SP3 Lock up

John Armstrong · Jun 5, 2003

Anyone else had the "pleasure" of their SP3 throwing such a wobbly that it won't let you past the initial "loading data cartridge" message on switching it on?

BTW Adventure Motorcycling were a great help as Garmin Europe weren't answering their phone, and they got the master reset procedure out of garmin which meant I could use it again. The reset takes it back to the states and you loose all the waypoints and routes data, but the data cartridge is removed so you keep the detailed maps and whatever speeds were set up in the autorouting preferences. Having it again was really usefull going into French and Spanish cities and I never want to be without one again in Europe (the wife would agree as when it wasn't working in Pamplona it took us half an hour to find the way to a car park we could see)

Howard Millichap · Jun 5, 2003

Not had that lock up.
Mine sometimes freezes after loading from the computer. None of the buttons do anything. It retains the infomation loaded. I need to remove a battery to turn it off. Then everything OK when turned on again. ?????? :confused:

John Armstrong · Jun 6, 2003

Howard Millichap said:
Not had that lock up.
Mine sometimes freezes after loading from the computer. None of the buttons do anything. It retains the infomation loaded. I need to remove a battery to turn it off. Then everything OK when turned on again. ??????

I've had that as well, it doesn't seem to like you to do anything at all when it's downloading. I'm going to speak with the suppliers as my lock up seems to be a one-off but as it's still in warranty, now is the time. What was particularily annoying was that I bought it because of bad experiences with French "toutes directions" and "deviations" and the SP3 threw its complete wobbly in a French town, and then it of course didn't work in the French towns and one of their "deviations" meant an extra half hour tour of back roads of France when it was pouring with rain. And then the same day, the extra half hour in Pamplona when it was starting to warm up.

(RIP) sherpa · Jun 8, 2003

lock up

So are you going to share the master reset technique with us all then (just in case) or is it a big secret?
Sherpa

John Armstrong · Jun 9, 2003

Reset

I dont have it on me at present, but as someone has asked I'll post it later.

Rather surprising that Garmin don't include it in the manuals, or should that be not surprising? The initial diagnosis of Garmin was a power supply problem ie flat batteries, but were convinced that the batteries were good and it was on one of their power supply leads then they gave up the reset.

As I said earlier it takes the unit back to the states and the time is all to cock, however after a few minutes it found itself again. Also all waypoints and routes are deleted.

John Armstrong · Jun 9, 2003

THE reset

This worked for me and I was happy to accept the consequences, being 1500 miles from home and having to go through France to get there. The list is as per I wrote it down. On mine it deleted all routes, and all waypoints, however the data cartridge information is safe, you'll see why! Please don't ask me why it worked or what to do if it doesn't. As stated above do it on your own head and hope it works......

1. Remove the data cartridge.
2. Make sure the unit is off.
3. Holding the "quit" / "route" and "up" keys press the "power on" button.
4. After 10 seconds let go of the "up" key.
5. After a few more seconds (10?)
6. Release "quit" and "route keys".
7. The SP3 is now back home in the USA in some far off time, help it to find itself by using the map to show it where it really is.
8. The only waypoints are Garmin ones which I guess must be in the BIOS.
9. I then switched the unit off, put the data cartridge back in which impressed the unit so much it then told me what street I was staying on.

YET AGAIN, it worked for me, I hope you don't have to use it, but if you end up with a smoking block of plastic, don't blame me.

John Armstrong · Jul 10, 2003

Betty's holiday

Betty has had a three week holiday at Garmin Europe and NFF :confused:

Their advice was not to use too long routes as this would cause a headache if you go off-route early on ie Calais to the Pyrenees. They did also send it back if it happens again, so I'll be keeping the master reset handy!

roadrider · Jul 11, 2003

Re: Betty's holiday

John Armstrong said:
Betty has had a three week holiday at Garmin Europe and NFF

Mine did it about 3 times after I bought it and again in France last month, I just switch it off and back onagain and all well.

John

John Armstrong · Jul 12, 2003

Switching on

My problem was that it threw such a wobbly that it wouldn't let me past the "loading mapsource data". I guess I was unlucky.

John Armstrong · Jul 21, 2003

Post Betties holiday

I'm not convinced that Betty is behaving since her major strop and her holiday. A couple of questions:

If you're about 150 miles from where you're going to how long does your SP3 take (no u-turns, toll roads, faster, best)? Mine takes about 8-10 minutes.

When she's recalculating does the map display? On mine it says "drawing" but the text shows she knows where she is, she just won't show it!

Howard Millichap · Jul 23, 2003

The best thing I ever did with mine is to turn OFF the "auto recalculate" function. Also turned off the "ask me first" prompt. Then if you go off route, you can still see where you're going and find your way back to the route (still in pink but moving away sideways) by fiddling your way through the back streets.
I also do not use the "pop-ups" for junctions. I found that they were too slow. I just zoom in manually and follow the pink line.

SP3 Lock up

John Armstrong

Well-known member

Howard Millichap

Registered user

John Armstrong

Well-known member

(RIP) sherpa

Well-known member

John Armstrong

Well-known member

John Armstrong

Well-known member

John Armstrong

Well-known member

roadrider

Registered user

John Armstrong

Well-known member

John Armstrong

Well-known member

Howard Millichap

Registered user

Similar threads