Master Reset - map theme

[malc]

I need to do a master reset on my 590 and aware of saving favourites etc.
Having completed an excellent customised map theme download from our forum a log time ago to improve the screen layout, I do not wish to lose it following a master reset.
Does anybody have an answer, which would much appreciated.
cheers

[jfheath]

Maps are not affected by a Master reset. (Not on my model anyway. I have OSM maps on the memory card. Standard maps are in internal memory)

But after a reset, I usually find that ALL of my maps have been turned on - and that causes weird navigational problems if two maps covering the same area are ticked.

Also of course, all of your preferences are returned back to their default settings, and you may lose your track logs. If you want to keep those, copy the GPX/current.gpx and all of the gpx files from the GPX/Archive folder from the internal storage - before you do the master reset.

[malc]

Hi - thanks for your response that after a master rest maps on the SD are not deleted.
That has answered part of my query - great.
What about routes and music on the SD card - will they be deleted?
And my last query will "added map themes" be deleted?
As written above, my unit is the 590 that has a couple of recent times gone into a involuntary master reset for some reason, and am hoping that I can store my routes on the card as backup if this happens again.
Cheers

[jfheath]

Nothing on the SD Card is affected by a master reset. So routes and music will be safe.

Storing routes on the SD card is pretty common - but 'as a backup' -- that implies that they are also there in internal storage.
I don't think that there is any way of telling from the Zumo screen where the routes are stored. It will list both. Often with the SD card entires shown last - but that dill not matter if they are identical copies.

'Added Map Themes' ? I had to look. I've not altered that for a while - but I have one modified map theme that I use. I've reset my 590 so many times in recent months, and changed it to and from a 595 just as frequently. MY modified map them is still there - but not selected. So I guess the answer is no it doesn't delete it (or to be more accurate, it didn't delete mine) - but it does seem to have selected the default Garmin theme.

But if your Zumo is resetting I woud seriously spend a little time making the system folder visible, and dumping the entire contents of your internal memory onto a handy hard disk drive. I got a bit complacent about messing with about with my 590, one day I will screw it up. It's nice to know that I have it all backed up.

[malc]

Hi
Many, many thanks for your response, I believe you have answered my queries.

The reason I think I should do a master reset is that my zumo 590 went into an involuntary reset in the middle of rideouts and believe that there is a glitch? This first happened 2 years ago when switching on the unit manually at the start of the morning rideout. Twice over this past year when the unit was in the bike holder, I had stopped at a filling station and restarted the bike via the ignition and recently, very annoyingly, on last month’s hols. The unit’s screen asked me what country I was in? – a screen request that I could not get rid of, then, when I answered, the unit started up, and I found that all my holiday routes had disappeared. Also, the default Garmin theme, default vehicle, default driving map view had been selected, and the speed cameras had disappeared. However, my customised map theme, music on my SD card, favourites and history were still there! I restored all my settings and speed cameras, luckily, I had that night’s hotel in history.

I note that one of our members has had this involuntary reset and was advised to write to Garmin but then the conversation ended, so I don’t know what happened. I have recently written to Garmin with my problem and just today had a reply. Unfortunately, all they have said is “when you master reset the device, it will remove the custom map theme as well, as it will set the device back to factory settings” but nothing more. I note that you did not lose your customised map theme when you did a master reset.

Yes, I have found that there is no list of what the SD card is storing and when I call on the stored routes, they are shown last, as you say.

I note your last paragraph, regarding making the system folder visible and dumping the contents of the internal memory. If possible, I would be pleased if you could let me know what you mean. I realise that I have had my 590 some time, and have a lot in history and favourites, so I will now dump most of this.

To conclude, the question is that should I do a master reset ( and risk losing my customised map theme) or just make a backup of the routes on the SD cards when I go out in future, in case the involuntary reset happens again? Also what advantage is a master reset in your opinion?

Thanks again and look forward to your comments, if possible, of which I would be very gratefully.
cheers

[jfheath]

I'll get the details sorted out for you.

I'm wondering if your battery is losing its connection ?

Moe later.

[malc]

Hi
Thanks.
Yes, the internal battery on the zumo 590 has never been very successful from the start of ownership and on a few occasions found it unexpectedly flat.
I have noted from our forum it has always been major fault of this unit and instead of adjusting the pins, I spray electrical cleaner on the connections when I remember, and this seems to work but not 100%.
Looking forward to your further response.
Many thanks - cheers
cheers

[jfheath]

Hi again

How to Make the System folder visible

First you need to enter the system 'Diagnostic Page'.
To do this - on the main screen, tap View Map.
Then tap the speed btton, bottom left corner.
Tap and hold the semi circular speedo, centre top, for about 10 seconds until the Diagnostic Page menu pops up.

3rd item down - Configuration and Settings, then MTP settings.

You have the choice of
* MTP Auto Detect
* Mass Storage
* Mass Storage Single Session.

I'll come back to what these mean, but for now, select Mass Storage. Later you will need to put it back to MTP AutoDetect.

I am assuming that you have a PC. What follows next is all PC related, if you use a Mac, you'll have to do the translation yourself, or someone else that knows will have to speak up. I haven't got a clue about Macs. I have never used one.

Mass Storage Mode

When you plug your 590 into the PC next time round, the PC will recognise the 590, but it will appear as two drive letters.
On mine (which has a lot of drive letters), it shows up as GARMIN (N:) and ZUMO SD 32 (Y:) (Zumo SD 32 is the label that a gave my SD card when I formatted it).

If you look to the GARMIN drive letter (N: in my case), you should see some folders.

GARMIN folders.jpg (10.91 KiB) Viewed 2582 times

Mine looks like this. The feint ones are hidden. My .System folder WAS hidden, but I have made it visible.
But you will probably only see the Garmn and JOURNAL folders.

So, you need to make your hidden folder visible.

Find Control Panel and select File Explorer Options

This will open up this dialog box.

Click the View Tab at the top.

File and Folder Options.jpg (45.63 KiB) Viewed 2582 times

Select Show hidden files, folders and drives.

Not essential, but while you are here, you may also want to untick 'Hide Extensions for known file types. This is the setting that allows you to see a full filename such as Current.gpx rather than just 'Current', and MyPhoto.jpg rather than just. 'MyPhoto'. I find it helpful to know what type of file it is.

Now go back to view what is on your GARMIN drive (my drive N:). You may need to refresh the display, or select a different drive letter, and then go back to the GARMIN drive letter.
You should now be able to see the .System folder. It will probably have a feint icon.

Now you can Unhide the .System Folder

Right click on the .System folder and select 'Properties from the pop-up menu.
This dialog box appears.

System Properties.jpg (26.42 KiB) Viewed 2582 times

Untick the 'Hidden' property.

Now whenever you view that drive letter on the Zumo, you will be able to see the system folder.

You don't need to do this - except if you want to make a backup of the entire Garmin contents, the folders need to be visible. Note that there are two other hidden folders on my Garmin Zumo 590 I don't know what they are for.

You can only see the .System folder when the Zumo is connected to the PC in Mass Storage Mode. IT doesn't sjow up on my computer when it is in MTP mode.

Now - about those three modes in MTP settings.

Mass Storage Mode

Having a drive letter was the way that the Zumos used to work when we had the 550 and (I think) the 660. I think Mapsource used to use Drive Letters. This is Mass Storage mode. It makes the Zumo appear to Windows as separate drive letters.

And therein lies the problem. When information is written to a disk drive, you can tell the computer to write the data, but the computer doesn't do what it is told. Instead, it writes the data to its own special internal memory - a cache - and writes it when it feels like it. This saves a lot of wear and tear on the disk drive, a lot of time (becasue in terms of computer speeds, writing to a disk drive is so painfully slow). Eventually it will do it when it gets enough to process at the same time. Or when it is told to close the session with the disk drive.


But nowadays, people have just got used to unplugging the USB cable. And the stuff that was in the cache is stil there - the computer never got round to writing it. So you have to remember to formally 'eject' the USB device before unplugging the cable. You can right click the drive letter, or click the little USB icon in the bottom right hand corner of the Windows 10 screen (actually, it is in the carat icon next tot eh loudspeaker, screen and clock).

So that is Mass Storage Mode. When you have done what you wanted, use the instructions at the top of this note to change it back to MTP Auto Detect. IT makes sense. Apart from anything else, I don't think that Basecamp will talk to the 590 in Mass Storage mode.

MTP stands for Media Transfer Protocol

It is designed for all of the hand held devices that people have - smartphones, Ipods, etc. It ensures that when you ask for data to be transferred, it transfers everything that has been asked of it. It doesn't hang on to the last bit until it gets a cache full. But it means that you can read data, you can write data, but you cannot edit data using an MTP connection. So if you want to alter a theme file on the Zumo for example, in MTP mode, you cannot simply edit it. You have to copy it to your PC, edit it, and then save the new version back to the Zumo.

It makes sense to have the Zumo always in MTP mode.

I should say, that when in MTP mode connected to the computer, the Zumo doesn't show drive letters, it shows Internal Storage and Memory Card under the device Zumo 590.

Mass Storage Single Session

This does what it says on the tin. It allows you to enter into Mass Storage Mode the next time you connect the Zumo to the PC with the USB cable. When you have finished and disconnected fromt eh computer, the next time you reconnect, it will revert back to MTP mode without you having to reset it.

Right - that'll do for now. I have another couple of questions to answer. They will be in the next post. I need to check something that you said on my Zumo.

[jfheath]

Next bit.

OK - I did a full factory reset. My own theme that I have in the themes folder remained intact. But routes, waypoints/favourites etc were all wiped out. Anything on the memory card is not affected by the reset.

Themes are saved in Internal Storage /Garmin / Themes /Map - a whole load of kmtf files. Copy them before a reset if you are unsure.

I seem to remember when I was messing with themes, that the Zumo did not recognise my own theme at first. I think I needed to do a cold restart or something before it showed up in the list. I can't rememeber exactly, but I know it didn't show up, and I did something and then it did.

The worst thing that happens for me with a system reset is that the activity logs - my record of places that I have ridden - are wiped out. I download them every couple of months and I have a full record of my trips since I started using satnavs. I find it a useful reminder of where we went and when.
These are stored in Internal Storage / Gpx / Current.gpx and there will be 20 others in Internal Storage / Gpx / Archive. All neatly numbered. The oldest one is overwritten with the next highest number. There are only ever 20 stored in the archive - hence the need to save them every couple of months.
But a system reset causes the numbering system to start again from zero. So I have to find another folder on my PC to store them all.

The only other thing that bothers me is having to reset volumes, key clicks, rouitng preferences for the three vehicle modes. That sort of stuff.

Re battery - I have given up on that. Runs flat within about 10 minutes - always has from new. I've tried the connector pins trick, it seemed to work for a week or so. I've had a new battery. Ditto. The last time I unplugged the battery, the other half of the connector came off the circuit board, fortunately leaving the 6 pins sticking up. It benefits from a full discharge and an unitnterrupted 24 hour charge up. But even so, it reports a low battery very soon after using it. I just plug into a USB power supply on the mains sockets when I am programming it. It is never a problem on the bike - although I wasn't convinced that the bike was charging it properly.

I have had it apparently losing all of its settings. I have just taken the battery out to see. It wasn't that that caused it to need me to re-enter the start up information. But I would clean up your terminals on your cradle, and on the back of the Zumo. Make sure that all of the pins on the cradle 'spring' ok.

Now - when I took my battery out - my glue repair of the connector failed, and once again both halves lifted off, leaving the 6 fragile pins sticking up from the board. Not wishing to get side-tracked, a separated the two halves of the white connector, put the bit that should have been on the board to one side, and gently nestled the battery half onto the 6 pins. and put the lid on. I've turned off the time out. I've put the brightness up to 100% and the battery is going down rapidly - but it is going down from a full green battery - it was nearly flat before I disconnected it.

This is the best performance I have had from the battery. Ever. Its not a solution, 'cos that battery connector is free to joggle about - but it does suggest that the connector might be preventing the pins from making proper contact. That's about 15 minutes. I'm going to turn it off and come back later. See how long it lasts before the battery is completely flat - always on, 100% battery.

Do I think it is worth doing a system reset ? Well - it doesn't hurt providing you can re-transfer your routes and waypoints. That doesn't bother me - I start with those all deleted before I start any long tour. With the XT, a full reset definitely helps. Odd things have been observed to happen after conencting it to the Garmin Explore site - in the early days. A full reset stopped them from happening, when nothing else that I tried would.

It is also worth noting that the only way that we know about doing a factory reset is because it seems to be the default suggestion whenever anything is reported to Garmin Support that is a bit out of the ordinary. They need the Zumo to be started with a known baseline. If they thought that it made no difference, they wouldn't suggest it !

[jfheath]

The answer was about 90 minutes before the battery died completely. That was full brightness, never timing out. The screen went down to 40% towards the end of its charge.

That is far far better than it has ever performed from new. 20-30 minutes max is all I have had before. Recently about 5-10 minutes.

Have I stumbled across the answer to the 590 battery problem. I'll try this again with and without the connector in place.