Bricked 2 TomTom One's in one day!

So, picked up a new TomTom One v3 from BestBuy. Played with it on the way home, worked like a charm. Got home, installed TomTom Home v1.5 Bld106. Backed up the unit and got all of a 1kb backup. Disconnect unit and the hard drive is bricked. File system showed there was 900+ Mb of file spaces used, but no files. Spent 1.5 hours on the phone with TomTom. They were quite friendly but could not get the device running. They told me to return it to BestBuy, which happily swapped the unit out.

This evening I had a meeting in another town and used the 2nd TomTom One to egt there and back successfully. Once I get home, I dock the unit to back it up and...... this one bricks as well. Aarrgghh Boot loader shows "File System Alignment: Not Perfect". Any clues? The fact that both bricked is alarming. The likelihood of it being user error is very low as I dock USB devices on this laptop all the time with no crashes / errors. I like the unit, but this is a pretty bad run of breakage.

Yikes! Sorry to hear that.

So it sounds like the backup is somehow corrupting the unit?? When you were backing up the TT1 v3, did it acutally finish the process? Also, what OS are you running on the laptop?

Both times the backup was a 1kb backup, simple consisting of the TomTom Home ini file. Backups were to an HP DV8040DV laptop running XP-Pro, 32bit, SP2, fully patched, Trend Micro Anti Virus. On that same box, I back up my PocketPC phone, 2 digital cameras, etc, so I know the USB circuits are clean.

When you connect the unit to the computer, shut down 'Home' and see if you can see the unit with Windows Explorer. It should show up as a hard drive.

If you can do this, then drag and drop the map folder on to your hard drive. The map is the most valuable item. The software parts can all be downloaded and reinstalled, but if the map is gone, you will have to get on your knees before TomTom Customer Service and plead.

The map folder will be somewhere around 850 mb so it will be a significant file copy. Once the map is safely copied, you can do what you have to do to the internal memory. (Can these things be reformatted like an SD card???)

In addition to what 46jimbo, this is just a suggestion, but disable the AV for the period of time you are doing the backup. I work for a software comapny and there are many times when the AV gets in the way (scanning everything being written/read from the drive) which slow things down and even corrupt files which I think happened in your case.

Hi Jbegley.
Read the Battom's sticky 'TomTom best practices' in the General Discussion forums before playing with your TomTom.

I think your laptop that is backing up all your other USB devices is having a conflict.

Consider not connecting the third Tomtom to that PC or manually back up the flash RAM (not a hard drive) or SD card yourself without the backup software. Just drag and copy...

You or your PC are killing these Tomtoms - they are not that unreliable.
_______________________________________________________________
Some terminology I haven't heard before:
"bricked" and "clean USB circuits".

jbegley said:

So, picked up a new TomTom One v3 from BestBuy. Played with it on the way home, worked like a charm. Got home, installed TomTom Home v1.5 Bld106. Backed up the unit and got all of a 1kb backup. Disconnect unit and the hard drive is bricked. File system showed there was 900+ Mb of file spaces used, but no files. Spent 1.5 hours on the phone with TomTom. They were quite friendly but could not get the device running. They told me to return it to BestBuy, which happily swapped the unit out.

This evening I had a meeting in another town and used the 2nd TomTom One to egt there and back successfully. Once I get home, I dock the unit to back it up and...... this one bricks as well. Aarrgghh Boot loader shows "File System Alignment: Not Perfect". Any clues? The fact that both bricked is alarming. The likelihood of it being user error is very low as I dock USB devices on this laptop all the time with no crashes / errors. I like the unit, but this is a pretty bad run of breakage.

Click to expand...

We have exactly the same story. We bought one unit that died after trying to connect to TomTom Home. The update never completed and we were forced to unplug the USB cable without "ejecting". Afterwards, it would only boot-up into a flashing orange "X" and no longer connected to TomTom Home. We returned the first GPS and tried again more carefully. This time after simply connecting to TomTom Home without trying to update anything, the unit died with exactly the same symptoms. We also saw the "File System Alignment: Not Perfect" message.

FYI, both units were purchased in Lisbon, Portugal.

We were impressed with the GPS hardware, but TomTom obvisously has some serious quality control problems with their software.

--Ben

You Are Scaring Me

Maybe I dodged a bullet here. When I try to backup, the TomTom Home software freezes, I force quit it. The TomTom unit seems fine, so far. I'm using a Mac, not a PC, so that may be the difference.

I emailed TomTom and they sent me instructions telling me to deinstall Home and then go to a link to get the latest version to reinstall. Then if all else fails they gave me instructions for a manual backup, but those are for a PC.

I emailed them back, telling them I use a Mac. I'm waiting for revised instructions.

Yikes sorry to hear that. I wouldn't force to pull the plug. I would always turn off the unit. If the unit doesnt turn off, I would do a hard reset to turn it off. then unplug the cable.
sorry to hear about the bad experience.

Hey SimonJester,
I am having trouble finding the email address to TomTom bc I'm having issues myself w/ my TT. Could you advise me what is their email? Thanks!

boriecua82 said:

Hey SimonJester,
I am having trouble finding the email address to TomTom bc I'm having issues myself w/ my TT. Could you advise me what is their email? Thanks!

Click to expand...

To contact TT via email you need to:

1. First create an account through the TT website

2. Click on the support tab

3. Click on All-in-one navigation and choose your model

4. Select a category

5. You will then see a link at the bottom contact us, click on this. It will bring you to a form where you can submit your question.

Second dead one in two weeks.

I really wanted to like the one. The unit seems to be fairly sturdy, with a nice, easy to use interface. I plugged my first tomtom into my vista pc (after installed home), and it allowed me to download the new ephemeris file. It worked a few days, I re-connected it, and as it was installing a file, it gave an error message. When I turned it back on, it gave me a white x with a red circle around it... dead... Explorer showed that the drive was 90% full, but it wouldn't show any files... it appeared blank. I returned it for another one, this time using my wife's computer (in case vista had an issue). After about 1 week of use, the same thing happened. DEAD. Nice product with very poor software/hardware. The product is meant for the casual pc user, not an expert... I know I didn't do anything wrong. I'm returning it, and going for a Garmin. Too bad, I liked the little guy.

Very poor quality control

Well... after speaking to the BestBuy CR, it seems that they get a fair number of one's back for the same reason. I'm not going to waste my money on another one, so I purchased the Garmin instead. So far, I'm glad I did. Not to knock the software on the Tomtom, but the North American mapping data is far superior on the Garmin. The routing engine seems a bit more solid as well.

It's unfortunate that I will not be recommending the TomTom products to my friends, as it was, while it lasted, a great little navigator.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

Same here

I've got the exact same problem after trying to back up my wife's and my neighbors. I have a backup for a GO300, can I use that? Avoiding Home with the ONE series should be your first priority.

-- Mark

Sorry, I don't mean to go off topic. I also bought my TT One last week on sale but from Radio Shack, and they were both V4's. Bought two, for the wife and I. Did I just happen to get lucky with getting a Version 4....?

SimonJester said:

Maybe I dodged a bullet here. When I try to backup, the TomTom Home software freezes, I force quit it.

Click to expand...

Mac have terribly slow USB throughput speed ( all flavors of Macs, even if you use a third party USB2 card ), it takes can take forever to see any activity with the backup and to respond to a cancel. Is it possible that it was just being a slow?

j

SimonJester said:

Maybe I dodged a bullet here. When I try to backup, the TomTom Home software freezes, I force quit it. The TomTom unit seems fine, so far. I'm using a Mac, not a PC, so that may be the difference.

I emailed TomTom and they sent me instructions telling me to deinstall Home and then go to a link to get the latest version to reinstall. Then if all else fails they gave me instructions for a manual backup, but those are for a PC.

I emailed them back, telling them I use a Mac. I'm waiting for revised instructions.

Click to expand...

SimonJester - I also have a MAC. It's a MBP 2.33MHz 10.4.10 TomTom One - one of the E series, sometimes called US version by TomTom personell. I have TomTom Home v1.5 whaich they say is the latest for MAC. Backup seems to work fine but is so slow it's not worth the trouble. Much faster is to use an SD Card reader and copy all files to some folder you create. In my case 1.76 Gig of files backs up(copies) in about 4 minutes.
I have used these copied files to set up new SD cards and they work fine - I carry one B/U with me on long trips as a safety and keep one at home just in case.
Hope this helps.
rhys

Support got my "Brick" back to normal

Well, I thought I had bricked my TomTom One 3rd edition.
Started out when I tried to Upgrade the TomTom Home software/Device
Tried the de-install Home and use the exe file from a previous post - all no good
I could still plug into a laptop and see the drive (f:/ in my case)
Anyway maybe the 3rd edition was desgned for a quick restore/rest because I eventually emailed support and got reply back which I ollowed and did indeed get my TomTom back (phew!)
Response is below but the solution was to reformat the f:/ drive - the internal drive for the device - I have now made a backup of the device (just i case)

- Steve

----------------------- from TomTom Support-----------------------
Rest assured, we do have a solution to get the device back up and running. We recommend reformatting your TomTom ONE 3rd Edition. Once reformatted we can than reinstall the software application, maps, and voices to the device. We have associated a map file with your TomTom account to reinstall. Please follow the steps provided to format your TomTom ONE 3rd Edition.

- Plug the unit into your computer via USB and power it on.

- Either minimize or close TomTom HOME.

To format with a Windows system please:

- Select My Computer on your Windows desktop.

- Right click on the TomTom drive.

- Select Format.

- Select Start. Do not select any other option as this may cause difficulties in downloading information onto the internal memory.

Once the format has completed, please leave the TomTom ONE 3rd Edition connected to your computer. Just click 'Okay' to acknowledge the format has completed.

Reinstall the application and maps:

- After the unit is formatted, close 'My Computer' and start TomTom HOME.

- Log into your TomTom account by clicking on log in from the upper right hand corner.

- TomTom HOME will automatically find your updates.

- Follow the onscreen instructions.

- This will install your application and map data back to your unit. This process may take up to 45 minutes to an hour.

Reinstall the voices:

- On the left hand side of TomTom HOME select Visit Online Store.

- From the next menu select Voices.

- Scroll down until you see the free English speaking voices.

- Select and download the ones you want.

- Follow the onscreen instructions.

- This will reinstall your voices.

Your unit will now be completely reinstalled and back to original working condition. You can now safely disconnect by clicking ?Device? and selecting ?Disconnect device? from the top of the screen. Unplug the USB cable and let the unit reset and load up. You should now have a fully functional TomTom!


To format with a Mac system please:

- After the unit is connected, it should automatically mount on the Mac Desktop.

- Select Macintosh HD.

- Select Applications.

- Select Utilities.

- Select Disk Utility

- Inside Disk Utility, click on the TomTom Disk.

- Click on the Erase tab up near the top/center of the screen.

- The default Volume Format should be MS-DOS File System ; If not, just use the drop down arrow to change it.

- The default name of the drive should be populated as TOMTOM DISK. If it is not, please give it a name.

- Click on Erase.

Reinstall the application and maps:

- After the unit is formatted, close 'My Computer' and start TomTom HOME.

- Log into your TomTom account by clicking on log in from the upper right hand corner.

- TomTom HOME will automatically find your updates.

- Follow the onscreen instructions.

- This will install your application and map data back to your unit. This process may take up to 45 minutes to an hour.

Reinstall the voices:

- On the left hand side of TomTom HOME select Visit Online Store.

- From the next menu select Voices.

- Scroll down until you see the free English speaking voices.

- Select and download the ones you want.

- Follow the onscreen instructions.

- This will reinstall your voices.

Your unit will now be completely reinstalled and back to original working condition. You can now safely disconnect by clicking ?Device? and selecting ?Disconnect device? from the top of the screen. Unplug the USB cable and let the unit reset and load up. You should now have a fully functional TomTom!