Thread: Problem with nuvi 50

@bam-bam
Can it reach preboot mode? (Force device fully OFF. Hold upper left corner of screen while powering on. "Loader" or similar message should appear on screen). If so, flash fw with an RGN file via Updater.exe in preboot.

Up left - calibration mode
Down right - erase data
other two corners - nothing

Nope .. nothing
Again calibration mode ... cant heard ding dong sound when ur pc find new attached device ...
what can be done now ?
i can returned to the seller but still .. wonder whats wrong with it

Buying a used Garmin or TomTom GPS is a shot in the dark.

When I have a friend looking for a cheap GPS unit I take along a SD card with maps on it.
I test the unit in front of the person trying to sell it.
If it does not work I walk away from the deal.
There are many good deals to be found at flea markets and private sales.
But only if you test the GPS ahead of time.
Other than that it is a waste of money and time only to find out the GPS has been screwed with to a point it does not work correctly.
I never buy any used GPS over the internet for someone.
They make good paper weights at best.

"bam-bam" has also asked for help over at "GPSURL"

Good luck on getting it to work as we do not know what was done to the Nuvi 50 before you got your hands on it.
These forums of full of screwed up Garmin and TomTom GPS units that some one thought they got a great deal or did not know the seller tried to change the GPS unit to some other model.
Then they just sold it off to an unsuspecting user.

Thanks for the helpful post, but there was no need
We are not small children and everyone takes on their own possible options to get into a screwed nuvi.
I have bought a lot of 2nd hand devices and just such a problem has never happened to me ... that's why I'm asking IF it can be fixed somehow.
If it can't ... I have the option to return it to the sender .. after all, eBay has some kind of protection
So everything is well thought out and thought out .. there was no need for such an instructive post ... everyone has a head on their own shoulders and can think with it

My wonder is, since it works perfectly and can do distances... what exactly happened to not connect to the USB (in this case, it DOES charge when I connect it through the PC, it just does not enter update mode)
This means that his USB port still works...

p.p. Thank you once again for the meaningful post...thank you!

Originally Posted by bam-bam

... what exactly happened to not connect to the USB (in this case, it DOES charge when I connect it through the PC, it just does not enter update mode)
This means that his USB port still works...

1. Check there's no corrosion, dirt or other obstruction or bent pin(s) inside the USB port. Clean only with dedicated electrical contact cleaner inside the port. Carefully straighten out any bent pins using a fine metal pick (a tiny precision screwdriver makes a good tool for that). If there are missing pins then replace the socket. If all that is okay and especially if you notice any slight movement of the socket, see below.

2. Re-flowing the USB socket connections to the PCB correctly using lots of flux and good quality leaded solder (hard to get in Europe) will fix a loose socket permanently provided you also strengthen the socket's physical mounting points. It's essential to do that as the mountings can be weak from the factory and almost certainly they'll have cracked too (that's usually what causes the PCB/USB connections to fail in turn). Older 5" models such as nuvi 14x0 and 5x are especially prone to that problem, i've repaired literally dozens of them. Sometimes they will not charge unless the vehicle cable is held in a certain way, or will not connect to PC like the problem you're seeing - neither in Mass Storage Mode, nor Preboot Mode even with Garmin USB drivers loaded on the PC. It's a reasonably easy task to open those devices and re-flow the soldered connections and fix the mounts.

If you rule out the above two possibilities, the likelihood is there's been a failure of a component on the board which isn't so easy to locate and fix without special skills. Not worthwhile of an older cheap device anyway.

Note: I've just now noticed in your initial post that you also tried unsuccessfully to update fw via the microSD slot. If it also doesn't read maps or other files from a card, then that fault in combination with not having a PC data connection demonstrates conclusively it's a critical board failure. Try several other microSD cards and USB cables before drawing that conclusion however. Cards should only be formatted FAT32, other formats won't work. Also use only USB2 ports directly on PC, not USB3 or via a hub or front desktop port.