Edit .fit-file for Sports

Hello guys,

im having a relatively detailled question.

First the problem:

Im going to visit a Bikepark and want to track the activity --> Ive seen a few posts for this already in the internet regarding Garmin watches

The best possibility i saw was to pause the tracking manually after each run, to not track going uphill in the lif

--> I am so sure that i forget to press pause and play each time, so i want to avoid having to do this!

Half solution:

I think basically the Ski/Snowboard activities are doing exactly what i want .... 3D-speed etc. and auto-pause on lifts and also counting rounds --> PERFECT

But heres the Problem:

When i Copy the Snowboard-Activity and rename it to Bikepark, in Garmin its still named Ski/Snowboard and shows a Snowflake and it can not be shared do Komoot/Strava

Heres my solution: (But for sure i dont know how the instinct software is handling the internal stuff)

I think the "Bikepark" activity only has to be a combination of Ski/Snowboard, but the sports-definition has to be changed to Mountainbiking or somethinng

Heres my question:

Is it possible to Edit the GARMIN/Sports/Bikepark.fit-file (which contains the settings for the activity) and change the sport and icon to Mountainbike?

Does anyone know if there is a chance to have some sort of editor or something to change this stuff?

I am already using the fit file repair tool (microsoft access) but no data is showing up

If the activity after uploading is automatically treated as mountainbiking, i think i would have the perfect solution

  • Does anyone know if there is a chance to have some sort of editor or something to change this stuff?

    Just use Garmin Connect - you can change the type of the activity both in the GC phone app, as well as with the Web interface of GC.

  • Hello trux,

    thanks a lot for the very quick answer!

    I tried it and you were right! BUT:

    1. There would be no need to change the activity-type maually all the time if the .fit-file on the watch would just have the right parameter right?

    2. Changing the activity type manually afterwards is too late because in the moment when the activity is uploaded to Garmin as Snowboarding, it is immediately shared to Komoot and strava as snowboarding ... so i would have to manually change everything in different portals (if its possible as on Garmin)

    No chance for just having a perfectly configured activity directly at my watch?

  • Thanks again for your help!

    Im already using this tool but for me it seems that the activityprofile is not loaded as such

    --> No datafields to manipulate

    But this i try to track by contacting the programmer of the tool

    Thank you very much for helping me!

  • Somehow i got a message that @6619804 has replied to one of my comments:

    1. Bikepark is only the name of the activity and has not to do something with activity-types or anything --> I just used the Snowboard activity, copied it and then renamed it to Bikepark

    2. Yes ... i also think there is no icon included, but if i could switch not the name, but .fit-file-internal activity-type to mountainbiking, then my watch would automatically show the mountainbiking icon

    3. This is the main-question from my side: Can i change the activity-type of my bikepark.fit-activityprofile from snowboard (because i copied a snowboard activity) to mountainbiking --> Then garmin would recognize it as mountainbiking and distribute it this way correctly to komoot/strava as mountainbiking and not as snowboarding

    PS: The reason i do this is because in bikeparks you are only driving downhill and all the upill stuff is done by lift --> Exactly the same as in skiing/snowboarding --> So my thought was "Use snowboarding activity, and switch some internal parameter/setting from snowboarding to mountainbiking" --> This way the icon is "mountainbiking" automatically and all uploaded activities to garmin will be mountainbiking directly from the beginning --> No manual settings and no wrong distribution to komoot/strava in the moment when the auto-upload is done

    Thank you 6619804 for your effort!!!

  • If you try to edit the GARMIN/Sports/Bikepark.fit , or if you even delete it, when you disconnect the Instinct from USB, the file is recovered from some its internal backup. We do not know how the "Snowboard" is coded in it (there is readable name Bikepark and no Snowboard, but Garmin somehow knows that this is copy of "Snowboard":

    But even if we knew what to edit and how, the watch would cancel all such changes. Maybe it could be changed in recorded activity, if we found how, activities are not guarded as GARMIN/Sports files.

  • Hey ,

    thank you a lot for your effort!

    Yes i also was seeing, that the watch erases or creates manually manipulated .fit-files in the sports folder.

    I was hoping that i did something wrong and the watch detected a error and deleted it or something.

    But thank you for your answer and looking into it.

    So sadly i see there is no solution for me without having to pause and play for each lift-ride

    Thank you

  • I downloded the Snowboard.fit file, changed its name to Bikepark.fit, and with a hex editor modified also the name inside the file to "Bikepark", and then uploaded it back to //GARMIN/Sports/. The watch accepted it without problems (despite that I did not correct the checksum), it did not remove it, and kept the internal edit as well.

    So the only thing you need to do now, is finding out which bytes contain the information about the category, and modifying it accordingly. The author of the Fit File Repair tool, or the user  here on the forum could perhaps help with that. If not, then some comparing of the available files, and some experimenting would be needed, but it is certainy something that can be done with some effort.

  • Interesting!

    So I copied GARMIN\Sports\Snowboard.fit , renamed it to Bikepark.fit . Then I compared it to CyclingBike.fit and blindly changed everything what differed in the header of the Bikepark.fit . And I changed name to Bikepark.

    Then I changed checksum, which is CRC-16 from the whole file except those 2 bytes at the end:

    The Instinct works with it ( renamed the file from Bikepark.fit to CyclingBikepark.fit )

    But the question is - how to delete this false activity now? Instinct now takes it like default activity, so does not offer "Delete" in the menu and when I delete it over USB, Instinct recovers it! Maybe Master Reset will help, but I am lazy to try it now.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 3 years ago in reply to 6619804

    • strange, I did not get a notification from mentioning my user

    hi,

    Maybe Master Reset will help, but I am lazy to try it now.

    yes, it will remove the modified activity fit files (experience from FR935)

    info about ... or copied activity is available in the activity fit file

    you can also find info in the out.bin and in.bin files in the apps folder

    IN.BIN.zip OUT.BIN.zip

    looks like you can manage on your own Thumbsup

    happy & safe sporting