Garmn DriveSmart 5 Is Very Sluggish (solved)

Didn’t even know a DS 5 existed.

If you connect the GPS to a computer and view its contents, how much free space does its drive have? When you do map updates, do you install all of North America, all or parts of the USA, or ?? Are your maps on the internal drive or a SD card...and size of card, free space, etc?

What level of map detail have you selected?

Is your GPS current with software updates?

Does your sluggish GPS go to sleep or turn off? If just going to sleep, a full power down and reboot could help.

A hard reset could help. Be sure to save your favorites before doing this.

Probably not a sluggishness symptom, but there's always a screen recalibration.

I didn't expect to find it, but Garmin does have a web page for the Drivesmart 5:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?partNumber=010-01539-06&ta...

When on the above website and selecting Manual, it takes you to a Drivesmart 50/60/70 page so I'll guess this is a Drivesmart 50. I think we've seen before that these Garmin 1-digit devices are models sold through specific stores like a Walmart, BestBuy or something. Whether or not they're pared-down model 50s in terms of features, processor speed, etc. is an unknown.

From Garmin FAQ Capacitive Touchscreen Is Not Responding on an Automotive Device. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=uRB3L6EQalAmLR1XRlgej5... also look at. Increase or Decrease the Map Detail on an Automotive Device https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=naxyIsTzMbAhS9WeEQLFKA...

I was wondering if my Drivesmart 5 was the same as the model 50. I did change the map level to normal. It did not make a difference. The unit is sluggish when I hit the "Where To?" button. It usually responds ok at other times.

The map updates are current. 1 Gig is free on the internal memory and 11 gigs are free on the memory card. The latest map install split the map between the internal memory and the external memory.

I tried the software reset. I deleted my favorites. The unit was still sluggish. I restored ny favorites and it was still sluggish.

I am thinking that maybe the memory card is having problems. Maybe I will swap it with another memory card when the next map update comes. I did read that some models are flaky. This model is probably one of those models.

Thank you for the suggestions. I will just be patient with its sluggishness, or maybe I will just use it as a backup unit in case my other unit fails.

I have the Drive Smart 5 MT-S with UK, ROI, Full Europe mapping and it behaves very well.

All updates (maps and software) are completed over WiFi and is a great improvement over Garmin Express.

Let me know if there is anything we can compare.

Jeff

I think my unit is just flaky. When I hit the "Where To?" It takes up to 30 seconds to respond. It seems to function better with a stylus rather than the touch of a finger.

Have you noticed anything erratic with your unit? Thanks for the help.

I have a long history of using Garmin devices and I bought the Drive Smart 5 to replace a Garmin Drive 51 which exhibited unreliable behaviour and finally refusing to connect to Express.

The Smart 5 has taken me throughout the UK and mainland Europe (France and Spain) faultlessly. Picks up traffic and speed cameras via my phone, but to answer you it responds immediately to destination requests and rerouting when I keep to the main trunk roads in my Camper.

Will try any comparison if you need further help.

Jeff

It's the hardware version and latest map release that's most likely the root of the problem.

I have two DriveSmart 50LMTHD models (very similar to the DriveSmart 5). From Settings > Device > About, one of them starts with Hardware Version V5, and the other, a slightly newer 50LMTHD, starts with Hardware Version V6.

Whenever accessing anything to do with map search, be it Where To?, Categories or the like, the V5 has a very annoying pause. The V6 on the other hand has normal operation.

When I disabled the map on the V5 from Settings > Map & Vehicle > myMaps, unchecked the map data and then tried Where To? and Categories, all the pausing 50LMTHD V5 disappeared.

On the DriveSmart 50 with V5 hardware version, the latest map release introduced the annoying pausing. It was still even there after a complete map reinstallation from scratch with a different memory card, so it wasn't a bad file copy. The unit still operates completely fine when navigating, but when using any map search feature, that's where the pausing directly is.

Unfortunately, there is no fix for this. Hopefully the next map release will cure the pausing issue.

@frostedside, your comment caused me to check my Drive Smart 5 and found it to be V4.

Whether it can be compared to the 50/51 or if the 5 has its own version sequence I don't know but I am not suffering with any pause or hesitancy.

Jeff

The DS5 most likely does have its own hardware version numbers. I mention the DS50 model because it is what I have where I found the cause of the pausing issue, and to note that sometimes Garmin will do a subtle switcheroo with hardware while still keeping the same model name and exact same UI in a product's lifecycle.

I also have a nuvi 2599LMTHD which identifies as hardware V5, but it's a totally different V5 compared to the DS50. No pausing on that one at all. It's just the DS50 V5 that has the pausing.

I even went so far as to clear the non-volatile memory (Diagnostics Page > Developer Info > Memory > Nonvol Statistics > hamburger menu > Clear Nonvol) just to see if there was anything "stuck" in memory that needed to be cleared out on the DS50 with V5 hardware. Doing that completely reset the unit, but the pausing was still there even after that.

Disabling the map data (or using an OpenStreetMap alternative) is the only thing that made it operate normally again with no pausing.

I looked at my hardware version and it was V6 M4V3. I have 3 maps installed. They are CN North America NT 2023.20 ALL US, CN North America NT 2023.20 ALL Canada & Mexico and CN North America NT 2023.20 Foursquare. When I uncheck the CN North America NT 2023.20 ALL US map everything works fine. It does not pause when I hit the "Where To?". But unfortunately, I need the US map.

I recently had the battery replaced at the shop, but I believe the trouble started a few updates ago. I guess the maps might be too big, or maybe the V6 hardware version is the culprit.

I am not sure what would happen if I moved all the maps to the memory card. Maybe I will try that next.

Thanks for the ideas. If I am able to solve this, I will post my solution.

Since you mention that your map is split to the memory card and when you disable a specific map you get normal behavior, I think I'd be inclined to try a different (or new) memory card. I note that your profile says you live in NYC so you should have plenty of places that have a reliable source. Amazon and eBay are not reliable sources! B&H Photo and Adorama come to mind, and Best Buy also is a good place for memory cards. Most likely your device can't use a card larger than 32GB which is less than $10 at B&H. See https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1679656-REG/lexar_lsd....

I will put in a different memory card this week and see if it helps. I did put all of the maps on the memory card and it did not help.

I swapped the memory cards. There was no difference.

I am wondering if my map update got corrupted. It seems the unit is only sluggish when I have the USA map checked. I will see if things get better with the maps on the next update.

I updated the DriveSmart 5 with the latest maps. The latest map took care of the sluggishness. I do not know if the previous map was buggy, or if the map install was corrupted. But if anyone is having trouble with a sluggish unit, try reinstalling the maps as a last resort. Thank you everyone for the help.

Thanks for getting back to us! We are happy the DriveSmart is working properly.