Your old GPS may not handle epoch rollover April 6, 2019

[megabite]

Perhaps you've been thinking of upgrading your GPS? Maybe it's time: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/02/12/current_gps_epoch_ends/

My old handheld Garmin GPSmap76 is at risk. Last firmware update was in 2006. A note to Garmin got this reply: "Unfortunately, there's no way to know if this model will be affected until the rollover date arrives."

 

[sir-vivor]

Oh no the sky is falling in, Just like the scare of the year 2000. In my opinion you'll be here , I'll be here and probably our GPS will be here and working .... lol

 

[GLG]

Oh no the sky is falling in, Just like the scare of the year 2000. In my opinion you'll be here , I'll be here and probably our GPS will be here and working .... lol

As someone that worked on the year 2000 problem I can assure you that it was real and huge problem. We were lucky that many smart and hard working IT professionals took this seriously and fixed the problem so that folks would wake up the next morning and find out that it was a non-issue. Ever consider that maybe we did our job and that's why you thought it was just a make believe issue?

 

[halimark]

2000 Turned out to be make believe but I and 200+ others were locked down on a warship waiting for sky to fall and anarchy to erupt over Vic. Not a great news years party. Nothing happened and we stood down in AM day after. Y2K was an expensive non event. Thanks to any who may have prevented anything. Lets hope my units work after this next episode. Could be a reason to upgrade, OR maybe that's what the companies are really planning for??

HM

 

[Gong Show]

Y2K was a great reason to pack up my truck and take my dog to some desolate stretch of beach in the Baja.
Now I don't have a dog, but a wife and three daughters, thinking I should stick around the casa in April.

Can you give me a bit more warning on the next tech apocalypse?

 

[Cuba Libre]

Do I have to go into the bomb shelter again ???

 

[sir-vivor]

As someone that worked on the year 2000 problem I can assure you that it was real and huge problem. We were lucky that many smart and hard working IT professionals took this seriously and fixed the problem so that folks would wake up the next morning and find out that it was a non-issue. Ever consider that maybe we did our job and that's why you thought it was just a make believe issue?

|Yes and the IT persons or whom ever will save the world from the Satellite issues ..... Problems solved when I wake up lol

 

[GLG]

|Yes and the IT persons or whom ever will save the world from the Satellite issues ..... Problems solved when I wake up lol

Let's make a deal.... I'll not pretend to be a retired banker that was involved in the 2008 economic disaster and you pretend not to be a retired IT professional that was involved with turning the Y2K bug into a non-event.

But I should add that our Canadian banking system held up much better then our friends to the south did. So there is that...

 

[GLG]

For others that are interested in the issue, as far as I can tell navigation may not be an issue with this rollover but if your GPS has the date and time displayed you will notice that the year may be wrong. Most systems can be patched with a firmware update from your supplier. This issue is for models 10-15 years of age. Best to see if it's a problem then fix accordingly. Here is a link to lowrance downloads.
https://downloads.lowrance.com/

 

[sir-vivor]

For others that are interested in the issue, as far as I can tell navigation may not be an issue with this rollover but if your GPS has the date and time displayed you will notice that the year may be wrong. Most systems can be patched with a firmware update from your supplier. This issue is for models 10-15 years of age. Best to see if it's a problem then fix accordingly. Here is a link to lowrance downloads.
https://downloads.lowrance.com/

See, Thanks to IT peoples the world is better lol, Thanks GLG !
Hey, if a guy does a download will it wipe out our waypoints ????
Secondly , should we do the update before or after April ???
Again, Thanks !!!

 

[GLG]

See, Thanks to IT peoples the world is better lol, Thanks GLG !
Hey, if a guy does a download will it wipe out our waypoints ????
Secondly , should we do the update before or after April ???
Again, Thanks !!!

Feel free to contact your son or daughter, perhaps they can send over one of their kids to help you.

 

[fish brain]

For others that are interested in the issue, as far as I can tell navigation may not be an issue with this rollover but if your GPS has the date and time displayed you will notice that the year may be wrong. Most systems can be patched with a firmware update from your supplier. This issue is for models 10-15 years of age. Best to see if it's a problem then fix accordingly. Here is a link to lowrance downloadslhttps://downloads.lowrance.com/

I don't care if my unit tells me the correct time or date, as long as it knows where I am .

 

[GLG]

I don't care if my unit tells me the correct time or date, as long as it knows where I am .

I could live with that. In fact I lived with that with my old GPS as it was out by one hour for the last 3 weeks of March every year. I knew it was a problem and I knew why it was a problem. Never bothered to fix it as it would correct itself come April.

 

[GLG]

LOL...we all know that there were lots of scams going on regarding the lead up to Y2K, but there were a small amount of real things that concerned many IT people which needed attention and solutions in order to roll over unscathed. Un-Like global warming, climate change and ice ages we have no heroes that can save us if it is at all real. LOL
https://www.regulation.org.uk/library/2017-y2k_bug_evaluation.pdf

Thanks for the PDF, interesting read and it touched on some of the systems that concerned many of us during that time. We definitely view that time and now from two different viewpoints. I suspect that history may not look kindly on your viewpoint.

 

[Howzer]

2000 Turned out to be make believe but I and 200+ others were locked down on a warship waiting for sky to fall and anarchy to erupt over Vic. Not a great news years party. Nothing happened and we stood down in AM day after. Y2K was an expensive non event. Thanks to any who may have prevented anything. Lets hope my units work after this next episode. Could be a reason to upgrade, OR maybe that's what the companies are really planning for??

HM

Yeah, I made quite a few hours of O/T on that myself....
GPS roll-over issues are real and there were some problems with 5 yr. old chart-plotters just last November due to the type of integrated circuit used in several manufacturers devices.