My Tomtom Start won't start

AlanRoberts

I've just managed to get it updated, after over a week of trying. Now, it will switch on but won't get past the opening splash screen. I can't find any reset button on it. At present it's a useless lump of electronics. Is there any hope of getting it to work?
Alan Roberts

YamFazMan

Hi
@AlanRoberts

There are lots of devices called 'Start' have you got the full Name or the first two characters of the devices serial number
Does it update using TomtomHome or MyDrive connect

ATB YFM

AlanRoberts

It's a Start 25, serial number starts with BQ, Model 4EN52 Z1230.

It simply froze over a week ago. I tried to update it using Connect, only to be told that 'we're very busy' for over a week. Then I uninstalled Connect, rebooted the PC, reinstalled Connect from a fresh download and it then did the update, taking several hours. Now, it says that the device is fully updated.

BUT, yesterday it wouldn't turn on - apart from the splash screen. Today, I get further than that, now it looks like it might be working but can't find any GPS signal. It found a signal for a few seconds, then lost it again. I have to do a trip in a few minutes, so I'll try it on the road.

This business has been a nightmare. Why is it so difficult to do an update?

It seems that what;s required is dogged persistence, doing the same thing many times in the expectation that things will be different. I seem to recall a psychiatrist claiming that this is a definition of madness, it certainly seems so.

YamFazMan

8:44AM
Hi
@AlanRoberts

Try... https://discussions.tomtom.com/en/discussion/comment/1644937/#Comment_1644937

ATB YFM

AlanRoberts

I appears to be working now, so the procedure seems to be:

1: ignore Tomtom's instructions.
2: uninstall Tomtom Connect.
3: reboot
4: reinstall Tomtom Connect
5: plug it in and let it update
6: switch it all off and on
7: let it update again
8: switch it all off and on
9: let it all update again, this time it should report that it's updated
10: switch it off for 12 hours
11: it should all work now.

It would have helped if the Tomtom instructions had said all this rather than letting me thrash around in the dark for a week.

xwintech

Hi, AlanRoberts!
There is also another way to fix your TomTom.
1. Hold the power button until the device shuts off
2. Hold the power button and wait until you see a screen with text
3. Now fastly double-click the power button
Now you will see some gears in the center, that means that the device is in recovery mode.
4. Now connect the device to MyDrive Connect
5. And it will start recovering!

AlanRoberts

I had tried all sorts of short/long presses of the power button. No behaviour of that kind happened. I've got it going by following the steps I described, and now it appears to be working properly.

AlanRoberts

By the way, the key appears to be turning it off for a long time. I've no idea why that worked.

DougLap

Hi @AlanRoberts

Glad to hear your are working again.

I would suggest that you look at the available Free Memory available on your Internal memory. If it is less than 400mb then come back here and advise what the figure is and what maps etc you have on your unit. You can see the figure in MDC or if you select About in Settings/System.

The unit needs about 400mb for operational purposes and a reduction in this amount can affect the performance of the unit. significantly if the figure is very low.

Your TT has 8gb of internal memory and if you have a European map on it and you have no extra memory fitted then this is a possible cause for which a solution is available.

Doug

AlanRoberts

I have no idea how much memory is used. How do I find that out?

Alan

DougLap

Hi @AlanRoberts

If you open MyDrive Connect and select the Start 25 from where it I listed do you see at the top of the next page the amount of Free Space on the internal memory and the extra memory if it has some fitted.

Doug

xwintech

This is where it is located.

AlanRoberts

This is interesting, if worrying. Yesterday, it all worked just fine. Today, I plugged it into the PC to try to find the memory usage, and MyDrive Connect now says:

'Unknown Navcore Version. The system software on your device is not known by the current environment. Please make sure to install the compatible version',

And offers me noway to do that, so I can't check anything or do anything.

Now what?

Alan

DougLap

Hi @AlanRoberts

Before you do the following try turning on and off a few times to see if the unit starts okay again then reattach to the PC.

Looks like you you need to recover the device. This looks more and more like you have limited free space on your internal memory and the operating system is not working efficiently. See if the following gets you started again then lest look at what else needs doing.

https://discussions.tomtom.com/en/discussion/1034277/how-to-recover-your-device/p1?new=1

Doug

AlanRoberts

OK, I did that. After the 'recovery', Connect still told me that the Navcore software was not recognised, so I did it again. Fine so far.

I turned it on and it asked for a language, I selected English (UK), and then it told me that no voices are available, and no maps either.

MyDrive Connect now tells me that it's fully up to date, but the Start 25 has no maps and no voice, and Connect says that it has 7011MB free, so that confirms it.. So now I'm much worse off that before I started to try to 'recover' it.

Next I unplugged it and replugged it into Connect and it offered me the EU map. Wonderful, so now it's downloading all that again. If that works, all I have to do is work out how to get spoken comments again.

Any more bright ideas?

DougLap

HI @AlanRoberts

Do you know the size of the European map you are trying to load. Some European maps are nearly 9gb in size.

Have you got any extra memory installed. If not then I would recommend that you consider getting a Micro SD Class 10 memory card either 16gb or maximum 32gb and suggest you get a Sandisk, Samsung or similar major maker from a reliable source to avoid fakes. Some lesser known makes have been known not to work in Tomtom units.

With the extra memory when the map is too big to fit on the internal memory then it can load on the extra memory. This frees up the internal memory significantly which will help performance. There would be one more thing I would recommend if the map does finish up on the extra memory but lets see what happens now first..

When hopefully you have loaded the map then let us look at that free memory figure. and can decide about sorting voices out etc.

Doug

YamFazMan

Hi
@AlanRoberts

Run MyDrive Connect --> Connect your Start 25
Click on My Content --> Scroll down to My Voices

Click on Image to enlarge....

ATB YFM

AlanRoberts

It all seems to have gone back to normal now, except that I've lost my entire list of contact addresses. At least it's working again though.

Alan

xwintech

At least better than nothing!

AlanRoberts

Yep. Thanks for all the help.

Alan