Urban Rider stuck on TomTom logo

[rickjant]

Hello,

I have an old tomtom urban rider here which is stuck on the loading screen. I searched a lot this morning but have not found a way to fix it yet. Unfortunately, no backup. It would be nice if someone can point something out I haven't tried.

What does work:

-The pc sees it/I can acces the folder and I can acces it via Tomtom Home
-I can get into the mode with the black screen/ white letters

What have I tried:
-tried https://www.tomtomforums.com/thread...-part-1-first-steps-in-system-recovery.27292/ and https://www.tomtomforums.com/thread...to-reinstall-fresh-software-using-home.27294/

-Formatting as Fat/Fat32 and installing the software via TomTom home, it installs an update/map but it remains stuck.

-Clearflash tool is no longer available so I couldn't try that.

-Installing the .cab (http://download.tomtom.com/sweet/navcore/9.205.rider3.CAB-navcore-RIDER.cab) file directly into the folder, still nothing.

-Ran Checkdisk, no errors found

I suspect there is something wrong with the bootloader, since it always stays stuck on the TOmTom home screen, even after re adding software.

Thanks in advance!

 

[canderson]

You've already gone way past where we would have recommended without making a backup, even a backup of a device that wasn't behaving well..
Here is something that confuses me: "-Formatting as Fat/Fat32 and installing the software via TomTom home, it installs an update/map but it remains stuck."
It is not normal for Home to offer to install a map unless it is either a) recently purchased, or b) already backed up on your PC and you are installing it from there.

Anyway, let's also clarify this point. You say you installed the *.cab file directly "into the folder". I want to be sure that you didn't just copy that *.cab file to the root of your device. It has to be opened first with a tool that will open a *.zip file (even though it is a *.cab file) and the contents of the *.cab needs to be copied into the root of your device. Further to this, it is necessary to be careful which version *.cab file you are installing. Did you have version 9.205 installed on your device before you started this process? It IS possible to load firmware that is incompatible with the specific bootloader that already exists on the device.

 

[rickjant]

You've already gone way past where we would have recommended without making a backup, even a backup of a device that wasn't behaving well..
Here is something that confuses me: "-Formatting as Fat/Fat32 and installing the software via TomTom home, it installs an update/map but it remains stuck."
It is not normal for Home to offer to install a map unless it is either a) recently purchased, or b) already backed up on your PC and you are installing it from there.

Anyway, let's also clarify this point. You say you installed the *.cab file directly "into the folder". I want to be sure that you didn't just copy that *.cab file to the root of your device. It has to be opened first with a tool that will open a *.zip file (even though it is a *.cab file) and the contents of the *.cab needs to be copied into the root of your device. Further to this, it is necessary to be careful which version *.cab file you are installing. Did you have version 9.205 installed on your device before you started this process? It IS possible to load firmware that is incompatible with the specific bootloader that already exists on the device.

Thanks for your reply!

Regarding your first point, I indeed backed up the Tomtom in it's bad state via TomTom Home and windows explorer. Myabe thats why its giving me the option to recover the map and the base software.

Regarding your second point, I extracted the files from the cab in the root of the Tomtom Rider. I do not know if the 9.205 firware was installed on the tomtom. I got it with a 2nd hand motorcycle, but the previous owner said the Tomtom was stuck on the screen after an update of Tomtom Home.

 

[canderson]

My concern is over whether the bootloader was able to work with the 9.205 code.
If you have a backup of the device as you received it, please check the root area for a file called ttgo.bif (should be that, or whatever you have ending in *.bif).
In that file, you will see two lines that look like these two. Please report the content from the file for these two lines.

BootLoaderVersion=
and
ApplicationVersionVersionNumber=

 

[rickjant]

My concern is over whether the bootloader was able to work with the 9.205 code.
If you have a backup of the device as you received it, please check the root area for a file called ttgo.bif (should be that, or whatever you have ending in *.bif).
In that file, you will see two lines that look like these two. Please report the content from the file for these two lines.

BootLoaderVersion=
and
ApplicationVersionVersionNumber=

I checked the backup, and found the ttgo.bif file:

BootLoaderVersion=55250
ApplicationVersionVersionNumber=9205

 

[canderson]

OK. Well, the good news is that 9.205 came with its own bootloader update, and that's 5.525, so at least you don't have any disconnects there.
I assume you have already deleted the mapsettings.cfg file from your map folder.
If you can get to the file system, the bootloader must be working fairly well else you'd not have the low level USB comm software necessary to see the device with your PC.
It might be interesting to let the device run until the battery goes totally flat, hooking it up to a charger, and seeing if it will boot then.

Just so we are 100% clear, can you be more descriptive about the "loading screen" where you're stuck? Do you see a progress bar working its way across the bottom, or what DO you see?

 

[rickjant]

OK. Well, the good news is that 9.205 came with its own bootloader update, and that's 5.525, so at least you don't have any disconnects there.
I assume you have already deleted the mapsettings.cfg file from your map folder.
If you can get to the file system, the bootloader must be working fairly well else you'd not have the low level USB comm software necessary to see the device with your PC.
It might be interesting to let the device run until the battery goes totally flat, hooking it up to a charger, and seeing if it will boot then.

Just so we are 100% clear, can you be more descriptive about the "loading screen" where you're stuck? Do you see a progress bar working its way across the bottom, or what DO you see?

I could not find a mapsettings.cfg in the west europe folder, very weird. I will try letting the navigation run until the battery is empty.

The loading screen is the Tomtom text with the hands. It responds when i connect it to the pc, but only if I hold the power button long enough (it restarts then) It does not ask for pc connection, but gives the normal yellow screen with the device image. It also gives the writing status when something is transferred to it.

It seems it does everything except for actually starting the actual navigation and menu's.

Also, I read that when you enter the recovery mode, when you press 3 times the power button, it should display a gear icon, but that is not the case when I try to do that ( tried multiple times) It only shows the yellow bar loading. When I plug it in to a pc, nothing happens

 

[canderson]

No mapsettings.cfg file? That is odd. Is W. Europe the only map loaded on the device?
The button three press recovery mode you are describing is not for Nav2 units like yours. It is for the generation that followed ... Nav3. So that will not help.
I looked around for my old Clearflash tool to clear the flash memory for Nav2, and don't seem to be able to find it. Perhaps dhn may still know where a copy might be.

 

[dhn]

Find it here:

http://us.support.tomtom.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6211/kw/clear flash tool

 

[canderson]

@dhn
Have you recently tried that page? Directions for download and use are nice, but no download option? That's why I asked if you still had a copy somewhere.

 

[dhn]

Hmmm...right you are. In Edge or Chrome, there is no button at all for Windows. In IE, there is a small 'x' in a box which can be clicked but one gets 'page not found' when having done so. Another link down the drain. No, I don't have a copy locally.

 

[rickjant]

No mapsettings.cfg file? That is odd. Is W. Europe the only map loaded on the device?
The button three press recovery mode you are describing is not for Nav2 units like yours. It is for the generation that followed ... Nav3. So that will not help.
I looked around for my old Clearflash tool to clear the flash memory for Nav2, and don't seem to be able to find it. Perhaps dhn may still know where a copy might be.

Checked again, but still no mapseettings.cfg file, and only map on the device. I also looked on the itnernet for the flash tool, but haven't found it yet......

Oh and tried depleting the battery completely, then charging and turned it on, but still stuck on same screen.

 

[canderson]

When you connect to your PC, does Home recognize your device? If so, what happens if you use the "Operate my..." option in Home? Not sure what it's called in Dutch.

 

[rickjant]

When you connect to your PC, does Home recognize your device? If so, what happens if you use the "Operate my..." option in Home? Not sure what it's called in Dutch.

It does recognise it, but unfortunately the operate option is unavailable. It is greyed out saying that this model is no longer supported

 

[canderson]

Rats. That could have been one very interesting test. Recent forced updates to Home seem to have broken that functionality.
From Home, take a look at "Manage my...". on the 2nd page. Let's be sure that there's a valid map there.

Select "Items on Device" and "Maps". You should see your W.E. map there. Click on "More info...". What is showing for size and version number?

 

[rickjant]

Rats. That could have been one very interesting test. Recent forced updates to Home seem to have broken that functionality.
From Home, take a look at "Manage my...". on the 2nd page. Let's be sure that there's a valid map there.

Select "Items on Device" and "Maps". You should see your W.E. map there. Click on "More info...". What is showing for size and version number?

Size: 713MB
Version: 995.8546

 

[canderson]

It looks as though there's a valid map there, then.
I am running out of ideas since it sounds as though you started from scratch as we would have recommended, though we could try from scratch our way again if you are willing.
Still curious -- from where and how was the map placed on the device? Home should not have offered it to you except at some cost. By any chance did it already exist on the device, and you managed to get it copied to your PC before you started all of this?

 

[rickjant]

It looks as though there's a valid map there, then.
I am running out of ideas since it sounds as though you started from scratch as we would have recommended, though we could try from scratch our way again if you are willing.
Still curious -- from where and how was the map placed on the device? Home should not have offered it to you except at some cost. By any chance did it already exist on the device, and you managed to get it copied to your PC before you started all of this?

It could have been on the device already. Shame that all the possible solutions did not work. Thanks for the help anyway!