Garmin 12 XL weak signal
 

I'm in Arizona - no urban canyons to block the signal. I've got this old Garmin (Chris Scott - if you're reading this, it's your old one that I bought off David Lambeth in 2004!) which has been great for 50,000 miles.

Suddenly (just in 100 miles of northern AZ) it's not locking onto a signal. There are very weak and fluctuating signals, so it's not completely broken, but not enough for it to work with. Never happened before.

Any thoughts?

I'm not familiar with this model, but i would copy your data out, then try a factory reset. If that fails then I suspect it's toast, assuming you don't want to fork out Garmin's standard repair rate.

OK
Cheers Peter

I had similar symptoms on a Garmin GPS2+ (same sort of age as the 12XL) and did a firmware replacement / upgrade (available from Garmins website). I was ready to bin the unit but it completely fixed it.

It needed a cable I didn't have but they were about £3.00 on ebay. That was about five yrs ago and I'm still using it.

Thanks B.O.B.
I'll see if I can get my hands on the cable.

Chris Scott - if you're reading this....

As it happens I am. Amazed to hear the 12 has taken so long to get shaky and sounds like bob's trick is the cure. I replaced that one with a 72 (90 quid on ebay today, prob the same in US$) which was the best Garmin IMO - big screen, simple and functional (I still buy them for guides in the Sahara). Now I run a 76CSX, same but more and colour. All great machines and easy to use.

Chris S

Heh heh! Looking forward to dragging myself into the 21st century (if I can't fix the old dear...)

I wrote my entire Sahara book on that gadget of yours!
When it finally croaks you ought to donate it to the RGS museum.

Chris S

Giving it CPR as we speak. She ain't going down without a fight.

From Beyond The Grave
 

IT LIVES!!!!

I tried Peter's reset idea - and it only bloody works!

To do a factory reset on a Garmin 12XL:
Power on while holding down "mark".
Then highlight No, Yes, No, Yes, then press enter.
Go outside (need plenty of sky) and it'll sort itself out.

You will lose all your data (I didn't need mine) so back up first if you need it.

Brilliant. Quite emotional now - I may have to go to a bar.

ok, so you're on a roll. will that trick with on your underpants ?

Perhaps better than yours old boy...


(scroll down to 26 Feb 05)

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tst...o_feb_2005.php

ha ha, that's just reminded me of those 'Mordor!' idiots...