**Update Pulled** Fenix 6 Series - 8.76 Beta Release

ncelik

issue = distribute (something)

happy & safe sporting

When you re-apply 8.75 (after installing 8.76 on the weekend).... and you navigate to ABOUT ... it's still showing that firmware is still 8.76 ... WHY ?

I am not a native English speaker either, however in IT it is often used in this context:

1. an important topic or problem for debate or discussion.

vaggos13 said:

The GPS uses too much battery when in the town/buldings and much  less at open areas without trees/buildings etc.

Do you have the map displayed?  Rendering the greater density of map features in an urban environment will inevitably draw more power from the battery than the less congested map in open areas; so the issue may not be GPS related.

I have always been surprised (since I got a Fenix 5+ with maps) how variable and high the battery drain can be when the map screen is displayed; it's quite often at least double the battery drain rate when compared to a normal text/numbers only data screen.  There inevitably is a change depending upon: how congested the map is, how far zoomed in or out (zoom out and the map has to refresh less as you move, zoom in and the processor is coping with rapid changes) and how detailed the loaded map is (Topo Active vs Topo Pro).  The variables are seemingly endless and potentially ever changing as you move, making benchmarking the battery draw due to map display like trying to nail jelly to the ceiling.

Unknown said:

issue = distribute (something)

Hmmm, that said I'm not sure sure they (Garmin) should just crack on immediately and distribute (something) that will just = more issues.  Better to take a moment and distribute (something) that ≠ issues 

I have been using the F6X Pro since Nov 19.  All my road bikes since than are the exact same config, same ANT devices, same GPS setting, never with music and always with maps, auto zoom, following a course displayed, BT always on.  I was amazed and pleasantly surprised when while biking (for months) I was drawing 3 to 5% per hour while road riding.  This compared to more like 3%/hour for running, etc.  This was observed consistently over many weeks, not just once or twice.  Than, with what I believe is 8.10 the rate of discharge increased to about 9% an hour, essentially doubling. I understand that embedded in the FIT files is battery consumption so this can be easily validated.  Philip has a tool to extract that information and once I get him two FIT files we will know if something changed or I am imagining things.

 One of the ongoing issues I have is with the weather on my Garmin watches irrespective of the software versions Garmin has issued. The issue for me is whether or not to disable the weather information because the issued data from the local weather station doesn’t get to my watch. Whether or not the ability to see weather information on my watch is important to me Is not really important, the issue is that there is an issue that needs to be attended to. I am hopeful that Garmin will issue a fix soon. In the meantime it seems beyond the pale that the issue with the weather appears to have simply been left in the pail. ;-)

No issue here in France with the weather widget.

It updates fast.

One other cause, that you may not have considered (no reason you should even have been aware of it), is whether your observed higher drain with maps displayed is actually linked to an old issue with slow maps loading after a map update.  I've done a lot of testing on this after I having a couple of issues with slow map loading following a map update.  So it may be that it was a map update, rather than software update, that is to blame.  Once maps load slowly they positively chew through the battery (just rebooting the watch can chew through 5+%).  To know whether this is a factor to rule in/out try the following:

• Starting the watch from powered off, does the Maps Loading stage take more than 20 seconds?
• Once the watch is powered up, go to the Navigate app and go to Use Map; does the map take more than 3-4 seconds to appear/draw and is pan and zoom not working as expected?

If you are getting yes to any of the above, then you have a problem with one of the installed maps. Weirdly it is not necessarily the TopoActive maps that cause this; I’ve found any one of the component maps being updated can send all maps in to 'go slow' loading. For example, my 6XPS suddenly went slow a few weeks ago after the Timezone map update. I spotted this after noticing slow map loading on power/boot up, and the timezone map was the only map .img file in the /Garmin folder that had been modified recently. I deleted that one .img file and all was fixed back to normal; even when Express redelivered the Timezone map to the watch.

The fix to this is a little time consuming:- One map file at a time, you need to move (cut and paste) each map .img file in to a temp folder on the watch, then disconnect and reboot to check if slow loading has gone; then check again with the next map file and so on....  Once you've found the offending map .img file, you need to reinstall that specific map using Express; just cut and paste back in to the /Garmin folder won't work, no matter how many times you try (the rest of the map files that weren't causing a problem can simply be moved back to the Garmin folder though).