Chromebooks and Garmin

No, no Jim. I didn't do my homework. Mea Culpa.

I'm not blaming Garmin for anything. Not sure where you are getting that.

Is it possible to do this....a question. If it has been done at some point, by someone, somehow. Then it can be done. Whether the details are listed on the Garmin site or not.

Would the company encourage this creative use, disavow it, or are actively discourage it.

If it is possible, which is my question, then how?

Jim are you encouraging me to find this answer? Are you providing the answer that it cannot be done? Or just throwing some salt on the question?

To answer your question. No, I can't provide that link for you.

You could call Garmin Support and let them know your issue. They may send you a link to the actual update file. But then there is still the issue as STUARTMW mentioned that the .rgn file typically needs an installer program.

I don't find Garmin Support to be "pissy" about anything. I've dealt with them before and they have been great. However, I'm willing to sit on the phone until I get to a rep, which might mean ten minutes of hold time. They'll stay on the phone as long as it takes to resolve the issue or keep the case open till you say it works or is unsolvable.

However you have to contact them. This forum is pretty much just a user to user help forum. You rarely see Garmin here except briefly during a new product release. However the exception to that is the Garmin Express sub-forums where they've hung around for much longer than ever before to address specific issues with Garmin Express.

A third party source for the .rgn file

That site is a very reliable source for older Garmin software/firmware.

As for Garmin my guess is that they'll say Chromebooks are unsupported.

For many years Garmin didn't support Mac's (Apple computers). Those users made a lot of noise and eventually Mac software was produced. Nowadays PC's and Mac's have equivalent software.

I assume you've used a search engine (e.g. Google) to see how others update the FR15.

I do know my 76CSx, which hasn't had a firmware update since May 2009, used a PC executable which extracted a RGN file and Updater.exe to load new firmware. As I indicated above I assume the FR15 works the same way with WebUpdater/Garmin Express doing the function of Updater.exe.

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=1249

PS: I assume you already know of this page.

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=6989

Thanks voiceresponse,

I've not called in yet. Not opposed to it, but just haven't yet. And it is good to know these forums are primarily users, without much (or any) oversight from the company.

I've actually not found an instance online where someone describes manually updating firmware on their FR15. Thus, I'm hoping to kind of document my experience here so future chromebook people (I'm thinking more will follow) might have some insight into the process through my fumbling around here.

This is the algorithm I'm conceiving to try this out. I'm thinking, as is often the case, one wrong move and the device is bricked so I'd like you to please offer any suggestions or changes before I try it.

-- Proposed Installation Instructions to upgrade the firmware on an FR15 using a chomebook --

1) Download the latest firmware image file from http://gawisp.com/perry/forerunner/ (which is currently, "/Forerunner15,AND_240.rgn" v. 2.40) to your chromebook storage

2) Rename the file gupdate.rgn

3) Connect the FR15 to the chromebook with the supplied USB charge/data cable

4) Using a chromebook file manager app, like 'Files,' look to identify the location of the new firmware, gupdate.rgn, and also to see the mounted device and it's file structure. Mine is listed as GARMIN.

5) Click open the mounted GARMIN device. The top level folder is also called "GARMIN." Click open this folder.

6) Move the gupdate.rgn file to the folder "./GARMIN/" of the GARMIN device.

7) In the Files app click the up arrow next to the GARMIN device to unmount it, pull it out of the chromebook and take it off of the charge/data cable

8) Power off the device, then power it back on.

9) **** ******** ********* This is the mystery part, what's going to happen here? Anyone? The plan is that it is fully upgraded.

What you've described is the manual procedure for many Garmin models. My nuvi 1490 and Oregon 600 require a GUPDATE.GCD (vs .RGN) file but the method is basically the same.

I have no experience with the FR15 so I can't guarantee your unit won't be bricked. I know how it works for my models as I've observed what WebUpdater does.

Good luck (fingers crossed)!

Things get lost quick here in this forum. What your doing once you figure it out will likely be good as a stickie. However not a lot of people seem to notice stickies. I'm guilty of that myself. But if you stay active in the forum and want to help others you can always make a post in their thread linking to a past thread you've created with your solution.

FYI...... Take note of the forum structure. We are currently in the *Garmin Forum*into sports*Garmin Connect*FAQ
for those that want to be sticklers, this is really for issues dealing with the Garmin Connectwebsite. Your OP likely is a better fit in the FR15 sub-forum or the running sub-forum immediately above. I suspect one of your reasons may have been that this would grab the largest number of viewers, but IMO things get lost quickly in this and any of the Garmin Connect sub-forums. Also, it seems to me that many of us that regularly return to the Garmin Forums likely first go to the sub-forums for the devices and occasionally venture into this, the Garmin Connect section. I base this partly on the fact that it seems many of the repeat users to the other parts seldom post here. Maybe they just have nothing to say.

So if you want to hang around, just chime in where you want, I do..... sometimes to the chagrin of others, but hey... it helps me find out what I do and don't know.

Thanks voiceresponse,

My learning curve guided this to become OT. I copied and pasted the latest 'firmware update algorithm' post to a developer forum, taking your OT post comment into consideration.

This 'update' work currently does most directly effect the FR15 sub-forum, because that is what I have. Running forum? I'm not seeing that so much, but I'll look over there too.

The ideas of using a "Chromebook" with one or various Garmin products doesn't fit in, as far as I can tell, anywhere. The idea of this being an "FAQ" forum drew me in the first place.

voiceresponse, do you have any reactions, thoughts, corrections, or suggestions about trying the FR15 firmware update using a chromebook, as I laid out here?

do you have any reactions, thoughts, corrections, or suggestions about trying the FR15 firmware update using a chromebook, as I laid out here?

I don't see why with a little effort any one shouldn't be able to update there software or firmware with a Chromebook. Software is what Garmin updates the most IMO. If the FR15 is an old product, then it's unlikely Garmin is going to release any more updates of either. If they were, I'd expect it to be software.

Garmin is unlikely to do anything specifically for the Chromebook until the bell curve tells them that the cost development is less than what they lose by not addressing the Chromebook users.

If you can write code, then the developer forums a good place for info you need to develop your own solutions. However when you want to share those solutions, you need to post in one of the forums that will be frequented by users. Many will never go to the developer forums. Even though I program, I seldom go there. Just have no real interest in coding such stuff.

The "Runner Forum" I still think will be good too as you catch users of the other devices that may wish to use a chromebook. Likewise there may be users of the Garmin Edge products that would like to use the Chromebook, so then the "cycling" forum would be a good place too........ UNLESS your solution is only good for the FR15.

However more likely is that when helping others, you just link them to a post you made with details of your solution.

9) **** ******** ********* This is the mystery part, what's going to happen here? Anyone? The plan is that it is fully upgraded.

Basically it will do something different than it normally does. For example, last year when a series of Fenix betas came out I updated my Fenix quite regularly by hand (Garmin was issuing only Windows updaters for the first few releases, so you had to unzip them to extract the .GCD file on a Mac). Put the GUPDATE.GCD into place, reboot, and it came up with something like "LOADER LOADING" followed by a "SOFTWARE UPDATING..." and a progress bar which slowly filled. When it got to the end, it rebooted normally, and GUPDATE.GCD was gone. Basically Express or Web Updater just puts the update file into the right place; it's the device itself that does the actual updating. Works that way as well with my VIRB Elite and my Edge 800. I can't say whats going to happen with an FR15, but I'd expect something different from a normal boot with some kind of indication that a software update is occurring.

- This file Forerunner15,AND_240.rgn gets renamed to GUPDATE.RGN and placed in the GARMIN folder.

Where are *.GCD files used, since this update is using an *.RGN file?