UKC Forums - Help! Garmin Alpha locking up/crashing!

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-- Help! Garmin Alpha locking up/crashing! (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.php?threadid=928381469)

Posted by deadeye ruck on 07-05-2014 05:02 PM:

UPDATE- -Help! Garmin Alpha locking up/crashing!

I just purchased a BRAND NEW alpha/tt10 combo. I updated the collar and handheld when I received it. (handheld version 3.20). I purchased a 32gb memory card and have loaded about 4gb of Birdseye images onto it. I took it hunting for the very first time last night. After about 45 minutes of hunting I scrolling through the map and it locked up. The screen faded and I pressed the power button to restart the system. After it powered up it seemed to pick up where it left off. It ended up doing this around 6 times before the night was up. Sometimes it would crash and I would restart it. It would then crash again 2-3 times during the startup before actually functioning again correctly. This was getting frustrating considering the dog I was hunting was working towards a highway. Just for the record I was only tracking one dog and I used the tone/stim buttons a few times throughout the hunt.

This morning I did a master reset hoping it would fix the problem. I managed to get it to lock up again toggling between the map and compass page and pressing the tone button.

HELP!! I know I'm not the only one with this problem. Let your voice be heard!

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Posted by Rocketman55 on 07-05-2014 05:36 PM:

Mine did that when I purchased it also. I found my problem to be that my birdseye files were too large. I had to delete my existing files and make sure when I reloaded them that they didn't exceed 225 mb per file. When I did that my problem went away. Good Luck.

P.S. Keep in mind when you are downloading your bird eye files, that when you first capture an area to down load you will notice that your computer screen will tell you the (estimated) size of the file. After the computer finishes the download it will then tell you the (actual) size of the down load. The actual size is what needs to be somewhere near 225 to 250 MB.

Another thing I noticed was that the estimated size of my download was always smaller that what the actual size of the download ended up being.

Again that is what I had to do to fix mine.

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Posted by Ron Jackson on 07-05-2014 11:53 PM:

make sure you are directing your birdseye files to the added SD card and not the Alpha internal

Posted by deadeye ruck on 07-06-2014 12:54 AM:

thanks for the suggestions guys!

Rocketman- I will look into that. I have downloaded quite a bit of the Birdseye images to the "maximum" size that you are allowed in basecamp. I have a little of everything from highest down to standard but am far from filling up the actual card. Of course each Birdseye section is as large as it would allow me to download at one time.

Ron- all of my Birdseye is stored on the SD card. just not much room on the internal memory since it comes loaded with the 100k Topo

just a quick disclaimer- I am very tech savvy so fire away!

Posted by Rocketman55 on 07-06-2014 05:48 PM:

DeadEye, I did that exact same thing and had to go back and reduce the size of each file.

Garmin tek also told me that a little over 200 individual files is about all that you can put on to your garmin, regardless of the size of your SD card.

Hope this helps you, good luck, I think you will like it once you get that bug worked out. I know I like mine now, but was about ready to throw it in the dumpster the first couple weeks while working out that issue.

Posted by seth isch on 07-06-2014 10:55 PM:

Alpha

I'm on handheld number 6. If I take the sd card out it works fine. With the sd card in it may shut off 4-6 times a night.. Screen locks up fades and shuts off.. I have to restart it by pushing the power button. Sometimes it won't turn on for awhile. Seth

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Posted by deadeye ruck on 07-07-2014 12:20 AM:

Seth-

That is precisely what mine is doing. Sometimes it takes 2-3 restarts before it actually fires up. I haven't tried mine without the SD card.

Simon

Posted by BlueTickNC on 07-07-2014 06:46 PM:

Had mine lock up one night cut off and didn't even have the dog on there I was tracking but I done a master reset knock on wood hasn't happened anymore

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Posted by buckmaster27012 on 07-08-2014 12:47 PM:

guy i talk to alot of downloading the birdseye says just to do it to the unit alpha or 320. maybe bruce can chime in on his opinion i've been told they have plenty of memory to put as much as u want on them.

Posted by seth isch on 07-08-2014 04:47 PM:

Simon

Hey simon, we're not the only ones!! I've had several guys tell me the same thing is happening with they're alpha. Seth

Posted by on 07-08-2014 04:55 PM:

From what is being said the SD card is the straw that is breaking the camels back. First thing I would check is how much unwanted or not needed tracks do you perhaps on your ALPHA. Tracks, both dogs and yours can get stored in several locations and should be cleared out if your not using them.
I would try getting smaller cards and storing smaller amounts of information on them and swap out deepening on what area your hunting.

Posted by deadeye ruck on 07-08-2014 05:16 PM:

I did a master reset on my alpha followed by updating it to the newest software (3.20). I deleted everything off the handheld except for the factory 100k topo. I downloaded small chunks of Birdseye images (all less than 220mb actual size) as advised by Rocketman. I transferred about 2gb of Birdseye images to my SanDisk 32gb microsd card which equates to about 15 files total .My alpha had no tracks on it when I just fired it up after the reset. The alpha handheld internal memory only contains the 100k topo and any tracks (which there are none except what was generated when I powered it back on)

It worked fine for roughly 10 minutes then I managed to get it to lock again after toggling between map and compass screens and pressing the training button (tone specifically) on and off. I was purposely trying to "confuse" it or load up the physical memory to see if it would lock. The screen locks and fades out. I then restart the handheld and am back where I left off.

One very interesting observation - after restarting from the first crash, I went to setup>map>advanced setup > zoom levels. There were some CRAZY things listed there and they were not distances. Instead there were characters I did not understand, foreign countries and places listed (like mount McKinley , Ghana) in each one of the 4 choices. I changed each one to a distance and have since gotten it to lock up once more but this time it did not change those zoom level settings. It was bizarre! I really wish I had taken a picture of the screen but unfortunately I didn't. I haven't been able to find anything else out of the ordinary though.

I appreciate your help. I have a smaller sd card I can try later today or tomorrow. It's frustrating for sure - I really like it when it works properly!

Posted by deadeye ruck on 07-09-2014 08:23 PM:

A quick update. I removed my 32gb microsd card and replaced it with a 16gb microsd card to see if it would fix the problem. I reloaded 3gb of Birdseye to the new card. It worked fine for about 30 minutes then crashed. I restarted it. After letting it stay powered on while I was driving down the road (creating a track for myself) I picked it up, and "woke" it up and it locked again upon waking. I did manipulate the map a few times along the way and it worked fine during those instances. It's getting a little aggravating since it's brand spanking new. I may call Garmin but I'm concerned they will send me a refurbished one when mine is new...

Posted by Bolden1 on 07-10-2014 02:17 AM:

The thing

I don't understand is bout four years ago a guy that worked for Garmin told me that sometimes using a shocker would interfere with with the Garmin. So I'm scared to buy the alfhA because of that. They may have fix the issue but I think I'll wait a bit

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Posted by deadeye ruck on 07-17-2014 04:55 PM:

UPDATE-

I called Garmin this morning regarding the issue of my Alpha locking up. The technician I spoke with asked me to make sure I had the most recent update installed (which I did). She replied, "That's very strange, I've never heard of this." Seems to be a common reply by Garmin techs regarding this problem.

She went away and when she came back she had a solution for me- I know this sounds strange but we'll see.
1. Remove battery from Alpha
2. Plug charger into back of Alpha
3. Replace battery in Alpha while still being charged
4. Allow unit to charge for ~5 hours and retry.

She said this was the solution for quite a few folks who had dealt with this issue. I followed her instructions and hopefully it will resolve it. Somehow it's supposed to reset the electrical system. It goes without saying that I am rather pessimistic that this will solve the problem but I wanted to share my experiences with you to help you all who share a similar issue. I'll keep you updated.

Simon

Posted by Rocketman55 on 07-17-2014 07:22 PM:

Thanks for keeping us updated

Posted by deadeye ruck on 07-17-2014 11:59 PM:

It might be too early to say but I think it actually may have fixed it. I'm going to use it tonight to see.

Posted by walkerhound17 on 07-19-2014 10:20 AM:

It's the Birdseye that causes the problem.

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Posted by deadeye ruck on 07-19-2014 03:09 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by walkerhound17
It's the Birdseye that causes the problem.

I don't think so.

I used my Alpha all afternoon and during the hunt on Thursday. It did lock up once later that night but nothing like it was doing earlier. It fired up much quicker after restarting also.

I don't know that the issue is 100% resolved but I will say it behaved infinitely better than it did prior to following Garmin's instructions. To actually be able to use it and hunt with it was a vast improvement in itself.

I will keep you all updated. Has anyone else had any luck removing the battery and plugging it into power source then replacing battery as I described above?

Posted by walkerhound17 on 07-19-2014 03:30 PM:

Yours is doing something diff. Then several of us that have the Birdseye if we navigate fast from dog list to map and back and forth quickly then it will power off. Remove the Birdseye and it dosent do that. Your problem sounds differant then ours .

Posted by deadeye ruck on 08-01-2014 02:45 PM:

Have you ever seen anything like this? I took this picture of an Astro 320 that was doing something very similar. This is the same thing my Alpha was doing when it would lock up and crash.

On the Astro 320- From the map screen>menu>setup map>advanced map setup>zoom levels and I would get all of this crazy stuff as shown in the picture. My handheld would then lock up and I would have to remove the batteries to reset it.

We did a master reset of the 320handheld and when I checked the zoom levels, more crazy things were showing. When I went to change each one manually it locks up again

Any suggestions?

Posted by Emily on 08-01-2014 03:58 PM:

I'm not tech savvy, and this only happened to me once, but one time I turned on the couple week old Alpha and the handheld had my dog in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! I did some random button pushing, zeroed in on the location I was actually at, turned the handheld on and off a couple of times, and we were back where we belonged. I have no idea what happened and why, but it sure was a surprise to find out I was hunting whales! I hadn't added on anything, reset anything, downloaded anything or anything else that required my active involvement.
Different problem, but I still put the old Marshall collar on with the Alpha to make sure I don't lose my hound. I had no idea that the Pacific Ocean was preloaded on my Garmin, and am not sure why they would bother taking up memory with maps of places no dog can 'hunt. Made no sense to me.

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