Fusion Musings

[FlyFishinRVr]

Originally Posted by FlyFishinRVr

Well, it looks like the little gnomes at Fusion/Garmin have been busy and they uploaded a new zip file along with new instructions on how to install the 3.10 update.

OK, I just completed this update. Gotta say, it wasn't terrific. When you're updating/upgrading an Android system, the last thing you want to see on the display is the dead Android with a red triangle that just says "Error". Well....that's what I got, and a completely inoperative Fusion system. After the error it would just boot to a screen that said Fusion, no splash screen, and there it sat.

So....not much I could do but ignore their dire warnings of not turning off power and turn off power (wall switch, so hard power, not the soft power on the face of the Fusion). Since the first half of the update went fine (VIM update), I left the second USB stick in place and (hard) rebooted a few times. By some miracle, the system recovered enough to recognize that the second update had failed and offered to try again. Why not, it was DOA without it. The second try worked!!! Huzzah! I checked the system files and sure enough, 3.1 was in there. I checked out basic functionality, and it seemed to be working. Phew!!!

Once the system was back up and running, I decided to try to get the Auto+ app working (main reason for trying this update). It had been dead since the 2.9 update and no combination of turning Bluetooth on and off or pairing/unpairing would get it back to its happy place. Well...I'm happy to say I was able to get this app working again, but it took some patience and fiddling. Basically, if you update to 3.1, remove your phone from the Fusion device list, remove the Fusion from your phone device list, reset your Bluetooth on both devices (turn off, wait 10 secs, then turn back on) and start fresh. What worked for me was pairing the two devices using the Auto+ app on my phone FIRST, and then pairing them via the Fusion's Bluetooth menu. This was the only way I was able to see the "Connect+" device in the Fusion's Bluetooth menu which would allow the Auto+ app on the phone to talk to the Fusion. In the end, you'll have two RV-IN801 entries in your phone's Bluetooth device list, and once everything is working, both will be connected at the same time.

There you go. Easy as.....NOT! They make this about as freaking hard as it can be, so I'll give fair warning that this update isn't for the feint hearted. If you don't know what you're doing, you could very easily end up with a non-operational Fusion. Unless there is something in this update that you just can't live without, I suggest avoiding it....like the plague.

The software team responsible for this abomination should be flogged.....

[mrgolf]

I tried unsuccessfully to get the 3.1 update to load. I agree the instructions and process are incredibly weak. For starters, is one to ignore the standard approach/message on the Fusion of "Create Card" using the Fusion before creating the Garmin and Update folders from your PC? I tried it both ways of going with a clean SD card and following their instructions and also trying to first Create Card on the Fusion and then adding only an Update folder, because the Garmin folder automatically gets created by Create Card. In both cases, when I stick the SD card in the Fusion radio with all the step 1 files, there is message "Preparing Card" in the upper left, and then nothing happens. I never even get to step 2. I am using a Mac to move the files to the SD card, so perhaps they can't handle that unusual form of technology. Ha!.