

9953392 said:
don't run any courses

Which to me means don't do an activity where you are following a course until there is a fix in place. Either way, this bug has been going on for way too long. And nobody from Garmin has posted to this thread.

0 flocsy🤠 7 months ago in reply to 0x3D6139

The only problem with that approach is that I never ran a course and it still happened to me.

0 0x3D6139 7 months ago in reply to flocsy🤠

In that case, what Garmin believes to be the issue is either a wild guess or based on misinformation. Of course, this is all hearsay, since we're relying on a forum member's account of Garmin's advice. Personally, if I encountered this issue, I’d reach out to Garmin Support directly.

0 ekernodle 7 months ago in reply to 0x3D6139

Which is what I did today with the Multiposrt file I had issue with, and the response was basically "The file might be corrupt. Sorry." Also, the multisport file was Strength -> Treafmill -> Strength. No courses.

0 9953392 6 months ago

Contacted Garmin support again. They advised me to send my watch back to them (meaning 3/4 weeks without, due to their wrongdoing) for a check-up, while this is clearly in the software. Running without a course is fine, and I'd like to keep using my watch as I have some races coming up. It would be great if Garmin could share the broader picture with us in the light of transparency. Thanks for your work HarryOnline to letting us fix the basic file, helps out a bunch. Let's hope this will be resolved soon.

0 flocsy🤠 6 months ago in reply to 9953392

Unfortunately customer support agent aren't top notch. It's a bit of a gamble to which agent you're connected. I already know a few from experience and when I am connected to one of those I just disconnect and try again few minutes later. If I were you I would try the same until one understands that it's a software issue and it's pointless and wasteful to replace the device.

Another thing that sometimes I do is to contact them by email instead of chat. The same people respond but at least you have a way to follow up with them a few weeks later and see if they're working on the fix