Montana - unexplained shutdown
 

On a recent trip I experienced the Montana 600 inexplicably shutting down. It could be switched on again in the normal manner, not without some difficulty in moving traffic. This became more frequent, shutting down several times during a day.

I wrote to Garmin requesting information as to what may be causing this and other issues what could be done to overcome the issue, informing them the unit has the latest software installed. The reply was less than inspiring, giving details as to how to update the latest software(!) and detailing procedures for an Oregon unit. I have written again asking if the unit shutting down could realistically be a software issue.

Has anyone had similar problems with a Montana? If yes, has it been resolved and how did you achieve this, or do you just have to live with this annoying flaw? The unit in question is less than two years old.

Thanks

Hey Embee, I have once every so many days/weeks the same thing.. just out of nowhere its shuts down.. would be interesting to hear if anyone has a solution.
What it does as well, is cut my route into parts whilst on the go. Suddenly y see my destination change for a point somewhere on my initial route.. Don t know if you experienced that as well.
A.

Hi,

We have the same problem with ours. I think it only happens when navigating and you are on the map screen. It is intermittent, and I think it depends on the quality of the map. If you are using auto routing, and there are "issues" with the map, then it will crash. On other areas of the same map, or using a different map, there will be no issues. If it's crashing a lot, turn off the navigation and it will be fine. Just turn on navigation when you need it.

Sorry it's not good news :-(

Merv.

I have not had issues with the destination being changed by the unit.

As for quality of the maps, the ones I use are Garmin's own and one would assume they are not the problem.

Yes. Many shutdowns over a 32,000km trip over the last year. This was on two or three firmware iterations and using OSM maps throughout Latin America. For a time the problem was more pronounced at altitude and later altitude had no effect ( presumably different firmware and/or maps). Partner was using an old Zumo 550 concurrently with same/similar maps. Zumo was much, much, MUCH more reliable in terms of stability. Montana feels like 'beta' quality. Having returned from said trip, I might now start asking Garmin for some answers. I like aspects of the Montana, but feel that it is too expensive for the amount of faults that it has had and it is difficult to use with all but the thinnest of gloves.

I have experienced a few of those shut downs-
Almost every time it was due to my pushing the Montana to its limits on memory- (Tracks-routes and waypoints).

A few times, it happened when 'navigating to' was active and there were mapping data errors or 'missing bits of road' in OSM.

So all in all, quite normal then and it still beats handling a soggy 3' x3' map whilst riding! :funmeteryes:

I came back earlier this week from the trip to the Balkans, where it would:

- freeze if I had both NT and OSM maps enabled when trying to load a route (recover: remove battery)
- shutdown if it would start to recalculate a route; this happens quite often if the map is not correct.

I'm not happy about my Montana, one would expect them to have fixed the problems after 3 years, but obviously not.

Don't blame the Montana!
 

Sorry Casper but reading your post, you created that problem. It is a classic operator error.:smartass:
If you enable two different routing maps for the same area, you will freeze/jam the Montana (and every other Garmin unit).
It cannot calculate a route due to conflicting data.
The Montana was only doing the sensible thing and 'going to sleep' while waiting for you to 'reboot' yourself and learn that you can only use one routing map when calculating a route!!

Think of it as trying to cook two totally different recipies in the same pan;
Complete gobbledeegook resulting in something probably inedible.

Bertrand, then you should be able to explain why my Zumo 660 will operate just fine with both NT and OSM enabled ?

I think I've only seen my 660 hang something like 4 times over ~60.000km, where as the Montana does it everytime it gets scared :innocent:

Also you can have multiple Garmin maps enabled at the same time (NT, Topo, etc) - Garmin might do some funky stuff, but still it should never leave the device in a state where you need to remove the battery.

In my eyes the Montana is a faulty device there are too many things which can cause it to stop functioning, or functionality which works randomly - this is my 4th Garmin GPS (aehm 6th, but the 2 other ones are not for the bike), and I got it as I thought it would be the best money can buy, unfortunately it's not really a great device. Yes it have many and cool features, but when some of the basic functionality works randomly then hummm, it sucks.

It still sounds odd.
I have previously asked Garmin about this.
What they said was that you could enable multiple maps BUT not two (or more) for the same area.

The unit can only display one map at a time so how is it to know which one you want? that is what the enable/disable option is for.

Think about this:

If you have say city nav any country, then have say topo for the same country, then say osm for also the same country and then enable all three - which one do you see on the screen?

If you then ask the Montana to route somewhere ( and lets assume all 3 enabled maps are routeable) HOW is the Montana to know which mapset to use? it tries then crashes/freezes.


It is possible that you could also have a damaged unit '

Contact Garmin to discuss.

Oh, I'm going to talk to Garmin about it. But still no matter how you turn this you should be able layer maps as you might want to have topo in combination with NT. Also if you enable 3D you still have NT enabled ...

So whatever they say about this they are filled with ... I am just glad that I still have my 660 as I know that works... (or at least is more stable than the Montana).

We had one Montanna on the trip last month that did this. The unit felt very hot when it happened. I dropped my spare battery in and it did seem to be have - so a possible problem with batteries ? The chap whose unit it was had let it run down to toally flat on his bike and said it had done it since then .

It is good practice, if using a powered mount, not to have the battery inside especially on trails unless you have done the 'battery wobble' fix!

When there are vibrations/jolts, the battery has been known to fractionally move in the Montana causing a shut down.
A strategically placed small piece of soft foam corrects this with ease.

Casper, feel free to donate me your Montana any time :smile3:

Bertrand, I'll swap it for a 390LM with lockable mount ;-), but jokes aside the Montana is a good GPS even with all the problems it causes, and the simple functionality it is lacking. But I'd not trust it to get me from A->B without having to reboot it a few times :rolleyes2:

Sorry I don't have one of those!
I've been to many 'dark sides of the moon' with my Montana and the odd time it glitched I needed a little water and a comfort stop anyway.
Always got me there (and back!)
Still, it could be that your unit has a fault which coukd be intermittent.
Have yoy updated it to its latest firmware?
Have you (possibly/accidentally) manually deleted some system files?
Have you checked all your settings?
Have you done the battery fix?
Have you checked the cradle power pin for good 'spring back' (it is the centre one) and a good electrical feed? ( no pig tails!)