Careful - killed my 50LM last night
|
54 years
|
Last night I was updating some POI files and I wanted to load them onto my 50LM. I had a POI file for Qdoba restaurants already on the device but had made some changes to the csv file in Excel and wanted to load the updated version. When I ran Garmin's POI Loader program, I came to the step where you have two options and the software says something like "1) Load or replace a custom POI file. 2) Remove all custom POI files from your device". Since it said load **or replace** POI files, I went ahead and loaded the updated Qdoba csv file without erasing the old one from my device [BIG MISTAKE]. It gave me the confirmation message and said I had loaded XXX POIs to my device. I disconnected from the computer (properly, using the Windows eject function) and fired up the Garmin. It booted up and I looked to see if the Qdoba locations I had changed were on there. When I looked it had *both* (correct and incorrect) locations on the map. I thought, "well, that's not good" and intended to erase the POI file completely and just reinstall the updated version. Powered down the Garmin and then hooked it up to the computer again, and it froze on the Garmin logo - no green bar scrolling across the bottom with the 'connected device' picture, just the Garmin logo.
I was a little concerned, but thought at the worst I would just have to do a hard reset. The unit would turn off if I held the power button for 10 seconds (discovered later this is a 'soft reset'). Unfortunately, the hard reset does not work. I tried my finger, a pencil eraser, and several spots all around the lower right hand corner of the screen, but my unit always just hangs at the initial Garmin logo. Since it hangs at this point, my laptop will not recognize the device when attached with the USB cable. So, I filed a repair claim last night on the Garmin website and am now waiting for an RMA number [sigh].
Since my 50LM worked flawlessly up to this point, I have to believe that trying to reinstall the POI file over the old one without removing it first caused this malfunction. So, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! Always remove the old POI file before loading an updated version or you may suffer the same fate as me. 
be careful
Last night I was updating some POI files and I wanted to load them onto my 50LM. I had a POI file for Qdoba restaurants already on the device but had made some changes to the csv file in Excel and wanted to load the updated version. When I ran Garmin's POI Loader program, I came to the step where you have two options and the software says something like "1) Load or replace a custom POI file. 2) Remove all custom POI files from your device". Since it said load **or replace** POI files, I went ahead and loaded the updated Qdoba csv file without erasing the old one from my device [BIG MISTAKE]. It gave me the confirmation message and said I had loaded XXX POIs to my device. I disconnected from the computer (properly, using the Windows eject function) and fired up the Garmin. It booted up and I looked to see if the Qdoba locations I had changed were on there. When I looked it had *both* (correct and incorrect) locations on the map. I thought, "well, that's not good" and intended to erase the POI file completely and just reinstall the updated version. Powered down the Garmin and then hooked it up to the computer again, and it froze on the Garmin logo - no green bar scrolling across the bottom with the 'connected device' picture, just the Garmin logo.
The 2.7.x versions of POILoader use the same name of the input folder as the name of the output GPI file written to the device. If you had two different GPI files containing Qdoba locations, the unit would display both files.
I was a little concerned, but thought at the worst I would just have to do a hard reset. The unit would turn off if I held the power button for 10 seconds (discovered later this is a 'soft reset'). Unfortunately, the hard reset does not work. I tried my finger, a pencil eraser, and several spots all around the lower right hand corner of the screen, but my unit always just hangs at the initial Garmin logo. Since it hangs at this point, my laptop will not recognize the device when attached with the USB cable. So, I filed a repair claim last night on the Garmin website and am now waiting for an RMA number [sigh].
Since my 50LM worked flawlessly up to this point, I have to believe that trying to reinstall the POI file over the old one without removing it first caused this malfunction. So, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! Always remove the old POI file before loading an updated version or you may suffer the same fate as me.
When you tell POILoader to remove all "old" files, it will delete all files with a GPI extension. This includes, as some truckers have mentioned, files you need or want to keep. So, as a word of caution, be careful of what you ask for when you tell POILoader to delete all "old" files. Some of them just might be ones you need to keep.
Illiterate? Write for free help.
Good
Good info and advice but something else must be a play here if the Nuvi no longer boots up. Can't think of any reason why POIloader would cause this problem.
Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.
I Agree.
Good info and advice but something else must be a play here if the Nuvi no longer boots up. Can't think of any reason why POIloader would cause this problem.
If for some reason it is a POI issue, I would think it would get past the loading maps screen.
Perhaps a battery issue?
Have you tried plugging it into your vehicles power to see if it boots there?
Nuvi 2460LMT 2 Units
Doubt it's the battery...
...but it's certainly worth a shot. I'll try booting hooked up to the vehicle power tonight.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback.
A poi file won't create that problem
Make sure it is fully charged or it won't boot up.
Poi files have nothing to do with a nuvi booting up. It doesn't look for the file.
Nuvi 2460LMT.
Something Else
This def sounds like something else happened to the file system on the unit. The POI loader wouldn't modify items that are firmware related.
Thanks for the heads up.
Thanks for the heads up. I've always used the default settings, and only have a single folder with my POI's on my computer. (Actually my cloud drive since I have several computers.)
I never delete first
I've almost never deleted the old file first, just saved the new file over the old.
Old File
I also have never deleted the old file before putting on the new one. I think there is a coincidence of loading a file and a malfunction..
Alan-Garmin c340
great advice
I wasn't doing it initially, and found out the hard way that I had multiple files on the 2350 LMT. What would be the point of trying to keep anything up to date with proximity alerts, if you didn't remove the old files as you added new ones? Live and learn....
Exactly...
I've almost never deleted the old file first, just saved the new file over the old.
what I have done for over 5 years!! Never a problem!
"Backward, turn backward, oh time in your flight, make me a child again, just for tonight."