Entering Maintenance Mode on IFD540
Printed From: Avidyne
Category: Avidyne General
Forum Name: IFD 5 Series & IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM
Forum Description: Topics on Avidyne's IFD 5 Series and IFD 4 Series Touch Screen GPS/NAV/COM
URL: http://forums.avidyne.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=936
Printed Date: 09 May 2025 at 8:14am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Entering Maintenance Mode on IFD540
Posted By: cbenedikt
Subject: Entering Maintenance Mode on IFD540
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2016 at 6:52pm
| Is there a way to enter maintenance mode on an IFD540 without having to have a USB flash drive inserted into the USB socket? |
Replies:
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2016 at 6:57pm
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Yes. AUX page, SYS tab, press left side LSK until you see "Download Logs" button then press it. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: cbenedikt
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2016 at 11:54pm
Thank you!!! |
AviJake wrote:Posted By: DavidBunin
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2016 at 7:02am
|
The IFD needs to be "on the ground" to go into maintenance mode, which means you might need to roll it out of the hangar to get a GPS fix. (It hasn't been a problem for me in the plane, but it has when working with the unit on a test bench with no GPS signal.) David Bunin |
Posted By: oskrypuch
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2016 at 11:41am
|
I normally update my databases in the hangar, on a GPU, with no GPS lock. So a GPS lock (or lack thereof) is not required for maintenance mode entry. Interesting that it is blocked in the air, I haven't ever tried that.
* Orest |
Posted By: cbenedikt
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2016 at 10:10pm
I usually do the same. However, I was trying to pair the Bluetooth keyboard and forgot my USB drive which is usually how I boot into maintenance mode and did not know how to do it any other way. Now, thanks to this forum, I know. :) |
Posted By: Joe Jet
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 9:45am
|
I did the same, but selected update databases. Also, after attempting to load 10.1.1.0 in a command station dock and sliding back into my airplane, I had to pull my airplane out of the hangar and get a GPS signal to get the software update to continue. ------------- A36 w/IFD 540, PA60 w/IFD 540 |
Posted By: DavidBunin
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 11:14am
True. What is required is for the IFD to know that it is on the ground. The GPS lock is one method for achieving that condition. Some airplanes have a WOW switch (Weight On Wheels, or squat switch) that provides a positive air/ground input to the IFD. It is also possible that the unit "remembers" being on the ground when it was last shut down. Like I said, I've had it be a problem on the bench. I don't know exactly why it hasn't presented in the airplane. I do know that powering up with a USB device inserted is a more-positive way of forcing the unit into maintenance mode than trying to transition into MM from Normal Flight mode. Like Joe Jet above, I favor "Update Databases" over "Download Logs" but it's really the same thing. Look at the page in flight sometime, and you will observe that neither option is available. There is no second Line Select option. David Bunin |
Posted By: AviJake
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 1:01pm
|
There is no need for GPS lock to get into Mx Mode. We do that dozens of time per day in the lab for the past 4 years. One behavioral point - if the IFD was shut down "in air" (meaning the unit thought it was flying), it will power up the next time in "in-air" mode. This is so that if a power interruption were experienced in flight, you don't have to cycle through all those startup pages just to get back to a usable unit. It makes no difference on using the "Update Databases" or "Download Logs" buttons. Both take you to maintenance mode. One takes you to the Update tab and the other one takes to the Download tab but you can navigate around the various tabs just the same either way. ------------- Steve Jacobson sjacobson@avidyne.com |
Posted By: brou0040
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 1:28pm
My guess would be that you didn't need to get a GPS signal, rather the software checked for some external peripheral such as the GPS antenna that was not connected to the docking station. If this were the case, perhaps there is a way you could wire up your docking station to simulate these signals in order to be able to do complete updates in the docking station.
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Posted By: clydeps
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 2:13pm
| I have seen the behaviour where the IFD won't go into maintenance mode because it thinks it's in the air - I fired it up in the hangar on ground power, it must have got enough of a GPS signal to go into "in-air" mode. I could not get into maintenance mode until I rolled the plane out of the hangar and allowed it to get a proper lock. As Steve points out even power cycling doesn't help. The #2 IFD was not affected. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. |