Data Hacking

130 Part II — Software Hacks
You won’t be able to get any support from the manufacturer for altering or modifying the
firmware. In fact, having modified firmware on the device may well invalidate your warranty.
Bypassing the Garmin eTrex Vista Startup Screen
One annoying feature of the eTrex range is that when the unit starts up, it takes you to a
startup screen. This means you have to press buttons or wait for the satellite screen, which
I find really annoying. There is a way around this, but only using an older firmware version
(2.28 as opposed to the latest 3.60). However, using older firmware does mean that you lose
any new features introduced (such as the JumpMaster feature — however, this particular feature
is only relevant to experienced parachutists).
Here’s how to bypass the startup screen:
1. Download a copy of the latest firmware from the Garmin website (www.garmin.com).
Keep this just in case of problems.
2. Download a copy of the 2.28 version firmware for the Garmin eTrex Vista from www.
gpsinformation.org/perry/vista/Vista_2_28.exe (read the agreement at
www.gpsinformation.org/perry/agree.html first).
3. The download comes in a compressed file. Uncompress the file and extract the contents.
4. Find the file called 016901000228.RGN, as shown in Figure 6-6.
FIGURE 6-6: The main
file that contains the
firmware information
5. You now need a program called a hex editor. I’m using one called UltraEdit, available
from www.ultraedit.com (shown in Figure 6-7), but many are available on the
Internet so fire up your browser and do a search for “hex editor.” You need to open
016901000228.RGN and make a few small edits to it.
6. Go to the address 00024024 (there is a go to function in most good hex editors) and
change F5 to 6D, as shown in Figure 6-8.
7. Go to the address 00024025 and change 24 to BA, as shown in Figure 6-9.