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Garmin Vista HCX switch-off lockup problem?


barny451

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I've got a HCX which recently started locking-up when I switch it off. The symptom was that when I switch off the unit beeps continuously - until I remove the batteries. It used to do a four-note trill, but now it seemed to get stuck on the first note. Also one time I took the batteries out to turn it off, then put them back in again and left it off, the batteries were flat the following day, so it seems like something was taking power even when the unit was apparently off.

 

I upgraded to 2.80 using the webupdater but still the same.

 

Garmin UK support didn't recognise the problem, advised a hard reset then run the webupdater again - this didn't change anything.

 

I was packing the unit up to post to Garmin under warranty when I took the memory card out and tried the unit again - it turned off just fine. Then I remembered that I had used the memory card in my phone and had loaded about 500M of mp3s onto it, making a total of 1.1G on the 2G card. So I deleted the mp3 files and lo and behold no switch-off problem.

 

The card was formatted in FAT - I don't think I've ever reformatted it - so I reformatted it in FAT32, loaded all 1.1G again and now it works fine. UK support didn't recognise the problem or this solution of formatting in FAT32.

 

My unit is 9 months old now so I am wondering if there is in fact a problem with it which I need to get fixed before the warranty is up, so I just wanted to know if anyone else has seen a similar problem?

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I've got a HCX which recently started locking-up when I switch it off. The symptom was that when I switch off the unit beeps continuously - until I remove the batteries. It used to do a four-note trill, but now it seemed to get stuck on the first note. Also one time I took the batteries out to turn it off, then put them back in again and left it off, the batteries were flat the following day, so it seems like something was taking power even when the unit was apparently off.

 

I upgraded to 2.80 using the webupdater but still the same.

 

Garmin UK support didn't recognise the problem, advised a hard reset then run the webupdater again - this didn't change anything.

 

I was packing the unit up to post to Garmin under warranty when I took the memory card out and tried the unit again - it turned off just fine. Then I remembered that I had used the memory card in my phone and had loaded about 500M of mp3s onto it, making a total of 1.1G on the 2G card. So I deleted the mp3 files and lo and behold no switch-off problem.

 

The card was formatted in FAT - I don't think I've ever reformatted it - so I reformatted it in FAT32, loaded all 1.1G again and now it works fine. UK support didn't recognise the problem or this solution of formatting in FAT32.

 

My unit is 9 months old now so I am wondering if there is in fact a problem with it which I need to get fixed before the warranty is up, so I just wanted to know if anyone else has seen a similar problem?

 

I had the same problem with my unit, and even got as far as you with the RMA number. As luck would have it I removed the memory card in preperation to pack the GPS up for shipping, but just had to check it one last time before I removed the batteries. BINGO !!! It turns out that the memory card can pop out just enough to work, but enough to not make it thru a power cycle. It has never happened on its own (bouncing around on my motorcycle or bicycle), but it will happen if you take the card out for some reason (like to use it in your phone), and do not make sure it is seated properly when you put it back in. The amount of "stuff" you have on the card has nothing to do with the problem. The GPS will only recognise stuff that is under the "garmin" folder. All my phone/photo/ect.. stuff resides in other folders on the card with no problem.

Don't pack it up and sent it back just yet! Give er a try and see how it works.

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Thanks, but it is working atm.

 

I think when I found that it worked without the card I tried putting the card back in and the power-off problem returned, so I'm not convinced it's the card seating in its socket. Yes it's had plenty of rattling about on my bike, and iirc the power-off problem started after I used the card in my phone so I had taken it out and put it back in the Garmin, but I'd done that previously because I take the card out to take tracks off it.

 

I've just tried re-formatting the card back to FAT and loading the same data and it turns off perfectly. Changed the power tone to a nice zip sound, no change; basically it is working. Just hope it doesn't get to 12 months and a day and then die...

 

Again, thanks for the posts!

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I've had the same issue with my Vista HCx, and I always solved it by popping the batteries out, re-seating the memory card, and then powering it back up. It hasn't happened in awhile, but I had planned on wedging a piece of paper behind the card to make sure it kept good contact. My buddy had freezeups happen on his Vista HCx but it was always while we were out mountain biking (you can imagine the amount of bouncing the unit will do). Doing the same procedure got everything working on his, as well.

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