Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I've signed up specifically to say thanks for this suggestion. It worked absolutely perfectly to fix my Go 720. Seriously, mvl - great work. Thank you very much.

Perhaps mvl's solution should be made into a sticky, since there are at least half a dozen threads from users reporting this problem (albeit in often confusingly different ways). The problem seems to be common on Go 720s with the (final, it appears) 8.351 firmware.

This solution appears to be the only one that has a technical basis for providing a permanent fix and doesn't involve the futile voodoo rituals suggested by certain others.

 

For a Kiwi, anything...........

For the moment, I have made this thread a sticky. Mind you, the shut off reports have been few and far between lately.

__________________
TomTom 720--NA Map 855--WCE Map 840--NZ Map 835--App 8.351

 

Heh! Thanks!

Perhaps people have moved on to newer models or just given up. It's a shame that TomTom hasn't seen fit to fix this problem - it reflects quite badly on them. I'm certainly not going to be buying another TomTom product any time soon!

 

There is a method that often helps to prevent the unit from automatically shutting down (doesn't just apply to a 720)...

Make a text file with notepad called noautosuspend.dat and just put a 1 in it, nothing else. Put that file in the root of the unit.

Make sure that the file truly is called noautosuspend.dat and NOT noautosuspend.dat.txt (save the file as 'all files' when created, not as a 'text file')

__________________
TomTom 720--NA Map 855--WCE Map 840--NZ Map 835--App 8.351

 

... or have never experienced this particular problem. I'm still running a 720 with 8.351 and have never seen this.

__________________
GO720 - NC 8.351 w/NA2GB 855, GO740TMLive - NC 9.054, w/NA2GB 855

 

Just connected my Tomtom 720 to tomtom home for the first time in a year. The first thing I did was run backup routine, then the check for updates routine. All seemed to work OK. Then Tomtom home wanted to be updated so I did that too, and during that process I noticed that my 720 had turned off. It wouldn't turn back on without a reset. So I plugged it back in, got the "do you want to connect" question, said yes, and it turned straight off requiring several attempts at reset to get it to turn back on. This happens every time that I connect to my computer whether TTHome is running or not, as soon as I say yes, it turns off and requires a reset.

So I'm very grateful for this thread being here, but I don't understand how to follow the fix, how do I get the system file onto my TT if I cant connect to the computer? My TT has all the bootloader and software versions listed in this thread 8.351 5.5120 etc, I don't know what versions it had before I plugged it in this morning! Don't know if its relevant but my computer is running Vista - yuk

 

Well, worth a shot, maybe.......

If you have a sdhc card and a card reader, you could download the 8.351 application from here and use WinRar to install on the sdhc card.

Then, insert the card into the 720 and turn the unit on. Should boot to the card. That may keep the unit on long enough to implement the 'noautosuspend.dat' file fix.

__________________
TomTom 720--NA Map 855--WCE Map 840--NZ Map 835--App 8.351

 

Press the reset pin to shut off the Tomtom. Then dock/connect the Tomtom to the computer. Then turn it on.

__________________
Current Tomtoms:

GO 740 app 9.054 (weekdays)
Map North America 2GB 855 + map subscription
+ LIVE services

GO 930 app 8.302 (weekends)
Map North America 855 + map subscription
Map WCE_2GB 825
+ PLUS traffic + Fuel prices + free safety cameras

HOME 2.7.4.1962 - WinXPproSP3

Prior Tomtoms:
Go 720, Go 510, One Limited Edition, One 2nd edition (all sold)

 

Thank you both for your rapid input.

The reset and then turn on in cradle trick worked a treat and gave me access to the TT internal memory. I correctly created the noautosuspend.dat file as suggested and copied it to the TT root directory, but unfortunately it hasn't changed the instant turn off problem. However using MVL's trick again, this time selecting the TThome option installed a new copy of TThome (dont know why!) and let me go straight into it without having to answer the connect to your computer question that seems to cause the problem.

So I am now logged in to TT and (I suspect rather rashly) am now updating my maps at great expense! If the back door route to get into TTHome continues to work, I might leave it at that, rather than risk bricking my TT having just spent £70 on new maps as I only rarely connect my TT to the computer.

Many Many thanks,

Mike

 

Just updated my GO 720 to bootloader 5.5229 and all working fine now