Corrupted map

[SnowThief]

Hi.

My dad just bought a TomTom One IQ Routes Edition. He connected it to his PC and it said he didn't have the newest version of the map it came with, and asked if he wanted to update it for free. He accepted and could see the download would take a while, so he went to bed.

During the night, his computer shut off, possibly because of power saving settings, which I have now disabled.

The next morning the unit said "No maps found". I told him to contact TomTom by phone and they sent him an e-mail saying:

1. Turn off anti virus and firewalls
2. Backup
3. Delete Documents\Downloads\TomTom\Downloads and \FromDevice
4. Delete the folder containing the map from the TomTom drive
5. Restart home and search for updates
6. If download of the map is not offered, use the "Guarantee for newest map" function

I've done all this (and yes, I've backed the device up with explorer as well), but the problem is no map download is offered and the "Guarantee for newest map" says: "The latest map guarantee does not apply to the map that is currently installed on your TomTom device." The unit is brand new, not even refurbished.

I will try calling TomTom tomorrow, but the problem is I don't live with my parents anymore and so it's going to be hard for me to test anything they tell me and my dad doesn't get home until after customer service closes. AND on Saturday they're driving on vacation, so that's just perfect.

Does anyone have any idea about what to try? I have tried formatting the unit and the result was exactly the same: No map download was offered.

 

[dhn]

Unfortunately, if you've followed all the instructions you listed, you probably will not be able to be able to do anything without calling support for your country again.

You see, sometimes the download is ok but Home screws up the installation and, as a consequence, a significant file with the extension of .meta.dct never gets installed from the downloaded .cab file to the map folder on the unit. And this file is necessary for the activation of the map.

So, if indeed, you have not got the map here:
C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\TomTom\HOME\Downloads\complete\maps\

you'll probably have to call support.

Before you do, however, if you can look at the contents of the unit and see a map folder, look for a file ending in .pna. Open with Notepad and it'll show what map is installed on the unit. If, by a miracle, it does show 845 as the map version, then go looking in the map folder for the meta.dct file.

If it IS there, then download and run the Clear Flash tool from here: tomtom.com/6211 and run it 3 times. It may help. If not, try resetting the unit (hold the power button for about 10 seconds).

If all that is not working or if you do NOT see the meta.dict file AND you do not have the compressed map in the location I listed, then you have to call support.

 

[SnowThief]

So, if indeed, you have not got the map here:
C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\TomTom\HOME\Downloads\complete\maps\

you'll probably have to call support.

That would be one of the two folders TomTom support instructed us to delete in step 3.

Before you do, however, if you can look at the contents of the unit and see a map folder, look for a file ending in .pna. Open with Notepad and it'll show what map is installed on the unit. If, by a miracle, it does show 845 as the map version, then go looking in the map folder for the meta.dct file.

It does say 845, but there is no meta.dct or meta.dict, as you spelled it below.

Thank you very much for your time.

 

[mvl]

You should be able to do "Update my XL" and get your maps back. Once Tomtom HOME authorizes a map download for your PC and email account, their servers will remember it for at least a year and get you your maps for free. If it doesn't work, post back as there are other things you can try.

 

[SnowThief]

Hi mvl.

I tried that many, many times. I called TomTom support the next day, got immediately through and talked to a nice woman. She said she could see we had only downloaded the map once, so it should have no problem doing another download, but it just kept saying that "Guaranteed latest map" didn't include the map that was currently installed on the GPS. She helped me go through deleting everything one more time, even though I had tried just about everything the day before. When it still didn't work, she put the map up for free download for me, and I downloaded and installed it just fine, so the GPS was ready for my parents' vacation the next day.

Thanks for your time, both of you.