I3 Solar 50mm - Only 12.7 Megabyte free Memory ! Normal ?

I received my instinct 3 Solar 50mm today.
As delivered, only 16.4 megabytes are free.
Express refused the update to 6.28 with an error message. Not enough free memory (the update has 16.5 megabytes).
I have carried out an unpromoted reset. Express then downloaded the update file to the watch. Including the gupdate file, 96 kbytes were still free.
After the update to 6.28, I now have 12.7 megabytes of free memory with the new watch.
Is that normal? Can someone please check his free memory?

Top Replies

Garmin-Laurie 4 months ago in reply to Former Member +1 verified

Update February 6, 2025:

Garmin is investigating reports of a Garmin Express displaying an error when updating Instinct 3 Solar device. As a work around, we recommend Adding your Watch to the Garmin Connect…
89898989 4 months ago +4

after deleting all the data and reset. then i tried to delete manually everything i could. i've got 14.71 mb free of 86.32 mb.

6.29 doesn't fit :( can't upgrade.

this is just insane.
alindley 4 months ago +3

I3, Solar, 50mm - Had 6.28 install fine when I first got my watch. But Express wanted to install 6.29 today and I am getting the insufficient memory. Express said it was going to delete activities to create…
bluefish 4 months ago in reply to trux +2

trux said:
It can be anywhere between 0 and ~35 MB

Thanks for feedback!

My watch is unused. Got it 3hours ago. Is 12.7 MB normal for an unused watch ? The update file to 6.28 was bigger than my free Memory…

All Replies

0 89898989 4 months ago

after deleting all the data and reset. then i tried to delete manually everything i could. i've got 14.71 mb free of 86.32 mb.

6.29 doesn't fit :( can't upgrade.

this is just insane.

0 8896115 4 months ago in reply to dreamer_

I installed 6.29 on my solar 50mm without a problem OTA. I though also did not have a problem with 6.28

0 alindley 4 months ago

I ended up being able to install 6.29 from the watch (OTA) but not from Express.

0 89898989 4 months ago in reply to 89898989

after few failed attempts managed to install 6.9 directlly from the watch (without garmin express)

the software is so buggy

0 Sportsmadforlife 4 months ago

Before I wanted to install the update, I cleaned up all my data. Installed apps or data fields have never been on the watch. Available memory 13.4 MB.
Garmin Express refuses the update because there is not enough memory.
Update via OTA went without problems. Available memory still 13.4 MB.
The error is probably with Garmin Express, which is based on the free memory, but doesn't actually need it because the update uses the reserved memory. That's why OTA works, I suspect.

One question: Where do you have the Garmin text folder? I couldn't find it on the Forerunner 955 either. I would also like to have over 20 MB of free memory instead of 13.4 MB. No gcd file available. Thank you very much!

0 8896115 4 months ago

I just looked at the spec sheet for instinct 3 solar on garmin.com and it does solar edition should have 128mb of storage. Why is only 12-13mb available then

0 8896115 4 months ago

I just looked at the spec sheet for instinct 3 solar on garmin.com and it does solar edition should have 128mb of storage. Why is only 12-13mb available then

0 net1994 4 months ago

Same issue for me. Wouldn't update on pc with garmin express. I then tried OTA from my phone and it failed. But once I turned off the wifi connection it worked over LTE connection.

0 Sportsmadforlife 4 months ago in reply to Sportsmadforlife

Checked again today.
Total storage 86.3 MB
Storage on disk 2.37 MB
Free storage 13.4 MB

How can it be that owners have such different storage options? With so little storage space overall, it's something to think about.

0 Former Member 4 months ago

This is the memory on my I3 AMOLED 51mm, in case anyone is curious about the AMOLED memory...