Zumo User Forums

Hello folks, new member here and newly returned to motorcycles rider.

I have a question and wondered if other have had issues w/ their Zumo XT / XT2

I have an F850GS with TFT display and mounted a new XT2 to the bike. Latest firmware installed on Zumo/iPHone/Packtalk Edge and Sena SRl Mesh. I have phone paired to Zumo and headset paired to Zumo. Only one headset paired to Zumo at a time. I can access and control music on the iPhone from the Zumo, answer and make calls and the GPS functions fine. All good right?

My issue is that the unit will randomly power off and drop BT connection. Communicating w/ Garmin customer support we thought it was initially a poor connector or poor power, but it will do same thing w/ fully charged battery and running on battery power. What is even more perplexing is that after a few times of unit powering down, the Zumo will display “Cannot Initialize Bluetooth”, see attached picture. Only a hard power down of the Zumo with the power button will allow the unit to reboot and re-connect.

I’ve sent my Zumo XT2 to Garmin and have a NEW one mounted. Initially the second Zumo worked on a 60 mile ride -perfectly! But today on a short 20 mile ride, it powered down at least 5 times and I got the same error message re: Cannot initialize BT. Only difference was today was 60 deg and the longer ride the other day was sunny and in the lower 80’s.

I’ve tried unpairing, repairing both phone and headsets. I’ve tried disconnecting phone BT to the Bike and tried rebooting BT on my phone multiple times, but it keeps doing it. Only BT option I haven’t tried is running Zumo paired to phone but not to headset, but frankly, if that is how the unit needs to work, it will not meet my needs and I’ll have to return it.

Anyone experience anything like this? Any suggestions?

This a wild guess from way out in the cheap seats, but because two units behave the same, I'm thinking Radio Frequency Interference. My previous F800 ST was a hornet's nest of RFI that produced all kinds of unwanted noise. To test, try temporarily moving the XT to various other places (jacket pockets, panniers, backpack, anywhere to try to get away from that TFT screen and other sources of RFI on your bike) and see if Bluetooth works properly.

On my ST the worst source of RFI was the voltage regulator. It was a "shunt" device, meaning the alternator ran wide open all the time and the regulator shunted excess to the frame. Not much you can do about this, but again, getting the XT as far away from it as possible for a temporary test might narrow down the list of culprits.

-dan

Thanks Dan, excellent point. I did try using the unit in my kitchen far away from the bike and it did the same thing here as well so I fear it is something more severe.

Rich

The RF signals have been an issue on the R1250RT with the TFT dash and causing the XT to lose GPS

Some discussion on it here

https://www.1200rt.com/viewtopic.php?t=6332

Thanks Stu, would you be able to post the pictures from that thread on this one? For some reason, when I review the thread you linked, I get a messgge “You do not have permission” to see the photos attached to messages. It would be really interesting to see if a simple RF Shield would solve my problem. I may just throw a couple ferrite beads on the GPS cable and see if that makes a difference.

Rich

Thats simply because you don't have an account on that forum that's why they won't show

I have edited the permissions so they should now show

Got it, thanks. Pretty neat work on that shield!

Rich

Roverrich wrote: ↑Sun May 14, 2023 8:23 pm Got it, thanks. Pretty neat work on that shield!

Rich

Yeah he did a good job of it

Well, I tried clipping a ferrite bead on the power cable thinking that the RFI was entering the Zumo via that route, but no luck. I really think there is an issue with the GPIO Chip in the Zumo b/c I had issues with my first unit NOT being recognized by x2 different computers. This one is recognized by my computer no problem. I'm waiting to hear back from Garmin on what they find, but if the problem persists, I will need to return the unit as it is unreliable.

I have the exact same issue. Whenever Bluetooth is enabled on the Zumo, it keeps powering down and back on. It means I am unable to use any of the mapping features that sync via the drive app. Garmin replaced my unit but the replacement has the exact same problem. This happens when it's powered by its battery, or via USB or on the bike. Did you ever get a resolution?