Only 8MB Memory instead of 16MB?

Former Member over 6 years ago

Hi

I recently noted that after some months of use my watch's memory was full. While copying files from the watch on a PC I noticed that Windows Explorer reports my Instinct's memory to be ~8MB. After a factory reset the watch is still shown as having ~8MB memory with ~3.5MB being used by system files (see attached screenshot).
While I did not expect to be able to use the full advertised 16MB, I'm surprised the "real" storage is only half of the advertised.

Is this the case with all Instincts or a problem with mine?

Maybe I'm also missing some sort of "internal" memory not visible trough USB, but I could not find any indication on the watch or in Garmin Connect that would show the storage areas or storage utilization of the watch. :confused:

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0 NickC4 over 6 years ago

Yes mine's the same. The garmin.com specs page says ""Memory/history: 16MB" but chances are they use half of the flash ram for firmware, the other half for the file system.

I seem to remember having to delete older activity files to update firmware quite a few months ago due to lack of space. So I guess it's not a recent firmware thing.

Nick

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Hi Nick,

thanks for your reply and confirmation that this is not only the case on my watch. I think I saw your post when searching for people mentioning the storage situation.

Today I was able to test a Garmin Fenix 5s Plus that is advertised as having "Memory/history: 16GB" and shows up in Windows as having 14.4GB storage. This ~10% "loss" is in line with the "usual" loss of storage with all hard drives.
I also tested a Garmin eTrex Touch 35, which is advertised as having "Memory/history: 8GB" and shows up in Windows as having 7.23GB storage. Also not a dramatic difference of ~10%.

The fact that the Garmin Instincts advertised "Memory/history: 16MB" shows up in Windows as only 7.87MB which is a difference of >50% is still confusing me.
In my opinion, with so little space in the first place the difference is even more important and a clarification within the advertisement would be really needed. In the end, the "usable" space of around 4MB (the 8MB visible storage without the 4MB of system files) is only 25% of what, I guess, most would assume to be complete memory of 16MB.

I wonder if automatic updates of the Instinct regularly fail because there is no more space on the device to store the new firmware? The latest beta release is ~3MB so it only takes ~1MB of tracks, waypoints, and other data to run out of space to copy the update to the watch.

0 Hoinar over 5 years ago

Same for mine, when connected to windows only shows 8 MB visible. Quite shameful in this day and age.
A single firmware file is about 2-3 MB.. If I regularly commute with my bike it will fill up the internal storage every other week and I have to connect via USB and clean the stored fit files.

A bit lame if you ask me.. this is a device that's supposed to be rugged and outdoorsy, but doesn't have the memory of a 15 years old camera (I've an old cannon camera that has 32 MB internal storage). And the battery is meh, nothing to write home about.

0 Odie21 over 5 years ago

If you know you’re limited in memory, then you upload your information on GCM or Garmin Explorer, then delete it on the watch. You always have a point of reference handy if needed and quite frankly it’s better from a viewing standpoint.

Garmin never hid the fact that the total memory was 16MB (just like buying a computer or phone where you know the OS takes up that memory as well) as it specifically states that in the specs. If you didn’t read that BEFORE you bought the watch, shame on you.

If you buy a phone with on 64GB of on board storage, then you don’t go and download 200 movies and 2000 songs.

0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to Odie21

Hi Odie21,

that's the problem. The total memory does not seem to be 16MB.

Like I explained in my previous post I do expect the "real" storage to be around 10% less than what is advertised. This is the case for all hard drives, phones, ...

Then, I also expect some of the "real" 14MB memory to be used by operating system files, that's not the problem.

The problem is, that 16MB are advertised. Around 7MB memory are actually available, the rest is missing. Of those 7MB available, 4MB are operating system files, leaving around 3MB available.

So to continue your analogy, I bought a phone with 64GB, that is mysteriously missing 32GB storage. Of the 32GB storage, 16GB are operating system files, leaving me with 16GB to use. If this were the case with any phone, I would also complain to the phone manufacturer. Also the phone manufacturer would not add all kinds of memory on the phone (like RAM, Bios, whatever) to artificially increase the advertised "total memory".

If there is documentation that shows how the 16MB are actually used, I'd be really interested in that. The product page and the manual do not contain proper explanation.

0 9520687 over 5 years ago

I wonder if it could be firmware updates causing the internal memory to be formatted incorrectly. I just received my new Instinct last week. After reading your post I was curious if mine was the same. My unit shows 15.4 MB free of 17.3 MB. The watch came with SW version 3.20 and I have not updated it. I have 1 course uploaded and no activities recorded.

0 DGeorgiev over 5 years ago in reply to 9520687

That's interesting! My Instinct was bought, November/2018 and currently Windows is showing 7.87MB of usable space. Under Windows "Disk Management" there is no free space available to extend the partition. The watch is currently on the latest firmware 4.0. Maybe Garmin changed something on the newly released watches ? I don't feel good about that !!!

@9520687

Can you please post a screenshot showing the memory capacity of your watch ?

Thank you.

0 9520687 over 5 years ago in reply to DGeorgiev

0 DGeorgiev over 5 years ago in reply to 9520687

Thank you.

From what I can see, yours is the APAC version and mine is not.

And also it has more free space than the advertised 16MB.

But there should be no differences in the hardware, between the two versions right ?

0 9520687 over 5 years ago in reply to DGeorgiev

I would think that if they went to the trouble of having 2 versions of the same device that the hardware/software would be different in some way but I could be wrong. To be honest, I didn't know there were different versions or even what APAC meant. I purchased it on amazon. There was nothing in the description about ROW or APAC version. My Instinct is my 1st Garmin wearable coming from a Suunto Traverse Alpha. Is yours formatted in FAT or eFAT?