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Colorado memory restore


svintuss

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Hello.

I've accidently formated the internal memory of my Colorado 300. Now the unit can't see its internal memory, even after I restored all data from a backup.

Which parameters has colorado's internal filesystem (format, cluster size, cylinder/head count, etc.)? Is there a memory dump/disk image of Colorado 300 internal storage?

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Hello.

I've accidently formated the internal memory of my Colorado 300. Now the unit can't see its internal memory, even after I restored all data from a backup.

Which parameters has colorado's internal filesystem (format, cluster size, cylinder/head count, etc.)? Is there a memory dump/disk image of Colorado 300 internal storage?

Do a hard reset. See: http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#toc10

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It was the first thing I did. No change. "Hard reset" only wipes out user data without prompt, but does not affect internal memory.

I suspect in formatting you may have deleted hidden file(s) that you could not have backed up--maybe? There should be a way to fully restore the Colorado / Oregon in the field if there is no hardware failure--but there isn't to date to my knowledge. There is no available disk image I'm aware of nor means of getting into the Colorado's OS.

 

There are too many cases of "system software missing" through no fault of the end user and I'm sure others have "accidentally" formatted their virtual memory drive/partition(s) too. (There but for you go I.)

 

The results of this thread could be important for all of us with Colorado and Oregon models.

Edited by Ratsneve
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It was the first thing I did. No change. "Hard reset" only wipes out user data without prompt, but does not affect internal memory.

I suspect in formatting you may have deleted hidden file(s) that you could not have backed up--maybe? There should be a way to fully restore the Colorado / Oregon in the field if there is no hardware failure--but there isn't to date to my knowledge. There is no available disk image I'm aware of nor means of getting into the Colorado's OS.

 

There are too many cases of "system software missing" through no fault of the end user and I'm sure others have "accidentally" formatted their virtual memory drive/partition(s) too. (There but for you go I.)

 

The results of this thread could be important for all of us with Colorado and Oregon models.

 

you have 3 options.

#1- if possible, you can return to the store.

#2- call Garmin, and they can either Send you a disc or have you mail it back to them.

#3- beg someone who was smart enough to make a backup disc of their Colorado to mail you a copy of their backup disc.

Note to new Colorado and Oregon users...when you take that sucker out of the box, before doing anything whatsoever, grab a blank DVD and copy everything over to the DVD to save all the info in case you make a mistake somewhere down the road.

 

how do i know all of these?

 

it has happened to me and I now know better.

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you have 3 options.

#1- if possible, you can return to the store.

#2- call Garmin, and they can either Send you a disc or have you mail it back to them.

#3- beg someone who was smart enough to make a backup disc of their Colorado to mail you a copy of their backup disc.

Note to new Colorado and Oregon users...when you take that sucker out of the box, before doing anything whatsoever, grab a blank DVD and copy everything over to the DVD to save all the info in case you make a mistake somewhere down the road.

 

how do i know all of these?

 

it has happened to me and I now know better.

Before I mention a possible fourth option the op refered to restoring "all data from a backup" didn't fix the problem but does not define whether all data included all files.

 

#4- detail all files you have and/or restored showing the file hierarchy exactly. Maybe someone with a Colorado can identify a missing file and/or a misplaced file? If missing and 'not to large' a means can be found to transfer it to you.

Edited by Ratsneve
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#4- detail all files you have and/or restored showing the file hierarchy exactly. Maybe someone with a Colorado can identify a missing file and/or a misplaced file? If missing and 'not to large' a means can be found to transfer it to you.

And for any files too large for your ISPs e-mail, or what ever is used on either end complaining about file size,

there's always :

http://www.yousendit.com/

 

Norm

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you have 3 options.

#1- if possible, you can return to the store.

#2- call Garmin, and they can either Send you a disc or have you mail it back to them.

#3- beg someone who was smart enough to make a backup disc of their Colorado to mail you a copy of their backup disc.

Note to new Colorado and Oregon users...when you take that sucker out of the box, before doing anything whatsoever, grab a blank DVD and copy everything over to the DVD to save all the info in case you make a mistake somewhere down the road.

 

how do i know all of these?

 

it has happened to me and I now know better.

 

Before I mention a possible fourth option the op refered to restoring "all data from a backup" didn't fix the problem but does not define whether all data included all files.

 

#4- detail all files you have and/or restored showing the file hierarchy exactly. Maybe someone with a Colorado can identify a missing file and/or a misplaced file? If missing and 'not to large' a means can be found to transfer it to you.

 

Thanks for replies, but the problem here is not about some files missing (I double-checked) :-). It's about the unit not seeing entire internal memory.

It starts up and loads all maps from memory card only. But when I try to archive current track (or do anything that needs internal memory) I displays an error. It can't go into USB mass storage mode in a regular way - after connecting USB cable. I need to force "Loader" logo appear on the screen by using "Updater.exe" app.

I think it can only understand certain properties of the filesystem and certain disk partition and I still can't find out which :-( Could someone look at the Colorado through an advanced disk-editing app (Acronis Disk manager, etc.)?

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Thanks for replies, but the problem here is not about some files missing (I double-checked) :-). It's about the unit not seeing entire internal memory.

It starts up and loads all maps from memory card only. But when I try to archive current track (or do anything that needs internal memory) I displays an error. It can't go into USB mass storage mode in a regular way - after connecting USB cable. I need to force "Loader" logo appear on the screen by using "Updater.exe" app.

I think it can only understand certain properties of the filesystem and certain disk partition and I still can't find out which :-( Could someone look at the Colorado through an advanced disk-editing app (Acronis Disk manager, etc.)?

I hope others explore this with you further because I would like to see a way developed/understood to restore system software and file structures in the field--not requiring returning units to Garmin and the downtime that entails. Good luck.

Edited by Ratsneve
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You might try the last-resort mechanism listed here:

 

http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#toc11

 

See item M12. If that doesn't do it, might be time for an RMA.

 

Edited to add: I believe the Colorado file system is formatted as FAT32. If you formatted it as NTFS, you might try reformatting again, then copying the files from your backup copy.

Edited by twolpert
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You might try the last-resort mechanism listed here:

 

http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#toc11

 

See item M12. If that doesn't do it, might be time for an RMA.

 

Edited to add: I believe the Colorado file system is formatted as FAT32. If you formatted it as NTFS, you might try reformatting again, then copying the files from your backup copy.

 

This was what I was going to suggest...basically reload an older version of the firmware then if it works upgrade back to the current version.

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You might try the last-resort mechanism listed here:

 

http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#toc11

 

See item M12. If that doesn't do it, might be time for an RMA.

 

That was the first thing I did. I ran the "Updater.exe 066101000230.rgn" command and the unit went into "Loader" mode. That's the only way possible to access internal memory as a USB mass storage device. When I run the above command again it still warns me about installing an older version of firmware, which means the unit was not updated/downgraded.

 

Edited to add: I believe the Colorado file system is formatted as FAT32. If you formatted it as NTFS, you might try reformatting again, then copying the files from your backup copy.

More likely it's FAT16. Anyway, I tried them all with all parameters available.

 

If there is a Mac/Linux user, could he make a "dd if=/dev/colorado_memory_path of=output_file"?

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Sounds like it's bricked. Time for an RMA.

 

Edited to add: Pretty sure it's FAT32, because it's a 4GB volume. If memory serves, that would require 64KB clusters on FAT16, which would be really wasteful even if supported. In any case, sounds like it's toast.

Edited by twolpert
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Thanks everyone for their responses. Problem solved.

If someone wants to repeat what I've done, here's a short description.

 

0) Garmin Bobcat on my Mac refused to recognize Colorado. I've thought that Colorado's filesystem contains errors.

1) I've formatted Colorado's internal drive with Mac OS X "Disk Utility" program. Volume format - "MS-DOS (FAT)".

2) Here come numerous attempts to recover the unit as it became unusable. I reformatted it with Windows PC using all FAT types there is, erased partitions and wiped out MBR (first 512 bytes of a disk) - no help.

3) What solved my issue was a complete memory erase. Not just format, but a low-level data destruction. On my Mac I've executed a "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rdisk3", /dev/rdisk3 being my Colorado's drive. After that I attached the unit to a Windows PC and formated it with Windows Explorer. I've put all the files back and voila, Colorado functions again.

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Thanks everyone for their responses. Problem solved.

If someone wants to repeat what I've done, here's a short description.

 

0) Garmin Bobcat on my Mac refused to recognize Colorado. I've thought that Colorado's filesystem contains errors.

1) I've formatted Colorado's internal drive with Mac OS X "Disk Utility" program. Volume format - "MS-DOS (FAT)".

2) Here come numerous attempts to recover the unit as it became unusable. I reformatted it with Windows PC using all FAT types there is, erased partitions and wiped out MBR (first 512 bytes of a disk) - no help.

3) What solved my issue was a complete memory erase. Not just format, but a low-level data destruction. On my Mac I've executed a "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rdisk3", /dev/rdisk3 being my Colorado's drive. After that I attached the unit to a Windows PC and formated it with Windows Explorer. I've put all the files back and voila, Colorado functions again.

Interesting. Would you say this only worked because the Colorado's system software firmware was working and untouchable and that the "complete memory erase" only pertained to the Colorado's virtual drive? Have you shared your success via email to Garmin tech support in the hopes that it might do some good there? There have been other situations where connectivity to the PC has been impossible--even turning the unit on has been impossible. I suspect then it becomes a matter of restoring the system software firmware first. Thank you.

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Hi, I did the same and I though I had the most expensive paperweight until I read this post and it worked.Kudos to svintuss for his solution.

 

I have a Garmin Colorado 300 with 3.50 firmware. 2 days ago it froze twice so i decided to format it's internal memory. For that I used the "disk utility" from my mac. After that I did a master reset and I noticed that when asked for the language I got a "Ó" as only option, I could edit , change profiles o select maps. When I pluged it to my mac it wouldn't got into usb mode it stuck in "Loading profile...", I had to click and hold the top part of the roller button to start the usb mode. In usb mode I could see the gps didn't recreate any file (I was expecting at least the garmin folder and the garmindevice.xml file), webupdater did see the gps but it failed when trying to restore the firmware. I connected the gps to an old pc I have and noticed I could install maps and get the unit number and I even install an older version of the firmware but when restarting the colorado nothing happened.

Then I saw this post in the ColoradoWiki http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/message...w/home/12867249 and decided to try it.

On the mac, or it could be any computer with unix's dd command I executed "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/disk1"(disk1 being the colorado) to zero all the colorado's memory, this took a couple of hours. When finished, I connected to the pc computer and I did a Fat (fat16) format of the gps (don't use the mac for this). I started the gps after doing a master reset and the I saw I could choose English as language. i plugged it back to the mac and entered usb mode without problems,I saw the garmin folder with one recreational profile, the gpx folder and the Wherigo folder. Problem fixed.

The reason mac's disk utility screwed the colorado is becasue, in my case it renamed the gps from /dev/disk1 to /dev/disk1s1 after the format. Zeroing the gps with dd and formating it to fat16 on windows restored the gps disk unit to /dev/disk1. If you are curious this is what it recreates after the formatting and booting up:

 

MacPowerBook$ ls -R /Volumes/COLORADO

Garmin Wherigo

 

/Volumes/COLORADO/Garmin:

GPX Profiles

GarminDevice.xml startup.txt

 

/Volumes/COLORADO/Garmin/GPX:

Current

 

/Volumes/COLORADO/Garmin/GPX/Current:

Current.gpx

 

/Volumes/COLORADO/Garmin/Profiles:

Recreational.gpf

 

/Volumes/COLORADO/Wherigo:

Logs

 

/Volumes/COLORADO/Wherigo/Logs:

WherigoLog.log

 

Now all I have to do is restore the backup I made when I bought the colorado.

 

I formatted the colorado on the mac because I did the same thing with a Garmin Nuvi 265W and nothing wrong happened so I thought it would be good the colorado too. My mistake.

Edited by persep
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I'm having some error messages connecting my GPS to my Android phone, it thinks the internal memory is corrupted and wants to format it?

So I just want to know if I just need to run the dd to zero out the memory

then powerup device and restore files?

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