Does the SD card need to be formatted before downloading the updates to it? I’ve downloaded 3 times but my unit (9 series Echomap Plus) isn’t reading the card. It recognizes there is a card plugged in but not what’s on it. Any help appreciated!

Must be 32gig or less.

Retired grass grower

Thanks, ring fry, it’s 16 gig

Might try Garmin's help line 800-800-1020 during business hours.

Retired grass grower

It needs to be formatted to the computer platform you are using. So if you are using a Mac you need to buy a card that is formatted for a Mac. The same goes for a PC. But you probably all ready know that. Do you think it could be an issue with Garmin Express? I could not get it to work on my MacBook Air to download the latest mapping card updates. It would work to download updates to my handheld gps unit. Garmin technical support could not figure it out either and just sent me a new lake map card. I dont have any issues using the Active Captain app to download software updates.

Upon further checking the card needs to be formatted to Fat32. I’ll see if that was the problem.

I have had the same problem I found u have to buy the better sd cards the cheap ones don't work

So you have a MAC. I always try to buy the card already formatted but its no big deal to do it. Please post what you figure out is the problem.

Okay....formatted the chip, downloaded the file, went to the menu and double checked file is there.....unit still does not ‘see’ it. The unit recognizes the chip is there but not the file.....found a YouTube vid on downloading using Active Captain, trying that next.

FatDad, how do you tell which are the better SD cards?

Make sure you set up a dedicated Active Captain sd card. I set one up per the Active Captain instructions and just leave it in my second card slot on my console unit. If you have networked units you only have to set it up for one. My active captain set works really slick.

I never heard it was "necessary to buy a card formatted to the computer platform you are using." Every computer I've ever used had a tools function to format a card. When you plug one into a computer, it's possible to wipe it and format as needed. I'd guess that the file needs to be at the root level, and I bet it isn't in this case.

Go to CVS and buy a card that says it is formatted for Fat32. I did.

You have to do one additional step once you download it. You have to Run the downloaded application on your computer and it will most often recognize the Card automatically and save the update files there.

Please note that if you only "Download" the update, you are not done yet.

If none of this works, then you should try the active captain app method.

my lowrance only seems to like sandisk cards.

good luck

Mo

As for Lowrance HDS, I've used several brands of SD card, and some obscure branded, with no difference. I believe that one hard limit is the card size, with the max being 16GB if I remember correctly.