Garmin drive 51

[Bob Lawrence]

Hi, just registered so a newbie, I have a couple of problems with my garmin. Firstly it sometimes will not power up. It is plugged in and the engine is running, it may have been used shortly before, and no mater what I do I.e. switch the engine off and start up again or press the on/off button it just will not power up. Then maybe the next time I need to use it it will power up no problem, this makes it unreliable as I really needed it on a number of occasions and luckily my wife was with me and she was able to use an app on her phone.
The other problem is when typing in a destination. It is ok on large towns but when typing in even a largish village the keyboard keys are not highlighted so after the first few letters non of the suggestions in the bar at the top show the place required and there is just no way of typing the place required.
I haven’t had it long and had no idea how it would function until I used it, when it does work and a destination can be typed in it is great but it is so frustrating at the moment.
We are in France at the moment. The power up problem occurs in England and France. I don’t know if the destination problem occurs in England as we haven’t had it long enough to say if it does.
Thanks in anticipation
Bob

[Bob Lawrence]

Not so much a reply more an observation.88 views and no comments. I expect this means nobody knows.
I’ll add another question, has anyone got one of these satnavs?

[asprin624]

Are you using the cable that came with the 51?

There could be a problem with the cable.

There is no need to turn on the car just turn the key so there is power to the 51

What happens when you you take it off the cable and turn it on?

Have you stopped the route by the "X" and put the favorite back in as a new route.

Are you connected to the Garmin app on your phone if so turn it off.

Turn off Bluetooth on the 51 if it is on. If it came with Bluetooth.

Turn off he 51 for 5 mins and then back on.

But with out the cable connected....

The other problem could be the spelling of the place you want to go in France.

I think you have it in English your 51 and are trying to add a French village and that can make problems.

The other thing is you just got the 51 did you use Garmin Express to update everything before starting out on your trip.

The first thing I do after I open the box is to connect to Garmin Express and do all the updates.

It is important.

As for the village you are trying to find I would use your phone a google it for the correct spelling in French.

It goes the same for streets in France.

I know I have been there many times and before I set out on my trip I add all the places I want to go and add them to my screen.
I even test all my saved trips just to make sure they work and show the correct location I want to go to.
Then I just have to pick that location and the GPS Calculators the distance.

[Bob Lawrence]

Thank you for replying, this is exactly the response I was hoping for. To take your points one at a time:-
Yes I am using the cable that came with it.
There maybe a problem with the cable, but in frustration I have tried to power it up with the cable disconnect but it still won’t, at the time of the fault. I am going through some of your points outside the car, even though the battery is low it still powers up.
I understand there is no need to start the engine but in those cases I did.
As I have said, when the fault occurs it still will not power up with the cable disconnected.
It isn’t connected to the Garmin App and Bluetooth is off.
When the fault has occurred it has been off for more than 5 mins whilst navigating using signposts then trying it again.
As far as the spelling of places we are using a French map. We have had to attempt to use this at times.
The 51 is set for France, to use the French roads.
There is the option of changing to French language but our French is not good enough to quickly interpret instructions. But would it only be spoken French?
I haven’t connected it to Garmin Express for updates, but villages and towns which have been in existence for many years would not have needed updating. Maybe new roundabouts, no entry streets which could change.
As I have said we use a French map and use the spelling from that.
In our situation, where we are on holiday, we don’t always know where we want to go when we set off.

Just to repeat my two main concerns 1) Unable to power up 2) Can’t use the keyboard to complete the spelling of a word as it is not in the suggestion bar and further letters are not highlighted, why is it we can only go where Garmin wants us to go?

However, thanks aspirin624 for taking the trouble to reply, I much appreciate it.

[asprin624]

@Bob Lawrence,

You are not using the City Navigator Europe NT that came with the 51?

What French map are you using???

Is it an official Garmin map or one of the free openroad maps you can download?

Make sure you have in the .system folder gmapprom.img

Others can go in the folder \Map

Or if you have an SD card

As for having it in the French language that is not needed.
Keeping it in English with a English voice works OK too.

Now if you have the Garmin usb cable you can use that to power up the 51.
Thats if you have the Garmin plug where there are 2 USB ports.

It will also work to charge the 51 by using a android charger and Garmin cable.

It should of come with the 51.

You can also:

Resetting the Device

You can reset your device if it stops functioning.
Hold the power key for 12 seconds.