[ALERT] 8x0, 8x5 (& others) may also brick

[SergZak]

http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2009/06/ask-garmin-free-mandatory-gps-software-available-now.html

I was expecting this as all of the series affected seem to be coded from the same base code...

[gatorguy]

Yes, I had noticed posts yesterday from 8x5 owners with the same issue. Are all the Garmin-listed models in that bulletin using MTK chips? Not positive about the two handheld models referenced.

[Tim]

The two GPSMAP models listed are actually marine chartplotters, not handhelds.

[gatorguy]

Yeah, I realized that about a minute after posting.

[tvanpool]

I just returned a "bricked" 765T to Best buy and picked up a 885T. Damn, all I want is one of these things to work.
Surely someone makes a device that actually does what it is advertised to do. Who is it?

Terry

[Boyd]

[SergZak]

[where2]

[bm196]

Although I only used the 855 for about 20 minutes today, all was o.k. (all software and firmware up to date).

[Spyder63]

[Plumbergeek]

My 880 died yesterday (my second to do this) but it does not have the same problems as the 7X series. It will boot up sometimes and then freeze up and other times it locks up loading maps. Going on vacation to DC saturday so I bought a 885T from BB with the Geek warranty so they can replace it forever. I am tired of swapping units long distance! I tried to get Garmin to put my lifetime maps on my new 885T to no avail.
Man,I wish someone could build a decent GPS

[Boyd]

[gatorguy]

[Boyd]

Actually, just go to the link in Serge's first post in this thread - Garmin blog on their own website. It says:

[Plumbergeek]

I am going to leave all my units OFF (885T) & (880 thats freezing up) until the fix is released! Soon I hope, I'm off to DC this Saturday.
Will it update firmware over MSN Direct?

[Boyd]

The only way to update your GPS is by plugging it into a computer with an internet connection.

[alkenber]

I just bought my 755t a couple weeks ago. It died yesterday. I had some difficulty 'acquiring satellite' yesterday, then it just quit.
It will not power on now, even when attached to the USB cable and computer.
I assume this is the 'widespread' problem?

[where2]

[where2]

855 purchased 5/30/09 from Costco.com

Still working. No issues.

Software Version: 4.50
Audio Version: 1.50
GPS SW Version: 2.80m

[alkenber]

[dc9mm2]

I have a 855 and its working fine. Do i have something to worry about? I went to the link the OP put and wasnt sure exactly what the problem is. I just tried connecting my nuvi to usb cable and ran webupdater and it shows no update for my 855. Is this problem only effect some of the 855 models. Or is it just a mater of time before this problem effects my 855? It appears they dont have a update for my 855 yet.
Or is this mainly effecting the 7x5 models since it appears they have a fix for that model.

[where2]

@dc9mm2

The inclusion of the 8x5s with the 7xx units in Garmin's initial failure announcement does concern me. I'm looking for evidence of widespread failure of the 8x5's on various forums, and I'm just not seeing it. I've seen some reviews on the Costco web site that mention screen freeze-ups on the 855s, but they don't describe the same symptoms that so many 7xx units are having.

At this point, I'm not sure I will install the 855 'fix' if/when Garmin releases one. The fact that my unit appears to be functioning normally, along with the lack of posts indicating failure of the 855s, makes me wonder if I want to risk introducing a problem.

[bm196]

Where2---Ditto my 855.

[where2]

Since I currently have a working 855, I'm still not sure I'm inclined to install 4.6. This is not being called a Mandatory Update like the 7xx update was.

from:
http://iqc.garmin.com/eCustomer/KODSelfService/request.do?create=kb:garmin&view()=c{aa44b9f0-61b1-11de-73d6-000000000000}

Question: My nuvi 850, 855, 860, 865, 880, or 885 is freezing up or will not boot up past the Loading Maps screen.....

Answer:

If your nuvi 850, 855, 860, 865, 880, or 885 is experiencing any of the following symptoms:

* The touch screen is no longer responsive and the unit appears to be locked up
* The unit will turn on however freeze at the point where it indicates that it is Loading Maps...
* The unit takes five minutes or longer to be recognized by your computer as a mass storage device

A software update is now available for you to update your nuvi to correct these issues. Please use our WebUpdater program to install this update.

from:
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4121

nuvi 8xx (region file only) software version 4.60

as of June 26, 2009

Change History
Changes made from version 4.50 to 4.60:

* Correct problem where units entered a loop of Updating GPS firmware.

Changes made from version 4.40 to 4.50:

* Corrected issue when unit is connected to a BMW mount.

Changes made from version 4.30 to 4.40:

* Note: Due to new POIs in recent maps, this update enables display of POIs on the map. If you would like to disable them, touch 'Tools -> Settings -> Map -> Down Arrow -> Enabled (adjacent to Show POIs) -> Hide All'.
* Corrected POI display behavior in newer maps.
* Improved handling of Safety Camera messages.
* Corrected the display of the Elevation map in Track Up and North Up map views.
* FM transmitter no longer reverts to FM mode after being switched to internal speaker.
* Corrected MSN Direct 'Go!' button functionality.
* Corrected issue that could result in MSN Direct Flight times to be displayed incorrectly.
* Corrected issue that could result in MSN Direct Flight review page error.
* MSN Direct Flight Status search selection is now saved in Recently Found list.
* Enhanced MSN Direct Flight data so that it is now accessible for all airports regardless of proximity.

Changes made from version 4.00 to 4.30:

* Adjust FM transmitter performance for Europe.
* Improved category searching capability with newer maps.
* Fixed Safety Camera announcements to be in the correct language.
* Improved MSN Direct support.

Changes made from version 3.20 to 4.00:

* U-turn direction icon was sometimes incorrect in UK.
* Custom avoid area box wasn't being shaded.
* Coordinates on the review page are localized.
* Iceland MPC map city search broken.
* Formatting on traffic description page corrected for Italian language.
* GPS suspend/resume issue resolved.
* Corrected Polish MPC map city search.
* Improved interaction between POIs and phone calls.
* Speed/proximity alerts now work correctly with a VIB 11.
* Backlight timeout improvement.

... etc. ...

[Plumbergeek]

I just updated both of mine (880 & 885T) Taking the 885T on vacation to DC tomorrow so we shall see how it goes!

[luv2ski]

Upgraded my brand new 885T back around 10-June from 4.40 to the then current 4.50 using the stand-alone WebUpdater app on my Intel Mac (OS X Leopard 10.5.7). The 885T unit verified the new FW update and then restarted. It wouldn't boot. After completing the progress bar, it just hung. Cold starting and even a master reset didn't work.

I must have been the first to hit the problem because tech support had no clue what had happened. It took me a week of back and forth to convince them that it was really bricked. They had me return the complete 885T package (at my expense) and sent me a new one - only after receiving the returned unit. Garmin support won't send the replacement out immediately even if you guarantee it with a CC. This can be frustrating if you have a trip coming up.

Like the original unit, the replacement 885T came with 4.40 firmware, the 2009 City Navigator NT and a registerable MSN Direct power cord/receiver. I was hesitant to upgrade the 885T firmware, but wanted the 2010 map upgrade. I ran the MapInstall app figuring it would recognize the new unit, push the 2010 CN NT map I had previously downloaded for the original 885T and then allow me to unlock it with a new key from Garmin. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

MapInstall was more than willing to push the 2010 NT map but never asked me for a new key. It seemed oblivious to the change in serial number on the other end of the USB cable. After it pushed the map, the replacement 885T unit now complained on each boot-up about not being able to unlock its map. I could find no way to get MapInstall to remove the map it just pushed. No opportunity to obtain or enter a new map unlock key was ever given.

Plan B: I decided to register so I could download the 2010 CN NT map again, get a new key and install it from scratch. However, when I went to register, the web site required installation of a new Garmin browser plug-in. This must be a recent change since I didn't have to do this in early June with the first go round.

It turns out that the required plug-in won't work on Apple Safari 4.0 so Mac users beware (some weird interactions with Flip4Mac too).

Plan B1:Luckily, the Garmin plug-in will work on Firefox for the Mac. After installing the FireFox plug-in and validating it on Garmin's test page, I resumed the registration process.

Registration requires that one do the mandatory upgrade to 4.60 before registration can proceed. After I did that, the unit restarted as expected but the new web plugin couldn't see the 885T anymore. Neither would the stand-alone WebUpdater app. The Garmin volume was successfully mounted, but some files appeared to be truncated (like GarminDevice.xml).

Plan B2: Thinking this could be a Mac problem, I got a PC and installed the Garmin browser plug-in for IE. It didn't recognize the upgraded 885T either. This persisted despite the fact that the Garmin volume was being mounted and was visible on both Mac OS X and on Windows.

Plan B3: I had to cold start the 885T by removing the battery and also reboot the Mac. This finally worked and I could get the new unit registered and start downloading the gianormous map update again. My theory is that chkdsk or something like that repaired the Garmin volume allowing it to be recognized again.

Only now after registering could I uninstall the unlockable version of the 2010 CN NT map and replace it with one that I would have to download again and unlock with a new key.

All is still not well: Although I'm up-to-date with 4.60 now, I still get a warning that I need to do a mandatory update every time I power up the unit. This began the first time I attached it to the newly registered replacement MSN Direct power cable/receiver.

Finally a word to the wise: During the firmware update, you'll be instructed to remove the USB cable and allow the GPS to reboot. Although it won't tell you this, be sure to unmount (eject on the Mac) the Garmin volume before pulling that cable. My theory is that there's a issue with the web update app and/or the browser plug-in not syncing the file system after the upgrade is done. Pulling the USB cable without first ejecting can result in damaged files on the Garmin volume that the 885T uses to boot. The Garmin PC/Mac software apparently scans this file system to recognize the unit. If files are damaged, it won't be able to do so.

Maybe Garmin needs to beef up their system test process so retail customers don't become unwitting beta testers.

[TitaniumGamer]

I updated my nuvi 885T to software version 4.60, on July 1. Version 4.60 is supposed to fix the freezing problem; however, I drove 460 miles with my 885T on July 2, and it froze up twice, toward the end of the trip. Each time I had to do a reset, by holding the on/off switch to the left for 8 seconds, to restore the unit to operation. I experienced the same problem with my 885T before updating to 4.60, so it would seem the update has not fixed the problem.

[Jap]

Our company bought 20 x Nuvi 860's. All of them have the freeze problem. Firmware updates did not help much, including ver. 4.60. I am greatly disappointed in this model and will not recommend it to anybody. A friend with a Nuvi 205W does not have any problems. Maybe it is all the bells and whistles that are too much for the Garmin programmers to cope with? or are they using the public to do their beta testing for them?

[Boyd]

Seems to me there were a number of issues with the 8x0 series, which is probably why they discontinued it very quickly as opposed to their other series which are marketed for a number of years.