Garmin Express Bricked my nuvi!

 

I hooked my 885t and 765t up to Garmin Express to update the maps last week. The 885t took two tries but that wasn't unusual for me and it worked. When I tried the 765 I got an error message about a half hour into the update and the nuvi now will not boot up nor will the computer recognize it is hooked up to it. I tried Garmin support and they said to try a soft reset. I tried both a soft and hard reset but it didn't help. I'm thinking of trying moving the maps from my 885t onto the SD card of the 765t and seeing if it will boot. I don't know what else to do. Any ideas?

I also want people to be aware that Garmin Express can do this. I've never had great luck with that program, it seems to work sometimes and not others. But I didn't realize it could ruin my nuvi.

Hardware Issue?

A flaky USB cable or worn USB socket on the 765 may have caused the problem. Also, using a USB hub can sometimes compromise the process.

I had a similar issue with my Nuvi 760 that was caused by a bad battery. In my case, replacing the battery followed by a hard reset solved the problem.

I would charge the unit overnight, do another hard reset and try using another Garmin USB cable.

I'm not an expert but there are knowledgeable members here who may be able to offer a software solution.

Cable?

I agree with bd that a bad cable or socket could be the cause, not Garmin Express, especially since you say that the 855T nuvi update required two attempts to succeed. If you have another USB cable (and if you can try a different USB socket on the computer), you could try again. I am assuming that your computer is not set to sleep after a period of inactivity that could have caused the file transfer to the GPS to fail.

Otherwise, this may be an occasion to call (not email) Garmin Support for help while sitting by your computer and with your nuvis nearby.

Moving the map from the 885T to a SD card for use with the 765T won't work, but you could try the clone method of installing the 765T map to a SD card. The problem in attempting this is that you will need either a saved copy of your 765T garmindevice.xml file or be able to copy the file from your nuvi to the SD card and the latter can't be done if the computer doesn't recognize the GPS:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/39231

Preboot/Cure3

If nothing else works, you could try the Preboot/Cure3 techniques that have been discussed in other threads in this forum. These methods can be used to reflash the nuvi software and restore maps and other files from backup copies. The process is quite involved, so you wlll need to do some research before attempting it.

--
Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

Charge Battery

I suspect that the battery is low. Making sure there is a good charge on the battery should always be one of the requirements before attempting to do anything with the device through the computer.

An excellent example for everyone

That if you use the Alandb cloning method it's safe, efficient & prevents exactly what happened to JimD1.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/39231

--
Nüvi 255WT with nüMaps Lifetime North America born on 602117815 / Nüvi 3597LMTHD born on 805972514 / I love Friday’s except when I’m on holidays ~ canuk

I just had a similar

I just had a similar problem. I hadn't updated my nuvi 765 in a long time. I connected it to Garmin express. Garmon express recommended I update both firmware and maps, I said ok. It updated the firmware quickly and then took several hours to download the latest maps. It completed successfully and all was done.

I attempted to disconnect usb and restart the nuvi. It would not get past "loading maps". Always frozen there. I tried turning it off and on several times, same result. I tried reset by holding bottom right of display while turning on, it went to calibration mode but still would not get past "loading maps". I tried to plug it back into Ian, would not be recognized by computer. Then it went totally black and can't power on at all, even when plugged into usb. I will let it sit over night with usb charging but I'm not really confident it's even charging at this point, it's totally black no power, even with usb plugged into power.

Garmin express appears to have bricked it. It had plenty of power and completed the map upgrade earlier. It was working fine prior to this. Now it's a brick. What a pile of crap.

hardware

I had similar problem with my 770. It was working fine, but at some point when I tried update POIs I get message that there was error when writing data. After sending it to Garmin they found, that it was problem with internal memory. Something got wrong with it, and you can read from device, but it was impossible to write to it.

So after all it may be not fault of GE, but maybe your GPS reached end of its life.

not a low battery

I don't know exactly what happened to my 765 but it wasn't a low battery. The computer was plugged in. I was charging the nuvi which was fully charged at the start of the process. I lived in my SUV plugged in. I guess I can look around for another cable. I should have one. But I used the same one for both devices. I don't think that was the reason the 885 took two tries. I usually have to try Garmin Express multiple times. I do not believe it is a very good program. It might work better if I had a faster internet connection. I'm using DSL at a moderate speed. But it is fast enough to stream movies in HD.

I like that idea to load the map on the SD card. I think I'll try that for the next update of the 885t.

One of the things I lost with the 765 failure is the lifetime maps it had. I don't think it's right for Garmin to have a map updating process than can ruin the device. I don't see any reason it needs to work that way. I like a stand alone GPS but at some point I'll probably just use my phone like my kids do. Garmin may think that it is smart bricking devices periodically but it isn't likely to get me to buy another one. For now, I have a 760 I kept as a backup. It's maps are old but it works fine.

Ask garmin to let you add another gps..

I had a c550 unit that was bricked during an update. They gave me the option to delete it and replace it with another like unit that didn't have lifetime maps if I chose to. I never did but they offered.
I have a 765t that is about at the end of it's life. If it bricks I guess I can still say I got my monies worth. Like any computer they only last so long and the time comes to replace.

@ JimD1

My suggestion to you as you have absolutely nothing to lose is the following :

Call Garmin and explain to the customer representative that your a loyal customer having owned several of their products over the years & that you were so pleased with the unit in question that you purchased lifetime maps for it.

Tell them that they can check and see that you've done many updates in the past without a hitch and know what your doing but unfortunately this time around their program bricked your unit and that prior to this update the GPS was working perfectly.

Always be polite, personally I would call on a Friday as workers are usually happy their work week is almost done wink and if ever your not satisfied with their response or what their willing to offer you, ask to speak with their superior/boss.

Good luck smile

--
Nüvi 255WT with nüMaps Lifetime North America born on 602117815 / Nüvi 3597LMTHD born on 805972514 / I love Friday’s except when I’m on holidays ~ canuk

.

I've only ever used Map Updater on both my 775, and 3790. It does the trick without the GE bloatware.

I doubt the bricking was intentional by Garmin. It may have been coincidence, and would have bricked the unit on Map Updater as well.

--
nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

Mac or Win?

JimD1 wrote:

I hooked my 885t and 765t up to Garmin Express to update the maps last week. The 885t took two tries but that wasn't unusual for me and it worked. When I tried the 765 I got an error message about a half hour into the update and the nuvi now will not boot up nor will the computer recognize it is hooked up to it. I tried Garmin support and they said to try a soft reset. I tried both a soft and hard reset but it didn't help. I'm thinking of trying moving the maps from my 885t onto the SD card of the 765t and seeing if it will boot. I don't know what else to do. Any ideas?

I also want people to be aware that Garmin Express can do this. I've never had great luck with that program, it seems to work sometimes and not others. But I didn't realize it could ruin my nuvi.

Were you running Garmin Express on a Mac? or Windows? When I used Garmin Express on my Mac, the same thing happened on my Nuvi 50LM and my brand new Nuvi 2597LMT. I connected the 2597LMT to my Windows laptop, ran Garmin Express, and everything updated perfectly. Too bad though since I'm really trying to move away from Windows!

Nuvi 765 bought back from the grave!

I also recently bricked my Garmin 765 while trying to update maps. The update failed and device was stuck in a boot loop.Garmin told me it was useless. I could get a 30% discount on a new device. I thought all was lost, but I finally managed to bring it back from the grave. FWIW, I'm using Windows 10.

1. Download the latest gcd file. http://gawisp.com/perry/nuvi/nuvi7x5_GCDFile__450.gcd
2. Download garmin cure. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55759275/GarminCure3.zip
3. Run the cure executable.
4. Select the gcd file downloaded in step one as the input file.
5. Select the cure radio option.
6. Click the make firmware button.
7. Click the updater.exe button
8. Choose the USB radio button.
9. Plug a USB cord into your computer, but not in the device.

Now the tricky part, getting the device in preboot mode. You have a few second window of opportunity. Repeat steps 10-14 until you succeed.

10. Device should be off.
11. Hold a finger on the screen.
12. Slide the power button left and then lock to the right (keep finger on screen)
13. Plug in usb cord. Keep finger on screen until you see the garmin device in the updater program. Immediately proceed to step 14.
14. Click OK in the updater program and say yes or ok to any warnings. Your unit will enter preboot mode and will take the cure firmware. It will say loader on the screen.
15. Once the cure firmware loads, you should be able to see your unit's drive.
16. Format the drive fat 32. I unchecked the quick format option, but not sure if that's necessary. It took a while to format.
17. Create a Garmin folder on the disk. Not sure if this is necessary but I did it.
18. Go back to the cure and do the same thing as in steps 3-13, except change the radio option from cure to original.
18. At this point I turned off my device and it wouldn't turn back on. I performed a factory reset by holding the power button and finger on the screen until it turned on. When it turned on, the device booted normally and could be seen as a garmin gps by the garmin updater.
19. Install all garmin updates using garmin express. This takes about an hr.
20. Updates failed to install the first time, so I had to try a 2nd time. Failed with a few minutes left the 1st time. Success on the 2nd time.
21. Restore a backup if you were smart and took one at some useful point in time.
22. Celebrate!

Thanks and Welcome to haydenm315

That is a very nice write up about how to use preboot and the cure3 software to recover a nuvi...one of the best I have seen. You might want to consider contributing it as a FAQ. Thanks for sharing it, and welcome to POI Factory. Stick around for a while. There is lots to learn here and lots of knowledgeable members to help. Be sure to check out the FAQ section.

--
Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

...

Dewdman42 wrote:

I just had a similar problem. I hadn't updated my nuvi 765 in a long time. I connected it to Garmin express. Garmon express recommended I update both firmware and maps, I said ok. It updated the firmware quickly and then took several hours to download the latest maps. It completed successfully and all was done.

Updating both the firmware and the map at the same time is a bad idea as the former needs ample room to extract / apply itself. I bricked one of my units that way.

--
Michael (Nuvi 2639LMT)

Would this work on the BMW

Would this work on the BMW Navigator which is basically a re-branded Nuvi?
Have to say I am less than impressed with Garmin and their support (and BMW for that matter). Thanks.

well

It's actually a rebranded Zumo. What are you asking 'would work'? I've not experienced any issues updating devices with Express for years, only early on in its introduction was it 'flaky'. However I guess if you want to play safe then update software separately from the maps.

--
Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

Glad to know about this

Glad to know about this

bricked navigator

sussamb wrote:

It's actually a rebranded Zumo. What are you asking 'would work'? I've not experienced any issues updating devices with Express for years, only early on in its introduction was it 'flaky'. However I guess if you want to play safe then update software separately from the maps.

Either way, it's a Garmin device. I got the thread title issue. I tried to update my Navigator V about a month ago using the current version of the express and my device is bricked. It gets to the title screen and restarts. It was working perfectly fine before the update.

No help from Garmin support at all which I think is absolutely disgraceful especially considering how they use their relationship with BMW to fleece BMW bike owners.

I found a gcd file for my device so was wondering if I can use garmincure and the process described above to fix this. I do not know how to get into the preboot mode though.

cure3

Should work on your device too, but unless you can get into pre-boot mode you're stuck, unfortunately I have no experience of your device. There is a Zumo forum at www.zumoforums.com ... you may get better help there.

--
Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20