Unecessary icon "Cloud w/ 3 lightning bolts" won't go away!

Already been discussed. General consensus is that it's the battery bar when charging. See here:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/7843

Not on the right hand side of screen. The battery bar is in the upper LEFT hand corner of the screen.

They say its a known issue with MSN Direct, and that the fix is on the way, a matter of a few days.

Fact/

No problemo! It might be a real simple and easy fix. Try simply resetting the MSN Direct receiver. You will see the labeled reset button hole located on the right hand side of the cigarette lighter accessory.

The link that siennaot1 referred to started out with people thinking it was the battery icon when it was determined later it wasn't and that the fix was resetting the MSD Direct receiver.

The mysterious cloud icon (and it is indeed a cloud, not a battery status indicator) is definitely a malfunction.
I returned three units with this problem. I found that all three Nuvis worked fine without the MSN receiver/power cord connected to the units. When the MSN receiver was connected to the Nuvi, the cloud icon eventually appeared, sometimes immediately, sometimes it took a while. And it didn’t matter whether the other end of the receiver/power cord was plugged into the vehicle’s power source. Also, when the cloud icon was present, the “Turn In” function located in the lower right corner no longer worked. Instead of giving next turn information, it produced a “No Matches Found” message—the same message that appeared when pressing on the cloud icon. It’s as if the two are somehow connected.

Garmin had no immediate solution. The Tech Support representative had me email some screen shots and a description of the problem, so he could pass them on to someone at Garmin who could hopefully find a solution.

Meanwhile, I’m considering the Nuvi 760 and doing without MSN.

I have a C580 with MSN reciever and have never experienced this problem.. You'd think the software would be similar.. If you do have screenshots please post them.

Thanx,
Ray

I have the same problem. Garmin told me it is a "feature in process." When I asked him to explain, he really couldn't. He stated the "issue" has been reported. It is not a "problem" that needs fix, according to him. It is just a "feature in process." I started getting dizzy from running this circle, so basically said thanks and good bye. If you go to the MSN site, there is a tag that says "Garmin Nuvi 680 owners, there is a software update available at Garmin. . . ." It does not explain what the update is, and it is not dated so I don't know when it was posted. Oh well.

Update your unit software, it's been fixed a few releases back. Mine did that until I updated the software.

Kerry

Even with the latest software, my units still had the cloud problem. Just yesterday, a very knowledgeable Garmin Tech Support Rep told me that Garmin knew about the cloud issue and was working on a fix, but he had no idea when a patch might be available.

I have the latest software on my unit, v4.2 and still have the problem. I am sure that Garmin will fix it, especially if enough people report the problem. The tech person I talked to was not very knowledgable or helpful, so I sent an email to report the problem. So far no response.

As I said the issue was supposedly corrected... see pasting below. 4th line "Removed severe weather alert"

Changes made from version 3.20 to 3.50:

* Updated Daylight Saving Time dates.
* Able to read a new SMS before sync is complete.
* Changed subcategories in find menu.
* Removed severe weather alert.
* Added Brazil Portuguese voice.
* Added Bulgarian voice.
* Added Lithuanian voice.
* Added Romanian voice.
* Added Serbian voice.

From this page:

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=1925

Kerry

Thanks verrykerry, but unfortunately the issue has not been fixed. Here is the reply I received from Garmin to my email:

Thank you for contacting Garmin International. We are aware of the
issue and our engineering department is working on a software fix. We
will let you know when the update is available via email.

With Best Regards,

Becky J
Product Support Specialist
Automotive Team
Garmin International
913-397-8200
800-800-1020
913-397-8282 (fax) Att: Becky J

It appeared Wed 12/26 and Fri 12/28 in the Detroit area. Today, there was a winter weather advisory posted but when you touched the icon, it said info could not be found. This would be a very valuable feature if it worked as it should. Many times I do not have the local radio news on in the car, and am not aware if a weather watch has been issued. I have updated the software with webupdater within the last two weeks. So this is not an isolated incident.

I have contacted Garmin Tech Support and there does not seem to be a resolution that permanently fixes this annoying bug. If it was just the appearance of the Cloud Icon I could easily ignore it but when you press the next turn in ??? Icon to see what the next intersection diagram the weather Icon is activated at the same time disabling that very useful feature.

I agree the icon isn't too bad, but it disables the next turn feature which is unacceptable. The more people that report the issue, the faster Garmin will fix it. If you already reported it, follow up with an email about the status. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

Did anyone try resetting their MSN Direct receiver yet as I suggested? I am thinking with the new software and resetting the auto charger could fix your issue.

ntabby;

Also the next Turn by Turn feature is not totally disabled. Apparently Garmin has a slight problem with the software needing to be tweaked and move the active part of the touch screen for Weather alert just a tad bit higher. Try using your fingernail and touching the bottom part of the Next Turn icon and you will see you still have the capability to pull up turn by turn.

I have the same issue. I will contact Garmin Tech support tomorrow.

Tried all updates and resets but still there.

Considering exchange at Costco, but will same problem arise?

Dave Garmin Tech has been called 4-5 times just by the above posters...I am sure that they are aware..But I guess one more call wont hurt...

When I first got my unit I thought it was on all the time. Well, it was on because of all the winter weather we were having. I have been watching the nws (national weather service) site and the icon now only shows on the screen when there is an alert or advisory. The problem is when you touch it no data is displayed.

My question is - are there some people that are getting the proper data now or are they all broken? It would be interesting to see if it is a city problem and possibly a clearchannel broadcast issue and not a gpsr issue. I've had this problem in wichita and kansas city.

Daniel

My icon has been on for days, and there is no weather advisory here. I may echange it once and see if there is still an issue, I will not keep a 500 item that doest function properly, as much as i like it. If it is every unit, Garmin will hopefully fix it soon or I wont be owning one anymore. LOL

I have reset it to no avail. I also went through recalibrating the touch screen and I when I touch the next turn icon, I get the useless "weather alert" screen. I'd take the unit back but I have owned Garmin units for over six years now and Garmin is a good company. As I said in an earlier post, the more people call and email the faster the company will fix the problem. Obviously Garmin is aware of the problem - that's not the point. The point is that, like with most successful companies, they prioritize, and the more unhappy customers, the higher the priority.

the MSN receiver... I travel out of Dallas fairly regularly on business and the other day I went to Galveston. The lightning bolt symbol was not on my screen in Dallas but when I picked up the MSN signal in Houston it appeared showing weather warnings for several counties down around Houston.

However the 3 day forecast showed sunny and clear? Once I turned North and got away from Houston the cloud icon disappeared and did not reappear in Dallas. I believe it's in the MSN portion and not the fault of Garmin.

Kerry

After I connected the 680 to my computer and opened the files, I found a folder marked "WX." I opened the folder and found 2 files. One was "MSalert.wdx." Given the name, I thought it might have something to do with the weather alert cloud icon, so just for the heck of it I deleted the file (I saved a copy to my hard drive) and reset the 680. I haven't had the icon since! I have only been using it for a short time, so I don't know if I will have continued success. Sure is nice to have my "Next turn" feature back! I hope it stays away. I'll post an update after a few days.

I have a C580 and have never seen this cloud icon even when driving in whiteout conditions for 5 hrs. straight.. I did a little research and found that the Nuvi 680 has this feature but no mention of this for the C580... I wonder if Garmin accidentally loaded the 680 software on the C580... FYI my C580 has all the updates..

Ray

raybonz,
If you have activated your msn on your c580, then you should get severe weather alerts. You should be getting gas prices, traffic, movies, and weather. Have you activated the msn service? If not, go to https://www.msndirect.com/NavigationDevicesGeneric.aspx
After you create an account, your msn receiver will receive the data from msn IF you are in a service area. Good luck.

exactly what they told me a few days ago when i reported it. although they didn't give me a time frame for the fix.

i just hope they put some bluetooth tweaks in there. my 360 was solid as a rock, the 680 barely works with the same phone.

/guy

I have activated my msn direct and I get all services and they do work well for me.. There is no mention in any Garmin literature that I should be getting severe weather alerts. Please show me where it says I should get severe weather alerts and an icon on my navigation screen depicting a weather problem...

Thanx,
Ray

Ray,

I have the C580 w/MSN and I get the severe weather alerts. They coincide with weather service issued alerts. When the icon is pressed it lists the alerts by county. I live in NoCO, so we get our fair share of alerts this time of year.

Paul

Hi Paul,
My only guess is there hasn't been any severe weather alerts issued in my area yet. Perhaps it's something major such as a tornado or hurricane that impedes traffic. I still haven't found anything from Garmin that states anything about a severe weather alert icon. MSN direct makes no mention of it either. You would think that something that would create a button on your navigation screen prompting user interaction would be mentioned somewhere. I am not arguing whether or not it exists but why it is not documented by Garmin or MSN..

Ray

Probably the same reason that the manual that came with my new MP3 player barely tells me how to turn it on! However, what little it does tell me is in 6 different languages. Manuals just aren't what they used to be!

Paul

Ray,
I believe you are correct about the lack of any mention of the weather alert icon. I couldn't find it on MSN or Garmin. The reason I discovered it was a flash flood warning in my county. I pushed the icon and sure enough it indicated a flash flood warning, the duration, and location on a map. I thought it was great. But then the weather passed but I still had the icon. No big deal but when I was navigating, I noticed that when I pushed the "next turn" icon, I got the weather alert screen. Very annoying. So far the problem persists and I am waiting for Garmin or MSN to fix the problem. I found a temporary fixed described above in my earlier post. But I agree with you that it is very strange there is no mention of this icon.

Lots of stuff in my new Nuvi 680 is strange to me, not the least of which is that San Jose appears to have no theaters whatsoever.

Anyway, re: the icon, thanks for clearing that up. I'd been wondering. For what it's worth, it doesn't interfere with the whole Next Turn button, only the portion that's directly under the icon. The left third or so of the button is still active.

If you put your finger on the screen and move it around, buttons will highlight (but not select) as you touch over them. You want to find the region where Next Turn lights, but the cloud doesn't. I find it easy enough to hit when I'm driving, now that I know where it is.

I have contacted both MSN and Garmin to no avail. The Garmin rep only said that he was referring it to the software engineer. There is no mention anywhere on Garmin's website or in the manual about the weather alert "feature". MSN said to contact Garmin. With this being my fourth Garmin unit, this is the first time I have been dissatisfied with their unit or service. I also noticed if you press the left hand portion of the next turn button, you did not get the "no match found".

Unfortunately, it's not just the weather alert. Traffic alerts (and anything else MSN pastes up there, probably, though those are the only two I know of) do the same thing.

They must have an "MSN tray" area on the UI, which they've mistakenly extended across that button.

My alert works fine here. The button pops up you click it and it shows u the delay. The button does not cover anything vital.

Ray

I will try the same and see how it works. Thanks for the info.

The Temp you see at the top of the menu page has been at 59 degrees since the day I plugged my MSN receiver in.

It must be like the traffic...not always enabled in every city. I get the icon every time there is a storm watch/warning and then it goes away when it is done. But it says "nothing found" when I click on it. Have not been able to verify anything on the websites yet.

Daniel

Well, so far so good! The renaming of the file MSalert in the WX folder to a txt extension has seemed to work.

I'll keep you up to date as my testing goes on.

I noticed that this has been a problem since last December. Does it normally take the Garmin/MSN techs this long to fix a software problem?

Microsoft, it always takes them over a year to fix problems.

I am willing to delete (and save) the MSalert.wdx file but wondering if it also might delete any possibility of getting any alerts at all. If the "cloud" goes away, do you still continue to get weather alerts, though?

"I am willing to delete (and save) the MSalert.wdx file but wondering if it also might delete any possibility of getting any alerts at all. If the "cloud" goes away, do you still continue to get weather alerts, though?"

I haven't had any problems since. My weather alert icon now reappears when there is a weather alert, and disappears when the severe weather has passed. I guess Microsoft, or Garmin, fixed the problem. The fix I suggested in an earlier post did work, and I never had any problems. Thanks.

thx, will give that a try

I haven't had any problems since I made this modification. I haven't had a weather alert as of yet
to truly test this workaround.

It seems that somehow they reinstalled the MSalert file in the WX folder when I was checking for new updates. I noticed it there this morning when nosing around. I guess we'll have to wait for MSN/Garmin to come out with a fix.

MSN breaks anything it touches.

MSN breaks anything it touches.

There is nothing to fix here, it is the Garmin/MSN way of saying the wrath of God is coming; Just kidding

Well, here was Garmin's response to the email I send them...

Dear Gerald Jr.,