posted 04-26-2011 07:45 PM ET (US)            

http://www.lowrance.com/en/Downloads/Product-Software-Updates/ HDS-Software-Update/

posted 04-28-2011 03:24 PM ET (US)            

Auto hide soft key what a great update

posted 04-30-2011 10:52 AM ET (US)            

DOWNLOAD

MacOS users first download an archive file called HDS_4.0.zip. This file is an archive or collection of the update files, and the archive is about 251-Megabytes. With a fast internet connection it only takes about four minutes to fetch this file from the Lowrance host website. At the conclusion of downloading the HDS_4.0.zip file, the typical result is the file immediate extracts itself, creating a folder (or directory) named HDS_4. This folder will be in the directory that is the target for downloads, typically a folder called DOWNLOADS in the user's home directory path.

HDS_4 FOLDER

The extracted HDS_4 folder will contain the following files and subdirectories:

--HDS-4.0.36.56-Standard-3.upd, a 243-MB Unix Executable File
--Sims, a Folder with 133.5-MB of content
--update.conf, an 852-byte text file (the file size listed varies with the particular volume minimum block file size)

These three files must be copied unto an SD Memory Card. The SD Memory Card should not contain any other files, especially not any other (older) versions of Lowrance software updates for the HDS device. Note that the folder is not copied to the SD Memory Card, only the contents of the folder, that is, the three items mentioned above.

MEMORY CARD

The files to be written to the memory card require about 385-MB of space. Obviously the SD Memory Card must be at least that large and have at least that much free space. The memory card file structure must be in a format that the HDS can read. My memory card was formatted with an MS-DOS (Fat 16) file structure. To get information about the memory card, use the FINDER feature GET INFO from the FILE menu. This will reveal the format type.

At the root path of the memory card file structure, you should have the the two files shown above and one sub-directory shown above.

THE FILES

For the technically curious we examine more closely the files involved in the updater.

The small text file update.conf is a configuration file which directs the update process. You can view the contents of this file with a text editor, if you like, but do not make any changes.

The folder Sims contains new files to be used by the HDS in its simulation or demonstation modes. Many of these files are images in the portable network graphic (PNG) file form.

The large executable file HDS-4.0.36.56-Standard-3.upd contains the real guts of the code updates. This file is itself a compressed archive. Again, for the technically curious, you can peer into the contents of this archive. Do this with an extra copy of the original file.

To extract HDS-4.0.36.56-Standard-3.upd just change the file extension to .zip, and then extract it with the application ARCHIVE UTILITY. (This happens automatically if you just double-click on the .zip file.) You will create a new folder named HDS-4.0.36.56-Standard-3. Inside the folder will be all sorts of interesting files. Feel free to poke around inside, but be certain to only do this with an extra copy of the archive. Inside you will find more archives (as unix .gz files), and, of course, you can keep extracting them and looking inside them as you like. This has nothing to do with performing the update, but it may satisfy some of the more curious among us.

The files in the update archive include a directory called qtopia which refers to the Qt development environment. It has been variously mentioned that the NAVICO Operating System (NOS) for the HDS series employs the Qt development environment, and the presence of these qtopia files seems to confirm that.

posted 05-01-2011 03:01 PM ET (US)            

APPLICATION = 4.0.36.56
PLATFORM = 4.0.11494-r9
LOADER = 2.1.4
NAVIONICS VERSION = 00.03.24_r2120
SONAR = 1.69
KEYPAD = 1.10

To find this data

posted 05-08-2011 09:37 AM ET (US)            

In the recent update of the Navico operating system (NOS) software used to operate the Lowrance HDS series of SONAR and chart plotter devices, a new feature was added to the presentation on the PAGES display, but no instructions were provided for its configuration. This article will remedy that omission.

Creating and Managing PAGES Shortcuts

At the bottom of the PAGES display on the Lowrance HDS-8 and HDS-10 there are now six small trapezoidal bounding areas (apparently designed to continue the 3D or perspective view of the overall PAGES theme) which appear across the bottom of the display and above the six hardware buttons below the display. The bounding areas are blank, and they are intended to be legends or identifiers for the hardware buttons below them.

If one pushes a hardware button below a blank trapezoid, and if the HDS's NOS is set for the HELP ballon feature to be ON, the following message will appear: "Hold to save the highlighted page"

Indeed, if one holds down the hardware button, the bounding area above it turns into an iconic representation of the page which was highlighted, and the hardware button below becomes a short cut which will jump the display to that page when pushed. By navigation with the cursor controls on the PAGES display and highlighting various pages, the six buttons across the bottom can be turned into six shortcut keys. Any of the available pages can then be reached by first pushing the PAGES key and then one of the shortcut keys. This reduces the number of key strokes needed to go to any shortcut page from any another page to just two key strokes.

Once a blank bounding area has been changed into an icon and its associated button has become a shortcut, the behavior of the hardware button changes. If the hardware button is pushed briefly, the display jumps to the shortcut's target page. If the hardware button is held down, a new shortcut will be created using as a target whatever destination is highlighted in the presentation above, and the HELP message will display "Saved."

An existing shortcut can be replaced by a new one by first highlighting the target page and then holding down the shortcut button. The old shortcut is removed and the new shortcut replaces it.

Once the all six shortcuts have been created, the HELP message that explains the operation of the shortcuts will never be seen again, as it only appears when a bounding trapezoid area is blank. The settings for all six shortcuts can be deleted by accessing a hidden menu on the PAGES display, as follows:

Hit PAGES; screen jumps to PAGES display
Hit MENU; PAGES menu appears with following choices
--SHOW (jumps to the selected page)
--Adjust panel sizes... (grayed out)
--Edit data overlay... (jumps to the selected page and permits editing data overlay)
--Clear saved pages (clears all six shortcuts)

  --Cursor to CLEAR SAVED PAGES and hit ENTER
    --Clear saved pages dialogue box appears with prompt, "Do you want to clear all saved pages?" and soft key button choices "YES" and "NO."

If the YES button is pushed, all six shortcut icons disappear and the blank bounding trapezoids return.

Turning HELP Balloons On or Off

The HELP ballons in the HDS are useful when first becoming familiar with the operation of the device, but after one has become acquainted their utility decreases. The NOS provides for the user to be able to control HELP balloon behavior, and they may be turned off with the following procedure:

posted 06-19-2011 10:03 AM ET (US)            

I made extensive use of the new PAGE hot-button keys. I did observe the following glitch. If you hold the PAGE hot-button key for more than just a momentary press, the mode shifts from the operational mode to the edit mode. If you don't notice this change--and this can easily happen when you are busy at the helm of the boat--the natural inclination is to push the button a second time. Unfortunately, the second button push will then alter the configuration of the hot-button key, making it a short cut to the page that happens to have been selected in the PAGE navigation screen. I did this once by accident. It took me a moment to figure out what happened.

The user-interface of the PAGE hot-button keys is hampered by the slow response to user input. When you push a PAGE hot-button key the HDS-8 does not immediately respond with any user feedback. The user is not provided with any response from the HDS that indicates the button has been pushed. It can take several seconds for the screen to change to the new page.

The user can easily be confused by the lack of response to the button push, and the natural reaction is to push the button more distinctly and hold it longer. This leads to the mode change described above. (Also note that if the HELP BALLOON feature is not active, there is little change in the display when the edit mode is entered.) When this happens, the user is again confused because. The change in display presentation may not be immediately noticeable. This leads to another button push, which then alters the programming of the PAGE hot-button that was pushed.

After some time using the feature, the user becomes trained to be patient for any change in the display to occur. The user also becomes trained to not push the PAGE hot-button too long and thus avoids the mode switch problem.

posted 06-19-2011 11:09 AM ET (US)            

Here are the improvements from the April 2011 "patch" - 4.0.36.56
* Corrected issue with Weather Watchbox not scrolling
* Corrected issue with Watchbox Alarms causing unit reboot under when in nonchart mode
* StructureScan range no longer restricted in Shallow Water mode
* StructureScan image restores properly after use of Zoom feature
* Times for Tides & Currents corrected
* Early production 5x units now upgradeable

Quite honestly I did not spend a lot of time playing with it.

Jim, I'm not sure what your saying is a glitch or a means to re-program the individual hot button key. The slow response is an issue with the HDS units on many features, but that can be corrected by moving the Simrad, just takes $.

posted 06-19-2011 12:49 PM ET (US)            

Re the hot-button re-programming, I am totally aware of the method for re-programming the PAGE hot-button, as you can see from my lengthy article (above) where I have described the method and illustrated it with several screen shots, which I did because Lowrance seemed to omit any mention of how to do it from their patch instructions and literature. The glitch is the time of the button hold to enter edit mode. It seems to me to be a little too short, and, as a result, a button push which is just momentarily longer than normal will inadvertently send the unit into edit mode.

Re the delays in jumps between pages, I wonder if they get longer as certain history files get longer. For example, if you have TRACK going, and the track is six days old and covers several hundred miles, switching to the CHART display might take longer because the TRACK file is filled with thousands of data points.

posted 07-12-2011 12:27 AM ET (US)            

I also suspect that in some cases--perhaps a majority--that some of the change in performance could be due to the operator having failed to make note of the transducer selection setting. As mentioned already, the update appears to reset the transducer selection to a default or generic setting.

I also believe that another effect of the upgrade is to alter the nominal gain setting position or sensitivity. In might be true that all that has changed in the post-patch performance is a change in the default gain setting. I believe that with the v4.0 patch the nominal gain setting is now shown as "0" (zero) and gain is incremented up and down from there. The gain corresponding to "0" may also have been changed in some settings. This may be part of the confusion about performance changes.

It is also possible that some users who have developed their own customized settings for various parameters involved in the display, that is, users who do not use the AUTO function, may have found their custom settings are no longer producing the same results. Again, this may be due to a change in the reference or default setting of the nominal gain or other parameters.

posted 07-26-2011 04:05 PM ET (US)            

Also, there was some discussion about physically isolating the transducer cable from other electrical cables so as to avoid interference.

posted 07-31-2011 05:57 AM ET (US)            

Quick Keys:
http://www.youtube.com/user/navicoweb#p/a/u/1/zw4YKTqcumc

Multi-panel View:
http://www.youtube.com/user/navicoweb#p/a/u/1/zw4YKTqcumc

posted 08-25-2011 01:29 PM ET (US)            

I inquired about the rumored third v4.0 update patch, but I did not get any confirmation. Instead, I was told that a v5.0 patch would be more likely and will be coming in the first-quarter of 2012.