Firmware 8.3 offered to UK users of x20 models today. Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:32 pm
A new firmware 8.3 is being offered to x20 users in the UK this morning. It seems to replace a 8.2 firmware version that was meant only for x40 models there (not available in NA) but, somehow, got in the hands of x20 and x30 users there with some negative results.
If this same firmware is offered here in North America, I'd suggest not even considering dl and implementing it unless you have a full Explorer backup of your unit's contents prior to doing the dl of 8.3
I do not know any information about changed functionality in 8.3 over the current 8.010 at this time.
Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 513 Location: Cleveland, OH
Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:49 pm
Well, I've driven around with the new firmware a bit today and have not had any problems. However there has been one change.
I have "Next Street Name" enabled. Rather than displaying below my horizontal status bar, it now displays in the upper right in place of the "street sign" thing that used to show various useless texts from nearby street signs.
Not sure how I feel about this but it IS a change worth noting.
Remind me again what the issue is/was related to the compass? I just turned it on (I don't normally use it) and it works like this in 3D mode. The compass arrow always shows you which way North is.
Driving North = Points up.
Driving Driving East = Points left.
Driving South = Points down.
Dirving West = Points right.
In Nav7, you could select to have the compass point to the direction you were driving, not just north. Further, you could also have displayed the direction (in letters such as N, NE, etc.) displayed or the degrees you were travelling. It was also larger than the dinky compass in N8, which as you point out (and I tried to point out to a recent poster) just points North.
Joined: 28 Nov 2007 Posts: 85 Location: Louisville, KY
Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:18 am
The first thing I immediately noticed is the option to put "disable hands free" in the quick menu preferences has been removed. I really liked this option for private conversations. Now I have to navigate 4 menus deep to get to it.
Last edited by istman on Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:53 am; edited 2 times in total
Joined: 28 Nov 2007 Posts: 85 Location: Louisville, KY
Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:28 am
Okay, number 2... the phone icon has been removed from the navigation display when the phone is communicating via BT. The regular phone with the red X remains when the there is no comms.
Other changes include options under 'battery savings' preference. You can now dim or keep showing the screen but no longer is there an option to turn off between instructions.
Also, it appears you can scroll down 48 items in a poi instead of the previous 24.
Just downloaded it after backing up my system in windows. Don't see any obvious issues, unit powers up etc. Not been out driving with it but can confirm that I get a traffic lock now with the USB TMC receiver so that's a great plus.
istman
On my Go720 with the new 8.3 while making a call if I tap the green icon another sreen pops up with a list of other icons one of them is transfer audio to phone basically the same amount of screens as before.
Don
i upgraded with no problems...so far Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:12 pm
i just ran the 8.3 upgrade on my 720 and so far, so good. Maybe this will address the turning on by itself issue? Let's hope so.
Wonder if there's a list of bug fixes/changes for 8.3, since it's a major jump from 8.03 (in other words, it's not 8.04) that we can get hold of somewhere. Has anyone found one?
Andy
Good question I went to TT site to see what the upgrade did and couldn't even find the firm ware upgrade.
Don
Hi Don, the firmware update was found and installed when I connected my 720 to Home. I normally don't download them from their website, I wait for the patches/upgrades to be detected automatically for my unit (720).
I work for a software company and whenever we issue a new version, regardless of how major/minor it is, there is a Release Notes document published (a text document) so customers know what changed and whether it is necessary for their environment. I hope TT has done the same, but I haven't had a chance to look yet.
Hi Andy Same here and after I dowwnloaded I went to their site for the release notes and couldn't find them , maybe they'll pop up somewhere, so far everything seems to be o.k.
Note that upgrading to navcore 2.3 appears to remove the fm xmitter functionality according to our British friends. I personally haven't updated yet. No biggie probably since it didn't work well anyway, but wanted to mention it for those who use it.
Personally I'm waiting to update as I haven't seen anything noting how it benefits me yet.
I still have an FM transmitter for music, not for voice prompts.
Yeah..........gots the Brits pretty upset over that.
If I can generalize a bit from what I've seen in the UK forum the last few days: the combination of x40 products + 8.3 firmware + 8.15 maps has been (to be kind) less than satisfactory.
HD traffic appears to be much better on paper than in reality.
In Nav7, you could select to have the compass point to the direction you were driving, not just north. Further, you could also have displayed the direction (in letters such as N, NE, etc.) displayed or the degrees you were travelling. It was also larger than the dinky compass in N8, which as you point out (and I tried to point out to a recent poster) just points North.
The compass in NC8.3 is a bit better than NC8.1 but worse than in NC7.
The 48 POI search list is a good functional improvement.
I just upgraded my 920 to 8.30 and I just noticed how small the fonts are for the upcoming turns. For example, the top of the screen looks like
Hwy2/Hwy4/Hwy765 Solomons.... This was over in Maryland. Is there a way to change this?
I just checked my 720 as I was nervous about your finding but so far it looks ok (I just tried a demo route). I'll keep a close eye on this though, obviously that's a huge usability bug/issue.
Users in other forums both here and in the UK are observing that while driving (not in demo mode) that computer voices are stuttering/hesitating, especially with long names with the 8.3 firmware.
Yes! I took out the 920 last night for the first time and there is an intersection near me that requires a left and then a quick right. The 920 choked and stuttered and never got the directions out. Never heard that before.
Yes! I took out the 920 last night for the first time and there is an intersection near me that requires a left and then a quick right. The 920 choked and stuttered and never got the directions out. Never heard that before.
Makes one wonder about TT's quality assurance testing before a major software release.
Users in other forums both here and in the UK are observing that while driving (not in demo mode) that computer voices are stuttering/hesitating, especially with long names with the 8.3 firmware.
I learned my lesson on firmware upgrades with the flawed 4.0 nuvi update. This sounds like much the same nuvi 7x0 issue, with the the TomTom processor being overtaxed and/or insufficient resources for the new firmware. Apparently must add some current or future function upgrades. I'll wait to upgrade. See no need to with the complaints starting to crop up.
Yes! I took out the 920 last night for the first time and there is an intersection near me that requires a left and then a quick right. The 920 choked and stuttered and never got the directions out. Never heard that before.
Just curious, can you reproduce it in demo mode for the same route?
I would doubt it if the issue is similar to the nuvi update problem, which I suspect it is. Nuvi in demo mode did fine. In-route was where the stuttering appeared.
Here's my educated guess: TomTom has added software, (perhaps for an upcoming traffic service change?), that the x20's are not capable of supporting. Just like the recent nuvi 4.0 update for the 700's, resource calls for the remaining processor overhead coupled with reduced ram is leaving the 920 unable to process all the necessary requests without timing out. Most users who have checked find they have only about 12-14 megs memory left since updating to 8.3. Previous Navcore versions left almost twice as much for processing commands. Just my thoughts.
Users in other forums both here and in the UK are observing that while driving (not in demo mode) that computer voices are stuttering/hesitating, especially with long names with the 8.3 firmware.
Anybody have that experience while driving?
Interesting... I have experienced this in all previous 8.x firmware releases. I have not been out with the device since upgrading so hopefully it not gotten any worse.
I learned my lesson on firmware upgrades with the flawed 4.0 nuvi update. This sounds like much the same nuvi 7x0 issue, with the the TomTom processor being overtaxed and/or insufficient resources for the new firmware. Apparently must add some current or future function upgrades. I'll wait to upgrade. See no need to with the complaints starting to crop up.
Bingo!
I rushed to upgrade as I expect to get 8.15 maps.
I just need to scan and send my 1 year map guarantee!
Just took the 920 out again to the same spot where I experienced the stuttering last night. This night, no problem at all. But, yesterday I was using the 8.10 maps and today the 8.15 maps. Maybe the new maps have something to do with it.
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