GPS Problems

[Toy80Diesel]

Hi all

was wondering if anyone knows about fixing GPS's or where in melbourne i can take mine to get fixed without costing an arm and a leg.

Its a Megellan Meridian Colour GPS, only about 5 months old, bought new through ebay (american seller).

The problem looks like a software one, the unit hasn't been mistreated at all, not a scratch on it. It keeps locking up and no keys will work, does it within about 5 seconds of turning on. If i keep pressing buttons it just resets/restarts and tries again but locks up.

Was thinking to update the software in it, have downloaded it from the net, but i don't know if i need to change anything in its menu before updating it, or whether it will even accept the new update.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Utemad]

Not sure about Magellan but with my Garmin to update it you just turn on the GPS and plug it in to your computer then click on the update file on your PC.

I was going to suggest to update the firmware.

[Toy80Diesel]

Not sure about Magellan but with my Garmin to update it you just turn on the GPS and plug it in to your computer then click on the update file on your PC.

I was going to suggest to update the firmware.

Yeah i used to have a garmin etrex, that was a simple update procedure that didn't require me to access the menu at all, was quick and simple.

But i don't think that this one will be the same, for example it suggests deleting all the saved waypoints/routes before updating.

Last resort i may need to give that a go with fingers crossed...

[awill4x4]

Join the Yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Magellan_ ... id=5275561
It has a membership of over 11,000 and it's the best site by far for any information regarding Magellan GPSr units. You'll have to register to join but that's no problem. They have helped many many Magellan users who have had problems.
Have a look at the frequently asked questions (FAQ) 1st in the files section then if your still having problems post the question to the group, I'll be very surprised if they can't help you solve your problem.
My 1st thought is that there hasn't been a "clear all memory" during a firmware update, but check the FAQ's 1st. There are "secret menu's" available to change different parameters as well these are all in the files section.
Regards Andrew.

[RoldIT]

Join the Yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Magellan_ ... id=5275561
It has a membership of over 11,000 and it's the best site by far for any information regarding Magellan GPSr units. You'll have to register to join but that's no problem. They have helped many many Magellan users who have had problems.
Have a look at the frequently asked questions (FAQ) 1st in the files section then if your still having problems post the question to the group, I'll be very surprised if they can't help you solve your problem.
My 1st thought is that there hasn't been a "clear all memory" during a firmware update, but check the FAQ's 1st. There are "secret menu's" available to change different parameters as well these are all in the files section.
Regards Andrew.

Yep, I was going to suggest the same thing. Use the "hidden menus" to perform a "hardware reset" or "memory clear". Not sure the keys to bring it up on a meridian but use hidden menu "30" and select "all" to perform a hardware reset. You can find this info on Yahoo Meridian Groups, as already mentioned.

Also, if you've got and SD card in, remove it to make sure it's not causing a prob trying to load maps or something.

[darkor]

had the same problem and had it replaced under warranty. not much help hey!

[Toy80Diesel]

Yeah, all those good suggestions thatnks for the help,

I did join that group yesterday, on yahoo, also i checked the FAQ's pages.
So far i haven't found anything that helps. Did find the documents that have information on secret menus, keys to press etc, but all of those still dont help as the machine locks up no matter what u are trying to do.

Spoke to an electrically minded person, he believes its a dry solder somewhere in the power supply side, something about not continuing the pulse of power and causing the main cpu to halt whenever its short of power.

Now sounds like an interesting theory, but the solder points on the board are so small, i'd probably have to heat them all up one by one to make sure they make good contact. Im a little worried about trying that myself so i might look for a place that repairs these things in melbourne.

This is the only drawback about buying from o/s.

Thanks again people for your input.

[RoldIT]

Yeah, all those good suggestions thatnks for the help,

I did join that group yesterday, on yahoo, also i checked the FAQ's pages.
So far i haven't found anything that helps. Did find the documents that have information on secret menus, keys to press etc, but all of those still dont help as the machine locks up no matter what u are trying to do.

Spoke to an electrically minded person, he believes its a dry solder somewhere in the power supply side, something about not continuing the pulse of power and causing the main cpu to halt whenever its short of power.

Now sounds like an interesting theory, but the solder points on the board are so small, i'd probably have to heat them all up one by one to make sure they make good contact. Im a little worried about trying that myself so i might look for a place that repairs these things in melbourne.

This is the only drawback about buying from o/s.

Thanks again people for your input.

According to magellan support in the US, if you have proof of purchase, Next Destination in AUS are bound to honour the warranty as the local distributor/service centres. What if a yank bought one at home and it broke while he was travelling in AUS, they'd have to fix that so if you have proof of purchase (not an ebay page but actual receipt), I'd be arguing it out.