TomTom 730 Scrn Freeze after App Update

[steveNJ]

I have a 730, which has US map, and I replaced battery (orig held charge for about first year only!) two days ago, and updated to the latest application. Unit had splash screen freezes, and could only be turned off by depressing reset button. Turn on and freezes again. I followed several threads on how to try to solve my issue. I rebooted so many times, still same issue. my unit can be seen and manipulated, setup etc thru the home software. I think I complicated the issue, after having so much frustration the past days by letting windows try to repair the drive (I see now in other threads that is not a good idea). I also tried to copy all files thru win vista explorer to backup folder on pc, and did regular format of tt drive. copied all files back to tt, and same result -- stuck on splash screen, though when i look thru tt home, i can see nav screen and make settings on my tt.

addit info --- when i first updated the tt730, i had similar problem, only then i removed the app update, and it worked fine after that. i reinstalled app update and all was ok (yesterday) but immed would not recog my samsung phone for bluetooth, several tries - same result with phone. tried uninstl of update again and reinstall then frozen screens started. i know there must be a corrupt file somewhere. now dead in water with frozen screen and not sure what i can do at this point. right now unit can only be turned off w reset (immed turns off), and powers up, and screen flashes seconds into it - then freezes. repeated many many times over. my unit is only 18 mos old. should i try calling tomtom - i see not many have had good results with their tech support. i think the app update was originally not correct or corrupt, and caused all the above issues, and i screwed it up much worse than the original problem with my vain efforts at cpr. thanks for any ideas on bringing my unit back to life, as I love using it when it is functional!

 

[mikealder]

Connect the device to your PC and use Windows Explorer to view the files/ folders on the device, open the Horth_America map folder and locate the file "MapSettings.cfg" delete this file, the device will create a new one when it next starts up.

If the above doesn't fix the booting up issue try a manual download and install of the Navcore software to the device:

You can download the Navcore software for your 730 by clicking Here

As always backup the unit BEFORE trying any update/ roll back just in case it goes wrong.

To install this to your device I use WinRar which you can download from Here Switch the TomTom on and connect it to your PC, if TomTom Home starts up exit the application as Home isn't needed for this.

Double click the file you downloaded from TomTom

Winrar will fire up, use the mouse to select all files and folders then click "Extract To"



Locate the drive letter associated with your TomTom and click it, make sure the Overwrite mode is selected to "Ask before overwrite", then press "OK"



When the dialogue box pops up saying "Confirm File Replace" click the "Yes To All" button.



Sit back and watch the progress bar, with a good USB2 connection a Navcore 8,351 installation will take around 2 minutes.



When its finished the update use the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon from the Task Tray and remove the lead from the device.

Let the device boot up and tap the sat strength meter (lower left) followed by the version box, the resultant screen will confirm the version installed is Navcore 8,351 - Mike

 

[steveNJ]

Mike -- Thanks so much. At first I deleted the mapconfig file, but the unit would not boot up, after it seemed ok at first. Then i did total refresh of drive as you suggested. Oddly, it still froze on splash screen again, repeatedly. I then deleted the mapconfig file again, and now after many power downs/powerups it seems just fine. Happy New Year, and a load of thanks to you.
I still have one small problem. It will not link with my samsung impression phone again (it did previously). When bluetooth is enabled on both devices, the tt quickly gives error message that "error occurred while searching for phones, try again? YES - then the same message quickly appears. I know that the tt has connected to my phone, so something has to be incorrect or not updated in the phone/bluetooth directory(???), or maybe something physical has happened to bt sensor (?). Other than that, all is now fine. Hope I can get some insight into that issue.

 

[mikealder]

To increase the Bluetooth stability you can download and install Navcore 8,302 by clicking Here then use the same method I outlined in the previous post to put the files on to the device, whilst 8,302 isn't perfect it is better when it comes to Bluetooth support for phones - Mike

 

[steveNJ]

Still phone issue after many reinstalls, formats

Mike
Again many thanks for your assistance- this is a wonderful website for support, as I am sure I would have a 300.00 paperweight (with fully charged new battery) if not for your help. My TomTom 730 is now functional, but with no bluetooth response for my samsung impression (it previously did connect with this phone for months before my replacing the tt battery and updating app s/w. In the past day, i have had so many issues, going back to the older version in attempt to get phone support (did not work). in fact screen freeze at splash happened again, then updated back to new version, and splash froze again even after many resets and bootups etc. i was banging my head against the wall on these problems, performing several formats and reinstalls to get the tt to its present state. even had the tt almost performing ok, but the touch screen was out of sync (about an inch to the left of actual touch for quite some time during these installs), but now ok with that issue. seems to now be working ok, again less the phone support. it goes right to the red error window as if there are no files at all when supposedly searching for phone in bt mode. repeated tries, and still immediate red error screens. wondering if i can manually load from somewhere those latest phone support files. to summarize, after having a dead nav, i am just really happy to have a functional one, and almost feel greedy to get it talking to my phone again. also is there a way to calibrate touchscreen, or is that a physical function that cant be changed? Incidentally, this has been a cold windy week in eastern us, twenty some degrees f and winds of twenty something mph -- really frigid. nothing much better to do than get this tt back to health for the new year! Have a great day! Steve

 

[dhn]

Steve, the calibration is not something the user can do, unfortunately.

Regarding the Bluetooth issue.......

I doubt this will help but it will not hurt..........

I saw a post recently where someone ran the ClearFlash tool 3 times on his unit, rebooted and got connectivety back. It wasn't quite the same scenario but, as I said, doing so won't cause any loss of existing data.

You can find the tool here

 

[mikealder]

Its certainly worth trying the Clear Flash tool as it can fix a number of different issues, but I have also seen posts from other forum users (on a different forum) that have changed the battery resulting in a dead Bluetooth system (something to do with damage to the PCB tracks under the original battery) - Mike

 

[steveNJ]

Tried to clear flash, no luck

Thanks guys, you do a great job. I have been in electronics for many years, and did try not to damage anything when removing battery, but that seems to be the problem. Maybe a trace was damaged when I removed the battery, it wasnt easy. There was no visible damage, but that is the most logical explanation, especially given that the error message happens immediately, though the circuits are shorted etc. that never happened before, so i am sure the files are present, since we did a full refresh of data. at least the nav works just fine. The bluetooth was so good, that is why i bought this unit instead of the garmin. Appreciate your efforts, if anything else in way of a solution comes up, i will let you know. Appreciate your quick and accurate responses. Take care - Steve

 

[mikealder]

The thread I remember with the broken Bluetooth was This one from the UK PGPSW forum, read down a few posts and you will find some details - Although re-reading the thread the symptoms seem different to yours so perhaps your fault is software related rather than hardware, still worth a read to see if you can spot any similarities - Mike

Edit to add, WD40 is very good at releasing the glue that is used to stick the TomTom battery to the PCB, a little too late perhaps for Steve but I have added this comment in case anyone else might be reading the thread - Mike

 

[mvl]

One other shot in the dark - delete the Tomtom from the phone's bluetooth trusted devices, and remove/reinsert the phone's battery. On the Tomtom delete any phones in the bluetooth list, do this pin reset, and try again. (phone set to discoverable, and have the Tomtom initiate the search)

I've had issues where a Tomtom app update changed something about how Tomtom was IDing itself to the phone, and without clearing out the phone's memory my Tomtom could never pair to it again.

Regarding your freezing when you switch apps, that usually happens between 8.302 and 8.351. Usually this trick does the same thing as deleting mapsettins.cfg and it doesn't reset your favorites and preferences in the process.