Oregon 450 and Power?

[+dukeofurl01]

I usually use my Oregon 450 in the car, with a custom mount, (tried a Nuvi, didn't like it) and then I quickly pull it off when I'm caching. The whole system works great.

 

So today, I had it plugged into my workstation, and was transferring caches to it from GSAK, something I did a thousand times before. Worked just fine.

 

Then I brought it into the car, plugged it in, I have a cig lighter port to USB thing to supply the power.

 

Well, the GPS turned itself off, I turned it back on, and it turned itself off again. Hmm. I unplugged it, turned it on with the intent of trying it under just batteries. It slowly faded out, which I know means dead batteries.

 

I replaced the batteries and then powered it on, it came right up, no problem. I went back to the car, plugged it in, it didn't shut off, great. Went on my way.

 

But wait, when it's plugged in, I thought the status of the batteries was irrelevant. I thought the unit automatically switched to external power when plugged in. So why did the empty batteries even matter, why was it shutting off with dead batteries, even though it was plugged in?

 

Hmm.

 

 

thanks

-A

[+Mr Kaswa]

Simplest thing that I can think of is that the ignition was not turned to "accessory" or even possibly "on" and so the car wasn't actually powering the unit?

[alandb]

Actually a corrupt file can cause this symptom. I get it on my 550T with the new BirdsEye V2 files I download to replace the V1 files. The unit powers up, then the screen fades away while it is booting. I remove the SD card with the Birdseye files and it boots up normally.

 

Sometimes I can get it to complete the boot if I hold the screen like I want to do a system reset. When I get the prompt to clear data, I just select No, and it will complete the boot. This doesn't always work tho.

[+Mineral2]

Actually a corrupt file can cause this symptom. I get it on my 550T with the new BirdsEye V2 files I download to replace the V1 files. The unit powers up, then the screen fades away while it is booting. I remove the SD card with the Birdseye files and it boots up normally.

 

Sometimes I can get it to complete the boot if I hold the screen like I want to do a system reset. When I get the prompt to clear data, I just select No, and it will complete the boot. This doesn't always work tho.

 

But a corrupt file would continue to cause this problem even when the batteries are removed or changed. That was my first thought until reading that part of the description.

[+DyverDown]

The other option could be the connector on the device is damaged, or worn out. This would cause it to continue to run on internal power even if the cable was plugged in.... not an idea you want to hear, I know....

 

Does it go into USB device mode if pluged into the computer via the cable?

 

DD

[+dukeofurl01]

The car was definitely on.

 

There's no bad fuse, I know this because the port is def getting power. There's a small LED on my lighter port to USB adapter thing.

 

I don't think there's a corrupt file because, he's right, that would keep it from booting on power or battery both, and there's no problem booting, and there WAS a problem with it suddenly turning self off while under power, and fading off under battery, but after replacing batteries, that problem has gone away. That was never the main issue anyhow though.

 

I don't think the USB is damaged, because it is not staying on internal power when the cable is plugged in. I know it is getting external power 2 ways, 1) the screen goes to full brightness and 2) the symbol that shows remaining battery life turns into a symbol of a plug.

 

I usually leave the device on "Spanner" setting, so that it always asks whether to go into computer mode or not when plugging in.

 

Why can't this thing be as simple as my old 60 CSx?