Thread: nuvi 2599 bricked?

There's also the possibility we can do something with a microSD card. If you're getting sick of watching Updater.exe fail message pop up, do an experiment to see if it can read from/write to card by trying to backup its NV region. Use the command for later devices (rrgn,154,2:/154.bin): [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

Ensure it's forced completely OFF, insert the otherwise empty card with the Garmin folder etc. as per that guide and power it back on normally (don't hold screen). If it fails to read the card like that we can then try a modified Ldr.bin to use a different way which involves using preboot.

If you're not confident to make an SD kit yourself i'll make it for you, just let me know Rusty. Us old blokes need to stick together mate.

Hello again olde friend. Thanks for sticking with me. I finally got to reinstal the software after about 125 attempts.However there is no change. The gps will switch on, say loading maps, then the white blank screen comes on. Im not particulary confident with the sd card idea you suggest. When I hear the word directory or notepad I get shakey and fall over . If I insert an sd card into the unit it also does not show up on My PC. I think there is a comms problem. Thank you for your persistance. If you can do something for me with the sd card commands that would be superb. Im reaching the end of motivation and wine supplies too. Hope you are well on the other side of the world. Take care.

The Garmin will only act like a usb card reader when it's in Mass Storage Mode (showing in Disk Management and File Explorer). It can't do that when it's connected to the PC in preboot.

So here's the SD card kit to try 'dumping' (i.e. copying) it's non-volatile memory region. Look behind the Spoiler:

Spoiler: Click

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

• Extract the above ZIP file directly to a CLEAN microSD card at least of 8GB size, formatted only as FAT (FAT16 or FAT32, not exFAT)
• Make sure the device is fully OFF (force it off by holding the power button down if necessary)
• Insert the card then power it on
• "Loader" should appear on the screen, wait for the flash to finish before removing the card.

If successful there will be a new file named 154.bin in the root of the card alongside the Garmin folder. Even if it doesn't work there's one more thing we can try so just report back the result and also say what's in a new file named 'update.log' if it's indeed created in the 1758 folder.

So far so good. We can go further to try recovering this device using text commands now to remove any faulty map *.img file. However, first let me know the size of the 154.bin please.

It's no surprise that the 'reboot' cmd didn't result in a Success message because the device isn't capable of booting far enough in it's soft-bricked state. I'm guessing that because it also didn't show 'error' that you needed to force the device off manually to remove the media card.

PS: When a flash is done from a card like that, there's also a file "last_id.bin" created in the HWID folder. If that's present the device stops reading the card which is why you couldn't repeat the procedure. To go further with what we're attempting to do it has to be removed but please don't try any more flashes until after you've reported the size of 154.bin.

Hello Butters, yes progress is happening thanks to you. The 154.bin is 2048kb in size, and you are correct, there is now a last_id.bin entry in the 1758 folder showing 1kb in size. I'll not do anything until you give me further instruction. Superb Butters ! Thanks

I don't have access to a 2xx9 device presently so cannot check the proper size of region 154 on a healthy device. I'd appreciate it if any other reader/s can confirm that it's correct at 2048 KB i.e. 2 MB (binary megabytes). Most devices have 4 MB or even 6 MB available for their NV region afaik.

Regardless lets press on and try dumping the entire file system so we can examine what's in there. You'll need to use a clean empty microSD for this kit, if you use the same card make sure to keep a copy of 154.bin before cleaning. Generally just follow the previous instructions in Post #384. Look behind the spoiler:

Spoiler: Click

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

It's of particular interest as to what map *.IMG files are contained in it, either in the .System folder or Map folder. You may need to enable some things in Windows File Explorer to see the .System folder and its contents, see [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

Once you can see the all map files in .System and Map folders, open each of them in GMapTool (link below), Click either "Info" or "Details" button and if the file is faulty the program will tell you.

Code:

Please Login or Register to see the links

Umm, you may have misunderstood me. I was only asking that you to use GMapTool check the files with .img extension. GMapTool can't read other files such as GMA, BIN, XML etc..

Also you didn't mention the presence of a folder named "Map" or if there are any map files (IMG) in that folder. Was it present in the file system dump? Read my previous post again mate.