Updating an XL340TM to 9.061

[observing]

I know that I'll probably get some flak for griping when I ended up with a working device, but I really wish some effort was put into making updates more intelligent. I have an XL340TM with version 9.026 on it. HOME offered me 9.061, so it proceeds to download it and "install to card reader," which wasn't really the case since the XL340TM doesn't have a removable card. Once it finishes, it puts up a dialog box telling me to :
1. Remove the memory card from the reader (which I obviously didn't do)
2. Turn on the nav device, let it start up, then turn it off.
3. Remove memory card from device and put it back in the computer's card reader
4. Wait for HOME to recognize the memory card

It took me three iterations of installing the software, turning the device on/off, launching/terminating HOME, and rebooting the computer (it appeared to load a new device driver on the last attempt) before hitting on the correct sequence. From reading this forum, I know I'm not the only one who has had problems updating devices and my story certainly had a happier ending than some others, but I think a lot of grief could be avoided with better thought-out instructions.

 

[canderson]

I note that your description included the following:

"(it appeared to load a new device driver on the last attempt)"

Until now, had you been doing regular updates to your unit successfully? Were you using a different USB port on your PC when the driver load took place? Do you have a card reader anywhere on your equipment (could even be in the front of a printer) or another USB device (GPS, MP3 player, whatever) that was connected at the time?

I ask all of that because I've had some interesting interactions when I have both my Garmin Oregon and TomTom plugged in at the same time.

 

[observing]

I use a laptop, which does have a built-in card reader. At the time of the update, there was no card in it, neither was there anything plugged into the USB ports besides the device. To the best of my recollection, the device was connected to the same USB port as I normally use for it.

I wasn't so much irritated about the driver update as I was that the program didn't recognize that the device didn't have a removable memory card and gave less than helpful instructions. Regardless of how the host computer is configured, that really shouldn't happen.

Again, I have always managed to end up with a working device after every update, but the process always seems to end up being an adventure of some kind.

 

[alfie67]

Wonder if you are using the latest version of Home? I have upgraded several of these 340TM's to 9.061 using the latest version, and my dialog boxes were entirely different, including doing an auto reboot of my GPS after installation. The newer version of Home hopefully should make the entire update process easier.

 

[canderson]

I wasn't so much irritated about the driver update as I was that the program didn't recognize that the device didn't have a removable memory card and gave less than helpful instructions. Regardless of how the host computer is configured, that really shouldn't happen.

That's true, but Home has been doing some strange things for me as well. If I attach my Garmin Oregon 450 via USB while Home is running, my 740 Live disconnects and it's as though Home thinks its activity should be redirected to the Garmin - which it obviously can't handle.

I've also noticed that closing my 740 down from the Windows icon in the task try doesn't actually shut it down now. My 740 disappears from the list of active USB devices (can't find the internal or uSD in the list for shut down aftewards), but the unit does not respond with the usual disk drive / red line business. It just sits there. Unplugging gives me the "USB disconnect ding", indicating that the OS did not believe it to be disconnected.

Strange stuff happening on my USB lately as well...

 

[Rick F.]

We often joke that the programmers at TomTom must have been 'C' students in college. Maybe the ones who wrote the code for HOME were all 'C–' students.