Garmin nuvi 1690 stuck on Garmin logo after power on

[fritid]

I have a Nuvi 1690 that gets stuck on Garmin logo after power on. It is no longer recognized by my laptop (connected by usb cable) even when I try to enter pre boot mode. Could it be hard bricked or is there something I could try to get it back in working condition?

To get a EU firmware by old links does not seem to work as Garmin apparently wants users to use their Garmin Express software which is no help when the conected nuvi 1690 is NOT even showing up as a usb device.

[Butters]

The vast majority of Garmin devices stuck on logo screen are soft bricked and can still access preboot. Hard bricked devices with flash disk damage are generally not recoverable. To check if preboot is available, first open Device Manager from Windows Control Panel and leave it visible. Ensure that the device is fully OFF, hold the power button down to force it off if necessary. Have a 'known-good' USB cable directly connected to your PC using only a USB2 not USB3 port [not through a hub]. Hold the top LH corner of the 1690's screen firmly with your left thumb and connect the microUSB socket into the nuvi. If preboot is available you'll see the nuvi appear as "GARMIN Device" in the control panel list. If it doesn't show in your laptop find a desktop PC, even an old XP machine will do, and use a REAR USB2 port. Also try different USB cables, sometimes even genuine Garmin ones don't work with bricked devices. Without preboot there is no way to recover the device using software cure methods.

Your problem might be tracking down the EU firmware version for HWID 1132 to make cure firmware. Other versions such as NA and AU are still available however even though the HWIDs differ from EU it may be possible to use one of them with modification of the HWID in RGN_Tool. Apart from HWID number varience, as far as i can recall the main differences in the regional versions are in the MSM sections which are no longer supported by the devices anyway. As an aside, 169x are the only nu-link devices which can use Cyclops safety cams.

[fritid]

Thanks for the information and I managed to get the nuvi 1690 in to preeboot mode for a short time directly after power up. It will not stay in preboot mode for long but maybe enough time to use tools to repair it.

Do you know where I can get hold of the NA firmware to try and edit the HWID version? Garmin refuses to let me download the nuvi 1690 EU firmware directly and only points out that I need to use the Garmin Express to do that but as it is not seen as a memory device in preeboot mode that will not work.

[Butters]

Some modern devices only stay in preboot for a matter of seconds. There is a way to power on with cure firmware already loaded to Updater.exe, once the flash is initiated the device won't exit preboot until flashing has finished, we'll cover that method below. Go to [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] to read how to create a Cure firmware and understand it's purpose. In brief, it's to re-enable Mass Storage Mode to access internal files, not to boot the device (i.e. it'll still be stuck on the logo splash screen) but importantly recognized by a PC in MSM as well as preboot mode with Cure fw loaded. Note that there are two ways to do a cure, the first and most reliable is to make the cure fw from the device's actual native firmware, the second newer and less reliable way is to use a universal RGN file known as QuickCure3. You'll find a link to a compressed RAR file containing QuickCure3.rgn at the base of the initial post of the Cure3 thread. Extract QuickCure3.rar to find the RGN file and rename it from QuickCure3.rgn to 113201000390.rgn (that exact naming is important to ensure safe flashing). Get Updater.exe from here: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] then follow this:

• Load the RGN file to Updater.exe and leave it's GUI open and visible on your computer's screen, ensure to select the Radio Button next to 'USB Device'.
• Ensure the device is fully OFF. Hold the power button down for between 10 and 30 seconds until the screen goes completely blank.
• Plug a 'known-good' USB cable directly into a REAR USB2 port of a desktop PC or a USB2 port of a laptop (no hubs, front desktop ports or USB3 ports).
• Hold the top LH corner of the device screen firmly (i use left thumb) while plugging in the cable to the nuvi's USB socket, watch the window adjacent to 'USB Device' for the device details to appear.
• IMMEDIATELY you see the window populated either hit the enter key on your computer or click the OK button on the GUI.
• Keep holding the device screen firmly until the flash finishes or at least until to you see 'Loader' or 'Software Loading' appear on the device screen.
• When the flash finishes, hopefully the device will appear in Windows Explorer and you can remove any file which you suspect of being faulty or reformat the internal memory as suggested in the Cure3 thread initial post.

If quickcure dosn't work to re-enable MSM, then download the NA fw, you can get it here:

Please Login or Register to see the links

However, it you have a complete backup of the nuvi's existing internal folders and files and locate the file named GarminDevice.xml in the .System folder, there's a way to 'trick' Garmin's server into giving you the current EU firmware version. Let me know if you have that file available before preceding further as it'll make the whole process of fixing your nuvi 1690 much simpler.

Post again to advise if Quickcure did or didn't work and also if you have the GarminDevice.xml file in a backup or on the device if you've managed to regain Mass Storage Mode with Quickcure. We can then go further.

[fritid]

THANKS A LOT for the instructions you wrote above. By following your instructions I managed to use the never method with the general RGN file and the Updater program to get usb access to the device. I then had to format it with the RMPrepUSB program as I had no clue which files to delete that caused it to get stuck with Garmin logo. After some trial and error I was finally able to use the GarminExpress program to restore the device with the correct firmware. I finally loaded the microsd card for the device with some free Openstreetmaps as the old maps disappered when I formated the device and Garmin asked for 50 USD to get a map update. So now I have a working Garmin nuvi 1690 with new maps .

[Butters]

That's great Quickcure worked for you, saves a lot of work. Seeing you had to format, the device will be missing the basemap from .System folder as GarminExpress doesn't replace it. You can one get from here: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]. There may also be other missing files, sometimes GE doesn't offer everything "up front" and you need to check for other stuff that's missing such as voice files. I have an NA nuvi 1690 so may be able to supply some files for you.

Can i now ask you a favour? Seeing that Garmin has removed the link for EU firmware, would you mind uploading a compressed copy (ZIP or RAR) of the gupdate.gcd which GE would have placed in your .System folder. Using the Editor in "Go Advanced", you can add a zip or rar of ~15MB. Look for "Add Attachments" button below Your Message and Post Icon panels. I'll see that the GCD is added into our firmware library for others to access. Sometime quickcure doesn't work depending on the 'bricking' cause so having the original fw maybe will save a member or two a lot of extra work or having to junk a device needlessly in future.

[fritid]

I can not see any gupdate.gcd file in the .system directory in the E: drive on Garmin nuvi 1690. From what I can see the whole E: drive is 247 914 496 byte in size and contains the following directories:

Directories: Size:
.system 54*710*151 byte
Garmin 50*320 byte
GPX 711*104 byte
Help 3*186*189 byte
Keyboard 931*676 byte
Text 47*529*055 byte
Veichle 1*220*608 byte
Voice 131*464*448 byte

And these are the folders and files in the .system directory:

Directories: Size:
Diag 2*097*154 byte
FCD 238 byte
RemoteSW 54*710*151 byte
sqlite 2*231*296 byte

Files: Size:
gmapbmap.img 48*766*976 byte
gmaptz.img 590*848 byte
gsm_nvm.txt 1 byte
Locales.xml 98*498 byte

I did copy all directories and files of the device before I formatted it so I have the files from that but there were no .system directory then. I do not know what all files are for so I can not tell if I am missing some, I had to download the Swedish keyboard as it was only US keyboard after the GarminExpress restore but it seems to work fine now.

[bubahotrod]

hello i hawe also 1690 stck on logo , and my pc .webupdater and garmin expres not reconize, and i find nuvi16xxNA_regionfileonly__390 and with GarminCure3 i make cure firmw and i flashed it wit updater , and i see msm device, and i use RMPrepUSB to format gamin with suces . and i again install nuvi16xxNA_regionfileonly__390 like original and my dedevice is atart up,, but i dont have gps signal and i can not install maps. gexpres don see device
please help

Spoiler: Click to see image

Fixed image to show properly and added spoiler tags.

[Butters]

@bubahotrod
Did you hard reset the device again after you loaded the original firmware? The symptom of being seen normally in MSM by the PC but not seen by GarminExpress is unusual behaviour which might be corrected by a [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] [or better still - [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]]. It can take >20 mins or so after major changes for a new sat. fix to be established so leave it outside for a while with a clear view of the sky. If it still doesn't connect after resetting look at the listing under Tools/Settings/System/About/Software Versions. If it shows "GPS: 0.00" you may have a GPS chip failure or other hardware problem.

[bubahotrod]

ok t .y i m write nuvi16xxEU_regionfileonly__390 and now is ok t.y. again . but when i vot try JCV file is power off , my JCV is in system/jcv ...what is vrong