update: no more step tracking, sleep and inconsistent heart rate

Im also experiencing this issues. 

Forerunner 165 has not been working since the 27.09 update with the HR and cadence metrics showing completely made up data across 3 hours of run data since the update. Tried various fixes and raised with support. It looks like a hotfix is required as soon as possible to resolve this issue.

Problems: gps/live pace is all over, step frequency completely wrong, heart rate off, constant at around 72. FR165 27.09. Problems came as soon as updated.

When i start a run, the start is delayed and when i pause the run it is also delayed. only problems for running

Hello, I was in contact with the Garmin support and after some back and forth writing what I tried and them suggesting fixing SW via Garmin Express I wrote that the Issue is being discussed on several internet pages and forums, (so it should be clear to them that their SW is the issue) they came up with this answere:


We can see that the software version on your device is the latest version.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to downgrade to a previous version.
Replacing and/or resetting devices will not resolve the issue. We will need to release a software fix to resolve this issue as soon as one is available.

The relevant development departments have already been informed of the situation. Our colleagues there are investigating the issue and working on a possible solution.

Until then, we ask for your patience.

Unfortunately, we cannot say at this time when and in what form a solution will be available.

I hope this is OK for Garmin to post openly, since an official statement from Garmin has not been released yet.
This should at least clearify for everyone that Garmin now has recognized their SW update was the issue and are working on a fixing solution.
Why they do not just roll back the SW with an update to the last working SW Version I don´t know..

It's possible to downgrade, Garmin just don't want to supply the files or instructions to users as it's not 'officially supported'

I saved the previous update files and managed to downgrade to 26.08 and then to 23.20. It didn't resolve my issue with the touch screen though, so it might not work to resolve the issues others are having either.

Would you mind sharing the downgrade process? 

If you've used Express to sync and update your watch then the update files might still be in the folder C:\ProgramData\Garmin\CoreService\Downloads\Firmware.....

The 165 Music is 006-B4432-00 and the non music one is 006-B4433-00

I only have the files for the music version, 23.20, 26.08 and 27.09 but maybe someone with the normal version will have the files for that and be willing to share them.

Copy the gupdate.gsp file to the Garmin folder on the watch and also add an empty file called force.tmp When you unplug the watch it should prompt to install the update.

Garmin doesn't officially support this and it could make things worse, but many user's watches are unusable due to sensors not working, so might be worth a try.

Perfect - thanks. I'm still on 25.04 (non-music) and am glad Garmin Connect is saying I'm uptodate.

I'll do some digging later to see if I've got the 25.04 update file. I had to update manually through Garmin Express, again because updating through GC doesn't seem to work for me, so I presumably will likely have it. 

Would you mind going to system, about on the watch or in the Connect app and checking the versions you have installed? TSC shows as 0.09 for me, which seems low. Thanks.

Yeah, same:

S/W: 25.04 [DFU-b5ed95] 
CIQ: 5.2.0
BMX: 20.6.2
WHR: 20.06.02
ANT/BLE: 0.06
TSC: 0.09
Sensor Hub  34.13
NFC: 3.5.5
WLT: 3.2.14