Go750 SD card not recognised

[dhn]

Well, in a couple of hours, canderson will likely pop into this thread. See if he has any other suggestions before you throw in the towel.

 

[Frommy]

I have given myself until Sunday night (our time) to decide.

 

[canderson]

@dhn
All that remains is a firmware reload. While it's true that there's an SD driver in the boot level code that wouldn't be touched by this procedure, it is possible that the SD driver control is passed to the Linux kernel after boot has completed (I've never been clear about that, and nobody at TT has ever been willing to say). So the last step, as mentioned a couple of messages above, is the reload.

@Frommy
Here's how the firmware reload works. Having backed your unit up per these instructions https://www.tomtomforums.com/t17864-how-backup-contents-your-unit-computer.html you will delete ALL of the loose files in the root of your 750 using Win7. That is ONLY the loose files, NONE of the folders are to be deleted. After which, connect your device and let Home fire up. It will detect the lack of firmware on your device and will offer to download it from TomTom and install it. Allow Home to do so. Afterwards, you may find that Home offers yet another download of firmware, and if so, go ahead and accept the next one, too.

Now .... if there's no joy with a uSD card after that, I'm afraid that there's nothing we know that we can do for it.

 

[dhn]

Well, if the OP does delete the loose files and Home does or does NOT recognize that the unit requires an application update, is that the scenario we should be watching out for?

Or, are you suggesting the OP install the app (9.061??) on the micro card, install the card in the unit and see if the unit boots up?

 

[canderson]

It would be the first time I've ever seen Home NOT see that the application was missing, If for some bizarre reason it does not, that's why we have the user back up his unit before starting. It just becomes a function of copying it all back again.

That said, I just want to clear out the existing application as far as is possible and reload it up to the point of 9.061 to see if that improves anything. I don't hold out much hope, but that's all that's left that we can control. I am NOT suggesting he attempt to install the app on the uSD card - it isn't being recognized by the unit as it is, so there's no reason to think the unit would boot from the card. That would be sweet, but ...

 

[dhn]

Frommy may find from a cost effective point of view the purchase of the cheapest GPS while travelling in the States. He may find the cost of a gps (satnav) not much more, if at all, than the rental cost of a unit in his rental car (Do Aussies say 'car hire'?)

 

[canderson]

Someone recently posted a deal on an XXL540TM 'Top Gear' for $60 in our "deals" section. Problem is that so many of these deals are available only on-line, and won't be easy for the OP to manage. Still, there are some brick-and-mortar deals out there, and that may well be the cheaper alternative.

 

[- et -]

Someone recently posted a deal on an XXL540TM 'Top Gear' for $60 in our "deals" section. Problem is that so many of these deals are available only on-line, and won't be easy for the OP to manage. Still, there are some brick-and-mortar deals out there, and that may well be the cheaper alternative.

That deal turns out to have been a pricing error where the on-line ordering system turned the sale discount into the final price. It's no longer offered, and it remains to be seen if the erroneous price will be honored for those who placed their orders before the error was corrected.

I haven't looked today to see if Amazon still has the XXL540TM for less than $100, but if that unit is still available at that price, it might be an attractive option. It will come with the USA_Canada map installed, and can be updated to the latest map revision (due to be issued this month) for free. If TomTom does provide a refund for the map-on-SD purchase, the net cost would probably be fairly small, and the maps could be updated for free for any future visits.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

 

[canderson]

Amazon's price on the XXL540TM is back up to $109.

 

[Andy_P]

Going back to the discussion about possible max SD card sizes, no-one's mentioned that Windows Explorer should recognise the micro-SD card slot and assign it a drive letter EVEN WITH NOTHING IN IT. (although Macs do it differently and don't show the slot unless there's a card in it)

So if you aren't seeing the drive at all, it must be a TT problem.

Here's my Go950 without a card in the slot and the message I get when I click on the drive:

(G: is the card slot on my system, others PCs will likely assign different letters, but it will almost always be the letter lower than the one the Internal memory is given.

 

[Frommy]

Now that WAS very interesting. Preparing to backup the unit, as per the instructions linked above, and got to the stage of checking 'Show hidden files' and unchecking the item below then turned on the unit, went to Widows Explorer and, bugger me, It shows me a removable disk Drive G: which was never there before, and asks me to insert disk the same as Andy_P shows above. I inserted the SD card but it is not being read. I swapped to the other SD card I purchased and that cannot be read either as I still get the 'Insert disk" message no matter what.

This then gives me something more to work with. At least the drive IS being recognised.

As an experiment I then went back to Windows Explorer, and checked 'Do not show ...' and the box below, then the disk disappeared from view in Explorer. Now, I just realised that Win7 Folder Options comes up differently from the pictorial in the backup instructions doc. Where dhn has checked 'Show hidden" and unchecked the one below 'Hide extensions' I now find that the item listed below "Show hidden' in Win7 is 'Hide empty drives in the Computer folder". That is a bit important I think in the context of all that I have been through with this saga over the past two weeks. :frusty:

More later after I play some more.

 

[Frommy]

Ok, back again. I have taken all the steps kindly described by canderson and reload the firmware. I regret to advise ....... no different with card(s) still not being recognised by either the 750 or Win Explorer, although we now have the drive identified. It might be worth noting that Win7 defaults to not show empty drives which confused me and the way that I have gone about my questions. Oh, I do have a slightly different interface on the 750 after the reload, but all seems to be working well.

I will have one last shot. My Secretary continues to maintain that it is because I am using 4 GB cards not 2 GB, because she read on the 'net that ...... I know, we have been over this before, and I trust the advice given so far that 9.01.6 will handle 4 GB, but to stop my Secretary going on about this I have ordered a 2 GB MicroSD. I might mention that there are four small computer shops within a block of where I work and my Sec told me yesterday that she has visited each one, without my knowledge, to buy a 2 GB disk for me only to find that they only sell 4 GB these days. AIn't that nice of her. I will post again when I have tried that, but if it works I will never live it down at work.

Thanks for the idea of buying a GPS there, but the car rental agency cost for hiring a unit for the time I will need to use it is far less than than the cheapest cost mentioned.

 

[canderson]

Last, last, option. While the card is inserted into your unit and 'unhidden', please try to copy a few small text files from your PC to the card. See if Windows is able to do this. Then see if your favorite text editor can read them.

 

[Andy_P]

My Secretary continues to maintain that it is because I am using 4 GB cards not 2 GB, because she read on the 'net that ...... I know, we have been over this before, and I trust the advice given so far that 9.01.6 will handle 4 GB,

Show your secretary this page from TomTom's own website
http://uk.support.tomtom.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2634

It clearly shows that the Go550 can use 4GB cards. :thumb:

 

[Frommy]

"Insert disk into drive G:"

While Win Explorer shows up the drive in the expanded view of the system, is does not show in the tree of the folders to the left of screen. Fail. I even tried booting Windows with the 750 connected only to get the same result.

Andy_P, you do not know my Secretary. She will not let this go until I physically try a 2 GB card and it is worth the $12 to get one sent to me and get her off my back.

 

[Andy_P]

Lol!

...................

 

[- et -]

Andy_P, you do not know my Secretary. She will not let this go until I physically try a 2 GB card and it is worth the $12 to get one sent to me and get her off my back.

Does She have a twin sister who lives in California? :lol:

- Tom -

 

[Frommy]

Ha ha. Back at work yesterday after the weekend and one of the first things she asked me was how the TT exercise was going. I gave her an update,without mentioning that I had ordered a 2 GB card, and guess what her response was? Hint, it involved the mention of a 2 GB card. :laugh:

The card should arrive in a day or so and I will update you all on the result, although I think we all know what the answer will be.

 

[Frommy]

2 GB card arrived. Result as expected - "Insert disk into drive G:"

OK. I am done with it and out of here.

Thanks for your support and ideas everyone.