Tomtom Start won't find satellites after software update

[Tim Downie]

My daughter's Tomtom Start has gone on the blink after a software = update. It now no longer finds any satellites (and yes, it has been = left for over an hour outside).

We've tried a soft reset via the on screen menu and also a hard reset = via the hidden reset button. We've tried re-installing the software = updates but that hasn't worked either. There doesn't seem to be any way = of "rolling back" the software as my daughter has never done any = back-ups in the past.

We've getting to the stage of returning it to Tomtom but I wonder if = anyone knows any other ways of restoring its functionality? It just = seems odd that it was working fine until the software update and then = stopped working. I feel there ought to be some easy way of sorting this = out.

Tim

[Tim Watts]

now no longer finds any satellites (and yes, it has been left for over an hour outside).

hidden reset button. We've tried re-installing the software updates but that hasn't worked either. There doesn't seem to be any way of "rolling back" the software as my daughter has never done any back-ups in the past.

knows any other ways of restoring its functionality? It just seems odd that it was working fine until the software update and then stopped working. I feel there ought to be some easy way of sorting this out.

Whether it is in guarantee or not, I would phone up TomTom.

[newshound]

Don't know about these, but when new, my first (walker's -type) Garmin wouldn't lock even after several hours with an "average" view of sky. In the end I left it overnight on a roof with a "horizon to horizon" view, and it's been fine since.

[Andrew Gabriel]

now no longer finds any satellites (and yes, it has been left for over an hour outside).

hidden reset button. We've tried re-installing the software updates but that hasn't worked either. There doesn't seem to be any way of "rolling back" the software as my daughter has never done any back-ups in the past.

knows any other ways of restoring its functionality? It just seems odd that it was working fine until the software update and then stopped working. I feel there ought to be some easy way of sorting this out.

I arrived at the scene of a head-on crash on a country road on Friday evening (fortunately no one injured, which was amazing seeing the state of the car after smashing into a large van). I was dealing with the young couple who had been in the car, who were mentally very shaken up. As other drivers arrived, they were trying to identify where we were on their tomtoms to tell the police, but none of the tomtoms would work in the low temperature. Eventually I went and got my Garmin out, and that worked OK. (Other than that, I would say I'm deeply unimpressed with the Garmin and wouldn't buy another one or even spend money on updated maps.)

[Roger Chapman]

I have had a few problems with a hand held Garmin in the past and always found Garmin very helpful. They are contactable via e-mail. I don't know if Tomtom are equally amenable but as the market leader they should be.

[Tim Watts]

Also, even if the unit is not under warranty, they might have issued duff firmware that causes a small series of units to break - in such cases they would probably be concerned and keen to fix - if it's affected other units too, then they have a reputation they might be keen to preserve.

[kraftee]

You obviously haven't tried to get any support from them....

[Roger Chapman]

Not yet, but I did wonder about their marketing strategy when I discovered that the new swan neck mounting for deeply sloping windscreens was the best part of £30 for something they would have had made in the Far East for pennies.

[kraftee]

Should have tried EBay...

[Arfa Daily]

Tim

Try posting the question on sci.geo.satellite-nav

I have always found the lads over on that group extremely knowledgeable and helpful in the past

Arfa

[Michael Chare]

Try these ngs which are also used by the yanks:

sci.geo.satellite-nav

alt.satellite.gps

[Andy Burns]

finds any satellites

Do you have the option to preload the almanac data (QuickFix) via USB?

[Clive Page]

In message , Tim Downie writes

My TomTom One has been reasonably good, but I had problems downloading a new map a couple of months back. TomTom have an email support service which I found completely useless - they ignored my specific questions and kept on using the same boiler-plate answers which didn't answer my questions. After about 5 questions and non-answers I got annoyed enough to phone them up, and the phone support guy was actually quite helpful and he almost solved my problem. Your mileage may vary, of course.

I've since found some on-line forums which would have helped a lot at the time: try

or possibly

The disadvantage of cheap mass-market appliances is that support by the manufacturers is often extremely poor - the advantage is that there's a good chance some other poor use has the same problem as you, and might even have posted something about on the web somewhere.

[artleknock]

Have you connected with TomTom Home and updated QuickGPSfix ?

[Jethro]

My Garmin is my 1st Sat Nav (got in 2008). I'm curious as to their strategy as well, as AFAIK the maps update costs =A370, which is damn close the cost of a new unit - not neccessarily a Garmin !

[Tim Downie]

Been there, done that etc...

I think we've now exhausted all software options (including deleting the navigation application, installing it again with and without the latest updates). Nothing seems to work.

I think my daughter's going to phone Tomtom today.

Tim

[Terry Fields]

now no longer finds any satellites (and yes, it has been left for over an hour outside).

hidden reset button. We've tried re-installing the software updates but that hasn't worked either. There doesn't seem to be any way of "rolling back" the software as my daughter has never done any back-ups in the past.

knows any other ways of restoring its functionality? It just seems odd that it was working fine until the software update and then stopped working. I feel there ought to be some easy way of sorting this out.

Sorry to hear of your problems.

I have a TomTom One, which when new I enthusiasttically used to keep up-to-date. That is, until an upgrade took away all my settings, the new version giving far less options for warning signals and no options for the3 boot-up screen, followed by another upgrade that caused the unit to fail, just like your daughter's has. It was resolved by search-engining for the fault - the cure for which was to delve into the TomTom's files and delete several.

After that it worked just fine. I deleted the TomTom software from my computer and have never updated the device since. At least it's stable, and I'm saved a chore and possible associated grief.

I'm sure you'll resolve the problem - whether your daughter chooses to keep updating her device is a choice for her...

TF

[Mike Lane]

Jethro wrote on Nov 29, 2010:

£70 will get you coverage of all of Europe. I think you'll find most of the cheapo units on offer will have the UK only installed.

I think it's a reasonable price if you consider that it covers every town and village in Western Europe down to street level. If you tried to buy paper maps covering the same area with the same amount of detail, it would cost you far more than that.

[RJS]

=A370 for lifetime updates via Numaps Lifetime

[kraftee]

Well best of luck, she may have needed it, but there are a couple of good guys there answering the phone.