A Job Lot of Faulty GARMIN Satellite Navigations - Can They be FIXED?

[@Karthor.]

at 5:55 the ceramic thing is the GPS antenna

[@therealjammit]

On the ones that are locked with a PIN you might be able to confuse it enough to want a full update. If you short a couple of data pins of the RAM chip together and try to boot it, the CPU will think there's a software issue and go into a default programming mode. While it's still on remove the shorts and plug it into a computer and check for Garmin updates. The update might just "blow" everything off the GPS and reinstall the factory defaults from scratch.

[@denniswoycheshen]

That worked for an Android box I messed up. Sorta. There may just be a couple pads that need to be shorted to erase the user data. Getting it working again would be a challenge and I am sure garmin isn't into supporting these devices.

[@KB1UIF]

Vince, the square block on the back is the GPS Module/Antenna. If you look up GPS modules for Arduino etc you will see similar units.

[@aussiebob1315]

spot on... all my gps drones have the same thing

[@beefchicken]

A microstrip patch antenna. If it were made using air as the dielectric, it would need to be 10cm x 10cm, but with a ceramic like zinc titanate or zinc aluminate, the size can be reduced significantly.

[@MothKeeper]

BEEFGOOSE.

[@HoRnEyDvL]

Vince for these type of repairs I suggest using hot air. Prep the pads with fresh solder then use hot air from underside of board till solder melts and attach port.

[@AnonymousRepair]

This bring back a lot of memories, Used to do a lot of these, To remove the shield you just need to remove the GPS antenna ( the thing that looks like a heatsink) just unsolder the center pin,The USB port was always the main fault, Good job as always 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@Mymatevince]

Thank you AR 👍👍👍👍

[@ovalwingnut]

Good work Mr. V. Once again you have guided me to the destination of inner joy.

[@richiefearn4214]

I still use my garmin nuvi and I updated it the other day so updates are still going ,great video 👍👍

[@quantumleap359]

Good job Vince. The damaged USB ports are precisely why I tell my grandkids to be so careful and not put strain on the USB plug while charging. They are not very rugged as your video indicates. Be safe, great video.

[@abdulhkeem.alhadhrami]

Always nice to watch Vince fixing a new type of devices!

[@ex90ranger30]

having maintained several Nuvi units over the years for a fleet, that symbol you are seeing on the screen is the unit thinking you plugged it into a computer and it is searching for the management software. if you plug a "power only" usb cable into them they should boot right up. or alternatively if you let them sit there for a couple minutes they will time out and come up.

[@ianlacey8323]

Does the same in the car if you use a USB socket adapter into the 12v socket and then plug a USB cable from it to the Garmin.You have to use the official charger or a power only cable as stated 👍

[@davethornewell7417]

I agree, the car power cable has a cigarette lighter plug on one end, and no data connections, but the PC lead that you are using has the data connections, so the Garmin boots into update mode as a result

[@ianlacey8323]

I think you can/could also buy Garmin mains chargers that work the same as a car charger.I bought a travel pack cheap when Comet(remember them ?) closed down that had the necessary bits in.

[@ray73864]

My official Garmin Nuvi GPS charger (with the cigarette lighter plug) has all pins present inside the end that plugs into the unit, exactly the same as the regular USB cable that came with it to plug it into a PC. And mine doesn't boot up looking for a computer when I turn the car on. My unit is also quite a few years old now (around 8 to 9yrs old). Still receives regular updates too :)

[@davethornewell7417]

@@ray73864 The cigarette lighter end will only have the power connections, the data leads are not connected, that is why you don't get an update symbol in the car

[@kyle2778]

Great vid yet again Vince! Love how you attempt to fix more than what's popular. Never thought I'd watch a 40 minute video about broken GPS units lol. Cheers!

[@nicknackthenoo]

Also, when you are using your air desolderer, try covering the plastic/other components with Kapton Tape, saves a lot of damage.

[@electronJarvs]

Wonder if you could dump the eemc of a non pin locked one and flash a locked one to unlock it? Also wonder if you could find the pin in the emmc assuming it's not encrypted

[@zaprodk]

I once unlocked a Nüvi with a TSOP flash chip. I carefully shorted some of the data/adress lines at bootup that made the Nüvi go into bootloader mode, from there i could reflash it from the computer and it came back unlocked.

[@daz41262010]

great start to 2022 Vince with 6 out of 9 Garmin's working again :)

[@TheCod3r]

Ehhh first a Stevey stream scheduled and now a Vincey video. What a way to start the year 😁

[@CroiX_RO]

Hi Vince, for the ones with the pin, is a 4 digit pin and you will need a "Brute force PIN code finder" in order to "hack" them, because there is no limit in pin entering :), you have only values from 0000 to 9999.

[@grahamroberts1833]

Hi @CroiX I have always been interested in the concept of these, so would the Garmin need to be attached to a PC running the brute force pin code finder and run it like how you would see in something like Terminator 2 or a hacking film?

[@CroiX_RO]

@@grahamroberts1833 No need to be attached to the computer. You will need some servo motors and an Arduino and pencil to type the codes from 0000 to 9999 until one of them will work. The challenge is to catch the code that is correct when is entered so you can use it to remove it afterwards from the soft.

[@electronJarvs]

@@CroiX_RO I did wonder if you could just brute force since it looks like no limit on attempts.

[@CroiX_RO]

​@@electronJarvs via software ? Software i don't know if something exist at this moment :)

[@grahamroberts1833]

@@CroiX_RO Interestingly someone has uploaded a video of someone doing that about 10 years ago. It also has a piece of code that tells you which one worked (I think).

[@awnordma]

Garmin uses a proprietary option on the the mini USB. There's a 5th pins that when there's a resister to ground it will trigger charge mode, with out it it will stay in data mode.

[@ArreglandoCosas]

Hi Vince! you need a proper Garmin car charger in order for them to run out of power. A normal usb (data or only charge) will set it to transfer mode. We still use those on my company due to the simplicity to send waypoints and routes

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

If I remember right, in the car charger cable the data pins are shorted together. This might be what tells the Garmin that it's not connected to a computer. I'm not 100% certain of that but it would make sense since theres very little current on those wires

[@drjohn5407]

I like and enjoy your style of presentation- great work!

[@jasonbucy]

Hey Vince! I work for a yacht brokerage and we are a Gamin dealer. I have access to most programming software from Garmin. We mainly just program AIS and VHF radios but I can ask my rep for the gps module software if you want it.

[@Lol5967]

I have a TomTom XL that was picked out of a recycling bin. The touchscreen stopped working but I put pressure on the screen and it started working sometimes.

[@CTCTraining1]

As I’m old I can remember a time in the 80’s when a large proportion of car break in’s were to pinch the sat nags and the police+government lent on the manufacturers to make theft more difficult... hence a lot of e-waste in years to come. All of these tech measures should come with some sort of statute of limitations or escrow approach that allows them to be fully reused even if it means they need to go through some trusted wiping process. Well done Vince, great start to the new year! 👍😀

[@Fifury161]

Sadly there is no way to determine legitimate use though. Similar problem with phones, it results in a lot of e-waste. Just imagine how many Google or Apple locked devices there are out there!

[@SidneyCritic]

@@Fifury161 It's very convoluted, but you can clear Android phones. Apple phones get blacklisted, but someone said it's with the provider, and that they can un-blacklist them if you can talk them into it, ie, it's not easy.

[@GHOSTMARIO64]

Thay had sat nav’s in the 80’s ?

[@THEMASTER10121]

@MINI DIVA no

[@TheBotleyBoy]

@@GHOSTMARIO64 Expensive cars had navigation systems as early as '81, but as far as I can tell, they weren't using satellites to determine location. The first true GPS device for a car went on sale in '89. So, short answer: yes, they did.

[@elvinchong8607]

You can look at the scratches or worn marks on the display for possible numeric values that you can test.

[@dinosaur6756]

I do that at my delivery job for gate codes. There's usually 3 or 4 dirty and worn number keys/buttons and I can figure it out in a couple of attempts. They rarely if ever change the codes.

[@timballam3675]

Never clean the screen before you are in. 😁

[@dylansarna8750]

@MINI DIVA shut up

[@ryuken7129]

@MINI DIVA worst ever video for you to spam your nonsense

[@mandragor85]

yeah was going to say the same thing :)

[@Kwstr42]

did you try the pysical reset button on the left under the sticker? the nuvi i have shows it labeled on the sticker itself

[@kikihobbyrepair]

Nice video Vince! The ceramic cube on the metal shield is actually the GPS antenna :)

[@ryuken7129]

@MINI DIVA jog on

[@pileofstuff]

@@ryuken7129 It's a waste of time to reply to the spam bots - just report them to youtube and hope they eventually get nuked.

[@MFSE7EN]

I think you would've been able to just try the PINs, i know it's time consuming, but there are excel spreadsheets that have all possible combinations for 4 digit pins sorted by their popularity. They worked pretty well for me a couple times already.. 🙂

[@christopherdecorte1599]

Common pins for those devices I found are 0000,1111,2580,0852,1234 these are very commonly used. And look for areas on touch screen for heavier wear patterns that correlate to the numeric pad that helps also.

[@TechGorilla1987]

My old Garmin Nuvi just lead us from Pennsylvania to Myrtle beach and back without issue. I can update maps on it regularly. My sat/nav in our Lexus (2008) has been updated only once since 2008 and the maps are crap. Often you're driving over land . The Garmin Nuvi has no worries at all.

[@CannibalShadow]

Let's getting those 1 million followers this year vince!

[@markdjdeenix6846]

Happy new year Vince .good video

[@markdjdeenix6846]

You should contact Garmin about the other 3 !you bought them in good faith and have a receipt.

[@sjm4306]

I always see these at the local thrift store for dirt cheap, I guess everyone just uses their phone nowadays. A good source for lcds with resistive touch panels I guess (I would say batteries, but given their age and harsh environment chances are the lipos are well cooked by now).

[@dlarge6502]

Na, never will use a tiny phone for navigation. Nice big satnav with proper maps.

[@sjm4306]

I use my phone linked to my entertainment console in my car, best of both worlds. Always up to date, 5g internet, voice control, and even real time weather/traffic updates. Even rerouting around upcoming accidents and speed traps is about as seamless as I can expect.

[@rich_edwards79]

Agreed but you have to be careful using a phone for navigation and stick to voice control, if plod catch you tapping the screen they can have you for mobile phone use while driving (and you just know they're petty enough to drag you through the courts for it too, what with all crime in this country having been solved and all.)

[@Dj-zx8kc]

Hi Vince some of these you could hard reset by holding finger on bottom right of screen then power up should bring up prompt to erase data hope this help

[@garymetheringham4990]

The ones with the picture of computer when powered is because you have a data cable plugged in, swap it for a power only cable.

[@chiptenorio4498]

I hated these Garmin units for requiring their proprietary cables.

[@catcam]

Great win again !!! All best from Croatia !

[@dimitrismaster]

Vince I'd like to ask what overhead camera mount you use for the videos. Thnx mate.

[@aquatics117]

Vince what do you use to remove the fumes?

[@radius.indrawan]

awesome repair. hope there will be following video for solving those 3 that ask for PIN. 😃

[@pherman8852]

I had one of these in the 2010-2015s. It got stolen out of my car. I hope it was pin locked😀 Nice fixes Vince

[@twin_o7m.730]

Happy New Year! 🎆 Vince & Family ❤️

[@mch2007uk]

What flux are you using, vince?

[@621ELECTRONICS]

I still use Garmin Nuvi GPS unit's all the time (have a few different models), I much prefer them over my phone.

[@mysteriousghost4852]

Most of these GPS units are running Windows CE, so I wonder if you can re-flash the pin locked ones with a PC?

[@GoodwinsPlace]

Good work Vince, not a bad result in getting them working. I managed to sell some pre-covid with US maps on them as people going on holiday to Florida etc were buying them to save using their data roaming when overseas. Other than that some Garmin's are waterproof (probably not after being opened) and are good for motorbikes - I need a waterproof one myself for the bike.

[@michael1]

But motorbikes aren't waterproof...

[@GoodwinsPlace]

@@michael1 🤔

[@povilasstaniulis9484]

Broken USB ports were extremely common on satnavs due to them being mishandled in cars. Satnavs are still useful for basic navigation, provided you can get map updates. It would be fun to try to unlock those PIN'ed ones, I bet shorting a couple pins on the flash chip would enable some sort of recovery mode in the SoC.

[@therandomman2971]

My bet is there is a workarround or someone on ebay bypassing them

[@HA05GER]

I think because people wrap the cable round and. Bung in the glovebox.

[@andrasszabo7386]

That computer signal means that it is thinking that it is connected to a computer because it is not the original charger you are using. The original charger uses resistors between the power and data lines to detect the charger.

[@Mobin92]

Devices that use proprietary cables deserve to be thrown into the garbage!

[@andrasszabo7386]

@@Mobin92 how would you like it if your device vas stolen just because it can be used with ANY charger? And anyway, smartphones use almost the same technology to determine how fast can they charge with the charger plugged into them. And anyway, it is easy to replicate the cable it needs. Or at least for me and Vince it is.

[@MrSleepProductionsInc]

If I remember right, to do a hard reset touch and hold bottom right corner and power on switch at the same time until you get a prompt. Then it gives option of deleting all user data.

[@jinxnatorx]

Very nicely done Vince ☺️ and also happy new year to you and your family and see you next year as the saying goes 🤣

[@TerryDeSimone]

*** - That thing you called a heatsink or a piezo buzzer... is actually a GPS antenna block... I had one of these years ago.. the smaller model.. i remember finding map packs/waypoint packs online.. downloading different cars.. a duck head car.. you can just hook it up to PC.. the garmin software was free for updates (without paying garmins ridiculous prices).. and if i'm not mistaken there was other software people made to connect to it as well...

[@zackaboy1236]

I have the same heat proof matt, it’s excellent!

[@reactiontoeffectiveenemyfire]

The computer icon ones need to be connected to a PC and software downloaded hope this helps 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@wisher21uk]

Brilliant Vince hope you can get more working

[@technocricket]

Thanks Vince now I can fix mine.

[@SURGE101]

Great video vince, really enjoyed watching. Those ports do look like a nightmare because they are in such tight spots on the boards. Great job as always. Happy new year. Rich

[@J0ermungand]

That "massive heatsink" is actually the GPS antenna.

[@andrasszabo7386]

You need a 18k resistor between the unused pin (next and ground) and ground. That way it will charge. Just did a quick measure for you on my ebike.

[@game_master_rukia]

the other ones can be repaired with the garmin software and a laptop. connect each one and flash a new firmware to get rid of any locks or pins

[@laszlomarktoth7492]

Hi Vince, The marking on the Coil is really matter, the value is the inductivity of the coil in mH (milli Henry). And because this coil is a part of a step down converter I think in long term not a good idea to put a random value to the circuitry. But in general, congratulation for the successful repair! Regards, Mark

[@luanhana2100]

HAPPY NEW YEAR VINCE ALL BEST TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

[@snipersquad100]

For the 3 that need the pin, just walk through every street in the UK till you match the safe place reset mode.

[@gustavfenk4021]

Could one the safe places that resets the PIN-locked ones be the car park outside Garmin UK head office?

[@ezquimal]

You can change the solder iron point with some goot point more small

[@Radiocruncher]

Nice one Vince. That’s a pretty good haul of satnavs that you managed to sort. Shame about the pin. I’m surprised that there isn’t a hack to get past it. A decent solder station with removable cartridge tips would make your life so much easier. Great video as always. Cheers Graham

[@raycymbalisty5503]

if you get into settings you can reset to factory default which wipes out pin

[@LM-wq4fe]

You need a KSGER T12 soldering station. I use that one and it’s got the power to solder what you need and wide selection of tips. Also it’s very affordable.

[@flatman9]

Hi Vince. Great vid as always . Can I ask if you are selling any of them as I need to get out on bike for knee replacement rehab? Iike you said everybody's using mobile but I've got a Samsung fold and don't want to risk smashing it etc. keep up the good work and looking forward to next trying to fix.

[@Geile_jan22]

Where can i find that volt/ampere meter in your that you use btw nice video’s

[@GadgetUK164]

Fantastic =D I want a Zinger now lol

[@5nowChain5]

ones asking for a card to be inserted are asking for the operating system loaded on the sd card to be inserted. as its an option to boot off onboard flash or sd card. sd cards were used for larger maps that exceeded flash size.

[@ksrnate]

Hey Vince I know this is off topic but back when you did the mobile PS4 using the monitor and wireless hdmi, any chance you can tell me where to buy the monitor from? I've been looking for the usb powered one but just can't find one. I'm in the UK too 👍🏻 Thanks pal 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@davesmith7671]

I own one of these . Went to update the maps recently as I haven't used it for a while . They wanted £80 for the privilege. Not sure if that's normal but was a shock especially as Google maps are free and more up to date

[@rainerbehrendt9330]

That's normal for older Garmin devices. Newer units come with lifetime (of the device) updates for the included map. It was possible to buy a lifetime update for older units. BTDT and then i dropped my GPS 😞

[@dlarge6502]

Google maps makes some very strange route choices.

[@taylty]

Some of these have lifetime updates installed and you can check them through a laptop. If they are lifetime updates they sell pretty well on ebay.

[@wyxchari]

26:27 With patience all PINs can be tested. Once I had to do it for a mobile code (not SIM PIN) and I found it.

[@rastacountry]

Love these videos Vince 👍 Looking at your satnav map I wondered if you are local, HA3 or HA7?

[@theawfulgambler]

Love this one! Different! 🎉

[@bobsbits5357]

hi i have tips i have filed down just for things like this where it hard to get in tips that i have used alot

[@LydiaOfTheNorth]

Holy cow, satnavs. Haven't seen these in a while :D

[@precbass]

LOL We've all been guilty of the 'PIN number' thing at one time or another mate.I still say it all the time.

[@TUWieZ]

get low melt solder if you're struggling with removing a part like that mini USB. low melt solder mixes in with leaded or unleaded and dilutes it, and makes the joints stay molten for longer while also requiring much less heat than even leaded solder to get molten.

[@DustyD0]

Id highly recommend investing in an inexpensive T12 soldering iron, the tips additional thermal mass and faster thermal transfer is a gamechanger, and it is nice being able to hot swap tips as well.

[@s80heb]

I had issues with these satnavs, I haf to use original cable for it to work, it did come up with that same sign. I bought a longer USB and connected to one of the free USB in the cabin, never worked unless I used the garmin cable

[@baggiesjoe1608]

We all now know what Vince gave his family for Christmas 😆 quality video as always.

[@tfa8]

the way how Garmin mounted these mini usb connector is a design flaw, there is no real mechanical force deflection, all force goes directly to the soldered connector pins

[@dlewis9760]

When I had mine, while it never broke, it was always "Lose". The lose resulted in the plug being a lever. I can see them using this connection for years early in USB adoption, but they hung with this design way too long.

[@kevinbuick9989]

Maybe the two data pins are bridged on the logic board

[@TravisStamper]

Interesting as always Vince. Thanks for the video

[@WackyT08]

I have two old TomTom sat navs with lifetime map updates, a 4.3" XL and a 5" XXL, I still keep updated. They can no longer hold the whole of Canada/U.S./Mexico, just the U.S., but they still work great. They're only for 'emergency' because I use Waze through my smartphone and Android Auto now primarily.

[@TechGorilla1987]

Does it have a spot for an SD card? That how I have to use my Nuvi. I have a 28GB card installed to store maps.

[@WackyT08]

No, both just have 2GB of internal storage.

[@TechGorilla1987]

@@WackyT08 Ahh! I see. Mine got full up and it told me that I couldn't update maps without more storage. My storage is only about 48% full after recent update. On the plus side, my GPS can now give me traffic delay information for big cities like Baltimore and Washington DC. It NEVER did traffic updates. It must be new firmware.

[@WackyT08]

Wish they would've done the storage as an SD or microSD card. It's soldered on the mainboard though.

[@JyskMaker]

at 6:40 its the GPS reciver.

[@steeljohnson6168]

Have you tried to update the ones with a pin I did that on one I got from goodwill and it was pin locked but I updated it and it took the pin off

[@woolfy02]

That would be interesting to unlock some of the ones with pins, that have the 'security location' on it

[@michael1]

Or just use an uplink to GPS and hack the satellites in view to tell your handset that it's in locations around the world until you hit the correct one. That's what the computer guy in a mission impossible film would do.

[@woolfy02]

@@michael1 Nice! Way beyond what I would be able to figure out though haha

[@ebg100]

lol... I still use my Garmin to this day! I have a newer vehicle that does have navigation built in, but it seems to only have half the post codes in it when I try to use it. So it's basically worthless. Love my Garmin though :). Never fails.

[@upallnight888]

You need the specific car charger for a Garmin instead of the universal USB in order not to go into the Computer Program mode.

[@macaulee103]

6:08 that what your pointing at is a gps antenna

[@andrasszabo7386]

That big ceramic square thing is the GPS antenna.

[@alanhennessy9196]

Another great fix Vince, I do enjoy watching you work your way through the faults. Great stuff

[@ray73864]

GPSs for your car aren't dated :) Not by a long shot. I get live traffic from my Garmin GPS when I visit the Perth area here in Western Australia, I don't get it here in the South-West, but not even Google is very accurate for that either. I also much prefer the interface on it, and get free updates anyway. My car is 31yrs old in a months time, no built-in GPS, only place to mount a phone is the windscreen, touching your phone while driving is a no-no over here (even if it is in a cradle), but touching your GPS device is fine (so long as it is in a cradle).

[@dlarge6502]

Exactly. I can't see why anyone would use a fiddly phone for navigation when Google maps makes strange route choices, fails the moment you can no signal and when you do get signal the app is overridden by the incoming calls and notifications. Plus my phone screen is shiny, which means it's totally invisible when the sun shines on it. My satnav is matte and quite visible.

[@Tim_3100]

Different style of item video from you vince but love it!!!! 🥰

[@ep91monster]

You can dump a fresh eemc rom to the chips to 'reset' them and lose the pins.

[@Z-Ack]

I hope in the past year he has gotten a better iron.. needs one for micro soldering, soldering gun and a regular iron with wedge , point and bent point tips..

[@MicroChipz]

Nice repairs :)

[@stylesadun]

beautiful video

[@caretakergaming21A]

I'm excited to see this video Vince! You are currently my favorite KZbin fixer upper and I love you! I Hope you have the best new year ever!

[@RandomTorok]

I assume you tried a factory reset on the devices with the pin.