The current software for the Minelab X-TERRA PRO is build 1.79.0-3.3.4, released in June 2024. It is a small update with one feature, but if you detect anywhere near power lines, houses or cell towers it is worth four minutes with a laptop: a continuous noise cancel that finds clean channels a one-shot cancel misses. It is free, your settings survive it, and it can be rolled back.
Which detectors this covers
This update is for the X-TERRA PRO only. The X-TERRA ELITE shipped with current software from the factory and needs nothing. The Equinox 700 and 900 received a larger update at the same time, with the Iron Bias -1 setting as well; that one is covered in our Equinox 700 and 900 software update post. Iron Bias -1 is not part of the X-TERRA PRO release, so do not go looking for it in the menu.
Continuous Auto Noise Cancel
Before this update, Noise Cancel on the X-TERRA PRO ran once and picked the quietest channel at that moment. Now, with Noise Cancel selected in the Settings menu, you press and hold the Accept/Reject button and the detector keeps sampling every channel for as long as you hold it. A longer sample measures each channel more accurately and catches interference that comes and goes, which is exactly the kind that makes a machine chatter for no visible reason.
Run it for 30 to 60 seconds when you arrive at a site, and again if the chatter picks up. In a tot lot next to a cell tower, a spot that used to be a write-off, a long noise cancel found a clean channel and the X-TERRA PRO stayed quiet for the rest of the hunt. It matters most in parks and urban ground, which is where the X-TERRA PRO spends most of its life.
How to install the X-TERRA PRO update
The update runs through the X-TERRA PRO Minelab Update Utility, a small free program for Windows 10 or macOS 10.15 and later. Connect the detector to a USB 2.0 port with its magnetic charging cable, coil attached and detector switched on, and the utility does the rest.
- Plug straight into the computer, not through a USB hub, and check the magnetic connector is clean and seated. Set the detector on a stable surface and leave it alone during the update; a bumped connector is the usual cause of a failed install.
- The screen shows PC, then goes blank for a stretch while the core software installs and a green LED blinks. That is normal.
- Installation takes about four minutes, then the detector reboots and the utility tells you to disconnect.
- Your user settings carry over.
- The utility keeps every released version, so you can roll back from its menu if you ever need to.
If the update is interrupted, the detector may power up with a blank screen and a fast-blinking green LED. That just means it is waiting to finish. Restart the utility, reconnect, and run it again.
Is it worth doing?
Yes. It is one feature, but it is the feature the X-TERRA PRO most needed in the places it gets used. And this June 2024 release is the only update Minelab has issued for the machine since launch, so if your detector shows 1.79.0-3.3.4 you are current.
Deciding between the two X-TERRAs? Our best Minelab metal detectors guide covers where the PRO and the ELITE sit, and the X-TERRA ELITE review goes into the newer model in depth.
