Nuvi 855 Advice wanted (stuck at "Loading maps") RESOLVED

Reformatting the internal drive is risky, but it can be done if you accept the risk knowing that if something goes wrong, your device will be a brick.

I have done it with my old 755T, but not tried it with the 855. The main thing you DON'T want to do is to disconnect or reboot after the format. Immediately restore the files from your backup and reinstall the software using Express or WebUpdater BEFORE you disconnect or reboot.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do and whether or not it works.

Edit: You said it shows up as a drive on your computer. Does it show up in Garmin Express too? If not, reformatting will be an even riskier choice.

Start with simple checks before formatting the GPS!

Loading Maps is a processor-intensive and display-intensive time in the boot-up. That means it needs more electricity.

Charge the battery with a wall charger for several hours. Make sure that the vehicle power cord has a good connection.

dobs108

Fortunately the 855 is only a backup-backup unit, so not too concerned about a "brick". As it is right now it is a live non working brick.
Yes GE does recognize it.

I also own a DriveSmart 50 and a 2797 plus the kinda useless Garmin based Nav unit in my car. A few years ago I found myself just outside Kansas City and 2 days from home when my then 3790 died and no paper maps handy. The first sign of a city I knew took me well over 400 miles out of my way and since that happened my 855 has always been in the trunk as a standby for just in case.

Try running the 855 on USB power only with the battery removed. The nuvi 8xx series was one of the few Garmin nuvi's made that will operate without a battery. The 855 batteries are getting very old now and there are no replacements available to buy. A defective battery could cause the kinds of problems you are having, so removing the battery and operating on USB current will test that. I have actually been running my 855 without a battery for a couple of years now, although it gets only very infrequent use these days.

About 10 years ago, my 855 got into a state where I couldn't unlock after booting. I had a password set and there was no way to enter it. It took substantial efforts to resume operations, and I remember finding modes that I had no idea that existed. There was no way to access the filesystem via USB while the unit was locked. It was quite the project to return to a working unit, but I was ultimately successful through intuition and trial/errors.

I also don't have any documentation of what I did, as ironically the computer where I kept such notes had its data lost. I have never used the anti-theft password feature since, so the likelihood of that particular issue is nil.

I write this because it is likely possible to fix your issue. It may take rewriting files onto the unit, or working through hard reset debug modes.

dobs108
I've already formatted the drive and am in the process of copying the back up 855 files from my hard-drive.
Actually the maps had been updated when the 2022.2 came out by the cloning method on an 8GB SD card.

telecomdigest, I've never ever used a password to lock/unlock the 855 so I know that is not the problem, but thanks for the thought.

Cool! I will be anxiously waiting to hear your results!

Fortunately I have back-ups of each of my Garmins.

Doing a format was a bit scary, since I had no way of knowing what to expect. Did a thorough format, not just a quick one. Took about 15 minutes since the 855 is only about 3.49GB in size. Now came the scary part, it ended up after the format "Windows" informed me that it was not completed. So I tried again doing the quick format version. This was completed without a hitch.

Then I followed alandb's suggestion not to disconnect the 855 until all is done.

Next I copied my complete 855 backup files from a saved (2017) version. Then I did another map clone to the SD card. Renamed the 3 files from prom to supp.

Next stuck the SD card into the 855 and fired it up. Took a bit longer than I expected but it fired up and now I have a working 855 again.

Thanks for all your insights.

So as has been mentioned many times by many people this shows how important a complete GPS backup can be !!!

Glad you were able to get the old 855 recovered!