Garmin Colorado 300 wont start

[yellatori]

I have a garmin colorado 300 that freezes on the start up garmin banner screen. Only way to turn it off is remove batteries. Have tryed removing sd card with no luck. Also wont connect to pc via usb.
I have tryed instructions at link below m12 to get to files on sd and unit but the drives show up but are empty.



Has anyone had this problem before and how did you fix it.
some help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

ps I have put sd card in card reader and map file is still on there

[Tiny]

Fringe, has a reply in this thread that may have a solution?

Good luck.

[yellatori]

Thanks tiny for the reply but no luck with that one

[Tiny]

I'll assume as you have been to Wikispaces.com & tried that solution that you have also tried a hard reset (holding down the power button and the left and right soft buttons), the alternate reset (Holding down both soft keys and the select button in a similar fashion) & they didn't have the desired effect.

When you tried the updater.exe method you did get access to the Colarado's internal directory but you say it was empty?
In windows explorer under Tools/Folder Options/View, make sure that you have "Show Hidden Files & Folders" checked as well as removing the tick from beside " Hide protected operating system files" a couple of lines below. Then apply.
Garmin sometimes have their files hidden as protected operating system files.



Before this happened had you updated the firmware or maps on the internal memory & if so did it complete before disconnecting from the USB cable?

If you have tried all of these solutions a couple of times (sometimes trying again seems pointless, however, sometimes the second or third attempt at procedures gets the timing right) with no satisfactory result, then I can only suggest talking to Garmin Tech support & see what they say.

Maybe they can trade it on a refurbished unit?

Hope you get it sorted out, please let us know what happens.

[yellatori]

Thanks tiny for another reply, I checked the folder options and they were set to how you were saying. The firmware was updated ages ago and it hasnt been hooked up to a pc for over 6 months so realy not sure wat has caused this . Might have to make a call to Garmin I think.
Cheers for the help, I will let you know How I get on

[udderchaos]

get it to me, Ive got some spare time this week at this stage

[udderchaos]

ok ive had a play with this gps now.

using the cmd prompt updater its says its successful, but is not updating as it tells me the software version on the gps is newer than the firmware updater.

I can get it to appear in windows, the storage media (garmin) shows 0btyes capacity, i can open the folder but not read/write/format the units storage or the SD card or see any files on either media.

The software unit id is appearing as 0 on the update tool which makes me think its cactus

[Tiny]

Strange it says it has more updated software than the firmware updater when it doesn't work & you can't see any software on its drive?

Sounds like it's doing an excellent job of playing dead.

The latest software is available for the Colorado 300 at You need the unit to enter USB mode for this to work?

If you search around the USB drivers for this device may be found & reinstalled if you don't have them on the original installation CD, may be worth a try.

I'll assume again that since yellatori says it has had a firmware update since initiallisation, that you have tried using Garmin's web updater, if not, try it.

That should install the latest Firmware if it can see the GPS on the USB.

If not & the unit is deemed cactus, Garmin have a flat rate of $99 for repair of that unit according to this page

Suggest contacting Garmin OZ at see what they say.

[udderchaos]

unfortunatly even though it can see the gps it cant write to it (using cmd updater, windows firmware tool or the web based tool)

yellatorri was trying to call garmin yesterday but didnt manage to get off hold.

eitherway its not looking good

this ones a grey import too so will be interesting to see what garmin do

[Tiny]

Sounds like you have done all you can to sort it out.

I hope you have some joy with Garmin AU, although I don't think they will work on a unit that has another countries basemap, I may be wrong & that may only be for warranty purposes, possibly a straight forward refurbish job out of warranty is different (since your paying for it).
I would still talk to Garmin AU about it before going the US route. They will know where its from by the Serial No. So tell them before you send it to them.

Short story, similar problem with a happy ending.
I actually have a Garmin Etrex Vista, which I bought on ebay from an online store, based in Hobart Tasmania, thinking I bought an Australian Basemap GPS, boy was I wrong. This guy was reselling American units, not that the basemap was a problem as I was getting Oztopo for it anyway. The problem was when it failed after 1 month he says contact Garmin its not his problem. So I contact a Garmin service agent in OZ & they talked me thru diagnostics & hard resets with no joy, they however would not repair it because of the US basemap so they redirected me to Garmin US, who did the same before I got a guy that gave me a RMA number & said send it back to them, cost $20 to post insured. 2 weeks later I received a brand new unit in the mail from Garmin US, now that impressed me, I still have the Etrex & use it regularly.

All this happened a couple of years ago before Garmin Australia existed so things might be different now. Good luck.

BTW I finally discovered what damaged my unit, when I tested the 12v Cigarette lighter USB power devise I bought to use my Etrex in the car, it was powering the USB line at 11v not 5v as it was labelled & required to do, no wonder it cooked the GPS PC interface. Lucky I never plugged my replacement into it or it would have fried as well. So be careful of USB power supplies people.

[udderchaos]

i had a map60cs toast itself as well. sent it away to garmin out of warranty, a few days later it come back with a new keyboard fitted, firmware fixed, the new battery terminals with the foam behind them and a new battery cover fitted at no cost!.

that was an au one 12 months out of warranty which pretty much sealed the deal for me in the future with buying garmin. awesome service.

[eastie]

I had a Colorado 300 fail recently as a result of a hard fall that smashed the screen and cracked the case. It was out of warranty but I rang garmin aus in sydney and they said no prob - gave me a ref number and said pop it in the post and we'll replace it for $110. The replacement was dead upon arrival - wouldn't go past the update screen so I called them up, explained the issue and they confirmed it was dead so back it went, and a new one arrive the same week. Absolutely first class service despite the hiccup. FYI I formatted the original unit before returning it and no questions were asked.