TomTom GO 910 won't GO past the map choice screen

[filmil]

I've a few questions about TomTom GO 910

I bought a TomTom GO 910 as a present some 1.5 months ago.

Since a few days ago, the 910 won't go past the map selection screen. When the device is turned on, it shows the TomTom logo, and goes through the standard set of setup screens until the one that asks about the map choice (4 maps are on file: US&Canada, Europe, Guam and Canary Islands).

Regardless of which map I choose, the device sits there for about 1 minute and then restarts. This goes on indefinitely.

This was the first issue. What should one do here? I tried contacting TomTom by phone, but I was just put indefinitely on hold. I also tried contacting the support by email, but got no reply.

Trying to trace what is wrong (upon request of the person for whom I bought the 910), it turns out that item 3 of the "what's in the box" list (USB cradle and cable) is missing. I wanted to get a normal USB mini cable to compensate for the missing one (1.5 months is probably a bit late to be complaining about this to TomTom), but it turns out that there is no USB connector on the TomTom or the holder as far as I can see. I found a 'TomTom 910 USB cable' on a website and considered ordering it, but I am still at a loss where I should then plug the thing in. The picture on the website does not show the connectors clearly, and the support of the website has no clue if the cable alone would be enough.

What to do? I. e. are there cables allowing GO 910 to be connected to a PC USB port without having the home dock?

Thanks,
f

 

[drledger]

Looking at my 910 I do not see how a regular usb cable would work. The base that the 910 sits in has a usb cable hardwired and a plug for the power supply. It has been a while but consider going back to the store. It is possible they might honor your concern particularly since it is the day after Christmas and most retailers have rather liberal return policies for gifts.
I think the first thing TT may tell you to do is a reset of the device. You are describing a situation that mirrors a problem I had and that is the advice given me. It did not solve the problem so the vendor exchanged it for me. Hope you find a solution. Please post back and let us know what happens as your experience may help others.

 

[GAW]

The docking station had a built in USB cable - not a separate one. Check and see if the person you gave it to misplaced it and can find it. Otherwise, it is possible you got a returned unit that was missing it.

If you cannot come up with any other way, it is available for $34.95 on the TT website. You absolutely need one to do backups, updates, etc.

 

[filmil]

OK, I ordered an extra USB home dock for GO 910 from Amazon and got it today. I connected the GO 910 to the dock and the dock's USB to the computer. The computer seems to see the GO 910 just fine and I am able to do things through the TomTom HOME software.

I am now trying to set things right in software before returning the TomTom to the maker. BTW, I am still unable to make any useful contact with TomTom. Unfortunately, simply returning the device to TomTom will not fly since the device was bought overseas, and the return policies there are much less flexible than those in the USA.

I suppose that either the software or the maps on the GO have been damaged. Unfortunately I have no backup to revert to, so I will have to try replacing component-by-component.

I am wondering, why does TomTom not deliver a DVD (or two) with the complete contents of the device on it? Especially for large devices such as 910, it is very inconvenient to make multi-gigabyte backups, and the DVD would help tremendously with these problems.

f

PS. FYI, some websites seem to advertise a "USB Cable" that is claimed to be compatible with TomTom GO 910. This claim seems bogus to me. The cable is a normal USB mini cable, which can not be connected to GO 910. (confirmed after some checking). Seems that the only premade cable that can be plugged into GO 910 is that of the home dock. I suppose one can manually hack together an USB cable with equivalent functionality if the original cable is missing (as it was missing in my case).

 

[GAW]

First, I assume you have tried re-setting the device like drledger had suggested earlier. It is not clear what you are able to do with the device connected now. Will it let you run the device in virtual mode (on TT home)? If so, do you see a map when you are in this mode? If not, if you select browse map, do you see one (like Europe) then.

You might try to select the US/Canada map while in virtual mode in any case.

Also, which version of home did you install. You have a choice between 2.1 and 1.5 - the latter lets you see everything on one screen and is better to work with.

Also, I would not start working with the files piecemeal right now. If possible, do a backup through home first. Otherwise, copy and paste the entire device to a clean folder on your computer before you do anything else.

Based on how functional the device is while connected through TT home, after backing up, you might let it update the Application, assuming you don't already have version 7.162 on it yet. Then see if it works OK.

If it won't let you open ANY map (assuming you could before), I would think it would be the application blocking you - not a single bad map.

 

[filmil]

First, I assume you have tried re-setting the device like drledger had suggested earlier.

Yes, of course. The reset button is located at the back of the device, near the contacts for the dock. This is shown clearly in the manual. Resetting the device by pressing the reset button (to a click) with a toothpick did not change its behavior. It is still unusable.

It is not clear what you are able to do with the device connected now. Will it let you run the device in virtual mode (on TT home)? If so, do you see a map when you are in this mode? If not, if you select browse map, do you see one (like Europe) then.

As far as I can see, I can operate the device normally (i.e. all functionality is accessible) via the "Operate my GO" option in the TomTom HOME software. I can use the maps, I can ask for route computation, I can browse the menus, select options etc, all from the HOME software. I have not gone through all the options though, as there are plenty of them and I don't see how that would help.

I updated the device via TomTom home. After the update, the device (when operating stand-alone) would not go past the title screen anymore. In the old state of affairs, it at least went as far as the map choice, before resetting.

You might try to select the US/Canada map while in virtual mode in any case.

As said above. Selecting the US/Canada map works well in virtual mode. (assuming here the 'virtual mode' means operating the GO 910 through the TT HOME).

Also, which version of home did you install. You have a choice between 2.1 and 1.5 - the latter lets you see everything on one screen and is better to work with.

I think it's 2.1. I installed the software today via the TomTom.com website. I have a device of my own (TomTom ONE XL) which works fine, and have no problems going about options in TT Home, whichever version. So I hope that's a non-issue.

Also, I would not start working with the files piecemeal right now. If possible, do a backup through home first. Otherwise, copy and paste the entire device to a clean folder on your computer before you do anything else.

That's a good advice. However, I do not have as much free space as required for the full backup right now. (Mind you, I am doing this for another person, and I can not move their data around just like that). So I am trying to backup only the necessary parts.

Based on how functional the device is while connected through TT home, after backing up, you might let it update the Application, assuming you don't already have version 7.162 on it yet. Then see if it works OK.

I updated the application. As far as I can see, the device would not go past the title screen anymore. (as said in the text above).

If it won't let you open ANY map (assuming you could before), I would think it would be the application blocking you - not a single bad map.

I am no longer able to access the maps at all in stand-alone mode. (NB: I haven't tested this fully yet, the device is backing itself up as we speak, fingers crossed that there's enough drive space).

f

 

[GAW]

Sounds odd that it is fully functional in virtual mode, but not stand alone. The 910 is real sensitive to how you disconnect it from TT home. With 2.1, i thknk by exiting the virtual menu, that should do it - but not sure.

After updating and disconnection, it should go flash the Application after disconnecting from Home if you interrupt it, it can cause problems. Do you recall seeing the device itself flashing the new app ? If not, try installing it again, then carefully disconnect it from TT home (1.5 had a device button at the bottom of the Left side menu, and that was a sure way to safely disconnect).

After disconnecting, if you don't see the flashing taking place within a minute or two (it sometimes takes its time), as long as you are out of the "operate my Go" virtual mode, turn it off in the dock. Take it off the docking station and turn it on and again - give it some time to flash. If it does not flash, that indicates it is a problem with the unit or application installation - since the maps work while in the virtual mode.

In the past, I have had to go through this cycle a number of times, also doing a re-set each time. What you want to see and hear on the 910 when it is turned off and then boots up off the dock is the welcome screen and jingle first. That usually indicates it is OK.

 

[filmil]

After updating and disconnection, it should go flash the Application after disconnecting from Home if you interrupt it, it can cause problems. Do you recall seeing the device itself flashing the new app ?

I never interrupted anything that showed any progress. I also distinctly remember the "flashing GO with new application" message after the upgrade.[/quote]

In the past, I have had to go through this cycle a number of times, also doing a re-set each time. What you want to see and hear on the 910 when it is turned off and then boots up off the dock is the welcome screen and jingle first. That usually indicates it is OK.

For what it's worth, I solved the problem. The device now seems to work fine.

Unfortunately I kept no log to show exactly what I did to remedy the problem. But here are the few steps I made, in the approximate order. After each step, I disconnected the device neatly and tried rebooting it in stand-alone mode. If the device did not reboot, I continued the drill until finally it worked.

- I removed the unused voices from the device (these can be revived from the install CD if needed)
- I ran the update within TT Home. This update the application, the QuickGPSFix, and a third item that I can not recall right now. Several times.
- I copied the contents of the drive to the computer. (I did not make a backup since it seemed to hang or last unacceptably long)
- I ran the filesystem check for the TomTom drive. (as you would do with any normal hard disk. the check found no problems on the device's drive)
- I used the virtual mode to reset the device to factory settings.

I did not make the device backup however. When I issue the backup command from within TT Home, the program just sits there with the "Checking..." message or some such, and the green line running around the screen. It stays there for a very long while, and I am not certain whether this is because the device's hard disk is large (20GB is a lot of space to check), or because something had gone wrong.

HTH,
f

Device info:
APP 7.162 (8492/040301) OS:1000
64MB RAM (free: 64.0MB)
GPS v1.21 Boot 1.0012
Map: 'North_America' v665.1293

 

[drledger]

Sorry to hear you are still having the problems. Usually a reset will solve most everything (but only almost). Let us know if TT gives you any feedback.

 

[filmil]

Sorry to hear you are still having the problems. Usually a reset will solve most everything (but only almost). Let us know if TT gives you any feedback.

Did you read my last message:

For what it's worth, I solved the problem. The device now seems to work fine.

Thanks for the advice.

f

 

[GAW]

I never interrupted anything that showed any progress. I also distinctly remember the "flashing GO with new application" message after the upgrade.

For what it's worth, I solved the problem. The device now seems to work fine.

Unfortunately I kept no log to show exactly what I did to remedy the problem. But here are the few steps I made, in the approximate order. After each step, I disconnected the device neatly and tried rebooting it in stand-alone mode. If the device did not reboot, I continued the drill until finally it worked.

- I removed the unused voices from the device (these can be revived from the install CD if needed)
- I ran the update within TT Home. This update the application, the QuickGPSFix, and a third item that I can not recall right now. Several times.
- I copied the contents of the drive to the computer. (I did not make a backup since it seemed to hang or last unacceptably long)
- I ran the filesystem check for the TomTom drive. (as you would do with any normal hard disk. the check found no problems on the device's drive)
- I used the virtual mode to reset the device to factory settings.

I did not make the device backup however. When I issue the backup command from within TT Home, the program just sits there with the "Checking..." message or some such, and the green line running around the screen. It stays there for a very long while, and I am not certain whether this is because the device's hard disk is large (20GB is a lot of space to check), or because something had gone wrong.

HTH,
f

Device info:
APP 7.162 (8492/040301) OS:1000
64MB RAM (free: 64.0MB)
GPS v1.21 Boot 1.0012
Map: 'North_America' v665.1293[/QUOTE]

910 backups take quite a while - depending how much you have on it. It is very slow compared to copy and paste. Mine takes about an hour.

Since it is all working now (I think because it finally flashed the new app correctly), I would definitely do a complete backup of the unit that is finally working OK.