GO 730 backup missing

[bromerrill]

I was having the problem of a malformed error message in managing my GO although it was working. So I followed the procedure from Tomtom support to format the internal memory etc. So I first made a backup using Tomtom Home, formatted the internal device memory but ended up with the same error message. So I decided just to restore the recent backup, but Home reported there were no backups. I did a search for all the files from that date but did not locate the backup which was almost 2gb. How can I find the backup and restore my device. THanks for the help

 

[dhn]

That's why we here never suggest the Tomtom backup but, rather, a manual backup approach. See here: https://www.tomtomforums.com/thread...-to-the-computer-and-how-to-restore-it.17864/

Anyway, download Agent Ransack from here: https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/ It's free. Search for tomtom*.* to see what shows up on your computer. Try different variations perhaps.

 

[Arno]

I allow indexing on my PC and like W7, W10 is quite fast in searching files and folders.
It now found 694 instances.
It does not search the text of my eMail client.

 

[canderson]

Which operating system are you using? With that, we can at least point to where the backup SHOULD have been stored.

 

[bromerrill]

I allow indexing on my PC and like W7, W10 is quite fast in searching files and folders.
It now found 694 instances.
It does not search the text of my eMail client.

I also use "Everything" from Void Tools, virtually instant results. I did try a save to computer in Home and was able to find that file in My Documents, Home etc. So can you help with getting rid of the "malformed" error since I already formatted the INTERNAL, but maybe left out someething

 

[bromerrill]

Which operating system are you using? With that, we can at least point to where the backup SHOULD have been stored.

Ok, so I am using Windows 7 SP1. I went to Home folder preferences and the folders specified there first, but saw no files there. I changed the Downloads folder to C:users\username\Documents\TomTom\HOME\Download and saved a copy of my map, North_America_2GB , to that folder and found it there. I have had 3 TT GO 730's over the years and the one (#2) that I saved the map from is working and updating fine in Home, but #3 has the malformed error and can't read any maps (Map not found error). So I have about 27GB of saved TT GO 730 backup files all on an external drive. Would love to just hactivate one of those.

 

[bromerrill]

That's why we here never suggest the Tomtom backup but, rather, a manual backup approach. See here: https://www.tomtomforums.com/thread...-to-the-computer-and-how-to-restore-it.17864/

Anyway, download Agent Ransack from here: https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/ It's free. Search for tomtom*.* to see what shows up on your computer. Try different variations perhaps.

First off thanks for the reply. I wrote an Intro in another thread but I am pasting it here to you since it gives a full picture. I believe my navcore is 9.5... I can supply other info as requested.
Greetings to all my fellow GPS sloggers. I am trying to resurrect a GO 730 that was happily working before I fixed it. I was connecting it to a Mac with a parallels Windows installation, and in the course of trying to deal with an error by the name of malformed TT said to backup the 730, format the internal partition and restore- along with starts and resets. Well the backup was flawless, big long blue line all the way to the end of the runway. Format was flawless. Fatted it to Fat32. And now the restore

Well the old gipper says there aint no backup found. So I uses my search tools to find the files accessed on the said fateful date, after all it is a 1.7gb backup, or so. But I dinna find nutting. Forgot to mention that I swapped PC's so the backyup and restore is on a Win 7 modelo which is what I used to keep the bugger alive back from 2008. Anyhoo I have done numerous backups for that modelo 730 over the years so I have about 27gb worth of just maps, North America, United States doncha know. However, my original modelo 730cwas purrloined on Halloween a few years back from my car, and that was the one carrying the map I bought from TT. Don't remember if unit#2 got that map loaded. Mebbe. So I gets a newer old one, same modelo and that one comes into my greedy grasp working, so I back it up. No TT Home errors in those days. I kinda want a unit hardware backup cus I uses it a lot. So GO 730 unit number 3 drops in from the ebay stork. Well both units die. One has bad battery, the other bad battery and screen. So ebay saves the day sorta kinda (new battery was bad, hadda get a replacement), and now proud possesor of two modelos GO 730. Of course unit 3 wasn't really broke so I hadda fix it. Que pena!
So my tireless readers, I need a map (not TT) to navigate what to do. Can I use one of my backups? Can I use it with fastactivate? what would would you do? Leanin on the seat edge for some hep here

 

[bromerrill]

That's why we here never suggest the Tomtom backup but, rather, a manual backup approach. See here: https://www.tomtomforums.com/thread...-to-the-computer-and-how-to-restore-it.17864/

Anyway, download Agent Ransack from here: https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/ It's free. Search for tomtom*.* to see what shows up on your computer. Try different variations perhaps.

I tried to do a reply to you, and thanks for the reply, but it is somewhere else. So how do I find my posts on this board? Thanks

 

[Arno]

So how do I find my posts on this board? Thanks

Click on the number of your messages in the left panel, they should all be displayed.

 

[canderson]

Bummer. The maps for #2 are keyed to that unit, so you can't use them on #3.

 

[bromerrill]

Bummer. The maps for #2 are keyed to that unit, so you can't use them on #3.

On further investigation I found the files ttgo.bif, one of which shows that a backup is linked to the unit serial number I am trying to fix. It is part of a backup set of "Internal Memory" and "Storage" folders Under the folder Backup01. The map is in Internal Memory which has two locations/folders under the folder North_America_2GB-: one is North_America_2GB.zip and the other one is North_America_2GB which has the large files cline, cname, cnode plus many other files. Maybe those are the files I am looking for as the disappeared backup from Home?! If so, cannot I do a manual restore?

 

[bromerrill]

I tried to do a reply to you, and thanks for the reply, but it is somewhere else. So how do I find my posts on this board? Thanks

That's why we here never suggest the Tomtom backup but, rather, a manual backup approach. See here: https://www.tomtomforums.com/thread...-to-the-computer-and-how-to-restore-it.17864/

Anyway, download Agent Ransack from here: https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/ It's free. Search for tomtom*.* to see what shows up on your computer. Try different variations perhaps.

On further investigation I found the files ttgo.bif, one of which shows that a backup is linked to the unit serial number I am trying to fix. It is part of a backup set of "Internal Memory" and "Storage" folders Under the folder Backup01. The map is in Internal Memory which has two locations/folders under the folder North_America_2GB-: one is North_America_2GB.zip (1.67GB), and the other one is North_America_2GB (3.35 minus the 1.67 =1.68) which has the large files cline, cname, cnode plus many other files. Maybe those are the files I am looking for as the disappeared backup from Home?! If so, cannot I do a manual restore? Is there a tut for that?

 

[canderson]

The manual restore is simply a function of copying all of the requisite the files back to the correct folders on the unit from the source.
I just realize something. After years of doing this, I'm not sure which of the larger files contains the 'key' that must match the unit serial number! Perhaps more than one, or just one critical file like cline.dat (which contains all of the actual map geometry). I honestly don't know!

 

[bromerrill]

The manual restore is simply a function of copying all of the requisite the files back to the correct folders on the unit from the source.
I just realize something. After years of doing this, I'm not sure which of the larger files contains the 'key' that must match the unit serial number! Perhaps more than one, or just one critical file like cline.dat (which contains all of the actual map geometry). I honestly don't know!

Well, I realized two things; all the original files were on the device in the first place (I thought backup might remove some files); I saw that it was just a matter of copying stuff back if I wanted to replace the files that I found in other backup folders. So I went into the TT Home interface and tried to do an update- the first screen in Home showed the error Malformed... So I clicked past that, selected Internal as the device and the program went through an update procedure downloading the GO App and installing gps fix, etc. and it said a one time update was done. The reported sizes of the Internal and Storage were way off, much too little. SO I reset the device and rebooted into the old error of No Map Found.
So then I copied all the files from Internal and Storage to two corresponding folders and formatted both the Internal and Storage with Fat32; copied back the files; booted the device; reset it by the switch on the bottom and launched again into No Maps Found. So I copied additinally what I believe is the correct map to the Internal to see if it would see it; sadly it does not- No Maps Found error. So I looked into Internal and didn't see any ttgo.bif, so I copied it, with correct serial, from backup to Internal and reset and rebooted- still getting the No Maps Found error. So I suppose I should try a direst solution to the No Maps Found error. If you have input there I am open.

 

[bromerrill]

Hi all, just wanted to let you know that I was able to fully restore my device. The secret it matching the Navcore with the map and program versions. It helps when there is a function problem to remove the files and do a reset and reinstall. I did a factory reset and reconfigured everything but I have since lost the voice input announcing The Remote Control Is Connected, like I recently had, and if anyone has a tip how to restore that I would be grateful. Otherwise the voices work well. I also downloaded a useful file, lots of helpful TT functions. It is named <removed by moderator>.rar but you need the password provided at the download site to open it. I missed that, so I anyone knows I would appreciate that as well.
I also learned that the TTHome connection error is due to the device being obsolete, but you can click through the error and get some updates. Worked for me.

 

[canderson]

In the case of the 730, the "Navcore" is the "program".
My concern is that what you've now got is a hacked Navcore that works with any map. Pretty sure that's what we're talking about here. Any legit Navcore will support a TomTom map if it's properly keyed to the serial number of the unit. No need to 'match' them.

 

[bromerrill]

In the case of the 730, the "Navcore" is the "program".
My concern is that what you've now got is a hacked Navcore that works with any map. Pretty sure that's what we're talking about here. Any legit Navcore will support a TomTom map if it's properly keyed to the serial number of the unit. No need to 'match' them.

Thanks for that insight. I consulted the chart of which program supports which map, downloaded and installed using the program referenced which really is the same one I have had all along. The problem I experienced was the You Can't Use This Map... So I then discovered that if I removed the reference to the map referenced in ttgo.bif by editing the file I was able to access the USA Canada map I downloaded and Installed. This particular device can connect to TTHome without error and get updated like always. Yesterday TT even offered me a brandy new map of the USA and Puerto RIco which I installed and accessed. Go figure. So I now have two 730's updated and working well. Thanks for your inputs.

 

[canderson]

Sounds like it may have been a problem of having crossed maps between units. Each full map set is keyed to the serial number of the device for which the specific set was produced. So if backups got fouled up (Home is dreadful about this sort of thing), and the wrong map wound up on the wrong unit, you would definitely get "You Can't Use This Map..." The firmware / map combination isn't important to that. You can run very old maps on new firmware, and you can run new maps on rather old firmware as well. So I suspect it was a problem of getting one or more map files from one unit onto the other one by mistake. Like I say, easy to do when using Home for anything related to multiple units, or even during manual restorations, if care isn't used.

It is for that reason that we recommend always using the PC's own file system to back up each device into its own folder for future reference. Can't hurt to name the folder using the last couple of digits of the serial number just to keep them 100% straight, especially when you have more than one of the same model of these older units like you and some of the rest of us have had at one time or another.

The new gear is a whole lot simpler since everything needed for a restore can be had from the TomTom server, including any maps -- which are the bugaboo when it comes to backups, device formatting, etc. It's always CRITICAL that there be a good PC backup of the last working map for any older unit you have.