GPSMAP296 Software Version 3.70
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To view the software version, complete the following steps:
1) Press the Menu key twice to access the Main Menu.
2) Select the System tab ( Systm ), and press Menu.
3) Select the System Information option and press Enter.
4) The software version will be displayed on screen.
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Warnings:
If you are updating from a previous software version, this software will
clear user memory. Please back up important data (routes, tracks, and waypoints)
to MapSource prior to updating.
Aircraft Profiles and Weight & Balance information will also be cleared as the
information is part of user memory. Since there is currently no method to back up
this information electronically, it may be desirable to create a written record.
If this software is uploaded to a GPS unit other than the product for
which it is designed, you will not be able to operate that unit.
If the upload software fails, verify that you have a charged battery
and try again. If repeated upload attempts fail, you may need
to return the unit to GARMIN for service.
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Notes:
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Change History:
Software 3.60 to 3.70
1) Corrected issues with address search
2) Corrected issue with incorrect battery timer display
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Software 3.50 to 3.60
1) Added display of estimated time to VNAV profile on VNAV setup page
2) Added display of terrain and obstacle database cycle numbers
3) Added output of NMEA APB sentence
4) Corrected issue with restoring defaults on Com setup pages
5) Corrected issue that could cause "lock to road" setting in Automotive
mode to be reset
6) Corrected issue that could cause unit to power off when editing
information on the Welcome setup page
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Software 3.40 to 3.50
1) Added City tab to aviation mode Nearest pages
2) Improved functionality of Aviation In serial data format
3) Improved terrain alerts when landing at private airports marked with
user waypoints
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Software 3.30 to 3.40
1) Removed possibility of accidentally enabling "Lock To Roads" when not in Automotive mode
2) Added configurable field for UTC Time
3) Improved Low Battery warning message
4) Fixed nav alarms (next turn, arrival, off course, and anchor drag)
5) Reduced frequency of nuisance terrain alerts
6) Added VNAV indicators to map page when in "Map With Overlay" page layout
7) Corrected problem that would reset fuel flow planning value on active route page
8) Improved visibility of distance and bearing fields on nearest FSS and ARTCC pages
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Software 3.20 to 3.30
1) Added support for ADIZ airspace
2) Added ability to hilight and review multiple overlapping airspaces with
the map cursor
3) Added warning message at powerup if terrain or obstacle data is missing
4) Added audible warning for terrain and obstacle alerts
5) Added display of estimated time to fly to map cursor when panning on the
map page in Aviation mode
6) Added support for German tide stations
7) Added support for more time zones
8) Added support for NMEA BWC and extended DSC (DSE) sentences
9) Added support for LakeMaster maps
10) Added ability to select a particular map family when performing an
address search
11) Added ability to stop navigation from the Current Route page when in
Automotive mode
12) Changed calculation of ETE and ETA in Aviation mode to match that used
by Garmin panel-mount avionics
13) Improved automatic zoom behavior of terrain popup map
14) Improved supression of nuisance terrian and obstacle alerts
15) Improved visibility of runways on the map
16) Improved accuracy of track log generation
17) Improved readability of owner information text during powerup
18) Improved USB transfers from MapSource
19) Increased resolution of distance fields when in Marine mode
20) Corrected behavior of vertical navigation when VNAV target is beyond
the selected waypoint
21) Corrected behavior of VNAV setup page
22) Corrected shutdown that could occur when performing a TracBack in
Automotive mode
23) Corrected shutdown that could occur on the Line tab of the Map Setup
page
24) Corrected default Nearest Type selection on Position page
25) Corrected display of map outlines
26) Corrected functioning of Off Course alarm
27) Corrected date display on Celestial pages
28) Improved display of street addresses in Find menu
29) Corrected problem that could cause Highway page to appear in
Aviation mode
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Software 3.10 to 3.20
1) Fixed string corruption on the VNAV Setup page.
2) Fixed GPS unit to GPS unit transfer of user data.
3) Fixed handling of display options menu on the volume/backlight page.
4) Fixed display of runway extensions at declutter level of "clear -3".
5) Fixed waypoint category highlight error when dealing with a large category list.
6) Fixed "Searching" text being displayed without results when performing a find.
7) Added "Show on Map" option to menu of the Tide review page.
8) Added Sonar tab page to the Main Menu in Marine mode.
9) Improved readability of scroll bar arrows in Night mode.
10) Darkened Automotive mode Metro Area colors in Night mode.
11) Enable support for website updates of obstacle and terrain databases.
12) Restored Find menu functionality when projecting a waypoint position.
13) When projecting a waypoint, the navigation context is now consistent.
14) Restored ability to download almanac data.
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Software 3.00 to 3.10
1) Fixed problem that could cause the unit to turn off when the map heading
line is enabled.
2) Fixed problem that would prevent changing the CDI scale using the zoom
in/out keys in Marine usage mode.
3) Improved readability of map label text in Automotive usage mode.
4) Fixed the Sun & Moon page to update the date and time when using the
'Play' and 'Fast Forward' buttons.
5) Corrected find operation behavior when a diacritic character is highligted.
6) Changed to use 24x24 custom waypoint symbol in connection with xImage.
7) Don't display vertical speed in configurable data field unless the unit
has a 3D GPS fix.
8) Fixed rare problem that could cause incorrect guidance when navigating
a route containing an approach.
9) Fixed display of night flight duration on Flights main menu tab when the
time display is set to hours and minutes.
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Software 2.60 to 3.00
1) Added support for remote sonar.
2) Added Marine DSC Support.
3) Added new Distance and Speed unit, Nautical (nm, kt, m).
4) Added Custom Avoids and Custom Road Preferences to Road Routing setup.
5) Added calendar pages (day, week, and month) to the main menu.
6) Added column titles to the Add/Edit Vias page.
7) Added option to point review pages to Add to Current Route when navigating
an auto-route.
8) Added carpool lanes to avoid options in Road Routing setup.
9) Added auto backlight adjustment based on sunrise and sunset.
10) Added Voice Prompt option to Sound setup, ability to limit or prevent voice
prompts.
11) Added output rate configuration to the Advanced NMEA setup page.
12) Added support for non-U.S. time zones.
13) Added GPS status to the list of configurable data fields.
14) Added support for selecting active track color.
15) Added choice to Routes Setup to transition waypoints by distance when
navigating a manual route.
16) Added options to Volume/Light control page to go to Sound or Display setup menus.
17) Increased number of proximity waypoints to 100.
18) Changed Data Card Information page into Map Information page to include version
information for all map data ( Base map and Aviation databases ).
19) Fixed Hide/Show All options on the Map Information page.
20) Fixed Lock to Road option so unit remembers user's changes to it.
21) Popup text on the map page is positioned to avoid appearing under the cursor.
22) Fixed problem preventing user from editing the elevation of user waypoints.
23) Added abilitiy to move waypoints in active manual routes.
24) Enabled Odometer as a configurable field in Marine mode.
25) Fixed address searches so number field will show all valid characters.
26) Fixed issue with Map setup that prevented the user for changing the Marine
navaid symbol set.
27) Added support for auto CDI scale setting.
28) Modified Route list page to indicates an active route with an icon to the
left of the route name.
29) Fixed highlight movement bug on proximity waypoints page.
30) Fixed shutdown when clearing active track log.
31) Fixed TracBack operation for large tracks.
32) Added Marine timer as a page layout for the compass page.
33) Fixed functionality of deleting waypoints by category.
34) Added Blank configuration field for Map With Overlay layout.
35) Fixed issue with Indonesian Southern grid being located in the wrong area.
36) Updated language translations.
37) Fixed issue with displaying Blue Chart data without water color.
38) Fixed shutdown when attempting to view the map families via the Data Card
Information Page
39) Corrected problem with on route gotos.
40) Fixed problem with autoroute icon not showing up for all saved autoroutes.
41) Corrected problem with routes transferred from MapSource that show improper
Distance and ETE values.
42) Fixed problem on the Active Route Page that prevented the Change Data Fields
option from working properly.
43) Corrected the way the date is displayed on the Calendar page to be consistent
with other pages.
44) Fixed problem with display of the Find menu from the Month tab of the calendar.
45) Fixed problem with TracBacks on large saved tracks.
46) Improved backlight auto-adjustment feature, turned this feature off by default.
47) Added standard European and Australian time zones.
48) Fixed Daylight Savings to work correctly in the Southern hemisphere.
49) Fixed shutdowns while driving in Automotive mode without a route active.
50) Fixed problem with entering dates on the Sun and Moon page.
51) Fixed the point review page option Append To Route to correctly add the point
to the end of the selected route.
52) Fixed problem with Edit Via page displaying the pointer improperly.
53) Fixed shutdown when attempting to view the Log Filter tab on the main menu Message Tab.
54) Fixed problem with Calendar Day page not always displaying the items.
55) Simplified fuel timer control on the timer setup tab page.
56) Added range tick marks to heading line.
57) Changed metro area color to improve visibility.
58) Added cardinal direction indicator to position page's nearest point display.
59) Fixed unwanted characters that could appear in waypoint comment when saving a
waypoint from an address.
60) Fixed possible display problems on the saved tracks page.
61) Fixed possible date display problems on tide page.
62) Improved "Proximity Alarm Memory is Full" message to appear everytime when trying
to upload proximity waypoints to the unit once maximum limit has reached.
63) Fixed shutdown caused by trying to review map features from the "Show Map" Page.
64) Fixed Sun & Moon page to update the date and time display values when using the
"Use Current Date" option.
65) Fixed problem with flight transfers to Garmin Flight Book software.
66) Fixed problem with units displayed on the Runway tab.
67) Fixed transfer of aviation routes, so aviation points are used when transferred back to the unit.
68) Enabled political boarders on TAWS maps.
69) Added ability to use Kgs or lbs on the Weight and Balance page.
70) Added drawing of obstacles on the main map page.
71) Added option to remove points from the Aviation Go To page's recent list.
72) Added ability for user to chose between displaying the numerical degrees or a
directional arrow for bearing on the aviation nearest pages.
73) Improved the runway review page to indicate the airport traffic pattern direction.
Must use Jeppesen database cycle number 0407 or newer.
74) Improvements made on the Flights list page.
75) Improved error checking on the aircraft page to prevent duplicate aircraft entries.
76) Fixed handling of small coarse changes when in aviation mode.
77) Added ability to set New Location by identifier when in aviation mode.
78) Improved handling of deleted Jeppesen data points.
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Software 2.50 to 2.60
1) Fixed problem with display of hyphen when using German.
2) Fixed problem with MapSource data transfer where unit would not accept maps and
waypoints at the same time.
3) Fixed problem occurring in German, French, Spanish, Polish, and Portuguese. If the
GPSMAP 296 was set to one of these languages listed and the customer attempted to
reset the max speed within the trip computer, the GPSMAP 296 would lock up.
4) Corrected problem when transitioning from the charging screen and attached to external
power.
5) Improved handling and display of routes created on the PC and transferred to the unit.
6) Corrected problem on celestial pages which could cause the unit to shut down during
cursor movement.
7) Unit no longer attempts to convert a TracBack route to a road route when switching
from marine mode to automotive mode.
8) Fixed problem with handling NMEA input data that caused blinking of the Map page and
shutdown on route transfers.
9) Corrected handling of approaches.
10) Fixed problem where hourglass pointer stays on all the time when panned.
11) Made display of chosen aircraft symbol consistent on all maps.
12) Corrected drawing of the VBAR on the Panel page.
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Software 2.40 to 2.50
1) Corrected problem which allowed selection of some non-aviation points from the
GoTo page.
2) Fixed aviation duplicates list.
3) Increased maximum number of maps displayed.
4) Removed delay which sometimes occured when changing interface formats.
5) Fixed problem that may have occurred when swapping cards during a simulated route.
6) Fixed problem that occurred when using elevation field in the overlay map view in
automotive mode.
7) Added alert message to indicate when the user timer has expired.
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Software 2.30 to 2.40
1) Corrected problem that caused certain alarms to work only during active navigation.
2) Corrected problem with the exteral alarm pin.
3) Improved Find functionality.
4) Improved route line drawing.
5) Route waypoint transition settings can now be different for Marine and Automotive
modes.
6) Added the ability to perform manual route waypoint transition on the Active Route
page via the menu or zoom in/out keys.
7) Changed approaching waypoint alarm message to show the next course, if available
8) Corrected problem that could cause incorrect course guidance after navigating an
on-route goto.
9) Improved estimate of remaining battery runtime.
10) Corrected map drawing problem in Aviation mode with track-up display.
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Upload Instructions:
Instructions for uploading the new software to your GPSMAP296 using Microsoft
Windows 95/98/NT:
1. Download the appropriate self-extracting archive file for your GPSMAP296
onto your hard drive.
2. Unzip the files in the archive by running the downloaded executable file.
3. Connect your GPSMAP296 to a free USB or serial port on your PC with the
correct PC interface cable.
4. Turn on your GPSMAP296.
If you are using USB, ensure it shows USB as connecte when the cable is
plugged in.
If you are using serial, ensure the Serail Data Format is set to
"Garmin Data Transfer" for the port you are using. Yo can find this
setting on the "Com 1" or "Com 2" tab of the "Setup" section of the Main Menu.
5. Change to the directory in which you unzipped the files,
(i.e., C:\GARMIN), and run the update program, updater.exe. Select USB
or the appropriate serial port and click "OK" to begin the software upload.
During the upload, the GPSMAP296's display will indicate "Software
Loading...." The upload process should take 1-10 minutes to complete,
depending on interface used for update. When the upload is completed,
the GPSMAP296 will reset itself and turn on normally.
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Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.