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  1. #1
    Member victor meldrew's Avatar
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    Default Tomtom start freezes/loops on setting clock

    Hi all,
    I have this huge problem with a Tomtom Start and I have googled it for days an hours but still can't find a solution....

    From the beginning: I bought this tomtom from online auction site showing a flashing red cross... software all messed up I thought.
    I have revived hundreds of TT's by reinstalling,activating new maps e.t.c. but this one......
    the internal storage was empty, so I went to tomtom home and downloaded navcore etc first restart, select langauge etc
    as soon as it gets to set clock it freezes... the restarts.... :-(
    I tryed loading bootloader 0.0001 Success! on the bios screen it accepted it! (allthough the bootloader text boxed in a red line)
    So back to TT home downloaded the proper navcore for the start again. On reseting at this stage I expect it to run through the setup
    and then tell me 'no maps found'. But no....... again as sone as you click done on clock settings it freezes and eventually restarts.
    Checked the internal storage for errors file and bad sector - none found...
    I don't like formatting, but I did to 'fat' and no change, tryed clear flash, any bootloader which I put on is accepted and shows on
    the bios screen when you hold the pwr for 5 secs or so. it connects to computer fine. charges fine, it even generates a 'tt.bif'
    so i put together a working folder with map correct bootloader 5.5274 and navcore 9.057 from tomtom home.
    still it freezes after attempting to set clock.... Yet on the bios screen clock RTC is ticking.
    I'm pulling my hair out here after days of trying, I have never been beaten by a TT....
    Can anyone shed any light on this? anyone out there have the same problem and managed to get it working again?
    Any help will be greatly appreciated...... Thanks in advance....

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  3. #2
    Master Downunder35m's Avatar
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    Sounds like corrupted memory to me or some other hardware fault.
    You can try one of the fullbackups posted in the forum even if has no sound being a start you would see if it runs through or not, if not bin it.
    Password for all my files: downunder

  4. #3
    Member victor meldrew's Avatar
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    Hey Downunder! Greatest respect!
    Read tons of your posts for a long time, thanked you lots too! when you say corrupted memory, are we talking about memory as in ram/rom or storage as in the
    internal storage..? you see like any computer the tomtom is just a very small computer pc, needs a bios, ram, and storage. I have another tomtom simalar behavior to
    this one but it's a ONE 3rd edition, I refuse to believe that they are both trash because the internal storage has become corrupt, as I've filled both to the last byte
    with binary data and manged to read 'ping' it back exactly. the bootloader part of ROM is ok because it flashs again and again with different BL versions, if that was corrupt it
    wouldn't flash.. like a PC if you flash the bios incorrectly it simply messes up 'bricks' and will not let you flash again.... The only thing I don't get is the REAL BIOS of the tomtom
    the 4kb that no-one knows about and tomtom themselves won't say s**t about if they had a mouthfull of it!
    I have a HND degree in electronics down to fault finding at component level, fluent in several computer langauges, cobol, pascal, z80, 80*** and many others been programming since I was a kid, early 80's on 8bit machines.. I am also now learning linux so I can get closer to the tomtom and find out what causes this, you know how many tomtom's are bought and sold on e... internet auction sites everyday and binned? I do this for a living and end up with a couple a month like this, some do truly have internal storage issues but they all have bad sectors or just corrupt... If I can get to the bottom of this not only will my profits go up, but think of all the tomtoms that won't get binned everyday because of s**t development engineers at tomtom that just won't tell, or leave a back door to this 4kb..... Thanks again Dude, not only because your the only one that replied, your a hero dude!

  5. #4
    Master Downunder35m's Avatar
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    Ok, with corrupted memory I don't mean the area where you store data, but the Ram installed.
    There have been quite a few reports lately that the new TT devices fail due to cheap components used, similar story to the problems some flat screen producers had.
    The BL basically only controls the USB transfer, most internal functions are too similar to be affected by it.
    If you check Ebay you'll find lots of TT's with the red cross problem, sometimes even the same device several times over the months as it changes the owners LOL
    There is only one trick that might! be of use:
    Don't set the time, but instead get the latest quick fix first and let the device get a sat lock so you calculate a route.
    If that works you can still try to set the time, if it fails you know for sure you got a hardware problem.
    If you check the turoials onhow to add a SD to older models without a slot you can find posts that show direct connections to the main chip on the board.
    So I'm almost certain it would be possible to find the point to read the TT with a flash tool, but I don't see the use in it.
    With a correct NC and map a TT will always boot and work, if not (and the installation is indeed correct) there must be a hardware fault, especially if the same problem happens at the same stage with different NC's.
    I simply assume you followed the correct procedure and did a hard reset followed by the TT clear Flash tool before starting a new NC? This makes sure you don't run into trouble cause by leftovers of the old installation (in the persistant Ram sections).
    Password for all my files: downunder

  6. #5
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    Hi all,

    I would like to share my experience with a Start which have a very similar issue. Start V1 1Gb (XC).
    TomTom Home wants me to put the NC 8.544 but when trying to start it will never finish and then never ofers me to put the NC9.053 or 9.057.
    The only 2 things I can do with it are :
    1-Install the NC 8.540 (using DSA).
    Then I can Operate my Device in TomTom Home.
    I can Add Favorites, navigate the maps etc... but it will not start by itself after that.
    When I put NC8.544 or 9.053 or 9.057 with DSA, it is impossible to operate the device with TomTOm HOME.

    2-Sometimes, with a fresh NC 8.540 it will start until we get to the clock setting, and then reboot.

    If you have any idea or if there is anything you want me to test....
    Thanks.
    Regards

  7. #6
    Master Downunder35m's Avatar
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    Operate my device is nothing anyone really needs....
    Doing a hard reset followed by the TT clear flash tool should enable the device to go through the normal upadte process.
    Home will start with old NC and after a reboot offer the next update - continue until Home does no longer any updates.
    If you still nedd DSA make a full backup using Windows Explorer, install the DSA NC into a folder on your PC - use the same NC version that runs on the device!
    Now overwrite the content on the device with the content of the folder of the DSA NC.
    Password for all my files: downunder

  8. #7
    Member victor meldrew's Avatar
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    After about 10 or so of the same thing on various devices, I can get past the freezing on setting the clock issue, by patching tomtom home with fast activate, connecting device then using operate my device from home menu setting the clock... then when you reboot the devices it freezes on the splash image!!! still one of them did manage to work properly after doing this, so may be worth a try!

 

 

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