TomTom EASE gives flashing X, I cannot access it to fix it

[MrTomTomEase]

I attempted to add a new voice file to my TomTom EASE.

I turn the EASE on normally, I do not hear the tomtom drums and I see a screen with a Flashing X in a red circle.

I plug the EASE into the USB port on my windows 7 computer and turn it on. I do not hear the TomTom drum sound. I do hear the sound the PC makes when it detects a USB device. The TomTom shows a picture of the TomTom Ease without the flashing X. I see a new drive icon, Virtual Drive H:, which is lighter than the other icons. I click on it it says please insert a disk into virutal drive H. I am unable to access the drive. On a Mac it is not recognized at all.

When I reset and hold the ON button for 5s I hear the drums and a black screen with white type appears. The screen lists Hardware Type and other stuff. The clock, RTC, is the only thing that changes as time passes.

Any suggestions as to how I can restore the device?

 

[Andy_P]

Sounds like you've corrupted the file system somehow.... Do you always click on the "safely disconnect hardware" icon in the system tray (next to the clock) before you unplug it?

The main question is: Do you have a backup of any sort?
If the device needs to be reformatted, you'll need a backup to retrieve your map.

Everything else can be re-downloaded for free, but with out a backup of your system you'll have to buy a new map, unless you have already downloaded one (possibly from the latest map guarantee?) in which case it will still be stored on your PC.

If you do have a backup, see if Windows will let you format the drive.

 

[MrTomTomEase]

How do I reformat it?

My PC and my Mac recognize the TT EASE when it is plugged in as a USB device. They do not see it as a drive. On windows it appears as a virtual drive, but asks me to install a disk when I click on its icon.

So how do I reformat an reload things, even if I have to pay for a map?

 

[MrTomTomEase]

I also used the clear flash tool downloaded from TomTiom. Not sure what it was supposed to do, but I followed the directions and ran it.

I also removed and reconnected the battery. Which also did not help.

Is there a tool to reflash the device?

Just to summarize both PCs and Macs see the TT EASE but to not see the disk. It is like a dvd drive without a dvd in it. The computers just see the EASE and ask for a disk to be installed.

 

[Andy_P]

So how do I reformat an reload things, even if I have to pay for a map?

Just to summarize both PCs and Macs see the TT EASE but to not see the disk. It is like a dvd drive without a dvd in it.

As I've never seen this "virtual drive" happen on a TomTom... I was guessing about being able to reformat it. Do you not have that option if you right-click on the drive?

Other than that, I'm afraid I've run out of suggestions. It could be a hardware problem with the memory chips themselves. That is a know fault with older Go models (around the Gox20/x30 era).

If that's the problem restoring backups or re-flashing won't help as there's physically nothing to restore to.