[Noth]

I paid over $700 for this unit.. Garmins tend to be the standard for GPS units. Mine is connected to an Interphone F5 bluetooth unit in my helmet which is great. I bought it for the weather capability and the traffic available via Sirius radio which is another $300 a year along with the sat radio music.. weather, etc..

My Garmin was fine last year.. I plugged it in last night and as expected a large update was needed.The update downloaded to the unit (almost an hour) .. I unplugged the unit and it turned off, then turned on automatically.. The screen said "instaling updates".. then it turned off.. Then the thing won't boot.. It tells me that the operating system is missing.. I plugged it into my computer and the desktop can no longer see it... I went to the Garmin site and guess what.. closed until Monday.. Not that anyone that buys their product may want to use it on a weekend.. I Googled.. the screen message and there are a ton of threads on this bug going back to 2010.. so I now have a $700+ paperweight.. a permanent installation on my 650.. and no tech support until "normal business hours".. so that means I will have to spend some of my workday sometime on the phone with some tech support jerk.. who will , no doubt, mess up everything else on my computer so I can get his piece of crap to work on it..
THis sort of insanity can not be tolerated.. I cannot believe that in all my research I wasn't aware of this.. and now I find it everywhere.. For the number of times I have used it, I could have bought a Nuvi.. used it once, thrown it away , bought another and thrown that away after one use.. and I would still be ahead..
Today I have the 1st reasonably long trip of the season , no GPS .. and I'm out about $1,000.. Congrtats Garmin you win.. yiou ripped me off and you have no customer service available when needed.. :cherry:

 

[Liamjs]

Not that this helps today, but I keep a spare Garmin 1450 for emergencies. You can pick them up for $50 used on Amazon. They're an older model, no fancy stuff, but they can do routes and are perfectly serviceable.

Good luck with the Garmin, sounds like just a software issue. I'm sure you'll get it back up running. It's just frustrating that it doesn't work when you need it.

 

[pyfis]

Noth,
I don't know if this will help you much, but here's a link for resetting the unit to factory settings.

Is it possible the update was accidentally installed to the SD card instead of internal memory?

 

[Noth]

No.. There is no SD card in it
I will try that in a few minutes.. Thanks for that..Can't wait to try it..

 

[DougInKY]

I am looking to replace my Garmin GPS with my Android phone. Not because the phone is better but because I have just had enough of Garmin and their crap. Bought a new Garmin with lifetime updates. Went to update the device last month and was told that I needed to add memory to it so I could update it. Looking it over, I discovered that apparently Garmin doesn't add a memory slot on their devices now I guess unless you pay extra for it when you buy the device. Garmin tells me that if I take a partial map of the USA I can update my GPS that way. I bought the device with the entire USA in it for a reason Garmin. So, a two year old Garmin device is almost not worth messing with any more. So, I think they have lost a long time customer with me.

So, OP, I feel your pain.

Namaste'
Doug from Kentucky

 

[Noth]

I basically asked info over on the NER (New England Riders) forum as they have a ton of Garmin info there.. wow.. They got all PO'd at me for any critcal Garmin stuff.. "it's a machine.. and fallible".. "You probably broke it..".. They are on Central Time so why would you expect support on the weekend".. amazing.. "since it's worthles, as you said, give it to me for free..".. "or get it fixed as they are wonderful..".. Talk about the Stepford wives.. If I pay over $700 for something that I can get at some level for $149.. why the F should I apoligize for expecting it to work.. I don't get it..One person said their updates were buggy.. I don't get why that's OK..

 

[Burgermiester]

Noth, I sent you a PM.

 

[Noth]

Got it.. thanks.

 

[Noth]

I looked that over.. I forgot I had joined that forum last year..
I did asearch.. It looks like my new unit (less than a year old) is a brick..Garmin willaskmeto send them my unit (I think I have to pay for shipping).. and they'll return a re-furbished one to me.. the Zumo 665 isno longer manufactured.. sothere are no new ones toreplace it with.. I may ask for a credit against the new Motorcycle model if it doesn't cost me too much.. I'll bet they won't do that.. sucks.. It could have been worse.. How the **** can they get away with this kind of crap? Because there is no comparable product..
http://www.zumoforums.com/index.php?topic=17164.0

 

[ChipDoc]

Bought a new Garmin with lifetime updates. Went to update the device last month and was told that I needed to add memory to it so I could update it. Looking it over, I discovered that apparently Garmin doesn't add a memory slot on their devices now I guess unless you pay extra for it when you buy the device. Garmin tells me that if I take a partial map of the USA I can update my GPS that way. I bought the device with the entire USA in it for a reason Garmin.

A few years back I bought a Garmin 50LM. At the time it was the cheapest one out there; I paid about fifty bucks for it and it suits my needs just fine. When I went to upgrade it, I got the same message.

So I did as they suggested - essentially wiping out the old maps and installing the new ones for my own region. Then I did it again, which wiped/updated the rest of the country. It took several hours, but it worked just fine while I slept. You might want to give it a try.

 

[NormanB]

This is pretty dreadful but as you know all techy stuff can fail. The sinister thing is it always seems to pick the very most inconvenient time to do it.

I have had Garmins for years now and find they suit my needs fine. The updating and map updating drives me nuts BUT I have always found Garmin support (UK) helpful and I hope they stand behind their product and support you well in this case.

 

[Noth]

A few years back I bought a Garmin 50LM. At the time it was the cheapest one out there; I paid about fifty bucks for it and it suits my needs just fine. When I went to upgrade it, I got the same message.

So I did as they suggested - essentially wiping out the old maps and installing the new ones for my own region. Then I did it again, which wiped/updated the rest of the country. It took several hours, but it worked just fine while I slept. You might want to give it a try.

It won't connect tomy computer at all.. Their software no longer sees the unit at all.. so before I do any of that.. a connection has to be made.. I have an idea that it is beyond repair

 

[DougInKY]

A few years back I bought a Garmin 50LM. At the time it was the cheapest one out there; I paid about fifty bucks for it and it suits my needs just fine. When I went to upgrade it, I got the same message.

So I did as they suggested - essentially wiping out the old maps and installing the new ones for my own region. Then I did it again, which wiped/updated the rest of the country. It took several hours, but it worked just fine while I slept. You might want to give it a try.

Worth a try. Thanks ChipDoc.

Namaste'
Doug from Kentucky

 

[Noth]

Doug,
Per my note above.. Can't do anything with it.. It won't boot..it won't connect.. I just found that (while once again trying another attempt this morning) it was assembled on 2/21/2013.. at the Garmin factory.. so, when they offer me a re-built unit.. it better not be older than that.. I HATE tech customer service.. predictable.. as they will accuse me of doing something..and then typically mess with my computer soit will recognize their product but when they are done.. my printer won't work.. my scanner won't work, my Ipod won't update and so on.. just past experience.. nothing to do with Garmin.. and cyber time is not real time.. between re-booting and so on it takes hours.. for something that should just "work"... Can you tell I have Vista on my PC..? and they better not blame that.. system requirements are Win XP.. and Vista is after that..

 

[DougInKY]

Noth, I feel for you for sure. I am a Mac kind of guy. You want to see telephone service people freak out, just tell them you are using a Mac. You usually get a "we don't support that operating system" out of them.

Namaste'
Doug from Kentucky

 

[fernando]

sorry to hear it ruined your ride but guys let's make sure you will not update any electronic device the day or days before your ride, things can go really wrong, you can always update them, when you're back.

 

[Noth]

Good advice.. Lesson learned.. All I expected to do wasget a mapp update and be on my way..

 

[Noth]

I spent a few hours on the phone with Garmin tech support yesterday afternoon.. Downloaded some USB drivers.. downloaded an updater to add the software back in.. The unit would be recognized but try as we might it would not accept the software.. as the unit still wasnotrecognized as connected to my computer.. so now today I send the unit back. it was less than a year old.. still under warranty and I get returned to me a reconditioned unit, not a new unit.. and I have to pay to send the unit back.. what a rip off.. amazed at the shoddy treatment.. in fairness, I hope the re-conditioned unit works perfectly forever.. but this entire thing just seems to be something less than fair.. I don't feel that there is a real alternative to the Zumo...The TomTom rider2 is I suppose.. I belong to another motorcycle forum and wow what a bunch of Garmin fanatics.. they are PO'd at me for being upset that my Garmin under warranty failed and that I don't get a new unit and I have to pay for shipping.. they say I am "unreasonable".. Huh? I find that odd..

 

[Muse]

I have a tom tom rider 2 a GPS designed for use on bikes, it has not failed yet and performs well and if its updates failed and damaged the unit under law they would have to fix it at their cost not mine. So why would one buy an expensive Garmin for 700 bucks. In Australia this would not be tolerated as we actually have the best consumer laws in the world as many foreign companies have found out when their products failed to meet its expectations and claims made for it.

 

[jacvinson]

You said that the update took an hour... I doubt you got an update. When I update mine, (which I do about every 6 months, it's not uncommon to take all night. A one HR update would make me very suspect. I've used Garmin since the early 90's, had 8-9 of them and never, not once, had a problem, except with batteries that finally wear out.
BUT IF YOU DISCONNECT FROM YOUR COMPUTER WITHOUT THE UPDATE COMPLETED, YOU'RE ASKING FOR TROUBLE. It takes longer than anyone would guess. I always plug mine in for an update when I go to bed. It's "usually" done by dawn....
Your said "My Garmin was fine last year.. I plugged it in last night and as expected a large update was needed.The update downloaded to the unit (almost an hour) .. I unplugged the unit and it turned off, then turned on automatically.. The screen said "instaling updates".. then it turned off.."

IT WASN'T FINISHED AND UNPLUGGING BEFORE IT SAYS "UPDATE COMPLETE", IS THE FIRST ERROR I SEE.