lost voice recognition on 3790LMT

Have you tried a system reset (hard reset)?

The voice recognition files are in folder .system\ASR and have names ending with .SRX, .ASR and .srd. The .SRX and .ASR files are tied to the map and must be the same version as your CN NA map, so if you restore from a backup, make sure it is from the same map version that you curently have.

You can also restore your voice recognition files by reinstalling the map.

not yet.

Thanks for the information. Sadly the problem has already persisted through my (otherwise successful) installation of the recently released NA maps after the battery change and after my failure.

Apps > Voice Command > Wrench (in upper left corner) to make sure that "Voice Command" is enabled and "Mute Instructions" is disabled

As much as I suggest to folks that many nuvi questions will be answered faster and more accurately here at The Factory than by calling Garmin Customer Service, this could be a case where the factory Tech Support team is the way to go. If so, have your nuvi USBed to the computer in case they want to access it through the internet.

Good luck.

All three models started out great, last year 2013, we gave 6 out for Christmas as well. After time they don't seem to recognize voices so well, the 3790 is almost unusable in that mode, the 3490 a bit better but not as reliable as before and the 3597 works most of the time but still not like when new. I use to be able to demo them almost perfectly, now I wouldn't be so sure they will work. I still love the 3490 and the 3597 however the 3597 has one issue, it runs slow and sometimes doesnt update for a turn until you are right on it or just past. Its always been slower then the others, we ran two at a time in the same vehicle and there was a noticable difference. The 3d display may be partly the issue when in areas near buildings that its drawing. Around Washington DC it was impressive. the buildings look like the buildings,, White House etc

Check the microphone opening at the top-left of the unit. It's quite small and can easily get dust & lint inside which can impair performance. Regardless if you can visually see something in the opening or not, clean it out with a soft, small brush. I thought mine was clear until I used a magnifier to inspect it and saw some debris inside.

Interesting. My 3790 hasn't had a a problem with voice recognition other than sometimes it interprets something we say in the car as "voice command".

Thanks for the info. Fortunately, I haven't had a problem yet

I opened up my 3790 again with the specific thought of looking for ways I might have severed connections to the microphone. I now I'm pretty sure that I found it. There is a flat copper colored object which emerges from under the battery heading toward the side which has the microphone. On my particular 3790 there was extremely strong adhesive holding the old battery in place, when I finally got the battery loose this particular copper colored thing pulled up. Upon inspection of the underside, it turns out to be a ribbon cable with several independent conductors (maybe about six) and on inspection of the unit it is obvious that it was originally plugged into a connector. The connector in question is extremely small and flimsy. I have now attempted to locate the end of the ribbon properly with the connector and to fold down the extremely small pivoting thing which seems meant to lock the ribbon into the connector with the conductors aligned.

Unfortunately, on closing the the 3790 and trying again I still do get no evidence of voice input, but I think that is probably because I failed successfully to reestablish contact between the ribbon cable and connector.

Any suggestions?

Your nuvi is a new enough model to warrant a repair so my suggestion is to contact sharcnet since you've determined it to be a hardware issue.

If it is a hardware issue, your results offer a strong warning to us. Battery replacements have been quite simple and safe for most nuvis recently but this warns us of cable breaks at least for the 3790 model and should make us more careful when trying to unstick things.

Before you reopen the unit again.Try this from Garmin support.

Why is voice command not working on my automotive device?

When attempting to use the voice command feature on your compatible nuvi, dezl, or Camper/RV device, you may see a message that indicates that it is unavailable for your chosen language (e.g., "Voice Command support is not available for American English").

This can be caused by either incorrect language settings, a missing file, or an incorrect map region. First, verify your device's voice and text languages are both set to a compatible Text-To-Speech language for speech recognition. If this doesn't restore functionality, try restoring the speech recognition file.

To restore the speech recognition file:

Follow the steps listed in the article linked here to download, install and run Garmin Express
Click Device
Click the Optional Updates link
Expand Language Files
Check the desired language
Click Add to Updates

If the device is connected to the computer, the download will start automatically. To view if the updates were completed successfully, click Updates at the top of your screen. You will be able to view the progress of the update. Once the update is completed, you will be able to successfully use the voice command feature on your device.

If installing this file does not resolve the problem, you may have loaded only a region of mapping to your device during a map update. Please run the map update again and choose full coverage for your continent. For example, if your device was preloaded with Europe, you'll need to install Full Coverage of Europe.

The only exceptions to this rule are the North American nuvi 2460, 800, and 805 series devices. Voice command on these devices will work when either Full Coverage of North America or US & Canada are installed to the device. All other North American devices that have voice command may only use voice command when Full Coverage of North America is installed.

Regardless of the model used, voice command will only work with mapping that was originally preloaded with the device. Not all features will work with voice command if you are using supplemental maps (e.g., European maps on a device purchased in North America.)

Links referenced in this article:

http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={09f23c50-d7a5-11df-c826-000000000000}

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={f9ca1dc0-4020-11e2-e8a7-000000000000}

I finally worked up my courage to open up my 3790LMT case yet again. I was depressed to see that my previous attempt seemed to have left the ribbon conductor pretty well aligned to and seated in the connector, but I opened up the connector (it is hinged, and swings up if pulled up on the cable insert side) and moved the ribbon out for another try. Then I gripped the flat ribbon cable lightly with a small pair of needle-nosed pliers, and under moderate magnification (one of those desk lamps with a central lens, so good light and about 2X magnfication) moved the cable end to the best butting position aligned to the connector as I could, then closed the connector.

To my pleasant surprise, on rebooting the unit I found voice input was working again.

Conclusions:

1. This was a hardware problem.
2. I caused the original problem when my strenuous attempts to free the original battery from very strong adhesive inadvertently put stress on the ribbon cable which pulled it out of the connector.
3. it is really rather difficult to seat the cable in this connector correctly.

The picture I took is not in excellent focus, nor especially revealing, but should document just which cable I am speaking of. The cable is the copper-colored thing which comes out from under the battery in this view, and the connector is at the other end.

http://s6.photobucket.com/user/PeterAStoll/media/problems/GP...

I've torn down and repaired (with 100% success) multiple later model MacBook Pro notebooks and these connectors are common, although with some at a smaller scale. The connector itself is more prone to damage (trying to figure out how it unlatches can be tricky) than the cable itself...unless the cable is actually pulled on.

Good job with your repair and thanks for returning and reporting your ultimate solution.

Glad you found the source of the issue.