xl 350 will not start up, cannot backup to computer,

[Gerald McBoingboing]

I am guessing I need to reformat and upload new system to my device. I have the life time map device. I have tried to hold down button at startup to get to screen of system and quickly tap 3 times to get into system and cannot. I can download new maps but cannot operated device.

 

[canderson]

Does your PC see the content of your device? Folders, files, etc?

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

From what I first see when I connect tomtom to computer is Internal (H) drive then when opened I see folders for contacts, cp, ephem, gns, etc. Then when I double click H drive I get sub folders, etc with data, PND navigator, etc. When I click on tom tom -Cfg I see release note but it won't open - note says file may be corrupt.

I hope this information is helpful.

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

more notes, when I open tomtom home and peruse the pages, on page two the operate and backup and restore buttons are not highlighted/accessible. Information given when button is clicked the response is "You cannot use this feature because it is not support by your device."

Hope this note helps my dilemma.

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

canderson - I can do a screen shot of my system information - xl350 if that would be helpful.

 

[canderson]

No, I was just more interested in whether your issues extended to not being able to even see the device on the PC.

Just so we are clear, what happens when you try to power up your XL350 when it's not connected to anything? What does "will not start up" mean, exactly. How far does it get, and what does it say?

Before you do any reformatting or anything else that drastic, please ignore Home and make a backup this way for us >>> https://www.tomtomforums.com/thread...-to-the-computer-and-how-to-restore-it.17864/
That will assure that whatever happens, we likely have the important bits backed up to your PC before we begin any format and restore that may be necessary.

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

1. Just so we are clear, what happens when you try to power up your XL350 when it's not connected to anything? What does "will not start up" mean, exactly. How far does it get, and what does it say?

answer: the screen that only comes up is the tomtom with hands logo. I push the button to power off and logo stays on screen. to shut off I have to use a pin to access the reset button on the bottom of my device. If I hold down on the button to turn on device I get the system information. I cannot get past that screen with quick tripple click. When I press once on button I get a black screen.

2. Before you do any reformatting or anything else that drastic, please ignore Home and make a backup this way for us >>

After re-reading the information you presented, I was able to make a back up to my computer in new tt folder backup as suggested.

Thanks, now what


Thanks

 

[dhn]

When you connect the device to the computer with the device powered on, can you see the contents of the device using Window's File Manager? In other words, does the device show as a drive letter (like E:\ or F:\ for example)? If so, you can make the manual backup as listed in the link provided by canderson.

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

dhn and canderson, I guess it does help to be prodded more on my part. I did edit my original post above since I was able to backup the tomtom external drive with folders. Now I am ready to move ahead if possible. Thanks

 

[canderson]

Start by performing a FAT32 'Full' (not 'Quick') format of your unit. You'll need to connect it, so when Home appears, just close it out with the "X" for now. We'll get back to it later.
Once the format is complete, disconnect your XL with a proper Windows logical USB disconnect (use the icon in the systray) and reconnect it again. This time, when Home appears, it's going to suggest some firmware to you since it won't find any on the unit.

Accept whatever firmware is offered by Home and get it installed on your unit.
Perform the proper USB disconnect using Home (I use the little down arrow in the lower right of the Home screen), physically disconnect your unit and connect it again.
IF Home then offers yet more firmware updates, install them until it ceases to offer any firmware updates.

At this time, you can minimize (not close) Home to get it out of your way, and go to your PC backup copy of the US/Canada/Mexico or North_America (or whatever it was called on your 350) map folder. Copy that entire folder over in to the root of your XL.
Bring Home back to the fore and again, do a proper USB disconnect with Home.
Disconnect your XL from your PC and shut it off. Restart and tell us how you're doing.

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

Thanks for the information and process. I went through the process and I still an not able to operate my xl350. Once I press the on button the screen that comes up is the tomtom icon/logo. I cannot turn the unit off by the button, I click it once nothing, I hold on the button for some time and nothin. I put a pin in the shut down on the bottom of the unit for 10 seconds and it turns off. I hold button to turn back on and the tomtom icon comes up on the screen and nothing is happening. I am going to leave it on with the screen for several minutes to see if anything happens. I might reconsidering doing the wipe again, reformat etc. to see if it works a second time.

thanks for you help

 

[canderson]

Thing is definitely locking up during boot.
Is it fair to assume that no firmware has ever been downloaded and installed from some 3rd party site for this device?

I assume that you performed the WHOLE process, including moving the folder with your map data back to your device.
Using your PC, I'd like you to delete the mapsettings.cfg file from that folder on your device. Keep the copy that's on your PC -- it has your favorites and a few other things in it.
Then try the reset again.

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

thanks for the quick reply,
no 3rd party firmware
I am not seeing mapsettings.cfg, only folder for tom tom-cfg
I looked again at my backup and there isn't a mapsettings.cfg file

I could be overlooking the file, but I don't believe so. It should be in a obvious folder/file just like tomtom-cfg??

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

tomtom just came to life and asked if I wanted to connect to computer which I said yes. Now downloading phone connection settings and backing up tomtom.

Reloaded US Map folder, now charging tomtom. I will make another post once charged up and working.

Will give you update later. Thanks

 

[canderson]

FWIW, the folder that contains all of the files for your map (and there will be quite a few in there) contains mapsettings.cfg. It will have some sort of name that includes "USA" or "North America" or similar depending upon the size map you have.
It's in the map folder that you would have copied back from your PC to your device after you reinstalled the firmware with Home.

And beware using Home for backups. Best to keep using the procedure that we outlined above for any future backups. Home not always trustworthy, and always overwrites previous backup with any new one, which if your unit is 'broke', can be a bad thing when we need to back to one when it was working!

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

I am going to use on a short trip today to see how it works and if voice directions is working correctly. What I have found so far is that I am unable to download new voices, direction images i.e. cars, arrows, sounds i.e. arrival siren, etc. dialog box always states
1. Dowload Allelouia We're sorry, but HOME can't complete that task. Please try again later
2. Install to Hard disk Not started, because of earlier failures

I am seeing error incidents IDs of 494282625, 494550142, 494550897, 494551885, 494552053 I don't know if this information can help

I have searched internet for help with the above codes and I have found nothing. Thanks again. I will make post after trip today. There are other issues found but mainly interested if I can get directions from point A to B.

 

[Gerald McBoingboing]

did use the tomtom on a short 100 mile trip to and back. It worked flawlessly. At this point it is working and I cannot see that anything missing from files/program is detrimental to the working of the tomtom. Only issue will probably updating maps free since my tomtom is suppose to have that capability. That issue I will probably need to work with tomtom tech if they will still help since device is way out of warranty. Thanks for your assistance and if you still have ideas or suggestions please tag me for updated information. Lee