Last plead for help 920 not acquiring satellites

[RKubara]

Hi, one last attempt for help before I toss my 920 in the garbage. After doing a TomTom Home upgrade, it no longer connects to any satellites. Also the sound does not work, no drum beat when it starts. I have reinstalled Home, cleared the units application and reinstalled, twice. Doen factory resets, and the reset button as well as power down and up holding the button for 15 seconds. I have tried everything I can find online and in this forum.

Before I toss it, is there anyone with a new idea?
Ron

 

[dhn]

Delete anything found in the ephem folder on the unit. Then, go here:

c:\documents and settings\yourname\my
documents\TomTom\Home\Downloads\Complete\ephemeris\

and remove any sub folders found there.

Connect to Home and a new quickgpsfix file should be offered. Install and remove the unit from Home using the Device Disconnect icon.

Wait a couple of minutesafter putting the 920 in an open stationary position.

 

[RKubara]

Thank you dhn, I have tried this many times. But I did it again following your directs exactly including the disconnect. No luck, still waiting for satellites. I am really mad at TomTom as this happened immediately after accepting an update for the unit.
Ron

 

[- et -]

Hi, one last attempt for help before I toss my 920 in the garbage. After doing a TomTom Home upgrade, it no longer connects to any satellites. Also the sound does not work, no drum beat when it starts. I have reinstalled Home, cleared the units application and reinstalled, twice. Doen factory resets, and the reset button as well as power down and up holding the button for 15 seconds. I have tried everything I can find online and in this forum.

Before I toss it, is there anyone with a new idea?

As a clarification, the 15 second time for a power-down reboot is not a hard number. On my devices it takes about 20 seconds, but the important point is that - regardless of whether it takes 15 seconds or 20 seconds - you hold down the power button until you hear the drum-beat and see the TomTom logo, and then you release the button immediately.

This may be what you have already be doing, but I have seen others use the 15 second value as a hard number, and assume that they had done the correct thing, even though they never heard the drum-beat or saw the logo.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

 

[RKubara]

Interesting, my unit did not show the TomTom logo or do the drum beat at all when starting. AFter trying shutting down and starting up and holding the button for 30 seconds, after the 5th try the logo and drum beat happened. Thank you for that clarification et, however still cannot find satellites. ;(

 

[redrock3]

When this symptom presents in a 630 I fixed, i found there were errors in the memory. Have you run a chkdsk command on the unit as it appears in my computer. I still think your problem is software related and it can be corrected. When this unit looks for satellites, do you see the pinwheel spinning on the gps screen where it shows the individual satellite strengths and then turns to blue on a lock. If that pinwheel is spinning, you will probably be okay. If it doesn't turn, you likely have hardware issues..

 

[RKubara]

Thank you for your reply redrock3. a DOS chkdsk indicates no problems. On the satellite screen there is a circle divided by yellow/blue "pies" flipping back and forth, not really spinning. I have a second 920 and it is exactly the same, so I guess it is searching for a satellite. I had formatted the hard drive and reinstalled the application. But I did do a restore after that to get my maps. Maybe I should format, reinstall the app from home. But how do I get my map without buying it again?

 

[mvl]

The 920 does not use the hold-power process for a reset.

Try pushing the reset pin in the bottom (see link below):
http://www.tomtom.com/7134

Does it have a drumroll now?

This pin-push may also fix the satellites. Take it for a drive for 15 minutes on, and it eventually should lock. After the initial lock, subsequent ones are a lot quicker.

 

[RKubara]

Hi mvl. yep have tried the reset button many times. But did as you indicated again. Reset, got the drum roll and went for a 30 min drive. No luck

 

[GarCor]

My unit is a 920 as well and what I had to do once a while ago was format the unit with windows explorer. However before you try this make sure you have an older backup that you can restore on the unit. One other thing you might want to try if you haven't already is use the clear-flash memory

http://us.support.tomtom.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6211

 

[dhn]

Hey GarCor! How goes it!

 

[mvl]

The steps below are things things I remember as the most likely way to fix satellite acquisition (do them all in sequence):

1) do the pin reset
2) keep updating in HOME repeatedly until it offers nothing new
3) do a route demo from your location to a few feet away from your location
4) go outside with a clear view of the southern sky
5) stop the route demo, and then go into the satellite status screen (with all the bars)
6) wait on this screen until it gets signal

 

[redrock3]

I would try everything the mods tell you to do because they have done it a lot. If it doesn't work. I would copy and save the maps in windows Explorer. I would perform a low-level format with the free HDD guru tool. I would then quick format the drive to make it readable. I would then run the clear flash tool three times. Then hook it to Home and get all the downloads you need. May take 2-3 times. Paste your map folder back into the root. Do a pin reset, charge the battery, and get an unobstructed view for a lock. As for replacing maps, sometimes you can call TT and plead your case. I have found them to be (at different times) reasonable and also unyielding. If you can provide proof of purchase, it may help. If that fails, you might try buying a one time update. It's about $50US for the maps I have. Not sure about yours.

 

[GarCor]

Hay dhn haven't been on this form that much lately, have been spending a fair bit of time on the Magellan form since I got my explorist 720 for geocaching. But still use TomTom 920 to get to trail head

 

[canderson]

I'm also still using my TomTom unit(s) for gross navigation and my Garmin Oregon 450 for the fine level detail. What's your caching handle? I'm going as ecanderson.

 

[GarCor]

I'm also still using my TomTom unit(s) for gross navigation and my Garmin Oregon 450 for the fine level detail. What's your caching handle? I'm going as ecanderson.

My wife and I go as garcor

 

[RKubara]

Thank redrock3, I had tried all of that many times. But what did it again with no luck. I did a format, again, then a fresh app install using Home and then manually placed int he maps. Still the same. I get the drum roll, the round circle runs looking for satellites, I have driven with it for 30 min. No luck ;(
How do I determine if the internal antenna is disconnected?

 

[dhn]

Are you actually in Vancouver? The rds coverage area for Van is here:
http://totaltraffic.com/CoverageAre...arketUid=bf2d6a2c-61c1-4932-ad65-b4441ed564ef

 

[RKubara]

I am in Surrey, suburb near Vancouver.

 

[dhn]

Did you try dialing manually the fm stations showing in the link I provided? And do you have the latest (9.45) application on your unit?