My M5 DIED

[thetransportguy]

In Hawaii theres a word "Bachi" which loosely translated means: you say something about something thats going good & then it turns around to bite you on the a$$. example: "I havent gotten sick in years", then the very next day you catch a cold.

Well, after I proclaimed that the M5 is a tough sucker. It died today. It worked fine for 3 days after the drop, now its dead. I tried removing the battery, charging it, hard resets, soft resets and..... NOTHING. No lights, No screen, No charging light, No sounds, nada. Its so wierd because I wasnt doing anything with it before it died. It was working one minute then not the next.

I am royally bummed cause I need the GPS and route calculator for my business and now I have no way to estimate billable milage for new clients. So I will contact Garmin in the A.M. and see what they can do about repairing the unit. This is a sad day...... :(

[thetransportguy]

So I called Garmin today and like a miracle they were able to fix the M5 over the phone. Unbelievable. They had me do an unusual "Harder Reset". It required removing the battery and doing some other stuff to reset the machine. Anyhow, it works, syncs but I just cant get it to recognize my old profile. Anyone know how to get activesync to recognize the old profile?

[AnswerDude]

When the M5 is not connected to the desktop, on desktop's Activesync, delete the old partnership, you will be able to establish old partnership next time you sync.

[thetransportguy]

Thanx Answerdude!
I actually found another way. I Restored the M5 with Sprite from my backup files on the SD. BTW, how do you delete the old partnership? I didn't recall seeing that option.

Just in case anyone else runs into this problem I will describe the fix. Before I do, I dont recommend this unless you have no other option as I was left with none. Also when I asked the Garmin tech why this happened, he said "Are you running the Version 2.5?" I said "yup." He replied "ohhh i seee..." Draw your own conclusions.

The fix:
1) remove battery cover, then remove battery and leave it out.
2) replace battery cover.
3) connect cradle to PC and plug A/C adapter into cradle.
4) insert M5 into cradle for 10 seconds then remove from cradle.
5) replace battery.
6) hit reset button. The M5 should power up in factory settings.

Note: Safe storage is erased along with all other data.
Note: If you flashed ROM to V2.5, it will still be V2.5.ROM is not affected by this fix/reset.

[thetransportguy]

Forgot to add. Last night, in my panic, I went online and bought a M3 with overnight shipping (slapping myself silly). I know that I should have waited but in this case I would not have been able to run my business with out a nav/route calc.

I guess theres always eBay or maybe it gives me a reason to buy another car for the business! ...not.

[AnswerDude]

Thanx Answerdude!
BTW, how do you delete the old partnership? I didn't recall seeing that option.

Here's a detailed information;
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/raj/PartnershipName.html

[thetransportguy]

Here's a detailed information;
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/raj/PartnershipName.html


Thanks AD!

[AKlopper]

TI dont recommend this unless you have no other option

Some of us have managed to do this accidentally while trying to resolve battery charging issues... :rolleyes:

[thetransportguy]

Well, the M3 I ordered just arrived here. Quite fast I must say since I live in Hawaii and got it in <36hrs. Anyway, I guess I will test it out and compaire the M5 vs. M3 to see what the major differences are in processor speed, mapping, routing, etc.

[cwing]

Hey Transportguy,
My company has an M3 or an M5 available. Now that you've had a chance to see both, which do you prefer and why? It almost seems that Garmin likes the M3 more.
I know the M3 is newer while the M5 seems to have more stuff.
Thanks

[thetransportguy]

cwing,
The M5 definately. I will write up a more detailed review tonight as I have now had the M3 for about 2 weeks and have a better knowledge of it. But MOST definately the M5 over the M3.

[jmjones2555]

transport guy, you da man!
while updating my library in my m5 (like I've done hundreds of times before)
it went completely deader than a doornail. no buttons, reset, soft reset, take the battery out, stick it in the charger, ran out to the car charger,
nothing, zip, nada, dead.

started googling to see if anybody else had this problem, this looked promising, you described my problem to a tee, was bummed when you didn't originally give the procedure

but......

You came back, gave me the procedure, much to my suprise the unit fired right back up, all my data came back over via activesync (had to re-enter user information and I lost a couple of "my locations" but OH WELL!)

thank you so much, I thought I was going to lose it.

[thetransportguy]

I thought I was going to lose it.

I feel your pain my friend. I jsut about did lose it... I ended up buying another unit (M3 version). That's ok though. It's always good to have a backup in my business. I am glad to help!

[jmjones2555]

now it is having an issue where it does a "soft reset" frequently.
any ideas?????

[thetransportguy]

I actually had this problem long time ago. It was right after I installed the V2.5 update. Garmin support said to re-download the update. Back up M5 to your puter & SD if possible. Remove SD card. Re-install the V2.5 update. Then restore the M5. Their explanation was that there may have been some corruption in the original download of the V2.5 update. If you didnt do the update, then try that. I used to discourage people from doing the update as it only caused trouble for me, but it seems that you are experiencing some of the same issues anyway. Good Luck!

[jmjones2555]

thanks I'll give it a try but I did that update in like april when it came out.
Just picked it up this morning and it is 100% dead again.
going to do the full reset, then the software reinstall
see what happens, but I've come to depend on this thing and cant imagine life without it again.
if that doesn't work Garmin Tech support is getting a call on Monday.

[jmjones2555]

OK that's weird, after I did the reset it came up and said my battery is very low
(it was 100% last night)
guess what battery has 0% charge and as soon as I take it out of the cradle it dies
hoping battery is covered by warranty.

[dmitriydemon]

Could you help me to buy the thing in your Internet shop. I
have found the thing that is not sold in Russia. But there is a problem, the
shop does not send the goods to Russia. Compensation for your help is
guaranteed.
Pls, write to e-mail ivanov8888@rambler.ru

[jmjones2555]

don't know how to help you my friend.
not sure if Garmin has those maps

after searching for quite awhile I found the best price on www.gpsnow.com
maybe try them.
sorry i couldn't help more.