Garmin G3X Maps Loading Slow (Only in Flight)

[scotasaurus]

I’ve got a real head scratcher. Full Garmin G3X setup built by Stein in a 7A. Lycoming IO-360. It works flawlessly on the ground every time without fail. In flight however, 90% of the time both screens won’t fully render the maps. It’s hard to explain so I’ve posted two private videos on YouTube.

During Flight:

After Landing:

I’m purposely not including the things I’ve done to correct the issue over the last two years. I feel like I’ve tried everything short of replacing random parts (which is the next step if I can figure it out). G3Xperts are stumped and have no further advice. I’m hoping that somebody has seen this before and has ANY advice or troubleshooting tips.

For two years I’ve had a nagging feeling that there’s a simple setting misconfigured somewhere. But it’s the oddest thing that it ONLY happens in flight and never once in the ground.

Thoughts?

 

[MED]

I’ve got a real head scratcher. Full Garmin G3X setup built by Stein in a 7A. Lycoming IO-360. It works flawlessly on the ground every time without fail. In flight however, 90% of the time both screens won’t fully render the maps. It’s hard to explain so I’ve posted two private videos on YouTube.

During Flight:

After Landing:

I’m purposely not including the things I’ve done to correct the issue over the last two years. I feel like I’ve tried everything short of replacing random parts (which is the next step if I can figure it out). G3Xperts are stumped and have no further advice. I’m hoping that somebody has seen this before and has ANY advice or troubleshooting tips.

For two years I’ve had a nagging feeling that there’s a simple setting misconfigured somewhere. But it’s the oddest thing that it ONLY happens in flight and never once in the ground.

Thoughts?

Total stab in the dark here, but is it possible it is trying to update in the air? Might be looking for wifi/cell service?

 

[scotasaurus]

Total stab in the dark here, but is it possible it is trying to update in the air? Might be looking for wifi/cell service?

Thank you I’m totally looking for stabs in the dark. Excellent suggestion. I’ve flown without any devices (iPad/phone) and with WiFi and Bluetooth disabled in the GTN 750 and GTX -45R.

 

[larrynew]

Another stab. I had too much vibration in the AHARS that only happened at higher (in-flight) power settings. Another VAF user helped me identify it in the EIS data. I had been working with G3Experts for a while. Moving AHARS from subpanel to back of GDU solved it.

 

[scotasaurus]

Another stab. I had too much vibration in the AHARS that only happened at higher (in-flight) power settings. Another VAF user helped me identify it in the EIS data. I had been working with G3Experts for a while. Moving AHARS from subpanel to back of GDU solved it.

Another stab. I had too much vibration in the AHARS that only happened at higher (in-flight) power settings. Another VAF user helped me identify it in the EIS data. I had been working with G3Experts for a while. Moving AHARS from subpanel to back of GDU solved it.

Thank you. Interesting. How did it present itself in the EIS data? In other words, what should I look for?

 

[JeffPeters]

When its on the ground, is it connecting to some sort of wifi/data thats not available in the air? WAG...

 

[scotasaurus]

Good question. I’ve disabled all wireless data sources WIFI/bluetooth including ADSB/FISB. Works perfect on the ground and not so in the air.

 

[Walt]

Have tried deleting the databases, reformat your data cards and reloading? Looks like a database problem to me.

 

[scotasaurus]

Agreed. I’ve completely reloaded the databases and reformatted and used smaller 8GB cards. I’ve also flown without any cards installed.

 

[bonefishdave]

Is there any difference when selecting internal GPS, vs the GTN750 on the G3X? Also do you have dual screens and tried swapping?

 

[scotasaurus]

Yes. I have swapped the displays. I’ve flow with the both internal and external GPS sources. I also disconnected the backup GPS antenna from the back of the GDU.

 

[Walt]

Agreed. I’ve completely reloaded the databases and reformatted and used smaller 8GB cards. I’ve also flown without any cards installed.

Just a thought, you may have corrupted databases on your computer which need to be purged before reloading, I’ve run into this problem and you will keep loading the same corrupted files.

 

[scotasaurus]

Thanks. I’ll hunt this dog again. But the nagging question remains…why would corrupt data load flawlessly on the ground?

 

[turbo]

have you shut down the engine in flight to simulate being on the ground with the engine off.

 

[scotasaurus]

I have not. Everything works great on the ground with or without the engine running.

 

[AlexPeterson]

I've had that happen a number of times in the past 9 years. I never noticed it on the ground, but I don't zoom it out either. The map eventually loads.

Someone at Garmin's help said it was because it wasn't loading the ADSB weather... I couldn't make any sense of that answer but it maybe was correct for some software reason. That could possibly explain the ground/air discrepancy you experience.

 

[scotasaurus]

I've had that happen a number of times in the past 9 years. I never noticed it on the ground, but I don't zoom it out either. The map eventually loads.

Someone at Garmin's help said it was because it wasn't loading the ADSB weather... I couldn't make any sense of that answer but it maybe was correct for some software reason. That could possibly explain the ground/air discrepancy you experience.

Yes. I’ve also had that idea. Indeed it’s something happening in the air that’s isn’t happening on the ground like ADSB/FISB data.

So I’ve disabled all the RS 232 ports so that no data is passing. All the things happen as expected like no traffic/weather,etc. But naps still slow.

Also pulled the circuit breaker on the GTX45R. And all the resultant things happen as expected with no transponder. But still slow maps.

 

[Mark H]

Next time it happens, eject the SD card and see if the problem resolves. I had the same problem and and chased it a long time. It happened more intermittent. I tried turning off individual LRU's, recylcing power to the avioincis, even replaced a GDU460. The Garmin guys told me to fly without the SD card, which I did some, but I thought surely that was not the problem. Next time it happened, I ejected the card.... and boom...problem solved! I couldn't believe it.

When you format the SD card, make sure to run that full format and NOT the quick format. It will eliminate corrupt areas on the cards memory and not use them. The system is trying to record data to the disk and it is effecting the processing. If you notice, you also no longer have synthetic vision in flight. It seems like that shouldn't happen, but it does.

 

[Sportquattro]

Another "stab in the dark" have you tried running the engine at or near full power on ground (brakes on and no one behind or near you) to see if problem occurs? If so then that would suggest it is a vibration issue. It is certainly a weird on that's for sure. Keep us posted and good luck

 

[scotasaurus]

I just flew and popped the SD card out in level cruise flight, twice. No change.

 

[Brantel]

Not sure if this is related or not but I do know that the G3X prioritizes some task more than others. Rendering the map and synthetic vision apparently are pretty low on the priority list.

It may be that when you are in flight something is causing the screen to spend an excessive amount of time on a task due to a noisy sensor communication line causing an interruption to the normal handling of tasks.

Does this behavior show itself on the ground with the engine running at cruise RPMs?

Did you download the detailed diagnostic logs out of the screens and send them to TeamX? Not just the normal log, instead the ones you have to go in and manually download.

 

[stigaro]

It seems you are getting ghosting of your ADSB-Out on your ADSB-In as it looks like the G3X is showing your own plane as traffic. Could it be related to that and maybe looking at a conflict? This might not appear as a conflict when on the ground. Maybe turn off ADSB-In or traffic display and see if that helps?

 

[scotasaurus]

Not sure if this is related or not but I do know that the G3X prioritizes some task more than others. Rendering the map and synthetic vision apparently are pretty low on the priority list.

It may be that when you are in flight something is causing the screen to spend an excessive amount of time on a task due to a noisy sensor communication line causing an interruption to the normal handling of tasks.

Does this behavior show itself on the ground with the engine running at cruise RPMs?

Did you download the detailed diagnostic logs out of the screens and send them to TeamX? Not just the normal log, instead the ones you have to go in and manually download.

That’s a good idea. I didn’t know there were detailed logs beyond the normal data. I’ll suggest this to the G3Xpert.

 

[scotasaurus]

It seems you are getting ghosting of your ADSB-Out on your ADSB-In as it looks like the G3X is showing your own plane as traffic. Could it be related to that and maybe looking at a conflict? This might not appear as a conflict when on the ground. Maybe turn off ADSB-In or traffic display and see if that helps?

I was in a loose flight of two as that video was taken. Perhaps you’re seeing the other plane.

 

[scotasaurus]

Not sure if this is related or not but I do know that the G3X prioritizes some task more than others. Rendering the map and synthetic vision apparently are pretty low on the priority list.

It may be that when you are in flight something is causing the screen to spend an excessive amount of time on a task due to a noisy sensor communication line causing an interruption to the normal handling of tasks.

Does this behavior show itself on the ground with the engine running at cruise RPMs?

Did you download the detailed diagnostic logs out of the screens and send them to TeamX? Not just the normal log, instead the ones you have to go in and manually download.

I don’t think I’ve tried that. It’s really good suggestion.

 

[Brantel]

That’s a good idea. I didn’t know there were detailed logs beyond the normal data. I’ll suggest this to the G3Xpert.

Check out page 30-179 of rev AZ of the instal manual. The Internal Data Log is the one I am referring to.

 

[Draker]

It seems you are getting ghosting of your ADSB-Out on your ADSB-In as it looks like the G3X is showing your own plane as traffic. Could it be related to that and maybe looking at a conflict? This might not appear as a conflict when on the ground. Maybe turn off ADSB-In or traffic display and see if that helps?

I was going to suggest this, too. Does this slowness always coincide with when you are getting that incorrect TRAFFIC advisory?

 

[scotasaurus]

I was going to suggest this, too. Does this slowness always coincide with when you are getting that incorrect TRAFFIC advisory?

That’s not a ghost. When I shot the video I was in loose formation with another RV7

Check out page 30-179 of rev AZ of the instal manual. The Internal Data Log is the one I am referring to.

Update: G3Xpert says that diagnostic logs won’t help with this issue.

 

[Brantel]

That’s not a ghost. When I shot the video I was in loose formation with another RV7

Update: G3Xpert says that diagnostic logs won’t help with this issue.

Who did you talk to?

Have you contacted Josh at Stein for help? He may also be able to escalate this issue with Garmin once the basics have been covered.

 

[scotasaurus]

I was going to suggest this, too. Does this slowness always coincide with when you are getting that incorrect TRAFFIC advisory?

That’s not a ghost. When I shot the video I was in loose formation with another RV7

Check out page 30-179 of rev AZ of the instal manual. The Internal Data Log is the one I am referring to.

update: G3Xpert says

Who did you talk to?

Have you contacted Josh at Stein for help? He may also be able to escalate this issue with Garmin once the basics have been covered talking

Who did you talk to?

Have you contacted Josh at Stein for help? He may also be able to escalate this issue with Garmin once the basics have been covered.

Talking to Marc at Garmin.

 

[scotasaurus]

That’s not a ghost. When I shot the video I was in loose formation with another RV7

update: G3Xpert says diagnostic logs won’t help with this issue.



Talking to Marc at Garmin.

 

[scotasaurus]

That’s not a ghost. When I shot the video I was in loose formation with another RV.

 

[scotasaurus]

Yes! Sort of. Deleting the terrain database indeed “solves” the problem with slow loading. Now I get a constant warning that my DB is not loaded…but at least I can use everything else reliably.