Some 920 Q's about IQ Routing, ALG, and restoring to factory new

[andygold]

I've had Navcore 8.010 on my GO920 for a few weeks now and yesterday TT sent me the version 8 maps (1 year free map upgrade guarantee). Took a little more than 2 hours to install.

I notice that if I select "shortest distance" a little "IQ Routing disabled" note shows up on the next screen (I forget what that screen's name is). So, I'm assuming that IQ Routing will only work with the "fastest route" screen and maybe others (have not thought very hard on that issue) , but not the "shortest distance" screen , and that does make sense to me. I'm curious though....how does one know that IQ Routing is actually doing something? Is there something that looks different than it used to? Or is there some note that pops up letting you know that IQ Routing is doing it's thing?

Also, yesterday when speaking to TT about getting those latest maps, I spoke with 2 different tech support people. One said that I would now have a unit that functions identically to a 930, while the other stated that I would not have ALG. Other threads that i have read state that I should have IQ and ALG with the updates I made yesterday. How do I determine if I have ALG? Is there some way to try it to make sure? If it comes down to it, is there some intersection in the Plattsburgh NY or Burlington VT. area (that anyone is aware of) where ALG is known to work, where I can try it?

Also, when I click on "show lane images" I get the following message.."The map or map version you are using is not compatable with Lane guidance. For more info, visit www.tomtom.com"
I've hit the reset button after doing the update, but I still get this message. Is this right? Did the download from TT not work totally proper? Is the "show lane images" icon supposed to be connected to the ALG function, or is it for something else?

Lastly, I tried to restore my TT to factory defaults, using the button in the change preferences menu, before doing any of the updates. After the restore and doing the steps the TT asked for such as setting the clock, and user name, etc. I checked my installed voices, and 3 voices that i had installed myself many months ago, were still there, as were my custom opening and closing screens, and some custom car icons and POIs. My SD card was removed before the "restore", and was not in the TT when I checked the results of the restore. I was under the impression that all of the stuff that i added should have been wiped, but it was not. I think i might have gone into a folder a long time ago and changed the names of the original start and end images, so that might explain those not changing, but the rest should have been wiped...yes/no?

It would be nice to have a sticky posted with some basic info for those who might be updating their units now that the new maps are being sent out!!!

 

[dhn]

IQ routing is indeed only available with 'fastest route'. If it's in effect, you'll see the route planned say IQ routing at the bottom of the screen. ALG is only shown in the status bar if the bar is horizontal, so I've been told. Do you see multiple arrows in the left side of the screen? That's ALG (if the preference is to have it on).

The static screen shots are really few and far between and do not show up for all situations you thyink they might.

Goto this link for more info on ALG and IQ routing, etc:
http://www.gpsreview.net/tomtom-go-930/

 

[Timon]

Post the exact APP version you have loaded including the build number.

Mine is: App 8.010 (9369/080529) OS: 190943 which is the version that TT only made available for about 2 days.

 

[andygold]

Timon... my APP numbers are 8.010 (9369/080529) OS: 190943 (identical to yours). Is this a good version or a not so good version? And if It is a desirable version, how do I prevent it from changing in the future when I log into TT Home?

My map version is 'North_America' v810.1907
Don't know if this makes any difference, but my GPS is v1.21, Boot 5.4106

dhn...I had my status bar set to vertical (gives me a taller map and therefore more advance warning), but now I will set it to horizontal.
I do not see multiple arrows at the moment (sitting in my office with the TT on a window sill). Where exactly is the switch to turn ALG on? I know how to turn on the IQ routing in "Planning Preferences", but not ALG.

Also, why can't I select "show lane images" without getting the "map version incompatibility with lane guidance" message?

------
Now for something wierd!!!!
Just tried to map from work to home. Even though I know the area like the back of my hand, I let the TT map it pretty much daily and try different things with the TT to learn more about it. The fastest route before my updating yesterday, according to the TT, was directly through town (a 7 mile trip) which is 30 to 40 MPH the whole way with a lot of traffic lights. Definitely not the fastest way to go. If I were to pick an alternate in the past, it might detour me on one of the many smaller roads, but the trip would most likely still go through the middle of town and on all of those slow roads.

Today, after the map update, when I asked the TT to find the fastest route it actually took me the way that I normally take to drive home. This way is 12 miles long and not 7, but it has no traffic lights, and the roads are between 30 and 65 mph...It is definitely faster and with no stop and go traffic.

I then cleared the route and tried mapping that trip again about a dozen times
all with the "fastest route" checked. About half the time it gave me the 7 mile route and the other half it gave me the 12 mile route, and once while I was watching the "route summary screen" where it tells you the travel time, mileage, and shows the battery and satellite strength, it actually changed the route from 7 miles to 12 miles while I was watching and not moving or touching anything. Quite bizarre!!!

 

[andygold]

I have some other questions about Map Share....9 months ago I made changes in Map Share...for example, I changed the direction of a one way road to reflect that traffic actually flows both ways. Now, 9 months later with the updated map installed, that road on the new map is back to showing one way traffic. I've read that single user entries into Map Share have lower priority than entries made by multiple persons, but this was 9 months ago.

Isn't TeleAtlas supposed to use our Map Share info for updating? Now I sent this correction in 9 months ago...even if TeleAtlas hasn't incorporated it yet, isn't Map Share supposed to make the change on my TT because I subscribe to Map Share and the Map Share corrections are downloaded into my TT when I connect?????

Also, for those who have ALG...if you go into "prepare route" and make a route that will go through an area where you know that ALG has lane info, when you go into the "details" screen and "browse as images", does one of those images show the lane guidance arrows? I tried to plot a route through the exit 9 area of the New Jersey Tpke. I don't actually know if ALG has that exit covered or not, but on my TT, when browsing images, I saw no ALG arrows on any of the screens. This was just a test to see if I have ALG on my TT.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

I have some other questions about Map Share....9 months ago I made changes in Map Share...for example, I changed the direction of a one way road to reflect that traffic actually flows both ways. Now, 9 months later with the updated map installed, that road on the new map is back to showing one way traffic. I've read that single user entries into Map Share have lower priority than entries made by multiple persons, but this was 9 months ago.

Isn't TeleAtlas supposed to use our Map Share info for updating? Now I sent this correction in 9 months ago...even if TeleAtlas hasn't incorporated it yet, isn't Map Share supposed to make the change on my TT because I subscribe to Map Share and the Map Share corrections are downloaded into my TT when I connect?????

Also, for those who have ALG...if you go into "prepare route" and make a route that will go through an area where you know that ALG has lane info, when you go into the "details" screen and "browse as images", does one of those images show the lane guidance arrows? I tried to plot a route through the exit 9 area of the New Jersey Tpke. I don't actually know if ALG has that exit covered or not, but on my TT, when browsing images, I saw no ALG arrows on any of the screens. This was just a test to see if I have ALG on my TT.

Map Share corrections are specific to each map version. Apparently your update was not incorporated into the latest maps. If no one has submitted that same correction for the map version that you have, then it won't appear. That's one of the flaws (as I see it) in the Map Share system.

I don't think any ALG or static images will appear if you "browse as images", however, if you select "show route demo" they will appear during the demo. Try these as start and end points, and you'll see what I mean:

start: N 40.82898, W 74.02445
end: N 40.86705, W 74.04282​

 

[cputrdoc]

ALG is only shown in the status bar if the bar is horizontal, so I've been told. Do you see multiple arrows in the left side of the screen? That's ALG (if the preference is to have it on).

You may know something about ALG I don't, but I've found that even with 2D map view and a vertical status bar, the static ALG images with blinky arrows do show up at the right times and automatically switch the bar to horizontal (goes back the way it was after a quarter mile or so). My area doesn't have many ALG areas, but I have been able to make it come up once.

 

[dhn]

No, clearly you know something I didn't know.

I was repeating what I was told......guess I'll be more careful in the future (I hope).

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[andygold]

Originally Posted by dhn
ALG is only shown in the status bar if the bar is horizontal, so I've been told. Do you see multiple arrows in the left side of the screen? That's ALG (if the preference is to have it on).

Where is the switch to turn ALG on and off?

I don't think any ALG or static images will appear if you "browse as images", however, if you select "show route demo" they will appear during the demo. Try these as start and end points, and you'll see what I mean:

start: N 40.82898, W 74.02445
end: N 40.86705, W 74.04282

I entered the coordinates, and I get a 3 minute, 4.2 mile trip on the Jersey Turnpike headed towards the Bergen Passaic Expy Wb.
When viewing the demo at the slowest speed, with 4.0 miles left to the trip, I saw (and this only lasted about 2 seconds if that) an arrow on the left side of the screen that looks like a lane change to the left arrow. To the right of that there was a fat , horizontal arrow pointing towards the right side of the screen, and then to the right of that another arrow similar to the first one but with a solid line directly to it's right. Is this ALG, or is this the older style arrows?

 

[Arno]

Where is the switch to turn ALG on and off?

In screen 3 of change preferences.

My ALG worked perfectly with the W&CE map in England and Ireland but Support informed me that it will only work for me in the NA map update coming out around December.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

I entered the coordinates, and I get a 3 minute, 4.2 mile trip on the Jersey Turnpike headed towards the Bergen Passaic Expy Wb.
When viewing the demo at the slowest speed, with 4.0 miles left to the trip, I saw (and this only lasted about 2 seconds if that) an arrow on the left side of the screen that looks like a lane change to the left arrow. To the right of that there was a fat , horizontal arrow pointing towards the right side of the screen, and then to the right of that another arrow similar to the first one but with a solid line directly to it's right. Is this ALG, or is this the older style arrows?

I was able to reproduce what I think you're describing by setting my status bar to vertical. The arrows you describe replaced the "distance to next maneuver" briefly. If I blinked I would have missed it, even at a demo speed of 10%. I don't really know what those arrows are called, but it's not the ALG arrows. If you set your status bar to horizontal, you'll see something much different.

Where static images are available, the vertical status bar changes to horizontal, allow the static image and ALG arrows to display. But when no static image is available the vertical status bar remains vertical and does what you described.

Is/was your status bar vertical?

 

[andygold]

In screen 3 of change preferences.

My ALG worked perfectly with the W&CE map in England and Ireland but Support informed me that it will only work for me in the NA map update coming out around December.

On screen 3 of my TT I do have the "show lane images" button, but when I select it I still get the following message;
"Show lane images
The map or map version you are using is not compatible with Lane guidance. For more information, visit www.tomtom.com"

I thought I had the proper maps and Navcore for this to work. I even have the release that Timon spoke about (the release that lasted for only 2 days)
Does the image that I wrote about in my previous post seem to be ALG, or is that the "old" image for that area?

Also, I occasionally get the screen doing a very quick flash where the brightness goes up and down rapid and repeatedly for about a second, accompanied by a screeching from the speaker while it is doing this. My battery is not weak at the time according to the battery icon, although I believe it has only happened when it was not plugged into the car or charging port. This started happening after my first failed attempt to update the Navcore. Afterwards I did get the Navcore in properly, but the screeching continues to occur occassionally. I don't know if this "glitch" is causing any problems, or if it is a problem with bad code in the firmware, due to the first failed Navcore install. Has anyone else experienced this screeching, and does it sound like a low battery caused problem, even though my meter says I'm charged?

I was thinking of dumping everything on the TT and getting it back to factory fresh, but when I hit the "reset factory settings" button, it does not restore me to factory fresh. As I wrote above, I still have some added voices, POIs, and images on the TT after a restore. How do I get this thing back to factory fresh, so i can start again??

 

[dhn]

Have you tried removing all loose files from the root of the unit, connecting to Home and have it offer to dl and install the firmware application?

 

[Arno]

On screen 3 of my TT I do have the "show lane images" button, but when I select it I still get the following message;

Like this, huh?

I thought I had the proper maps and Navcore for this to work. I even have the release that Timon spoke about (the release that lasted for only 2 days)

That could be one of your problems as that one seemed to have screwed up more than it fixed.
After making a complete backup with WExplorer go and download/reinstall the NavCore offered through HOME.

Michael Quinlan and dhn gave you answers to the other question.

 

[GarCor]

On screen 3 of my TT I do have the "show lane images" button, but when I select it I still get the following message;
"Show lane images
The map or map version you are using is not compatible with Lane guidance. For more information, visit www.tomtom.com"

I thought I had the proper maps and Navcore for this to work. I even have the release that Timon spoke about (the release that lasted for only 2 days)
Does the image that I wrote about in my previous post seem to be ALG, or is that the "old" image for that area?

Also, I occasionally get the screen doing a very quick flash where the brightness goes up and down rapid and repeatedly for about a second, accompanied by a screeching from the speaker while it is doing this. My battery is not weak at the time according to the battery icon, although I believe it has only happened when it was not plugged into the car or charging port. This started happening after my first failed attempt to update the Navcore. Afterwards I did get the Navcore in properly, but the screeching continues to occur occassionally. I don't know if this "glitch" is causing any problems, or if it is a problem with bad code in the firmware, due to the first failed Navcore install. Has anyone else experienced this screeching, and does it sound like a low battery caused problem, even though my meter says I'm charged?

I was thinking of dumping everything on the TT and getting it back to factory fresh, but when I hit the "reset factory settings" button, it does not restore me to factory fresh. As I wrote above, I still have some added voices, POIs, and images on the TT after a restore. How do I get this thing back to factory fresh, so i can start again??

For what it is worth When I first installed the 8.10 map on my 920 I was getting the same message as you do when I clicked on the ALG icon so I did pin reset and also clear flash memory not sure if the CF was necessary but I did it .After that the ALG icon was click able without the wrong map massage. I haven't been able to try it out as of yet as the area I live in doesn't have any major intersections.

Hear is the link for the Clear flash memory if you need it:

http://www.tomtom.com/support/index.php?Language=4&query=flash+memory&FID=6211

 

[Arno]

For what it is worth When I first installed the 8.10 map on my 920 I was getting the same message as you do when I clicked on the ALG icon so I did pin reset and also clear flash memory not sure if the CF was necessary but I did it .After that the ALG icon was click able without the wrong map massage. I haven't been able to try it out as of yet as the area I live in doesn't have any major intersections.

Here is the .itn for that sample: View attachment 2145

Note. you must rename the extension from txt to itn and put it in the itn folder of your device.
("Manage Attachments" does not accept an itn file but its contents is plain text anyhow.)

For testing voices in "DEMO" 280 % is still OK. Maybe that speed can be used too for your ALG trial.
Gilbert, who had borrowed a US sold 930, was able to display ALG in demo mode.

 

[andygold]

To make a backup of my TT using Explorer, can I just take my Tomtom {L:} and copy it to a folder (C:temp1 for example) on my C: drive, or do I need to use some sort of backup utility?

Downloaded the Clear Flash tool. Installed it, but I can't figure out where it installed so I can run it.

 

[Arno]

To make a backup of my TT using Explorer, can I just take my Tomtom {L:} and copy it to a folder (C:temp1 for example) on my C: drive

Yup.
Actually, no.
C:\temp1 would be better
C:\TT_complete_BU_20080921 would be best. You do want a permanent folder to refer to one day.

 

[andygold]

What a nightmare!!!

I decided to delete my Navcore and install a new one, as it was posted that the one I had that was available for only 2 days was a buggy version. So I did that and installed what I thought was a newer version. When I check the numbers, everything is the same as before...App8.010 (9369/080529) OS: 190943

So then I do what the screen tells me to get the TT set up...except now it's asking me to decide which map I want to use. It only offers me Guam and Europe. No North America. I go into TTH, and check the contents of my GO, and the NA map is listed as being on my device, yet it does not appear as one of the selectable options when I check the device itself.

So then i disconnect a couple of times ( all the while trying all sorts of things) and then on one of the restarts, TTH says that it wants to download a new APP. It does this and the NA map is still not there, only Guam and Europe. I turn the TT off and on, , check the contents in TTH, but no North America. I disconect from TTH and and go to "manage maps" on the device itself, and North America is back!!! This makes no sense to me....so I check the other areas where there were problems. I click the "Show Lane Images" button, and this time instead of giving me the map incompatibility message, the icon gets a big red X across it, and switches to "Hide lane images". So, I guess it's fixed!!! When I enter the map coordinates and run the demo, I now see the ALG arrows, showing me 3 lanes which direct me to stay in the left lane. I even got a static image of the highway, with 2 blinking, green arrows showing me the proper lanes, at around 2.2 miles to go.

The only thing that concerns me now is....does TT when they issue a new Navcore, sometimes make updates to to the firmware without actually updating the file's name? The Navcore which I downloaded a few times tonight seems to have the exact same numbers as the one I downloaded a few weeks ago (that Timon said was only available for 2 days).

THANKS TO ALL who have provided assistance in this matter!!!!!

 

[dhn]

If you haven't had a rum and coke tonight, now seems as good a time as any!

Backup your entire unit's contents to the hard drive using Explorer.

My gut feeling is that the initial installation of the firmware went badly (twice I guess) and only the last time did the process 'take' properly.