Fixing a Streetpilot i3 on a Mac

[chardy]

Hi all, and thanks in advance for being here to save my last few hairs from going grey!

By way of introduction, I'm doing a favour for a mate which, being the IT guy in the group, I thought would be very simple!!

He's got a Streetpilot i3 and, as the story goes, he was trying to do "an update", when everything went wrong and the maps were deleted off the card. Now whether that's true, I'm not sure, but I have the device here, and having connected it to my Mac I can see the file structure on the card - there's the Garmin directory with the gmapsupp.img file and so on (full listing available here: http://grab.by/aeto )

I've downloaded Garmin's Webupdater and it reports that the device has the latest software installed: http://grab.by/aety

Trying to start the thing (with fully charged batteries) just gives a vague flashing screen; trying to reset it results in the same.

Connecting it to the Mac it automatically starts, then gives a "To use this unit, map data must be installed……….Do NOT connect this unit to your PC until intructed…….." etc warning.

I've tried copying the data to a different SD card (a 4Gb) one, but the best I can get is for it to progress to a "Loading Maps" screen, where it hangs. I left it for a good few hours to see whether I was just being impatient.
Even with the 4Gb card, it won't switch on when not connected to the computer.

Any ideas please guys? I don't have a Windows machine here, but can go round to a friend and use his if there are some tools to solve this.

All the best
James

[MaFt]

if the maps are on the sd card (as opposed to internal memory) then it needs to be the original sd card that they were installed on. copies / backups will not work.

is it the original sd card? if not then what happens when the original card is used?

also, and i'm not accusing you of anything, but what 'update' was being applied? from memory (and boy is it going back some years! the i3 was my first ever satnav back in september 2005) the i3 was quite particular in what maps it had installed. i recall some users buying the cheaper maps from garmin but had many features (like navigation!) missing. if it was a dubious (aka pirate) map then maybe it's simply the wrong type for the device? If it is then sorry but we won't be helping to overcome that

MaFt

[mhb]

Sounds like the original SD card is corrupted. Incidentally the i3 is never going to work with your 4GB card as this must be of the HD type which the i3 will not accept. Furthermore Garmin no longer provide updated maps for the i3 so you are stuck with an out of date map unless you go the non legitimate route.

Suggest you first try to establish if it is the original SD card or the device which is at fault. So remove the card and reset the device by switching it on whilst holding down all 3 buttons. This should throw up a page requesting that an SD card be inserted. However then pressing and briefly holding down the left hand button produces the normal 'Where To? - View Map - Settings' page. From then on it operates as normal but obviously using the built in base map only. If this happens then the device itself is working OK and it is the SD card at fault.

If it is the card at fault then your only legitimate option is to purchase a new SD card already containing the appropriate mapping, if you can find any available.

[chardy]

Hi MaFt and mhb,
and thanks for the responses.
To confirm, this card is completely original and the owner is no way technical enough to know you can even put "different" maps on it, so all is as was when he bought it. I called Garmin for help, and they took the serial number and confirmed that his name is shown as the original purchaser, so it's definitely not a "bought on Ebay" device whose history I can't be sure of.

So, taking your advice, I can report the following:

With the original SD card inserted, or with no card inserted (the results are the same):

Powering on (short hold of the power button): screen flashes once.
Continuous hold of power button: screen flashes until power button is released
Holding down the left button and scroll wheel, then the power button: screen flashes until power button is released

With USB attached (to the Mac), and SD not inserted:

Unit powers up to insert SD card prompt and on holding back button I get the options as described by mhb. Can browse through the settings etc. and am currently "Locating Satellites"

So, it looks as if the SD card is at fault. It's a FAT filesystem. Has anyone had any luck trying to backup / reformat and put the data back, or even running CHKDSK or similar?

The other strange one is that it won't power on without the USB cable attached.

Thanks again for your help so far - I'd really like to be able to fix this, so more advice is really appreciated.

Regards,
James

[MaFt]

[chardy]

Hi - yeah - several different sets of fully charged ones!

No silly questions when troubleshooting! Thanks for your time.

[mhb]

Ah! If the i3 will not start up from the battery pack then it is it and not just the SD card which is faulty.

It could be something very simple like corroded terminals and as the i3 is quite easy to take apart you might like to investigate this. For guidance on dismantling see
http://www.pocketgpsworld.com//modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=57209&start=6
and
http://www.satnav-shop.com/index.php?ln=en&pg=6&sec=15

If this proves not to be easy to fix then frankly the unit is toast as a replacement unit on Ebay will be cheaper than a Garmin repair and will no doubt include a working SD card and map.

[chardy]

Nice one! I'm servicing the motorbike tomorrow, so will have a go at taking this apart and having a look at the same time!
I'll let you know how I get on.

[mhb]

Chardy, how did you get on?

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