Firmware Update 4.0

While we wait for the fix for the version 4.0 problems you might try this to minimize the issues on the nuvi 7xx GPSr. I renamed the POI.GPI file in \Garmin\POI\ to POI.GPI.SAV . You could also delete the file entirely.

With this change, the delay in Loading Maps has gone away. Maps now load in seconds rather than minutes. The lag in directions is minimized. The lag is still there, but most are off by .1 mile rather than .3 to .5 mile with a TTS voice.

The downside of removing the POI.GPI file is that you no longer have any custom POIs. Favorites and built in POIs are still there.

If you can get by without custom POIs, this might be an option for you.

Ok, here's a conspiracy theory:

Last month the Garmin folks are sitting around a conference table getting ready to announce their new line of 7x5 units. One Garmin guy thinks out loud "Hey, wouldn't it be nice if we could convince all of the current Garmin 7xx owners to upgrade to the newer units?" So another Garmin guy says "I know, why don't we slightly cripple the current units so people will get so frustrated that they will go out and buy the new units!!" And all the Garmin people nod their heads in agreement.

I know the above scenario is fictitious, but at some point you have to wonder what Garmin is up to. I find it hard to believe their software engineers are THIS incompetent. Every update introduces new bugs, and most updates don't fix older bugs.

Maybe many of Garmin's engineers are transplants from Microsoft. This is like deja vu with Windows updates over the last 15 years.

The .GPI files could always be moved to an SD card instead. Perhaps inserting it after the unit has booted will give a unit that boots OK and has Custom POIs. (My 760's 150 miles away at the moment, so I can't test it)

You actually believe that the Garmin folk talk to oneanother

No - they went to work for Redhat, when Microsoft introduced their security initiative, 3 or 4 years ago.
(Apparently, they were disgruntled, that they could no longer work all night, adding 'cool' new features that no one had actually asked for - and which were full of holes.)

I fear this might just be the tip of the iceberg.

This kind of shift in software quality is often indicative of "farming out" the software development to an independent company....that the parent has little control over. Once done, a change like that is hard to un-do......and the quality problem often gets worse before it gets better.

I hope the next step is NOT moving their support people to New Deli !!

I tried that in an effort to quantify the magnitude of the problem on my Nuvi 760. I never had any .GPI files on the main unit itself. I always kept them on the SD card. I tried the unit with the card and no GPI, without the card at all, and with the card and gpi file inserted after the unit was runing. With or without the card, the 'post turn' instructions were still anounced at the same point - too late. When I slipped in the card after the unit was turned on; again, no perceptable change in performance. The only option available for me that will provide anounced turn directions that are not nonsensical (I know, double negative) was to choose a non-TTS voice.
Alas, I wait.

Phil,
it seems so odd that some units are having issues and like me not having any issues, why is that??!!

Here's a suggestion that is only partially tongue and cheek: This firmare "update" has rendered voice instructions useless and a constant source of irritation. Just mute the navigation instructions until this problem is resolved. This is a lot safer than attempting to roll-back the firmware or other fixes involving deleting files from your Nuvi 760.

good advice

Greetings,

Well, I tried switching to a non-TTS voice, and as mentioned before, it does remove the lag introduced by V4.0. I miss the TTS, though, and returned to the Voice of Karen with its 0.2-mile v4 lag. Ugh.

As I mentioned earlier, I hesitate to force a reversion of my 750 back to 2.9 or 3.1 from 4.0 since I fear the eventual fix for 4.0 might not like the forced firmware back-date.

Here's what's interesting. I wonder if others see this, too. Ages ago, I updated my TTS Jill and Karen since those are the two voices I tend to use. In running a webupdate today, as expected, I continue to see that I have the current WebUpdater and current (yeah, right ^%#$#&%#@@&) firmware, and then am offered the choice to update voices. As expected, my Jill and Karen are up to date and I also see the long-time-available English Jack (1.4), English Lee (1.2) and English Daniel (1.2) so I figured I'd update these English voices. Well, the download and installation of the three male English voices worked as expected. After finishing and safely disconnecting my nuvi, I fired it up and all was well. I turned it off and then tried a new Webupdate. As expected--no new webupdater or firmware and no new Jill or Karen offered, BUT I see that I'm again told that my Jack, Lee and Daniel need updating (to 1.4, 1.2, and 1.2, respectively) even though I had just done it. I again updated each and all looked well, but once again, Jack, Lee and Daniel "need" updates.

The questions are: 1) do other 750 users with the v4 firmware have this voice update bug? and 2) if all v4 users can't update these voices, do the rest of you with pre-v4 firmware also have the issue or do the voices update properly?

Thanks.

I think garmin has us where they want us, it would have been easy for them to post with 4.0 that there was no way to roll back to a earlier version, so they really did give us a fix, just not the one we wanted.

I don't know - it's strange. Must be down to some combination or other of circumstances.

Interestingly, European users (me included) seem to be noticing the drastically increased boot time - whereas folk in here are suffering from this delayed voice effect. Or if you're really unlucky - both

do people update just because they can, i hace 2.5 and never had a problem or reason to upgrade, and im happy, with your updates does yours do anything mine cant? i have a 760

These are the things that have been fixed, changed or added since the version 2.50 that you have in your unit.

Change History as follows:

Changes made from version 3.10 to 4.00:
Improvement in Mad Maps performance
Added support for more GPI files
Corrected an error in MSN news reports where a report could be lost

Changes made from version 3.00 to 3.10:
Improve handling of the situation where overlapping map data is present on the device.
Fixed fleet management interface route calculation issue.

Changes made from version 2.90 to 3.00:
Corrected issues with GPI files causing unit crashes
Corrected the expiring MSN Direct stocks after 5 days instead of 3
Corrected clipping at the beginning of voice instructions
Corrected compatibility issue with some MSN Direct receivers
Corrected issue with web favorites category display other types of points in MSN v2
Corrected local events not removing some dates correctly in MSN v2
Corrected GPI route display issues
Corrected Text language disappearing when changing modes
Corrected issue with Asian language support
Corrected issue with not being able to access additional information about GPI point
Corrected shutdown during postal code lookup

Changes made from version 2.70 to 2.90:
Corrected issue with Retail Map Update compatibility
Correct routing issue when using City Navigator Europe 2008 with certain MPC maps.
Correct issue on trip computer that could cause invalid speed/distance to be displayed. Trip computer will be reset.

Changes made from version 2.60 to 2.70:
Correct issue that could cause MadMaps route calculations to stall.
Correct Eniwetok timezone.
On the Where Am I page, disable buttons that will not yield appropriate search results.

Changes made from version 2.50 to 2.60:
Correct street suffix entry handling in address searcher
Correct display of MadMaps Routes names
Correct issue that prevented some MadMaps routes from displaying properly on the unit.
Correct issue with proximity alarm points in MadMaps
Add Compliance warning pages for FM transmitter
Add support for Canadian traffic from MSN.

i guess im lucky, none of those things apply to me

Thank you for your information

Does anyone know what "Added support for more GPI files" means?

While we are at it, I was wondering what Map Maps means. Is that the bug where the vehicle icon jumps around and where it shows to be going at ~.3 mph?

http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/us/services/scenicroutes

That will answer your question.

Of course, as soon as I got to the link, I remembered that I had read about it at the Garmin site. I must be getting old, since I didn't remember reading about it.

Thanks Fluxuated

I have both. I hang for a long time at "loading maps" and I have a .2 mile delay in voice instructions.

I can't remember which update it was but one of them added Speed Limit signs to my screen for all major roads. I really liked that one.

My 750 has always lagged behind it's actual road position by 300-400 feet.

I believe that was the 2009 map update - not a firmware update.

After reading all your posts about a 4.0 update I decided to get my Nuvi 760 and run webupdater only for it to tell me that I have the latest software already installed. So I checked my software version via settings/system/about and it says I have version 3.10 installed. Why doesn't my webupdater recognize that there's a newer version of the software? Also, http://www8.garmin.com/support/blosp.jsp shows that only version 3.10 is available for this unit. Am I missing something?

Because 4.0 has been pulled.

Ahhhh....I was kinda thinkin that as a possibility. Thank You for the info.

So disappointed in the way Garmin has handled this whole thing. No post on their website on the problems, just pulled the update after screwing all of us who update our units frequently.

The big question is whether they are legally liable for any accidents they cause (which I am sure they will if they don't fix it soon)?

Their approach to Customer Service is the lowest of any hardware I have bought in my life and WILL NOT buy or recommend Garmin to anyone again.

I need to upgrade to V4.0.

This must be a challenging fix for Garmin. It's been over a week and I know they are being inundated with complaints about this firmware update. Oh well, I guess I'll have to deal with my 760 on mute for a while longer. I won't make any proclamation about Garmin being the worst hardware manufacturer yada, yada yada though. It looks like they simply didn't test this firmware update enough but firmware fixes in general shows a company is supporting their product with periodic improvements. Hopefully they'll learn from this and adjust their practices accordingly.

Garmin seems to have stuck their head in the sand and even acknowledge anywhere in their web site the problems that they ahve created.

I know we live in a time when software developers send something out before it is thorougly tested, but as a minimum you acknowledge (if not apologize) for the inconveniece that you have caused.

Imagine using your GPS in an area that you are not familiar with a "lag" in prompted directions, while in traffic, and getting into an minor mishap.

Their approach is fringing on criminal neglect.

This is really sad. For such a long time Garmin was acknowledged to have the VERY BEST customer service of any business anywhere. They were truly awesome. This "new approach" is really hurting their reputation. I really don't understand it at all.

Used my 760 to evactuate for storm and had problems with the lag time for turns that caused me to miss turns. Which cost time and money.

Well looks like Garmin just won’t step up to the plate about the Nuvi 7xx units.

Are there any lawyers on this site that could shed some light on the possibility of class action against Garmin for failing to rectify the problems with the 7xx units?

Seams like if they can’t fix the problems they should upgrade you to the next best unit they have that doesn’t have the problems.

Evidently they don’t care about the problems enough to fix them because they are still making new versions of the 7xx series and others, before fixing the old ones.

There is this part of the of the software agreement you have to agree to before downloading...

"The software is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind — either expressed or implied — including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Garmin does not warrant the performance of the software or that the software will meet your requirements or operate error free."

Sounds more like boilerplate so some idiot doesn't file a small claims action because the address he entered didn't come up.

Given the current problems with some of the 7xx units and ver. 4 it may be hard to understand that Garmin wants to put out error free software...

however.... the fact that several members on here can talk with a tech on a regular basis and work out some of the kinks together says a lot for Garmin's willingness to make things right.

At the end of the day, the numerous comments here about having items quickly replaced or repaired even when they are out of warranty is a far better descriptor of Garmin's customer service policy than some obscure paragraph in a pile of legalese.

I checked updates today and didn't get the notice for this one, only 3.1
I wonder how you guys get the 4.0

Garmin pulled 4.0 update off their site due to problems with this version. They are supposed to be coming out with updated version.

After reading all the above posts, why would you want to get 4.0?

I have 4.0 and when I get to my destination and then input another destenation, it locks up onme.. NUVI 760.

I got a response from the Garmin tech support via email on an issue I was having with adding a traffic subscription that an update might be out in "a couple of days." Now to be fair, the response was specifically on a fix for my traffic issue. However, could it also have been referring to the awaited firmware update?

If I was Garmin, rather than sticking my head in the sand, this is what I have put up on my web site:

"Following the release of ver. 4.0, some of our users have reported problems with their units and particularly a lag between the TTS Voice directions and actual position. While we are working on a quick repair to remedy this, please switch a non-TTS voice to minimize the lag effect.

If you have already updated to ver. 4.0 please do not attempt to reverse the update as it could have unanticipated negative results.

We apologize for the inconvenience that this might have caused you and we want to assure you that we are working as fast as possible to provide you with a solution."

Here you go, only took me 5 minutes. GARMIN, feel free to plagiarize and edit for accuracy at will, but do not leave your users in the dark.

Not sure what new version will fix when it is released,but I think that they post with the version a list of things it is supposed to correct,but I am not 100% sure.

I was going to update but had second thoughts because I'm traveling and using the 750 for unfamiliar areas. I'm glad that I held off.

In general I try not to upgrade software unless I can do without it for awhile - just in case. Two exceptions for me are virus detection and MS security updates.

Well done with a true customer focus.

Sad part of all this is that finding a guinea pig to test the coming fix for this update or all future updates is going to be hard. As they say once bitten twice shy. Fortunatly as I posted in another thread I was on vacation when this update appeared and was able to read this and other threads before I made a mistake.
Maybe we should draw cyber straws, see who downloads the update.

I will install the update when it is available. I have been running with the 4.0 firmware on my 760 for over two weeks now and other than a small delay sometimes in the turn distance anouncement I have not had any other problems.

I'll be happy to try it as soon as it comes out. I'm tired of the way my 760 works now.

I also will load 4.0A (or 4.1 or whatever they are gonna call it) as soon as it is released.

My 750 is experiencing increased problems. At first it was just the voice lag, but now I am experiencing long map loading times and also error messages when loading routes.

So I figure the update can't make things worse.

lol, watch Garmin prove me wrong!!

thnks