I have a 998 on the bow and an 1197 on the console, connected with an interlink. My problem started last year when I was travelling across the lake and suddenly my console unit turned off, like it lost power or something (998 was off already since trolling motor was stowed). When I turned the 1197 back on, I had lost all my waypoints. Later, when I turned both units on things re-synched and all data was there. I thought this was pretty odd but I didn't have any more problems until this year.
I took both of my units to my dealer and had them update the software so I could learn how to do it. The next week when I took my boat out, I was fishing around a waypoint and both units became sluggish, meaning the course data wasn't changing when the boat changed direction. The course information changed several seconds later. My buddy was watching the 1197 while I was at the bow watching the 998 and both behaved similarly. Finally, the 998 relayed a message stating that "no GPS was connected" and it reverted back to a regular fish finder. When I checked the connections it didn't think the GPS or interlink existed. At this point the 1197 returned to normal.
I updated the software on both units again in my driveway to the absolute most current levels and the 998 seemed to be okay. But this past weekend I was on Lake Cumberland and the same thing happened. The 998 course information just froze and then the unit lost connection. The 1197 was working perfectly, including GPS information.
My boat dealer says they have seen a lot of interlink units go bad after a software update. They think the interlink unit needs to be replaced. But a software update on a fishfinder, causing a physical device like an interlink to go bad doesn't make sense to me.
Anyone have any idea what might be going on? I considering sending my 998 in for repair since I still have a few months under warranty, and also having the interlink replaced. I would appreciate any information anyone can provide. Thanks much.