855 touch failure

Why don't you have Garmin fix it. It's got to qualify as new.

This is also why I prefer to buy from Costco. I can return things to them within a 3 month period - no questions asked. No, I don't work for them.

Fred

This unit does not turn off - it goes in Sleep Mode.

To restart, hold the power switch to the left for 8 sec or more. It should restart. If that does not work, remove the battery and turn back on.

Mine has frozen up several times - I may be sending mine back for refund.

Perfect, thanks.

For others who might find this, here is a little more detail:

I started with the screen dark, pressing power switch left and holding get a normal-looking screen, followed at right about eight seconds by a dark screen, then Garmin logo, blue progress bar, map list, and the "legal" screen where you have to agree to try not to kill yourself. I held my breath in touching "agree", and was please when it worked.

My favorites are intact, not sure whether some settings may have reverted to defaults. And yes, I explored some other uses of touch, and all seems well.

Thank you, Hawk.

My guess is that this and some other 855 anomalies stem from firmware bugs. I hope the model is new enough that Garmin may squash some of the them in updates before they quit.

Whenever you have a problem with the 855 or 885T models just remove and reinstall the battery and 99 times out of a 100 it will be working again.

Taking out the battery does not cause any loss of settings or data other than the voice defaults to Jill. All that happens is you get a cold boot instead of just a sleep mode like normal.

I normally take the battery out if it is not going to be used for a week or more.

There is a FAQ on Garmin's site that may be related to this problem. It reads as follows:

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.

Please note: Due to this problem it may take up to five minutes before your computer will recognize your nüvi as a mass storage device. This software update will correct this issue as well.

Last modified on: 12/04/2009

While my specific problem did not match any of the specific symptoms (I had no touch but was otherwise fully functional so far as I know), it still seems prudent to do this firmware update. Thanks.

I checked using WebUpdater just now, and it says my unit already has the most recent firmware.

My unit froze in use today. The position stopped updating, prompts stopped, no reaction to touch other than to the power switch. Again I had to use the 8 second trick to reboot it.

Just to clarify, The above is not my quote. It is copied from my earlier post, but originated from the www.garmin.com web site in their support FAQ's.

Thanks for the useful info provided in this thread.

Same unit, different problem, same fix.

Today, part way through a drive, the unit stopped recognizing voice input. At first I just assumed a difference in ambient noise, or failure on my part to give the expected form or clarity. But after more than a dozen failures on more than one item I frequently use ("go home", "cancel route", "detour"), I guessed it had gotten lost in a way the 8-second induced reboot would cure, and it did.

Now I am beginning to wonder whether instead of stumbling across one more firmware bugs I am instead in possession of a unit with a specific hardware flaw.

but in 50 years I can't recall a reboot curing a hardware failure. On the other hand, garmin may be the first.

Let me broaden your horizons. It is not that a reboot can "cure" a hardware failure, but rather that a reboot can clear out the deranged internal state caused by a hardware failure.

Trust me, this can happen. I used to design microprocessors for a living, and later I interacted with their failure modes a great deal in debug, test, and analysis jobs. Were I to give you specific examples a privately owned Apache with a dropped lower-case i might descend upon my home.

Not that I can say it is happening in this case.

I think you just agreed with me. The hardware fault remains, you have merely eliminated a symptom.

Welcome to the world of the 855/885. This is one of the several known issues with these units.

I put up with it since it is the only Nuvi that gives you the option to elimanate streets from your route.

archae86

Any resolution to this problem yet? Have tried pulling the BATT for 10 secs?

Yeah, any updates?

If by solution you mean something that will stop the intermittent failures (I've lost count, but think it may be three so far), then, no. If by solution you mean a procedure which gets me back apparently fully running with little if any loss of state, then holding the power switch left for eight seconds has worked fine each time so far.

I'm away from my 855 on a two week trip, but after I return, I shall try battery removal, and report as soon as I have a new failure, or, if it runs a couple of weeks flawlessly, report that as an interim update. It would take a couple of months of flawless behavior to make me even modestly confident that the battery removal made any difference, though.

My rather new 855 did this also.
It also would just lock up.
I did a RE-INSATLL of the firmware and software update and all has been well.

My lock-up problems began when passing alerts that used wav sound files. I recreated poi.gpi files using mp3 instead and lock-ups have been reduced.

I recently took a trip to Asheville, NC and downloaded a tourguide poi.gpi file from a web site. It locked up my 855 constantly. I did not have pc to remove the tourguide file so I had to disable tourguides to be able to navigate around. My toughts are that it was created with wav instead of mp3 sound files.

Hope this helps.

No 3 month limit on the gps. computers,televisions,camera etc. read the "Shipping and terms" under the gps's.

I received a 855 for Christmas. There was a firmware update waiting at the Garmin site.
That update made a huge improvement in the voice command capability. Not sure what else may have been improved...

After the above firmware update, the 855 still responds nicely to voice.
A HUGE improvement.
I bought the 855 primarily for the replaceable battery. The other stuff like voice is a nice plus.