Downloading Fix for 920 Stuttering

[mincat]

I am new to this board and have been trying to figure out how to install the fix for the 920 stuttering problem. Having received the e-mail from Tomtom for the download, I have been given 2 different ways....extract files or drag and drop. When I click on the link http://download.tomtom.com/sweet/navcore/navcore_8.010.9369.gox20.cab it opens a new tab and the screen is completely blank. I have tried to open with the Windows Explorer (default) and also save file. When I use save file and it finishing download, I open it and there are numerous files (cxt) etc. One e-mail I received told me that when I open the .cab file, there sould be 5 - 12 files listed. From what I can see, there are alot more than that.

I know the stuttering problem has been discussed in other threads, but it's the downloading and installing that I am having problems with. I'm hoping that somebody can give me a solution to this frustrating problem.

Thanks.

 

[dhn]

The downloaded cab file should be stored here:
C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\TomTom\HOME\Downloads\complete\program\

So.......backup your unit's contents using Explorer, not Home. Ensure hidden files/folders are showing.

Now, use Home and move to the icon 'remove items from my unit'. Select the program.

Now, use Home to move to 'items on my computer'. you should see 'program'. Click 'more information' to ensure it says version 8.01 and select it for installation.

 

[mincat]

The downloaded cab file should be stored here:
C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\TomTom\HOME\Downloads\complete\program\

So.......backup your unit's contents using Explorer, not Home. Ensure hidden files/folders are showing.

Now, use Home and move to the icon 'remove items from my unit'. Select the program.

Now, use Home to move to 'items on my computer'. you should see 'program'. Click 'more information' to ensure it says version 8.01 and select it for installation.

Thank you so much for your response. I did find the file in c:\Documents and Settings.........\program. It is navcore_8.01. When I open Home as you instructed, the program file is not in the "items on my computer".

What am I doing wrong now?

 

[dhn]

What application is Home saying IS on your computer?

 

[mincat]

There is only one item:

QuickGPSfix Data 0.1 MB

 

[dhn]

Only thing I can suggest is this:

Make a full Explorer, not Home, backup and ensure hidden files/folders are showing.

Now, using Explorer, delete all loose files in the root of the unit. Do NOT delete any folders or their contents.

Start Home. It should 'see' there is no firmware installed and offer to download for you. Accept it and install.

 

[mincat]

Only thing I can suggest is this:

Make a full Explorer, not Home, backup and ensure hidden files/folders are showing.

Now, using Explorer, delete all loose files in the root of the unit. Do NOT delete any folders or their contents.

Start Home. It should 'see' there is no firmware installed and offer to download for you. Accept it and install.

I am a newbie at this so please bear that in mind when I ask this question. I don't know how to do a backup using Internet Explorer. I don't use Explorer as my browser...I use Firefox but I still wouldn't know how to do the backup.

I feel so stupid for asking these questions.

 

[dhn]

Start your unit and connect to the computer. Don't start Home or, if it is running, shut it down.

Not Internet Explorer, WINDOWS Explorer. (You get to it by your START button-->Programs-->Accesories-->Windows Explorer.)

But before you do that, go to Control Panel-->Folder Options-->View-->(and in Advanced window) make sure the option to show hidden files/folder is checked.

And, before you do that, right click your 'My Computer' icon on your desktop. Select Open. Double click on the Hard Drive icon for c:.

You'll see all the folders in the root of the c: drive. (and loose files). Now, top menu, File-->New-->Folder and rename it something like 'TomTom backup'.

Once that is done, hit the back arrow key on your keyboard once or twice till you are seeing the screen (again) that you highlighted the c: drive before. This time, you are looking under the heading DEvices with Removable Storage and you should see the TomTom icon listed. Double click it. Now, you should see all the folders and files on your unit. Do a Control-A to highlight everything. In the task window, you should see the choice to 'copy selected items' Choose it. Now it needs to know where to copy the selected items. Double click the c: drive icon. Click ONCE on the new folder you created and select paste.

That is backing up your unit.

For another example of how it's done (with images) go here

 

[mincat]

Start your unit and connect to the computer. Don't start Home or, if it is running, shut it down.

Not Internet Explorer, WINDOWS Explorer. (You get to it by your START button-->Programs-->Accesories-->Windows Explorer.)

But before you do that, go to Control Panel-->Folder Options-->View-->(and in Advanced window) make sure the option to show hidden files/folder is checked.

And, before you do that, right click your 'My Computer' icon on your desktop. Select Open. Double click on the Hard Drive icon for c:.

You'll see all the folders in the root of the c: drive. (and loose files). Now, top menu, File-->New-->Folder and rename it something like 'TomTom backup'.

Once that is done, hit the back arrow key on your keyboard once or twice till you are seeing the screen (again) that you highlighted the c: drive before. This time, you are looking under the heading DEvices with Removable Storage and you should see the TomTom icon listed. Double click it. Now, you should see all the folders and files on your unit. Do a Control-A to highlight everything. In the task window, you should see the choice to 'copy selected items' Choose it. Now it needs to know where to copy the selected items. Double click the c: drive icon. Click ONCE on the new folder you created and select paste.

That is backing up your unit.

For another example of how it's done (with images) go here

I followed your instructions and I was able to do the update. Not sure what version I have now. I went for a short tour this morning and there was no stuttering. I will likely get a better idea if this solved the problem when I go for a longer drive.

Thank you again for all your help. I really appreciated your patience.

 

[dhn]

You find the firmware version by tapping the satellite bars. Tap the version number and the next screen shows the map installed and the version number.

Make a full Explorer, not Home, backup of the contents of your unit. Ensure hidden files/folders are showing.

 

[mincat]

You find the firmware version by tapping the satellite bars. Tap the version number and the next screen shows the map installed and the version number.

Make a full Explorer, not Home, backup of the contents of your unit. Ensure hidden files/folders are showing.

I have version 8.3 which I believe is what I had before. The download I received was Navcore 8.01. Am I back at square 1?

 

[dhn]

Well, the fix was to revert to a lower (8.01) firmware.

Make that Explorer backup before doing anything else.

After doing so, again, go into Home and see what items are on the computer. Hopefully, it says application 8.01 (click on 'more info' to see).

If so, use Home to remove the application (8.3) from your unit. Then install the 8.01 version.

Or...........do what many of us are doing. Living with the 8.3 issues until a fix comes, hopefully in 2009!!

 

[mincat]

Well, the fix was to revert to a lower (8.01) firmware.

Make that Explorer backup before doing anything else.

After doing so, again, go into Home and see what items are on the computer. Hopefully, it says application 8.01 (click on 'more info' to see).

If so, use Home to remove the application (8.3) from your unit. Then install the 8.01 version.

Or...........do what many of us are doing. Living with the 8.3 issues until a fix comes, hopefully in 2009!!

I did check to see what was on the computer and there is version 7.43 (I think) and the 8.3....no sign of the 8.01. I think I'll do as you say and live with the stuttering. But I don't know why this has to be so difficult to install unless it's just me which is possible.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[whuzizname]

Has TT indicated when (if ever), this crippling stuttering problem will be fixed?

 

[Canuck]

Has TT indicated when (if ever), this crippling stuttering problem will be fixed?

I'd like to know too, I'm going to Europe in September and the way its been going I', starting to doubt a fix will be out by then

 

[Timon]

Has TT indicated when (if ever), this crippling stuttering problem will be fixed?

I was talking to TS and they said something about a couple of weeks if you want to believe them

 

[whuzizname]

I was talking to TS and they said something about a couple of weeks if you want to believe them

Unfortunately, I've seen posts from November saying the same thing. Here we are now, well into February.

My friend has a Mio for which he paid half what I paid for my 920, and the Mio's computer speech is flawless.

Doesn't TT test their products before releasing them? I certainly can't see myself ever buying TT again. Sour grapes? Nope -- I'm just a customer who trusted the TT name and paid extra for it and got burned.

 

[ex-egll]

Heres the extremely helpful reply I received from TT a couple of weeks ago:

"There issues with the computer voices as a result of the update. Our developers are working hard to resolve these issues. we are cannot offer a schedule for when a fix will be ready. We it is, it will be released as an update to the application. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you".

Also received this in response to the instructions over FM issue:


Me
I understand that there is an obscure law in parts of the EU that prohibits the transmission of "dead air" on the FM band. Given the primary objective of a GPS system is to know where it is, surely it would be very simple for the system to say to itself, "can I transmit on FM in my current location" if it can then switch on the functionality, if not switch it off. Why inconvenience a large number of users who, in part, bought the TomTom for its advertised functionality.

Reply:
"We understand that you are concerned about the recent change to the TomTom application which has disabled FM Transmission of navigation instructions. We deeply regret that it has become necessary for us to implement this change, as our FM Transmission technology was a unique innovation at the time of its release."

I'm not holding my breath for resolution any time soon.

 

[cputrdoc]

Doesn't TT test their products before releasing them?

Ugh. The short answer is yes, but it's well-known that they don't do a very good job of testing for new bugs ("regressions").

My company works with a few companies that specialize in writing regression tests for other software companies; I've been sending them after TomTom one by one. In defense of TomTom, the reason it takes so long to get something fixed is, yes they do test. ...but I have a feeling it's mostly manual testing. That is, I don't think they just run the TT application through a bunch of scripted tests to make sure no new bugs were introduced; I'd bet anyone $100 that testing at TomTom involves QA engineers doing ad hoc tests manually, and they probably do very little testing on the hardware they ship.

I would suggest my company's products to them to help them automate running test suite batches, but our product is currently Intel 32 and Intel 64 (x86-64) only and they still would have to write their own tests first. If they at least had the tests, anything is possible for the right price. (and if anyone from TomTom is reading this, my company is called SpikeSource; please contact our sales department)