Accidentally format nuvi50 - Please help!

 

Hi, i was trying to format the SD and i made a mistake and formatted the Garmin Nuvi50. I tried Recuva but i couldnt see the gps on the list of device. Someone could help me please?

Thanks!

More info needed

Welcome to Poi Factory. We may be able to help but first need more information.

What format did you use(NTFS,FAT32 etc.) and do you have a backup of ANY of the files that were on your Nuvi50?

What is on the SD card you were trying to format?
Did you have a lifetime map on your nuvi?

What operating system is on your computer?

Does the nuvi show up in the list of drives under "Computer" (or "My Computer").

If it does not, try unplugging the USB cable and immediately re-plugging it.

Exactly what happens when you turn on the nuvi when it is not connected to a computer?

I like to experiment :)

Just for fun (and experience) I formatted my nuvi40 to FAT32. (Of course I have a full backup of everything on it.)

When I turned it on, it booted it up and was basically operational except it complained that there are no routable maps and it did not have any voice files.

I used Garmin Express to install an English language set of voice files, and then inserted a SD card with a routable map on it and my nuvi40 is fully functional again.

When I connect the nuvi40 to my computer it can be seen in the list of drives under “Computer”.(I could see a lot of files on it using recuva but I would not relish trying to get anything useful from it – especially a map.)

I don’t have a nuvi50 but think yours should get similar results.

Bottom line:
If you have a routable map stored somewhere, or have a lifetime map that you can reinstall via Garmin Express, you should be easily able to get your nuvi50 operational again. (Make sure you use FAT32 format)

If not, then your only choices would be to buy a Garmin map or get a free third-party routable map.

Did that years ago

I accidentally formatted my old 350 once and did not know about having a backup stored away.

I DID use a recovery program and recovered most of all the files. But they are not quite as they were. The first letter of a file may be a symbol or just be gone. So it involves guess work as to what letter to reassign.

It does take a long time to do that though since there are hundreds of files. Once I was done I connected to Garmin and was able to reinstall all software and the 350 was well again. A big sigh of relief !!!

I also give the SD card a name which does not resemble a GPS.

Of course since then I always have my GPS backed up completely.

--
Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

amazing that this keeps happening

santomegonzalo wrote:

Hi, i was trying to format the SD and i made a mistake and formatted the Garmin Nuvi50. ....

I'm always amazed by these "Help, I formatted my nuvi" posts. So much so that I've been tempted to post back "Help, I smashed my nuvi with a big hammer, what do I do now?". At least this post tried to explain how the owner managed to "accidentally" format the device. But a pretty obvious lesson here should be that you don't need to connect the nuvi at all to format the SD card, you can just stick the card in a memory card slot (perhaps with the help of an adapter) or plug it in with a USB flash drive adapter. Might even make the formatting and/or file transfers go faster too. I doubt this is the last time we will see one of these posts though.

Agree somewhat

Frovingslosh wrote:

I'm always amazed by these "Help, I formatted my nuvi" posts.

While I agree this does happen too often and including myself many years ago but if you look at the OP's name and where he is from that may be a mitigating circumstance. We here in North America have lots of opportunity for many things.

The OP is in Brazil, a differrent language, probably all by himself with no other friends to offer assistance.

Just my thoughts

--
Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

He asked us

Melaqueman wrote:

……
The OP is in Brazil, a differrent language, probably all by himself with no other friends to offer assistance.

He is a young man with lots of friends, a nice car, likes photography, lives in a large modern city, and writes English quite well.

But that does not matter. He asked us “help me please?” So we should try to help if we can.

Evert, you might want to zip

Evert, you might want to zip up your files from your 40 (except the detail map of course) and make them available to him, if he needs them. Other than screen size the units should be identical, including firmware.

--
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams

Probably don't need to

Strephon_Alkhalikoi wrote:

Evert, you might want to zip up your files from your 40 (except the detail map of course) and make them available to him, if he needs them. Other than screen size the units should be identical, including firmware.

That is not a bad idea, but I do not think it is necessary.

After I formatted my nuvi40 and restarted it, the only files it needed to make it fully operational was the map and at least one voice file(so that driving instructions can be heard).

When I ran Garmin Express to obtain the voice files, it even offered to update the firmware. I don't think it really needed to, but let it do it so that it would not keep offering the update.

...

Evert wrote:
Strephon_Alkhalikoi wrote:

Evert, you might want to zip up your files from your 40 (except the detail map of course) and make them available to him, if he needs them. Other than screen size the units should be identical, including firmware.

That is not a bad idea, but I do not think it is necessary.

After I formatted my nuvi40 and restarted it, the only files it needed to make it fully operational was the map and at least one voice file(so that driving instructions can be heard).

When I ran Garmin Express to obtain the voice files, it even offered to update the firmware. I don't think it really needed to, but let it do it so that it would not keep offering the update.

The 855 required firmware, OS, and maps to get re-initialized. The 40 and 50 are much easier, only the map is needed to download, and most variations come with lifetime maps.

Recovering from reformatting

telecomdigest2 wrote:

………
The 855 required firmware, OS, and maps to get re-initialized. The 40 and 50 are much easier, only the map is needed to download, and most variations come with lifetime maps.

Several years ago I found that after being formatted, my 255W would boot up to the “No detailed maps found…..” screen and needed only a map and a voice file to be basically functional. (My 40 booted to that point also but after a short time booted on up to where all the controls are available.)

I then rewrote the MasterBootRecord on the 255W and it still booted as above. Then I removed the partition and recreated it – that pretty much bricked it but I was able to recover by a fairly involved process.

BTW the time zone map also needs to be installed by Garmin Express in order for the “automatic time change as you drive into a different zone feature” to work.