My garmin Nuvi 660 lost its satellite connection on the middle of a trip yesterday and couldn't locate the satellite afterwords. It freezes up at the aquiring satellite mode for ever. I updated all the firmwares using the Garmin webupdater today. Now it sits at the locating satellite screen and doesn't lock to any satellite at all. I cannot register with Garmin as I don't have the yellow paper with the Garmin registration code as it was an openbox customer return item. Could anyone please help me to fix this problem.
These are the instructions I got from Garmin as how to do the Master reset:
Here are the steps to backing up the
favorites on your unit and then performing the master reset. First, you’ll want
to plug your unit into your computer via USB cable. Once it’s plugged in, you’ll
want to go to My Computer in your start menu or from your desktop and
double-click on the Nuvi. At this point, you should see a few folders, but
you’ll want to double-click on the Garmin folder. Here, you’ll want to look for
the “GPX” folder and you’ll double-click on that. In this folder, you’ll want to
drag and drop the file titled “Current.gpx” to your desktop to copy it. Now you
are able to do the master reset.
To do that, you’ll want to start
with the unit turned off and press and hold on the upper left hand corner of the
touch screen. While holding the touch screen, power the unit on and continue to
hold. You should get a message that asks if you really want to go into
maintenance mode and you’ll want to select “Yes”. At this point, you’ll want to
select “clear user data” and then select “Yes” when it asks you if you really
want to clear user data. Now, the unit should restart and you’ll want to take it
where it has a clear view of the sky and let it sit for up to 30 minutes to
acquire satellites. If after 30 minutes it does not acquire satellites, you can
go ahead and reply back to me.
Either way, once we have your unit
back working again, you can follow the first set of steps again to get to the
GPX folder and drag the “Current.gpx” folder from your desktop to that folder on
your unit. This will replace your favorites.
Posted on Oct 07, 2008
I've recently had the same issues as others here My unit is about 2 yrs old. And just went AWOL searching for satellites.
I resolved this by accident by doing the following:
On short notice, I could not purchase a external antenna from a brick and mortar store, so I thought I'd use some wire.
1) Hook GPS to Garmin website and down loaded latest 4.7 ver. I was using 4.1
2) Perform the hard reset (push down on upper left of screen, hold, power and wait until it asks if you want to go in maintenance mode. There are posts here or google www.sharcnet.com. This website will describe exactly what to do to clear out the old satellite date by performing the hard reset . Once the unit thinks it's back in Kansas City then I did the following;
3) Take a piece of 14 gauge wire, multi strand, use just one individual strand, cut all the others off, so the wire doesn't touch the outer part of the antenna input connector and short. This piece of wire will act as the external antenna.
4) Insert that single strand into the center of the GPS antenna input. ( I only used a 6" piece of wire and btw, the wire has the protective casing on it. I didn't use a bare wire)
5) touch the signal strength bar on the GPS to get you into the satellites screen.
6) For me, the bars immeadiately started coming up and then filled.
7) I took the small wire out and my unit continued to work with the flip up antenna. I suspect that once the unit reset = re-flashed the new satellite info. into the GPS. Things went back to normal.
8) Turned unit off and on a couple of times to verify. My unit continued to worked normally with the flip antenna.
9) Tested over the last several days. No indication of dropped satellites or lost coverage so far.
No Promises here. This just worked for me. I hope it works for you. There are a lot of unhappy owners out there.
Posted on Apr 18, 2009
Try this and see if it fixes your problem...first disable bluetooth then follow these steps.
1. Power off the unit.
2. HOLD down the power button and you will see "Pre Boot Mode" appear on the lower part of the display. KEEP HOLDING the power button down and the display will flicker, do this until the pre boot mode message disappears. This seems to take a long time (60 seconds at least).
3. Once the pre boot mode message disappears release the power button and your device will perform some activites to recover from the problem.
Posted on Jan 02, 2009
The nuiv 660 is the worse product Ihave ever purchased. For those whoe are thinking of buying a GPS research this product. It is the most unstable device I know. Considering I purchased it new and only less then 1 month down the track it starts crashing and doing completely what its not suppose to do it is not a good GPS to have. It is unreliable and you cant trust a system which freezes frequently and leave you helpless.
Posted on Nov 17, 2007
I had a problem with 2 separate Nuvi 660s not picking up satellites after various amounts of time. These units failed at different times. One stopped shortly after its purchase so it went back to the store. The other lasted a year and 4 months and quit. It had the exact same issue as the first. I called Garmin and explained my problem and worked with them through their exercises to try and revive it, to no avail. He then looked up my registration date and saw that it was 4 months past warranty. He then replied that it was only a few months over and that they would fix it free of charge. No need to argue or even tell him I had the same exact issue with a previous unit. He simply gave me an RMA number and the address. I think they know there are issues with these units and its not a software issue. I never had a chance to update the first unit before it failed (back in 07) and the last one lasted a month after the most recent software update (around August 08 I think). Maybe those that have the satellite tracking problem will find luck calling like I did!
Posted on Nov 11, 2008
Solution 9 posted by Mryman has worked for me, thanks. I applied the fix, ie I have DISABLED bluetooth and then reset the unit as follows:
"Try this and see if it fixes your problem...first disable bluetooth then follow these steps.
1. Power off the unit.
2. HOLD down the power button and you will see "Pre Boot Mode" appear on the lower part of the display. KEEP HOLDING the power button down and the display will flicker, do this until the pre boot mode message disappears. This seems to take a long time (60 seconds at least).
3. Once the pre boot mode message disappears release the power button and your device will perform some activites to recover from the problem."
Now this at least gives me a working satnav, BUT I can't use bluetooth, and that was one of the features I paid the extra money for when I purchased this unit. All I can say is that Garmin should fix this as it is obviously a software problem. Now I have the choice of having a satnav minus the BT or a very expensive paperweight. I think that Garmin should refund a proportion of the cost to all of us who have had this problem.
I have waited 2 months to post this as I have been testing the unit.
Posted on Mar 03, 2009
After going through the same problem and getting absolutely no satisfaction from Garmin, i created a temporary fix. It is my understanding that when the internal antenna goes bad that it seeks out the external antenna. Like most of you I just don't happen to carry one of those around on a regular basis. Not being able to quickly obtain one, I made one. I have no technical knowledge but looking at a picture of an external antenna I concluded that it was noting more than a wire. Take a small safety pin check to see if it goes into the small center hole on the external antenna jack found on the side of the flip up antenna. If it goes in but is a tad loose simply cut off a little of the point to get to the thicker part of the pin. To that solder about two feet of wire (thin telephone wire is what I used) to the head of the pin. I then folded some of the wire onto the pin and taped it to the pin to help prevent breakage. I found a very small plastic bag (such as a bag that buttons come in) an inserted the pin end of my new antenna and stuck it through the plastic bag for about an inch and a half. I stapled it into position through the bag. I then stuffed the remaining wire that I coiled into the bag and zipped it shut. I have a 1.25 " square bag sealed with an inch and a half wire with the pin on the end. I simply plug it into the center hole we discussed and I now have my satellite access back. I then rubber band this little gadget to the back side of the unit next to the flip up antenna. It works good. Although Garmin seems to have a good product, their customer support sucks canal water. They've been aware of this problem and for those of us that registered our units, they could have advised us with their recommendations. I am very disappointed in them and they should realize that it is this attitude that can destroy a business that was so hard to build. They should take a look at the auto industry. They got cocky also. Look where they are at. Hope this helps some of you.
***** Garren
Posted on Apr 24, 2009
I got the same problem, we were travelling to LA from SF and near Dublin (30) miles the unit dropped the connection. The unit failed to connect after that. Though we went to near Dublin area after few weeks and the unit connected but when we reached back to SF it failed to connect. Tried all of the above steps didn't work now returned it back to Garmin for repairs.
Posted on Aug 20, 2008
My 660 has been having the same problems. Bought an external antenna and connected it today (07 Apr 09). Seem the problem has gone away. Now I just have to deal with the extra hardware, which is no big deal.
Posted on Apr 07, 2009
Try with an external antenna and if it works, probably yes, then you have burn the circuit that detect the plug-in of an external antenna, so it will only work with an external antenna since it belive it is always connected.
Posted on Apr 14, 2009
To everyone having the satellite issue problems with the Garmin Nuvi 660 and any other issues with their GPS, go to http://www.sharc.net/gps_repair.htm if your unit is OUT OF WARRANTY. After doing research online and having this website info keep coming up from others, I went to it. I sent my GPS in to him and was amazed at how quickly the unit was repaired and sent back to me, not to mention how much $$ I saved over sending the unit to Garmin. I highly recommend this website to all of you.
Posted on Mar 09, 2009
I had a problem with my Nuvi 360 that it couldn't find the satellites. I couldn't solve the problem with resets or updated software, but a new, external antenna that plugs into the side of the folding antenna semms to have solved the problem. Available from Wireless Finest through Amazon.com - like $11.50. Great solution - can't beat the price.
Posted on Mar 03, 2009
I followed Solution #1 and all went according to plan until I took it outside, installed back on windshield and unit asked for my pin,
asked where to go and went to aquiring satalites for a split second with the outline of USA on screen and then went black, it turned off!
now what?
Posted on May 05, 2010
I read through everything after having the same problem. I tried the software updates & hard resets to no avail. I decided I needed to somehow create an external antenna. I actually just stuck a safety pin in the external antenna hole and started my garmin. I saw one bar where there had been none. I let it sit on the window sill and it actually found my location. I have since just inserted a piece of floral wire into the hole & wrapped it around the antenna bar a few times & let it stick up. I used about a 10 inch peace. It actually seems to give it enough signal to work. I plan on using this until I can pick up an external antenna for $10-15. It's better than buying a new one.
Posted on Mar 04, 2010
Good Day,My Gamin 260 loss satellite reception ' I did all the normal fixes described in the solutions above. It would work for a few minutes and then lose signal. Solution. I took it completely apart, there is a small cube 1"X1" that had filmed over on the back side across from the battery. I took some fine steel wool and cleaned off the film , made it shinny again. This solved the problem and I immediately got satellite reception inside my workshop.
Posted on Feb 11, 2010
I`ve had this when I 1st had the unit. The cure was to switch off my i-pod FM transmitter!! It can transmit on frequencies the Garmin does not like by electronically blocking out the satellite signals. If you use one of these things try switching it off for about 5 minutes and see if the sat nav then works.
Posted on Jan 12, 2009
If you`re garmin nuvi, especially the 660 (I`ve got one!!!!) loses its satellite link turn OFF any seperate FM transmitters you may have running, i.e. iPod transmitters. I`ve found certain FM frequencies block out the signal enough to fool the unit into thinking its in a long tunnel. Its own is fine though as it does not transmit on those frequencies. Hope this helps.
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My garmin is doing the same thing...
Posted on Aug 21, 2008
The solution from patssfan worked like a charm. First, I reset the unit as instructed after installing the new firmware. Then I inserted a narrow, two-foot length of wire into the external antenna adapter (Being careful not to touch the sides of the connector and only the middle part. This can be a bit of a juggling act with one end of the wire in my mouth!). Soon I was seeing multiple satellite bars in the display.
Then I shut the unit down and removed the wire. After bootup and a few minutes, the internal antenna was once again functioning normally. We'll see how long it lasts...
Posted on Aug 17, 2009
I have exactly the same with my Nuvi 660. The answer from Garmin was: "I recommend to do a master reset to clear any corrupt data that might be in the unit. 1. With the device off put your fingertip on the BOTTOM RIGHT hand corner of the TOUCHSCREEN and press down. 2. While pressing down on the screen go ahead and power the unit ON and continue pressing the screen until you see a message that says DO YOU REALLY WANT TO ERASE ALL USER DATA. 3. You will then click YES. 4. You will then go through the set up again and this will correct the issue. Once you have completed the reset please let the unit sit outside for about 15-30 standing still so that it can acquire satellites." This appeared to work at first, but did not take away the problem in the end. Strange enough it does not always happen, sometimes it is working fine. Sometimes it looses connection after 5 minutes and does not reconnect. I am currently thinking of adding an extra external antenna to solve the issue. Hope this helps.
Posted on Sep 25, 2007
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Usually answered in minutes!
i am having the exact same problem with my nuvi 660 and i paid a ton for it. i sure hope this master reset works.
i just did it and now it is outside. i will leave it there for about 20 to 30 mins and see what happens. crossing fingers.
thank you.
I have turned it off and restarted it, I have gone through all teh options that I can find to correct the problem and it is still frozen. This is frustrating. How do I reaquire the satellite?????
my nuvie takes a long time to pick up the satelites, and often delivers the wrong location, as well as turn by turn direction.The most irritating problem and most often consitent is the time it takes to locate the satelites and it also freezes way too often.
I have tried shutting it down , but that reverts to the save and original probelmm.
doe not pick up sattelite connection
My gsrmin nuvi 660 will not locate satellites.
Same problem... I've done a master reset twice. The first time it appeared to correct the issue for 30 minutes. I've sometimes had the unit pick up satellite signals when it's first turned on (and turning it off & on 20-50 times has worked when I've got a bored daughter in the back seat while I'm driving).
This did not happen at all with any of the old software versions (the most recent of which I believe I got around February), which meant I got many months of use from what I thought was an excellent GPS. Since I updated in June I've had a functional GPS less than 10 hours total.
While taking a trip, my Garmin 660 will freeze and stop working. Then it wil say locating satellite but will not get satellite reception. Unit will stay froze on locating satellite.
My nuvi 660 is also loosing satellite mid trip. this did not happen until i took the latest software update. there are no directions to back out the update. this is very undependable unit. can anyone help?
My Garmin nuvi 660 started to display intermittent loss of satellite signal after about 14 months. I live in Southampton where Garmin have their UK headquarters and I am appalled at the way they treat their customers. I purchased this unit for UK£400 because of its rich feature list and so called lifetime traffic updates. The traffic updates hardly ever work, they are absolutely ****. The problem with signal loss has become more and more frequent and I have been researching a fix on many GPS websites. I have even backed up the unit and reformatted the internal memory and then re-installed the software but I can't repair the unit. Sometimes it will give me a signal and then, more often than not, it will lose it. I am very frustrated because a GPS unit needs to be reliable, its really annoying when it packs up in the middle of a journey. Garmin refused to look into the problem unless I paid them UK£130, and I have heard that they just send out a reconditioned unit, well the new Garmin nuvi 770 costs only UK£160 now, but I will never ever buy another Garmin product, its not fit for purpose and, if all the articles I have read on this problem are true, then this is a major fault and Garmin should replace all affected units shipped. I can't offer any bright solutions as I am convinced that there aren't any fixes that work (and I've tried themall), the unit is just not up to the job, it does not do what it says on the box, Ronseal it definitely ain't.
A very disgruntled ex-Garmin customer.
Don't buy a Garmin.
same issue here, had it for 14 months, and 14 months seems to be a common time for failure, did they program this **** to fail 2 months after the warranty period to dig extra cash? Garmin product = jokes, $600 USD wasted, had I bought a $200 GPS unit that time, it would still be working.
same issue here, had it for 14 months, and 14 months seems to be a
common time for failure, did they program this **** to fail 2 months
after the warranty period to dig extra cash? Garmin product = jokes,
$600 USD wasted, had I bought a $200 GPS unit that time, it would
still be working.
can not locate satellite problem, loses satellite or poor satellite reception
My Garmin 660 worked perfectly for about 17 months. I then updated the maps and the software and have had problems ever since with it not being able to acquire the satellites. After calling in to Support which took forever, I got a very helpful person who explained to me how to do a Master reset. This resolved the problem for two months. It now seems unresponsive to the master resets. Very disappointing! I can't help wondering if I would be having problems if I had never updated the maps and/or software. Most people seem to have the problem after aapproximately 14 months. Are they also updating before the problems start?
Same issues as stated by others. When I contacted Garmin the only answer they would give me was send it back and they would repair it for $175. I believe the cause was their firmware upgrade. Garmin is not a company whoose product I would buy again.
3 months old and froze in exactly the same way! Does not attempt now to aquire satellite signal.
nuvi cant get sat
When i turn on my Garmin and try to get directions, find a location or mark an address it either takes forever if it ever does even find a signal!! Please help!
Me too. Bought it when it first came out and it just stopped finding sat. Tried upgrading the software, did hard reset, and nothing worked. Has anyone figured out a fix yet?
Me too. Same problem, any fix yet?
Suddenly I had no satellite signal for my Nuvi. It does not access any signal though it seems to be trying.
What to do??
I did what bevdel blogged here and it seems to work for now. except my favorites where there and did not have to paste them back.
I PURCHASED THE 660 IN DECEMBER 2006. WORKED PERFECT UNTIL 8 WEEKS AGO WHEN IT PRESENTED THE SAME ISSUE AS DESCRIBED BY ALL OF YOU. STARTS AND AFTER 15 -20 MINUTES IS LOOSING THE SATELLITE CONNECTION. CALLED GARMIN, DID A MASTER DUMP AND RESET. DID NOT HELP. THEY WILL REPLACE IT FOR A REMANUFACTURED UNIT FOR $220. THIS IS RIDICULOUS AS A NEW 760 COULD BE PURCHSED FOR $285.
DEFINITELY THE 660 HAS/HAD A BUG WHICH GARMIN WAS NOT ABLE TO FIX IT.
same problem, unfortunately out of warranty so they want $225 to fix it. Paid full price of $800 for it, am very dissatisfied with the poor service and unreliability (2 of the 660s did this).
Has anyone been successful repairing them locally? I hate giving any more money to Garmin. Did everything to download new info and reboot according to their instructions, this unit will not find satelites. connecting a wire to it did not seem to help.
My Garmin Nuvi 660 came with the pre-owner of my car. The thing is a few months old. The first trouble was on a trip to my customer and it lost track of the satellite's. Reset didn't bring much. I tried to find any clues on the web but all have the same problems. I updated it, thinking it would help track the satellites better (i see them move in the screen!!! BUT NO LOCK). It repeats asking if I am inside somewhere which I am not. I am in an open field. But I am in The Netherlands NOT the UK!! I asked Garmin but they do not reply. Way to go fellows !!
I have the identical issue that has been described, yet it did not begin until nearly ten months into my ownership. I updated my unit three times with no issue, purchased traffic, and did a map update, and shortly thereafter the unit had issues tracking satellites. This is the fourteenth month of owning this Nuvi 660, and I have logged nearly 35K miles with it, now it is merely a silver paperweight. Thankfully, I purchased Best Buy's extended warranty with my unit, (I would URGE everyone to always purchase the extended warranty!), and if my discourse with Garmin does not prove successful, I will send it in to BB for a full refund of the original retail price. I got this until for half off retail, so my paperweight only cost me $400. This really is not entirely an issue with Garmin, as we also have another Nuvi 660, 2 Streetpilot units and all of these are working just fine. Each of the aforementioned units have over a year of ownership/use. Many of the people I know have also purchased Garmin GPS products that have worked with no problem at all. I highly recommended Garmin, primarily due to the fact, that, unlike most GPS manufacturers, they actually have a call center INSIDE the United States! Nearly all of my customer service experience(s), and those of my acquaintances with Garmin have yielded a satisfactory result. I would not lose faith in this company over one poor experience with their product(s), if we all did that, most cellular service providers, internet/multimedia/cable/satellite service providers, and landline phone service providers would be out of business!
I've had the same experience. I've worked through the knowledge base on the Garmin website and taken the unit to a local repair shop, here in Toronto. The best they can offer me is a refurb unit from Garmin Canada at a cost of $305.00
Very, very disappointing for a piece of technology only 14 months old....
I have 2ea. 660 less then two years old. Both seem unable to read the satellite's and no mater how many updates or master resets are done these things just don't work... I have spoken to Garmin about this and like all of the rest of the people on this sit I was given the same line... I have used Garmin products in my airplane over the years with no problems. This is just a product that is junk!!!! I have almost $1000,00 invested between the two GPS and both are broken and not worth the money Garmin wants to fix them.
doesn't matter if you register with garmin, they still want $200 to fix this problem. This just happened to me today and when called Garmin, they want me to send it in with $200. What a freaking ripoff. Garmin sucks...........
The same problem. After last update, or in the last month I start having continuos looses of gps signal. I open it and it is not a machanical problem or flat bad contact.
My Garmin Nuvi 660 constantly loses satelite reception, but always seems to find it again. It does this over and over, again. I have owned this unit (bought new) since late August of 2007. The problem started in November of 2008 and has progressively gotten worse. Any solutions?
Thanks,
Frustrated Garmin Customer
lost satelite
When I attempt to go somewhere, the Garmin Nuvi freezes on the map, and it says "Acquiring Satellites" The map is stuck in the last location I had it. How can I fix this?
stuck on acquiering satalites
Driving along motorway when my 660 lost satellite signal, it then recovered for a few seconds and then lost signal completely. I have not been able to solve the problem with software updates. Have now contacted Garmin for support.
If you carefully place two wires into the external antenna socket (I used a bit of old British Telecom telephone wire) One on the ground connection and one in the small centre connection and ensure the two do not touch each other. Walk out into a clear place and see if the unit picks up any signal, It may take a few minutes to work. If it picks up more than four individual satellites your doing well. This does not solve the problem but in does indicate that the internal antenna is the cause of the problem and not a software issue.
Same as everyone else mentions. Works for a few minutes, then tries to locate satellite. Now it won't work at all. Can't seem to find anything!
None of these suggestions has worked for me.
Dear All;
I have Garmin 205 I have bought theree weeks ago. Since yesterday it can not find any satelitte at all. It is really useless device now. I did master reset but it didnt work. I think I wasted 400$ in Singapore for this device. my friend has a chinese Shinco which is much cheaper but it is really work well.
same here
I have the same problem. It started freezing after a few minutes of satellite connection. That went on for awhile and now it won't find the satellites at any time. Reseting it doesn't work. Garmin wants $110 for repair. I am thinking no.
I am in the middle of nowhere in florida and my garmin 660 is still stock in philadelphia, for some reason the unit still tells me I need to drive 999 miles to get here when i am already in florida, any help.
I've heard and read that "losing satellite connection" is very, very common with this generation of NUVI products. It seems to be a fault in the hinge mechanism in the antenna.
I solved the problem by purchasing an external antenna off eBay for around $10
It adds to the wires and clutter on my dashboard, but will suffice until I decide to invest in a newer model.
Unfortunately, Garmin does NOT offer a fix for this. Their authorized repair centers will replace the unit with a refurb....not worth the cost though. Shame on Garmin to ignore an issue of this magnitude.
GARMIN: your product is simply ****. I will never buy garmin again
Just some more info.... using the external antenna, STILL uses the internal antenna flex cable. The flex cable carries the DC from the main board to power the flip up antenna AND/OR external antenna. It also provides the data signals from the GPS receiver back to the main board, so the theory of a bad flex cable is incorrect. if your unit works with the external antenna, your flex cable is OK. Trust me, I know the REAL cause of the antenna failures.... - Jim SHARCNET-USA
This problem is not caused by the antenna flex cable. Having repaired many of these units, It's caused by a defective antenna / GPS receiver board. This problem can be fixed for far less that the manufacturers quote. Please see this link for more info.
http://www.sharc.net/gps_antenna_repair....
I've replaced my Garmin Nuvi twice for this reason. I won't buy another one. I think it occurs when the unit is plugged in to the car accessory plug. Starting car sends a spike to the unit, causing the failure.
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