Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Trying to Get my Garmin Fixed in Chennai

As I posted, my Garmin went Kaput few days back and I am trying disparately to get it fixed before Singapore Marathon (Dec 7, 2008). I did some digging around and found that there is a Garmin dealer right here in Chennai and they sell Garmin Forerunner 305 for INR 16,500 + taxes. That's the good part of the story.. the bad part is that they don't 'service' units bought abroad. But I haven't given up.. after much persuasion, I have been asked to call on Thursday to 'find out' if they will service the unit bought abroad. so keeping my fingers crossed.

I also tried another route.. sent a mail thru Garmin support forum and got a reply within 48 hours with some instructions to reset the device. Unfortunately that didn't work.. I am putting it down here.. as it might help someone somewhere..

My Question: My Garmin Forerunner 305 wouldn't 'turn on' anymore.. The display is
completely blank.. and the Unit is only 18 months old..

Response from Garmin
Thank you for contacting Garmin International.

I would recommend doing a reset on the unit:

TO RESET YOUR UNIT:
  1. Remove or disconnect the unit from any power source.
  2. Press and hold the MODE and LAP/RESET buttons at the same time for atleast 10 seconds, and then release both buttons.
  3. The unit powers down. You may not see or hear anything when this happens.
  4. Turn the unit back on. The unit powers on normally.
If the unit does not respond, you can perform a master reset.

PERFORMING A MASTER RESET
WARNING: All of your history and preferences will be erased during a master reset. If you want to save your history, you can transfer it to your computer using Training Center software before performing the master reset.

If you want to save your history, and you have not installed Training Center or you need help transferring your history, refer to the instructions in Parts 1 and 2.

If you do not want to save your history, go to Part 3.

PART 1: IF YOU DO NOT HAVE TRAINING CENTER INSTALLED:
  1. Exit any open or running programs.
  2. Go to: http://www.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=999-99999-04
  3. Click DOWNLOAD next to ?Training Center For Windows? or ?Training Center For Mac,? and verify that your computer meets the system requirements.
  4. Click DOWNLOAD, and save the file to your desktop.
  5. When the download is complete, click CLOSE to exit the Download dialog box.
  6. Close the browser window.
  7. On your desktop, double-click the downloaded file, and then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

PART 2: TO TRANSFER YOUR HISTORY TO TRAINING CENTER:
  1. Connect your device to the computer using the USB cable.
  2. Open Training Center. (If this is the first time you?ve opened Training Center, a message appears explaining that because it is your first time using the program, your device must be added to Garmin Training Center. a. Click OK to close the message. A dialog box appears requesting your user name. b. Type a user name, and then click OK. Training Center opens. NOTE: After the first time, you can open Garmin Training Center without connecting your device to your computer.)
  3. On the FILE menu, click RECEIVE FROM DEVICE. The transfer process begins. (NOTE: If you changed your user profile in Training Center or your device since the last time you transferred data, you will need to select a user profile (Account) before continuing.)
  4. When the transfer is complete, click OK.

PART 3: TO PERFORM A MASTER RESET:

  1. Remove or disconnect the unit from any power source, and then turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the MODE button, and then press the POWER button to turn the unit on.
  3. When you see the message asking if you want to erase all user data, select YES, and then press ENTER. The unit will turn off and turn back on again.
  4. Reset your preferences.

3 comments:

  1. Maybe a bit off topic... does Garmin or smililar GPS systems work well for Chennai? Do they even have good mapping for chennai for GPS systems? any insight and recommendations on navigators that work well for India.. atleast he metropolitans will be helpful..

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  2. AV
    Yes.. Garmin did work well for me... and the overall GPS thing is catching up in India.. several mobile phone companies are starting to offer..

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  3. Thanks! I will check some of them out. Do share if you have a specific provider you like.

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