Garmin Dakota 20 - Wont power up!

[+Jumpin Jim]

Hello all,

 

Just wondering if anyone has had any similar experience or indeed any suggestions as to how I can solve this issue.

 

I have just come home from a day out geocaching so I plugged in my Dakota 20 to update it. Everything was fine, I connected it to GSAK and did what I had to do. When I was finished, I disconnected it and now it will not turn back on!!!

 

I have done anything that I could think off...i.e. replacing the batteries but still no joy. It wont even connect to the pc via USB.

 

Any suggestions...anybody???

 

Jamie

 

p.s Happy 2010!!!

[+Chrysalides]

I was going to suggest remove memory card if installed and try again, then I found this thread:

 

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?t=3317

 

Looks like there's 2 categories of the problem : those who could update, and those whose unit cannot connect to the computer. Unfortunately yours sound like the 2nd, more serious, category.

 

Hopefully someone would have some hints for you. You can try holding down the power button for longer than usual (try 10 seconds) but I doubt it would make much difference.

[+Jumpin Jim]

Thanks for getting back to me Chrysalides, yeah I think it could be serious

 

I have tried taking out the memory card but no joy at all...

 

Thanks again!

 

quote name='Chrysalides' date='Dec 31 2009, 12:11 PM' post='4174561']

I was going to suggest remove memory card if installed and try again, then I found this thread:

 

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?t=3317

 

Looks like there's 2 categories of the problem : those who could update, and those whose unit cannot connect to the computer. Unfortunately yours sound like the 2nd, more serious, category.

 

Hopefully someone would have some hints for you. You can try holding down the power button for longer than usual (try 10 seconds) but I doubt it would make much difference.

[+Sam&Ziggy]

Just had a very disconcerting time with my new Dakota 20. Had been out all morning having good success geocaching and after the last cache, I plugged the unit into the car power cable. Instead of the Dakota switching to car power, the screen went to a script stating that it was saving all waypoints, routes, etc. and it got stuck at 61%. After that, the screen went black and the Dakota turned off. No matter what I did to turn it back on, with car power or batteries, it would get to the welcome screen, then it would say it was loading maps and then turn off! Dang!

Well, I got it home and tried plugging into the PC and it wouldn't even connect to the PC. Started to Panic!

Knowing that the Dakota series is similar to the Oregon series, I made my way to the Oregon Wiki site and found how to get those units back on track under the same situation. (BTW..... of course there is NO help at all at Garmin's site! And no tech help on a Sunday, of course.) So what the heck, I'll give it a try.

It came down to this:

1) Remove any micro/SD card from the Dakota, if you have one in the unit.

2) Connect the Dakota to the PC USB cable and hold down the power on button for about 30 seconds. At that point the Dakota should allow access to the PC and you can then go to the folders in the Dakota's USB mass storage.

3)Create a folder on your desktop to transfer files into temporarily.

4) Go back to the files in the Dakota and find the file labeled "GPX" and open it. COPY all files into the desktop folder. This includes the folder labeled "Current". Other than that file, the other items in that folder are your caches and waypoints.

5) Now copy the "Current" file back to the Dakota's USB mass storage and then open that file up and delete all items in there. (They are still backed up in the desktop folder, remember!)

6) Now unplug the Dakota from the USB cable and re-boot it. It should now start as normal. If it does, power it back down, re-install the micro/SD card, and restart the Dakota to insure it's still OK.

7) Reconnect the Dakota back to the PC USB cable. It should now recognize the Dakota as a USB mass storage device right away again. Open the storage and find the "GPX" file again. Open it.

8) Re-open the saved file on your desktop and copy back all the files. DO NOT copy back the "Current" file from the desktop. That will be used again when you start the unit again. The corrupt file was in that "Current" folder.

9) Disconnect from the PC and re-boot the Dakota. All should be back where you were with the exception of what you were doing when the unit corrupted itself!

Here's a reprint of what I learned to do a ways back when I first got my Dakota 20. Should take care of your problem! It did mine!