How to unbrick a nüvi - step by step guide

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Originally Posted by MarsArtis [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

........ had to be in forced mass storage mode (not pre-boot).

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"A Rose by any other name will smell as sweet" It is preboot whether you call it that or not. Some older devices have what's officially referred to as "Garmin mode" which simply is what we call preboot mode in modern device. That mode is available so older softs like Updater.exe can access the device. Some earlier devices are in a permanent state without any Mass Storage Mode available. I've heard it referred to as a 'pseudo-preboot mode' and such devices called 'Region-only devices' as they don't have any visible files, just programmable (flashable) regions. Modern devices also have separate flashable regions, however only the one with the file system (either region 48 or 83) is visible and can be edited easily.

For the device (whether old or modern) to operate in Preboot Mode (or Garmin Mode) the computer to which the device is connected must have Garmin USB Drivers loaded.

PS: "System Software Missing" message indicates that the main system firmware (Garmin calls it software which it is) is either corrupt or missing entirely in region 14. In such a case it's often sufficient to flash the original firmware as an RGN file in preboot using Updater without any need to flash cure fw first unless there is also corruption in the device's files system as well. Additionally, when that message is displayed a modern device usually defaults to preboot mode anyway.

I am having a problem trying to unbrick a Nuvi 1450. I have generated a cure firmware with GarminCure3, and when updating get the following screen

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Followed by:

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Which appears for about 20 seconds or so, and then finally

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When I tried flashing the quickcure .rgn file, the update was successful, however, the GPS did not show up as drive(s) on the computer. Under Eject Media,m there was an entry for Eject USB Storage, but no drive letters and nothing appeared in diskmgmt.msc either.

I called Garmin support and they said that there was nothing they could do :shake:

Hopefully someone here can help.
TIA

@sledjunk
14xx has two HWIDs. Be certain that you're using the correct firmware and it's properly named "XXXX01000xxx.RGN" where XXXX is the 4 numeral HWID (either 0972 or 1104 for 14xx devices) and xxx is the software version (it seems you're using V5.90, the latest is V6.30). Find your HWID using G7ToWin or look at GarminDevice.xml in a backup if you have one: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

The difference between the two types of curing is that Quickcure doesn't involve the firmware in any way whereas the traditional method used by Cure3 does. The last message screen by Updater.exe means that region 14 where the main firmware is stored has not been able to be flashed which is concerning when combined with the fact that when flashed using Quickcure the device isn't seen in Disk Management. No drive letter allocated is not so unusual however not even being recognized in Disk Management is a worry. My advice would be to keep trying to flash cure3 derived fw, sometimes the flash will finally be accepted.

At worst this device may have physical damage to its flash memory. At best it's just stubbornly bricked. If persevering with the flashing of Cure3 doesn't pay off then please advice the background, how it became bricked (like after software or map update) and what symptoms it shows.... For instance: Is it stuck on the Garmin splash screen with copyright details or 'Loading Maps' at the bottom, or is it boot-looping.

Thanks for the reply, Butters. I just acquired this nuvi form an eBay purchase, however, I have a number of these in the 1350, 1450, and 1490 configurations. I wanted to update some of the files through Express, but inadvertently upgraded the firmware to 6.30 at the same time. I don't like 6.30 as it loses the map detail at 200m zoom rate. So, I put the 5.90 GCD on a uSD, named as gupdate.gcd. Part way through the processs, the gps stopped responding, then I noticed that the uSD had popped out (not well latched, I guess). Since then, it is stuck at System Software Missing.

I have tried the cure process with both HWID versions of the firmware. The MTK version gives the message that there are no updates for your device, so I believe the 972 version is correct.

I do not have a backup of garmindevice.xml, but will try g7towin.

G7toWin confirms 972 as the HWID. An interesting thing, and maybe illuminating?, is that when I run updater, the GPS shows up under USB, even if I do not power it up in preboot mode. However, I get the same message sequence as above, regardless of whether I am flashing a cure or original firmware. I have also tried versions 5.90, 6.10, and 6.20 with identical results.
Talk about the definition of insanity ;)

Yes you're correct. The message "No updates for your device" means that Updater has determined that the device's HWID doesn't match that of the firmware so it's 0972 not 1104.

The device would have defaulted to preboot mode as a result of the system software missing in region 14. The device is not being bricked by a faulty or corrupt file (IMG, GPI, or VPM etc) so there should be no need to load Cure fw at all. It's sole purpose is to bypass loading of necessary operating files so that MSM can be restored to remove the bad file or reformat the visible file system.

So, let's try something different seeing it won't accept an RGN file via Updater. Let's see if it's getting far enough into the boot process to read from/write to a microSD. Extract this file directly to a small CLEAN card: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. If this device has flash damage it's likely to die at any time. I can't guarantee that it won't die trying this but if it does it was going to die anyway. So all at your risk for that reason. In a healthy device using an SD card correctly to dump and flash regions causes no problems. Ensure the device is fully OFF by holding the power button down if necessary until the screen blanks then insert the card. Power it back on, preferably by connecting to a power source (don't hold the screen). If it works properly you'll see 'Loader' or similar on the screen and when it finishes hopefully it'll reboot normally and in the card you'll find 2 new files in the 0972 folder named last_id.bin and update.log. In the Garmin folder there should be 3 files named 41_BUP.bin, 14_BUP.bin and 127_BUP.bin.

OK, I think it may be finally dead.
I extracted the files to a card and inserted it into the powered off unit and turned it on. It showed "LOADING" and flashed the screen, then after a few moments went to "Software Missing". It stayed there for a number of minutes, so I turned it off. It will not power on again. I have not tried with a clean external power source yet.

I pulled the card and zipped the contents ([Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]). The log file seems to be truncated and 127.bup was not created.

Any further steps? Or am I dead in the water?

Thanks for the assist.

It still will not power up, even on an external power source. Pressed the power button for about 10 secondes and no sign of life :-(

I need a nuvi 44 LM GCD file and the RGN file since i bricked my nuvi
Any help would be great> Thnx

@sledjunk
Well that's an inconvenient but not unexpected result. You're right about the log being incomplete but only insofar as it's simply reflecting the flash being interrupted. The commands to delete the gupdate.gcd file from .System folder and dump region41 (the nonvol memory) were completed however the 14_BUP.bin file is just full of empty FFs (indicating the region is empty, also not unexpected) however this is where the flash has failed as region14 is 16MiB in size and only ~10Mib has been dumped before it's fallen over. My best guess is that when it's hit the damaged part of the region is when it's failed. It may turn on eventually left connected to an external source but i doubt it. You could also open it and disconnect the battery for a while, that may clear any rubbish in volatile memory.

Unfortunately unless you can get it to power back on there is no chance for recovery however flash damage involving such a vital region is very hard to overcome anyway. There's likely no software fix available other than a very skilled programmer with intimate Garmin knowledge could conceivably remap the regions to exclude/ignore the damaged space, much like a few bad blocks can be isolated on a PC's hard drive or SSD. Otherwise only replacing the flash chip can restore it. That involves a lot of fiddly work as it's a BGA connection so the chip has to be carefully unsweated from the PCB and reballing is necessary when fitting the new one. Then it has to be reprogrammed. That's just not economically viable unfortunately anyway. [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Sorry i can't help further unless you can get it to power up, but from hereon it's probably all academic due to the fact that flash damage has made itself clear.

@Jonnay
You can get the GCD file direct from Garmin:

Code:

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http://download.garmin.com/software/nuvix2andx4_GCDFile__400.gcd

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Use RGN_Tool ([Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]) to make the RGN file and name it only 161301000400.rgn for safe flashing of either Cure3 or original firmware. You should try QuickCure3 first, it usually works ok and doesn't need the device's firmware at all. Still name it appropriately though. See here: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] (Post #113).