nuvi 295w test & diagnostic screens and factory tools

PS--these screens can also be reached from the main menu pressing the battery for a long time (as for other nuvi models) but I think it needs to be in vertical portrait mode rather than horizontal landscape mode.

If I were daring, I'd try raising the volume level--I see an audio page under Test/Acoustic with an analog gain set to -2 dB (as well as three other gain settings). Since the 295w is notoriously low volume (and for me, raising the individual voice levels with turboccc's software doesn't do much for increasing the volume as it did for my other nuvi models), maybe that'd help.

Then again, playing around in these test and factory pages may be an easy way to create a small brick of a 295w!

I did not even think to turn it to horizontal. And that flash light thing is kind of cool huh? And also thanks for pointing out the audio gain in the acoustic area. I decided to be daring. and I found at a normal 2 or 4 gives it a nice boost. I took it up to 6 and played a rock mp3 (alien ant farms - smooth criminal) and started to hear a slight distortion. so I backed it down to a normal 2 just to be on the safe side.

Thanks so much. I increased the default analog gain from -2dB to 2dB and it's amazing. Since very weak audio is an especially common complaint on the 295w, I urge others to consider upping their unit, too. At least for this setting, you can play around with it and choose what works best for you--at least two of us haven't bricked ours by doing this. For me, with the nuvi's external volume control at 100% and the normal menu's audio level at 100% and Audio Boost activated, a 2dB analog gain from the hidden test page makes my nuvi understandable in a moving vehicle.

This would be a good one to add to the FAQ so it doesn't get lost.

It takes about 6 seconds on the main page on mine.

Many thanks to you and tdsj81!!

I got my 295w this morning. The volume on mine was just a little weak. I clicked on settings>audio>(down-arrow)>audio boost>on
I think that gave Jill just enough.

Darn, the increased analog audio gain does not survive a shutdown and restart.

It does survive the low-power auto-lock "sleep" mode but with a full shutdown, the 295w reverts to -2dB.

So to get louder audio on the 295w so that it can easily be heard within a moving vehicle, our choices are to leave the nuvi on (generally in auto-lock "sleep") or to go into the test pages and increase the gain after each power up. As long as we connect to a USB or cigarette lighter power supply or buy a standalone AC-powered charger and connect our 295w units to recharge every day or two, then keeping the nuvi from powering down would limit the number of times we'd need to go into the test pages.

Bummer, this isn't what I had hoped for yesterday. But the increased volume is so beneficial, I want to use it most of the time.

This reminds me of the issue other nuvis have had with increasing the power level of the built-in FM transmitter. It also reverts to the default lower-power setting after a shutdown and restart.

In the test pages, there is an option to save/restore settings.
There you go. I tested it. Suweet

I was hopeful after reading this, but it didn't work for me. You'll need to tell me what you did. Here's what I did--which failed!

I set my analog gain from the default -2 to 2 dB.
I clicked "Update."
I clicked the return "arrow."
I scrolled down to Save/Restore User Data and clicked it.
I clicked Save ALL and chose Vfat.
I received the warning "Vfat contents are wiped during master clear. Continue?
I clicked "yes."
I received a window stating "Saving all User Data. This could take a while!"
This took a good 1-3 minutes.
I received a message: "Backup successful....."
The audio gain remained at 2 dB after this and after an auto-lock "sleep" "shutdown."
But after a full shutdown (Hold the power switch a few seconds for the vibration and screen saying "Shutting Down.") after restarting, the test page analog audio gain was back at the default -2dB.

Are you doing something different that allows the altered analog gain to survive a full "Shutting Down" power cycle? Please say yes and tell me what you did!

Craig wrote

At this point I exited back to the main screen. The edit held through normal shutdown. (SLEEP?)
Craig wrote

Yep. Mine does that too.

Why do we do full shutdown?

In sleep mode, a wireless connection remains (if active) and if emails are set for download at intervals, they'll continue to be downloaded. I imagine that the GPS receiver (unless set to Simulator) is also active in sleep. Consequently, the 295w will behave a lot like the nuvi 8x5 series and after a few days of not being put on a charger, the sleep mode will deplete the battery. Not an issue if you use the 295w daily. Maybe not so much an issue if wifi is off, but in sleep mode, you will have a continuous drain on the battery.

Also, I imagine that a full shutdown will occur if the battery is removed and replaced. In any event, be aware that a full shutdown will revert the audio gain to -2dB. It may be that the 295w, like the 8x5 series, needs a full shutdown and reboot to recognize newly loaded POIs or other additions.

By the way, it is not necessary to go to your Save Settings mode to keep the audio gain at your altered state as long as you don't do a full shutdown. So between shutdowns, simply changing the gain and clicking the Update button is all that's needed to keep the gain while active or in sleep mode.

The Owners Manual claims that the battery life in sleep mode varies from 300-600 hours depending on things like wifi being on/off, etc. so for long periods of non-use, a full shutdown or battery removal may be a good idea. The specs also show why sleep can be useful--just check the satellite acquisition times from the manual's Appendix to see how much faster the 295w will be when awakened vs. rebooted. The downside to quick acq. times is battery drain when sleeping.

I use an fm converter and have it play through my car radio speakers,you can volume it up as far as you like that way.

I assume you get the audio for your converter from the nuvi's headphone/audio out socket which requires a 2.5mm plug rather than the more usual 3.5mm. Do you know if all 2.5mm are the same so I can just buy any 2.5 to 3.5 mm adapter? Or is Garmin's special requiring the actual Garmin brand adapter?

i bout a 2.5 to 3.5 on ebay and it works perfect. only cost like 2 bucks and shipping was free. radioshack charges almost 10 for theirs.

I may have to try this on my Garmin Nuvifone!

Please report back with your results.

Thanks, That's the answer I hoped for in case I decide some day to run a line from the nuvi to the Aux input on my auto's radio.

Speaking of eBay, it's a great source for batteries for the 295w, but with a twist. If searching eBay for nuvi 295w batteries, you'll find them but nearly at list price (at least when I last checked). But note that the nuvi 295w uses the same battery as the nuvifone G60. A search for nuvifone batteries yields genuine Garmin batteries at a steep discount. I just received two batteries for $20 with no tax or S&H and one is working well in my 295w right now!

I use the auxillary battery pack when geocaching,runs on aa batteries....another neat trick with volume is to connect radio shack's mini amplified speaker to the head phone jack..

Hi All,
Just a short note to say that I have just joined the world of GPS. I have studied it at a chronically sub-rich distance. For the price of this crippled G60 Nüvifone, I decided to jump in the deep end. I know it's not a good first GPS for beginners. Oh well

I am just beginning my study of this unit. Please realize I have no real experience with other devices of its kind so a comparison is out.

I read all 295W reviews, Garmin FAQs, done a thorough search for more info on the WWW, trudged thru forum threads on Garmin basics and that was before this thing was in my hands!

I will review it in time.
The following fun is at YOUR RISK.
I have found a way into more 'wrenches' and this is how _I_ did it:
With unit ON and active I pressed just the battery icon for >5 seconds.
A screen appears with two wrenches entitled
Test Pages and Factory Tools.
Under Test Pages:
Inventory | Flashlight
Touchscreen Test | Touchscreen Debug
Screenshot Recorder | Skin
Font | Picture Loading
Keyboard | Audio
Acoustic | Vibrator
Benchmark | Power
Compass/Accelerometer | CSM Logging
Test Pattern | Grayscale
Gamma | USB Mode
IP Address Change | GPS
Calendar Clear | FTS
GPX | Save/Restore User Data
IFix

HOW ABOUT THAT!

Factory Tools has:
Title: Select Test Tool:
GPS_Factory_Test
guiTesting
wifiTesting
autoaudio
camera_test_ATD

Buttons at bottom: GPS | Info
Press GPS Button and you get:
GPS Info
Flash Firmware
Warm restart
Cold restart
Use PATCH antenna
Use LINEAR antenna

Press Info button and get: Well, info!

Stuff under the GPS Button looks harmless.
Test tools look interesting as hell and dangerous to the techno-brickers among us!

Cheers!

I am not sure which other forum you are referring to, but there was quite a bit of activity some months back on Howard Forums. Some of us were hoping for a away to change the Garmin Nuvifone G60 to the APAC version. I will also post there that you have learned some tricks here.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1575938-Garmin-Nu...

I now run the audio through my car stereo. I was listening to MP3's and the music gets muted while Jill barks out commands. Does anyone know what size limit of micro SD card is useable. I'm using a 4G card but only 1 album shows up. I'm thinking 4G is too large.

I don’t have any music on mine but I have a Midwest USA topo map on my Sandisk microSD 4gb speed class 4 card and that works ok. . What speed class is yours? I think it probably should be at least 2 for music.

Don't have it with me but I'll check.

16GB from the online FAQ
https://buy.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={a43e2650-1794-11e0-7efa-000000000000}

Does anybody know how to change font type face?

I can see also I can change many of fonts on test page as David mentioned, but its just see on the test page but it is reflected no other pages, maps.

David Schad wrote

AND

I would be interested in BIN or GPX logging, similar to my 1490t. This is necessary for trips longer than 500 miles or so.

I have found the way to convert NMEA logging into a Mapsource program. The logging produces a breadcrumb every second even when not moving. Thus it continues to produce large amounts of data when in the sleep mode.
When the unit is shut down,the NMEA logging returns to off and does not restore the logging on boot up. I saved the settings to the SD card, but alas, the unit reboots when selecting the "restore settings." As discussed above, the altered sound settings are lost as well. It is a pain to manually restore the logging & volume settings each morning.
Any ideas?

I don't understand the purpose of saving the settings if they will just be reset when the unit is powered down.

I too purchased two batteries from eBay. It's nice to have the backups. However, the first of the new batteries that I tried, after I fully charged it with the power completely off, only lasted one day. I didn't even have the GPS or Wifi on through the night. In the morning, I was staring at a red power meter with only one bar to go. Not good.

So, at best, I can get a battery to last 2 days, but not more. I'll have to be stay in reach of a charger.

So far so good, trying to download more.

Every now and then, I check my home router looking at connected devices and wireless connections, mostly to see if it looks like someone has found a way to connect to my home wifi.

Much to my surprise, I saw on my LAN Computer list a device named "montana" along with its IP and MAC ID. This scared me for a second since I certainly never gave any device of mine the name montana so I worried that I had been hacked.

A bit more thought had me go through my various devices, wireless and wired, to see who was who. I was relieved to see that montana was my nuvi 295W.

So if anyone else comes across this, you'll start off with a bit more info than I had. I wonder why Garmin would give my 295W the name montana? Any thoughts? Do other 295W owners see a name and is it always montana? Just curious.

On another note, I'm amazed at the use my home router gets. I bought it for wireless access for my upstairs PC, not conveniently located near my cable connection and cable modem. I never expected to use it for other uses. Now I see that I have 11 connected devices, from the 295W to ereaders, an internet radio, my internetted Blu-ray player, etc. Long live home wifi (with WPA2, of course).

montana is the name of the Linux kernel running your Nüvi 295w

Thanks for the info.

My 295w trip data only showed the last 1003 miles of my recent trip to western South Dakota. My 1490t had the remainder in an archive folder. Does the 295 have a hidden file with an archive of the previous data? I can't find it.

Hello,
My Nuvi 295W keeps on rebooting.... I`m not able to reach any screes. It happened after updating maps... it stucks on "loading maps" then reboot...
Any tips on how to reset it to factory defaults (other than click on settings...)
Thanks!

Welcome to The Factory.

There are two things you could try as we wait for more folks to offer advice:

First, you could try a Hard Reset and see what happens:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/26136

As you asked, the Hard Reset will return all settings to factory default, but the map will remain as the one on the device.

If the above doesn't help, my next guess is that you have a corrupt new map after your recent map update. What I'd do then is reinstall the current map.

The 295W is a 4GB device and it may be that you're short on storage space. The 295W is not offered map updates to SD cards so the map installed must be able to fit in the internal storage. It would be useful to connect your 295W to a computer and check the amount of free space your 295W has and report it back to us. When updating your map, what map and map region are you offered? I'm partially asking because your user name ending in _it makes me wonder if you're trying to update a map other than City Navigator North America NT, and we really would want to know what map you have and what map update you've done.

Other questions:

Are you using Garmin Express or GarminMapUpdater to update your map or are you doing something different? What map did you have and what are you updating to? If doing anything out of the ordinary or if using maps not from Garmin, tell us what you're using and doing.

Ciao (if that's appropriate )

I will be interested to hear if the hard reset works on a 295W. This device is kind of an oddball in the Garmin lineup as it is not related to other devices in the nuvi 2x5 series. Its hardware is based on a repurposed nuvifone platform, with the cell phone chip removed.

According to this article on the Garmin support site: https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?... the 295W system reset is done from within the menu system on the device. But since your device is in a boot loop, that won't work. You might try holding in the power switch for an extended time to see if you can break the loop.

Thanks for the warm welcome!! And fast reply!!

To do the reset from the menu will be not possible, since I don't have access to this menu...
I'm not able to see the GPS from my computer (have even tried another PC...).

I use MapSource 6.16.13 to download maps. The maps I was donwloading were from Brazil (http://www.tracksource.org.br/) and from Argentina (http://www.proyectomapear.com.ar/).

This maps work just fine, because I have the old and good NUVI 205W and have already updated. To make things even worse, the 295W was from my aunt...

I have also written to Garmin USA, and they sent me the same procedure to reset...

I'm wondering whether there is an "ini" or autorun file I could load to the SD (yes, 295W supports mini SD... ) and sort the maps problem... or at least give me access to the menu...

Thanks again for the support!!

("_it" is just because I love Italy so much!! I have lived there many years ago....)
Ciao!!!

Good tips on how to do this. happy to see this in case I need it.

Good luck. Remember that the 295W is limited to a max of an 8GB SD card in case you try to put maps on a card.

Do you think such thing as ini files or autorun files exists?? In order to boot from the SD??
Have you ever heard from it?

Thanks

I believe the 295W was repurposed from the nuvifone G60 hardware, and that was a proprietary Linux OS (not any "standard" Linux versin AFAIK). I hope someone can help you, but I have my doubts. As stated earlier, this model is a real odd ball in the Garmin product history.