TomTom Home is an epic fail

[xantari]

The title says it all. I'm wondering if other people have problem with TomTom home destroying the file system on their devices. Heres my history:

I purchased two TomTom 335 S units brand new. Wanted to go update the software and maps on them. Should be a simple process right?

Not so, I spent over 6 hours F*#@$ with these two devices. The TomTom home software constantly gave me "Write I/O" failures and mentioned some cpp (C++) file in the error info. It was completely random on when it would occur and on what file it occurs on. But when it did happen it totally screws up the file system on the device. If you do a chkdsk on the drive from windows it WILL find errors. Unreadable files, recovered files, free space calculation issues, etc.

Apparently this guy pretty much had the same expierence as me: Mike Jutan's World: Why updating maps on TomTom's One 140 GPS unit sucks the big one

He sums up the majority of my issues very nicely.

So one of my questions to the community is:

1. How do you update the software on your device when TomTom home is buggier then S*#T?
2. How many other people have run into this, just do a reply to this thread stating your expierence.

Ohh and BTW incase your interested, both of these devices were returned to the store.

 

[mikealder]

There have been a number of posts made recently with forum members having trouble with the XL335S and updates bricking their new purchase, the I/O file error leads to a very long map install which typically has been taking 5+ hours, although we never really did find out 100% why the failures were occuring.

I don't like the Home software for a number of reasons and try to avoid using it at all costs where possible, sadly it has to be used for map updates but it is possible to do all other updates using Windows Explorer - Mike

 

[xantari]

Do these write I/O errors not happen then on other TomTom devices? Is there a different one (thats under 250 bucks) that would actually work?

 

[dhn]

Many with your model do NOT get the I/O errors you seem to be experiencing so it is not a model wide issue.

 

[mvl]

The 335S is shipped with app 8.411, which has a defect in the internal USB drivers that causes IO errors.

Update the application on the 335S to 9.025 first. That fixes the IO errors and makes the map download only take 1 hour instead of 5.

There are separate issues with many owners of the 325S (not 335S), but that appears to have quieted down lately.

 

[xantari]

Thanks for the info, after purchasing 4 of these devices and bringing them all back to the store after experimenting on different OS's (windows 7, XP, and Vista) to try update the devices and find the updates fail on ALL OS's i've basically added TomTom to my do not buy list.

Which is unfortunate, I loved TomTom on my old Windows Mobile PDA phone (which I no longer have as I sold it). I expected their dedicated GPS's to be of the same quality. But having a defect like this warrants a complete recall because how is a regular user suppose to know this defect exists and for that matter know how to update to 9.XXX of the software PRIOR to doing all other updates in TomTom Home? The answer is they can't be expected to know this.

FYI, I called TomTom tech support to see what they would say, and they said don't do this on Windows 7 as it's untested, seeminly unaware that I told them I have 335 S and am experiencing I/O errors. That *SHOULD* have raised a red flag with them if they know about this USB driver issue.

I have since bought a Garmin, even though it doesn't have as many features, i have updated the firmware and maps WITHOUT issue and it was painless.

 

[dhn]

I'm sorry for the hassle you've had, it shouldn't be necessary. Perhaps TomTom will finally get the message in their financial statements if more people do as you've done and let their $$$ do the talking.

Since you have moved to Garmin, may I suggest your joining a terrific multi-gps board with many Garmin specialists, just in case the need arises?

It's gpsreview.net

 

[mvl]

FYI, I called TomTom tech support to see what they would say, and they said don't do this on Windows 7 as it's untested, seeminly unaware that I told them I have 335 S and am experiencing I/O errors. That *SHOULD* have raised a red flag with them if they know about this USB driver issue.

I'm not convinced that support knows about this issue. It's something we've learned by listening to all our member's posts.

Tomtom's support knowledge base is often out-of-date and we in the forums often end up finding problems and fixes faster than their support does.

 

[cosmac]

Thanks for the help! One other quick, slightly related question. I tried searching for the answer both here and on the TomTom site. If I get a get a new TomTom (perhaps 340-s) can I transfer my purchased John Cleese voice to it?

 

[dhn]

I implied the wrong answer to somebody yesterday () but superMod Mikealder set the record straight.

Purchased voices are locked to a specific device just like maps are and therefore cannot be shared.