Completely dead, without warning won't turn on.. TomTom GO 720

[Pro Tools Geek]

So I've had my TomTom GO 720 long enough to learn its little quirks and issues (especially with bluetooth!)but now it is completely dead and won't turn on at all. It's never been dropped or abused, pampered if anything.

I've tried the reset switch, as per the TT website troubleshooting instructions. Also, the computer doesn't know it's plugged into the USB dock..
The only ray of hope I see is the green power/charging led light comes on when plugged into the car charger or USB dock... otherwise it's a brick.

I did it's first system and map update about 2-3 weeks ago.. Had the GUAM issue I just noticed on here then it seemed fine since, even a little better overall maybe.. Until the other night.. came home, switched it off like normal, left it in place mounted in dash.. next morning go to head out and it won't turn on..

Anybody have any ideas, tips tricks or have you seen this before?


I made a hell of an investment on this thing and the custom car dash mount etc.. for it poop out like this.. I'm regretting not buying Best Buys replacement warranty..

 

[Statman]

First guess is it is out of juice....charge it for a while before trying to start it again. Some times these things re-start on their own (each subsequent firmware update claims to fix this problem).

 

[Pro Tools Geek]

First guess is it is out of juice....charge it for a while before trying to start it again. Some times these things re-start on their own (each subsequent firmware update claims to fix this problem).

thank you, good idea. I should have elaborated even more, I have let it sit charging for 10+ hours at this point between the dock and car charger.. The Pin reset instructions say let it charge at least 2 hours prior to reset. I've tried that a few times to no avail.

 

[dhn]

Does any information in this link help?

 

[noquota]

My TT One XL-S that I owed for 6 months did the same thing. Just stopped turning on. I left it plugged in overnight, came out the next day and tried to turn it on and it wouldn't turn on. Nothing.

 

[frankxs]

First guess is it is out of juice....charge it for a while before trying to start it again. Some times these things re-start on their own (each subsequent firmware update claims to fix this problem).

Yes. Mine is new (and so am I) and I have already noticed that once or twice it has just started up on its own. Even though I had configured it to "shut off after power is removed". I turn the car off, it shuts down. I leave the car, come back, and it's sitting at the "Agree" screen.

I have OS 8.300 and Maps 8.15.

-Frank

 

[peterbarrow]

Has anyone found a solution to this problem. I have a tomtom go730 that worked in the car this morning and refused to start this evening. I have left it on charge for 2 hours now and still no life. The green power LED is lit when the device is connected to my PC or car power however pressing the power on button has no effect.

 

[dhn]

Does info here help?

 

[canderson]

Does info here help?

You know, I've read this info a couple of times before, and just realized what they are suggesting. I would NEVER recommend a hot installation (or removal) of an SD card... If necessary for things to work, I'd turn it on, get things working, turn it off and THEN install the card before turning it on again.


4. Turn your device on
Press the On/off button for at least 5 seconds.

5. Insert the SD card
If your device uses an SD card, insert the SD card.

 

[Pedro2NR]

Anybody have any ideas, tips tricks or have you seen this before?
.

First charge the unit for 2 hours. Then, while the device is off and connected to the computer with the green light is on, press the pin reset button below and hold it for 30 seconds.
let go then press the power button.
I've read before about also pressing the pin reset button and the on button at the same time helping.

 

[canderson]

First charge the unit for 2 hours. Then, while the device is off and connected to the computer with the green light is on, press the pin reset button below and hold it for 30 seconds.
let go then press the power button.

No can do if someone hasn't purchased an A to mini-B cable. There's no access hole through the bottom of the docking station to reach the 720's reset. The cables are easy to come by, though. You probably use an A/mB cable (vs docking station) all the time like I do and hadn't even realized it.

 

[peterbarrow]

Does info here help?

Using the Reset button have brought the device back to life twice now. The link talks about "rarely" needing to force a reset. I have had to do it 4+ times in a week! I haven't worked out whether there is a pattern yet. I currently have auto power down enabled, so will persist with this for a week and then clear this setting.

 

[RedBaron]

No Power Up

My first question is does the power button have any resistance when you press it? A friend of mine just had his do this same thing powered it off like normal and then it won't start up again.
The power led would light up when plugged in computer/charger. The switch had no resistance, and this got me to think it was the switch itself. Since I had purchased the tools to take my tomtom apart to do a screen replacement. I told him I would take a look at it and get back to him on the solution if there was one. I took the back cover off the unit disconnecting the speaker and battery connections to the mainboard. I then found the mainboard screws and removed them disconnecting the screen so I had room to work. The power switch cover not the plastic piece we press to turn on the unit is in the upper right hand corner of the mainboard. Looking at this area I noticed that the metal cage to the switch was loose. The switch seems to be rather cheap on some units so this cage breaks loose making the switch break. I was able to use some metal from the gate of a floppy to press the cage tight against the mainboard when I put it back together. The unit now powers up like it is suppost to do out of the box. Just take your time in connecting the screen back onto the mainboard. If you don't get it quite right the screen either won't power on or worse you will get non-normal colours. Just power off again and try again. I hope this helps.
You could always contact me and I would be happy to be getting another tomtom

 

[snatcher]

Re: Completely dead, without warning won't turn on..

Pro Tools Geek and noquota,

Where you able to fix your devices using the tips listed on this thread?

I do have exactly the same problem. Yesterday, I connected my TomTom Go720 to the dockstation to sync it. It turned on, and together with the "Do you want to connect the device to the computer (YES/NO)" message, it started shouting voiced instructions for the last route I used it for (i hadn't cleared that route).
As soon as I touched the YES button on its screen the device dropped dead. Only the green light remained on and the device's behavior is now exactly that described on the first post by "Pro Tools Geek" user.

I tried every solution proposed on this thread, including letting it charging for 10+ hours and subsequently trying a soft-reset. No luck at all: except for the green light being turned on while charging, the device is still bricked.

 

[dhn]

Do you have a recent Explorer backup of your unit's contents?

Can you see the contents of the unit using Explorer when you connect the unit to the computer.

Have you tried a reset on the bottom of the unit?

 

[snatcher]

Re: Completely dead, without warning won't turn on..

Yes, I tried the reset.

I somehow discovered that If I try the soft-reset procedure, the device only will boot if I left it lying unconnected for about 30 minutes. But If I answer "YES" to the "Connect it to the computer" message (even without a SD-Card), or If I try to insert the SD-Card, or if I just press the RESET button, the TomTom will brick itself again.

Without being able to connect it to the computer its not possible to overwrite the internal flash files.

Also after it booted sucessfully, I tried using the "Reset all settings" menu option and it rebooted ok. But, after I tried to connect it to the computer it bricked once again.

 

[dhn]

Did you make the backup?

 

[snatcher]

Did you make the backup?

Yes, I did. But I am unable to restore it, because the device bricks again when I try to connect it to a computer. Or is there a way to force the backup to be restored even without any of the TomTom drives being shown on Windows?

 

[mikealder]

What OS is your PC running if its Windows 7 try something else such as a Vista or XP machine - Mike

 

[snatcher]

I tried on two machines I have. One Notebook with Windows-XP and one iMac with Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.8)