Please help (severe firmware problem)

[Ertihan]

Hi! It's my first time here so please be gentle. I just recently purchased a TomTom GO 720. It worked perfectly fine on the way home, and also when I updated it by attaching it to my PC. But when I detached it, things started going horribly wrong. Basically, I think it is bricked; when I turn the thing on, it stays at the beginning screen forever . Is there any way to do a physical restore (i.e. reset to factory defaults)? For future reference, is there any way to reset TomTom to factory defaults in case I do something silly? I did back it up (I did that immediately) but I can't use the restore if it can't even connect to the PC!

I tried resetting it, but it is still stuck on the initial screen ... I don't know what else I can do. What I really need is for the reset button to also purge the device of all data so I can do a full reinstall, but it seems it doesn't do that.

I'll try going back to the store (it was bought today, so it's literally less than a day old, surely I can get a replacement for that case) but I was hoping maybe someone here knows how to get this thing working again? Thanks in advance...

EDIT: I might as well ask this, even though my TomTom is kaput: I tried to download the free map from the Latest Map Guarantee, and it seems that it gets to 99% and stops, with an error saying "Internal Server Error". Is there any bypass to this? Why is this happening? I already sent an email to customer service, maybe they'll know, but once again I'm trying everywhere.

 

[Locotuss]

Chill, take a deep breath, count to ten and call TomTom Support, I had the new update on Wed. and mine would not go pass the start splash screen. Fernando walked me through using updates from tomTom site it took about twebty minutes and now I am working fine. Due to their clitch the restore would not work.

He said that support was receiving enormous amounts of "Help Me" today.

 

[Pedro2NR]

Try connecting the unit back to your computer. If your unit is not up to date then install the lastest firmwire. This may help you out.

If this doesn't work, you can always exchange the unit for another.

 

[Ertihan]

See, that's just the thing: it's stuck on the first splash screen: i.e. it doesn't even give me a chance to install the firmware. I'm just making a wild guess at the firmware being the problem mainly because that's all I did to the device. Locotuss: do you think you could possibly post what exactly customer service told you to do? You mentioned he asked you to use updates from the TomTom site ... could you be more specific?

The big problem right now is that it starts and freezes at the splash, which means that most of the normal solutions involving connecting to the PC, or going into the menus to hit the "restore to factory settings" (I finally figured out how to do that, belatedly, from the manuals), is impossible. I put the device into the PC adapter ... but it won't recognize the device (probably because it's still stuck at splash screen).

If worst comes to worst I can always return it to the store for a replacement. Great thing about America is that just about every store has a 7-day return/exchange policy, and I still have my receipt, so if I have to, there's that. But I'm really hoping I don't have to go that far. But I've tried resetting the TomTom and that doesn't help ... so how do I get it past that stupid splash screen?

But let's just assume I shall bite the bullet, and exchange my TomTom for a new one. I still would appreciate knowing why the map downloaded from the Latest Map Guarantee stops at 99% and then throws some odd "Internal Server Error". Or why some other downloads, like POIs, just fail completely, with just an Error saying "Error". I'll talk to customer service tomorrow, of course, but as I said before, I'm looking for all the help I can get right now.

 

[Locotuss]

okay, I'm at work, now, when I get home i'll see if I can find the update pages on tomtom site that support sent me to. again try to contact support, mine is working great now that they helped out. your trouble sounds identical to what mine did

 

[gary61]

Would you happen to be using a wireless connection for downloading the map up grade, i had the same problem trying to download the update always getting internal server error, called tech support they told me to connect my laptop directly to my router via cable and it worked the first time, give that a try after you fix your other problems. good luck Gary

 

[Locotuss]

okay the info support gave me was specific to the 910/510, I'm sure support will walk you through the 720's. yours sounds like it was doing the same as mine. Try that before having to take back to store support is 866-486-6866