Ever heard of units just blacking out?

[+Cache_advance]

I was teaching a class today with 15 3-month old Etrex Legend units. I had fresh batteries in each one, plus about 30 sets of spares (I like to be prepared). I turned them all on about 10 minutes before students arrived (outdoor class) as I only had 20 minutes with them, and I didn't want to waste 5 waiting for satellites. Anyway, as the class arrives, I start passing out gps's and find that about half of them went blank. They didn't turn off, mind you. They went blank, EXCEPT, for a thin (maybe 1 pixel) black stripe from top to bottom on the screen. When I tried turning them off and back on again, they wouldn't turn off. I had to manually take out the batteries, re-insert them, and then turn them back on. This happened on maybe 6-8 of the 15 units.

 

I taught 8 of these 20 minute sessions back to back today. For some reason, several units would continue to black out like this throughout the morning. I don't know for sure if it was the same units each time, but I don't think so. I would say that for the first 5-6 classes, I had to restart at least 3-4 units before or during each class. It was really frustrating as the class had to wait, over and over again. By the end of the day, it seemed to have worked itself free of this problem.

 

As for the weather concerns? The weather was cool, dry, sunny skies. I'd guess it was about 60 by the start of the first class, about 75 by the time we finished. I can't imaging that 60 degree temps would do this? The batteries were fine, as they were all charged in advance. When I re-inserted them, they would work fine, and show full charge on the battery meters. If it was ONE unit, I would say it was a bad unit, but 7-8 of them? And I've been cachign for a little over a year and I've never had this probelem before.

 

Any ideas? I hope I have given enough information that someone might have an idea?

 

Cache_Advance

[+EraSeek]

I've had this happen before maybe a couple of times over the years (freeze up, black line on screen). I resolved it the same way; remove the batteries and reinsert them. Don't know why it happened, but it is odd that you would have several units do it at once like that.

[+MlKE]

Yep, exact thing happened to me yesterday morning. Wouldn't turn off so replaced batteries only to have it happen again 10 mins later.

Garmin Legend purchased last week.

[sophie&kristof]

I've heard the following explanation:

It seems some recheargable batteries are smaller than regular ones. This causes them to lose contact, which blacks out you GPS. Just use a little piece of plastic foam to keep the batteries in place.

When closing the battery compartiment, batteries should not be able to move around.

Edited September 19, 2007 by sophie&kristof

[+embra]

This is *probably* something different, but I recall several years ago that there was something in the Magellan firmwares for Sportraks and Meridians that caused them to shut down in response to a particular signal emitted from the positioning satellites (I forget the nature of the signal, I think it was related to some testing protocols). Magellan had to update the firmwares to get things happy again.

 

I doubt very much anything like this was happening for you, since it didn't affect all units. But it was reminiscent enough I thought I'd mention it.

[+GPSlug]

Yeah, multiple units at the same time sounds like a software crash.

 

PRN 32 was visible in your area yesterday from about 5 AM to 11 AM EDT. Does that correspond to when the trouble started and stopped?

[+MlKE]

mine went out between 6-6:30 AM- CST

not using re-chargeable batteries.

Edited September 19, 2007 by TNMAD1

[+Cache_advance]

Yeah, the time corresponds perfectly. It was my morning classes, so I'd say from 10am till about 11:30. I don't think I had it happen much, if at all, in the afternoon.

 

Thats a pretty interesting explanation. Thanks for sharing.

[+oisact]

I have an eTrex Venture Cx that is just a few days old. This morning I turned it on, and drove a couple blocks and stopped at a light. I was looking straight at the GPSr when the screen went black. Actually it was mostly black, with random dots here and there that slowly faded out. I held the power button down and it came back up (welcome / splash screen, then had to reacquire, etc). I had just put new alkaline batteries in it a few minutes before. It's worked fine since. I do have custom maps on there I made myself (elevation contours), so I wondered if that had anything to do with it.

 

Dan

[+EraSeek]

No, the fade out situation is due to power. Either the batteries conections or output by the batteries. The first time I fired up my 60cx with alkalines it did the same thing, but not since except with lithiums.

[+mrmnmikey]

I've had the same problem with my legend cx. Just goes blank. It seems like it's still on, but I have to reboot. I thought it was the buttons doing it, but one time it just happened while it was just sitting there. I'm trying to find more answers for this problem.

[FiveNines]

I have the Legend (classic blue) and have had the exact same problem for the last few weeks. I thought the unit had gone bad since it's several years old. But it happened to me exactly as you describe it. Same vertical line on the right and all. I had firmware 3.70 and thought maybe if I downgraded to 3.50 it would change, but it had the same problem needing a battery reset. At one point the unit came back to life having gone through a "hard reset" with all my waypoints and tracks deleted. But most times it simply needs a restart and it recovers gracefully. I put 3.70 back on it and it still blanks out as you described it -- yesterday evening in fact.

[Wolburg]

This happened to me on my second outing around 1730-1800 EST today. For the record, I was very close to major power lines, maybe 200-300 meters away and I have noitced when running in the area, my heart rate monitor jumps up over 200 bpm! Also, AM radio buzzes when driving under power lines. I'm glad to hear that other people experienced this bug. I bought my unit on E-bay recently and you never know what you will get. I thought I had a defective unit.

 

"At least I'm not alone anymore"

Sting- Message in a bottle.

[jmndz]

Hello I am new to caching myself I have a legend (blue),about 1 yr,iIhave not had this problem yet.But if it happens,now i know that its not just my unit.

[Spinrgy]

Same here happens a lot, feel like throwing it away and buying something new. Its an etrex vista about three years old

[JMNick]

Greetings All,

 

I am glad to hear I am not the only one with the gremlins chewing on things. I just fired off an email to Garmin & referenced this thread. Hopefully they will have a decent answer. FWIW, my Etrex Legend crashed multiple times on me between 1400 & 1945hrs Central Time today (8 Oct). The batteries fit tight so there is no way they could have broken contact.

I will post whatever I get back from Garmin as soon as they get back with me.

 

Best Regards,

 

Joel

[+2qwerqE]

Similar thing happened to me Monday night. First time, with my 3 yr old VistaC. It would not power up. Removing and reinserting the batteries didn't help. New batteries didn't help, both lithium and rechargebales tried. I plugged it into the computer to see if I could at least get it to power up and save my data, and it came on fine. Since then, it's behaving normally on the rechargebales. How bizzarre!

[JMNick]

Well... Here is the reply from Garmin. I am in the process of reloading the firmware as I write. I may not get a chance to check it out today, but hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to get out and about for a little bit.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Joel

 

Thank you for contacting Garmin International.

 

It appears that the unit has gotten some corrupt data in it so to

correct this I would suggest doing a hard reset on the unit. This will

clear out all data in the unit and reset it to factory defaults and

settings. However, you will lose all user information such as Waypoints,

tracks, and routes that you have stored in your unit. If you wish to

save this information before resetting your unit, you can save it to

your computer using a PC interface cable and your Mapsource software.

 

Following are instructions on how to perform a Master Reset on your

unit:

 

-With the unit turned off, press and hold the follow buttons: PAGE +

ENTER, then press and release the POWER. The unit will power up asking

if you want to release all user data. Select yes and the unit will be

reset.

 

After the master reset please place your unit outside so that it has a

clear view of the sky for 25 to 30 minutes so that the unit can acquire

new almanac data. I would also suggest updating your unit's operating

system using the link below.

 

http://www.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp

 

If you have any additional comments or questions, please do not hesitate

to contact us via email or at the number listed below.

 

 

 

With Best Regards,

 

Shawn V

Product Support Specialist

2nd Shift Outdoor/Fitness Team

Garmin International

913-397-8200

800-800-1020

913-397-8282 (fax) Att: Shawn V

www.garmin.com

[FiveNines]

I found this link while searching for the solution to this problem.

 

http://www.fixya.com/support/t206687-scree..._thin_line_from

 

I spoke with a Garmin customer service rep. on the phone and he told me they are having a problem with the screens interacting with the WAAS signal, resulting in the blank screen and line. Something about the problem resulting from a change in the WAAS sattelite system, and the problem appeared up a couple weeks ago Currently the only solution is to disable the WAAS (You can do this by going to setup, system, WAAS). I've got my GPS sitting powered on with WAAS disabled right now, and so far so good.

 

It explains a lot if true and why it happens to multiple units at the same time. But then there's this.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=1834086

 

The bad ribbon connector contact that causes the display lines is a known problem with the eTrex series and Garmin has sometimes agreed to fix them even after the warranty is expired.

[+crazygramma]

I had what sounds like the same problem with my year old Garmin etrex legend with the screen going blank with one or more vertical black lines. If I just give it a good smack on the side with the palm of my hand, the screen instantly returns to normal. Sometimes it works fine for a long time, other times it goes out now and then. Very annoying, but a quick fix. I assume it has something to do with the battery connections.

[+upon3]

We had similar problems with a brand new out of the box eTrex Legend (blue) with fresh batteries and few (if any) downloaded waypoints. Took the batteries out and put them back in and it worked fine for about a half hour. Did it again and repeated the fix.

 

It hasn't happened again since then.

 

Seems to be an issue with the Legend, and not external forces.

[Fastdraw]

I found this link while searching for the solution to this problem.

 

http://www.fixya.com/support/t206687-scree..._thin_line_from

 

I spoke with a Garmin customer service rep. on the phone and he told me they are having a problem with the screens interacting with the WAAS signal, resulting in the blank screen and line. Something about the problem resulting from a change in the WAAS sattelite system, and the problem appeared up a couple weeks ago Currently the only solution is to disable the WAAS (You can do this by going to setup, system, WAAS). I've got my GPS sitting powered on with WAAS disabled right now, and so far so good.

 

It explains a lot if true and why it happens to multiple units at the same time. But then there's this.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=1834086

 

The bad ribbon connector contact that causes the display lines is a known problem with the eTrex series and Garmin has sometimes agreed to fix them even after the warranty is expired.

 

My Garmin etrex Vista gets the blank screen with only the vertical line showing..... when I have WAAS enabled...... I never have he problem when WAAS is disabled........

[+Hynr]

I found that I had this problem with my blue legend when off-roading. This shakes the unit a bit more than normal. I was able to correct the problem by sliding a thin wad of paper behind the battery clips and cleaning off the battery terminal. I think I may have also seen the problem once when the battery type setting was incorrect in the unit.

[+belair56]

I just spoke with customer service about this it's there opinion that it's WAAS related and they'll be releasing software to solve the problem.