Fenix 5+ Reboot during activity

I searched, and found this occurring in the 5S, and the "answer" was 'Random Glitch". To me, this is unacceptable.
Had this happen today, felt the wrist haptic, noticed a blank screen. Hit the Light button, and the system rebooted. Waited until the activity screen came on, and opted for "Continue" the activity. Off we go again. At the end, the activity appeared to be correct, however, upon uploading to GC, the thing only counted the 2nd part of the activity for the Training Effect, Although the Heart Rate zones appear to be correct.
This, of course ruins my recovery time, and overall stats. Other than the rather lame (IMHO) excuse that it must be made by Microsoft, and needs rebooting upon whim, is there a technical reason for this?
Oh, and by the way, the Apple Watch Series 4 has never done this, and as I was comparing heart rates, distances, and overall exertion between the two, this really messed up my comparison.
Any ideas?

Top Replies

RunR over 5 years ago +1 verified

I use my Fenix 5 plus since Firmware 7.60 and I only had one freeze during an activity with 8.40, when I stopped the watch (I lost 2km). No further issues since then, although I use it almost daily for…

All Replies

0 AllanOlesen67 over 6 years ago

Let me guess: You are running firmware 6.00, right?

0 OEAGLEO over 6 years ago

Let me guess: You are running firmware 6.00, right?

Actually, no. The first time it happened, I saw the beta was supposed to address just that problem, but I guess it doesn’t. I updated to the newer beta after I got home, but the change log doesn’t say anything about that problem. I also noticed that the internal HRM stopped working for a while for whatever reason, then started up again. However for the activity, I used a Polar OH1

0 AllanOlesen67 over 6 years ago

OK. Thanks.

I have never seen Garmin claim that the beta should solve the reboot issues - i have not even seen them accept that there was a reboot issue. This was just my own private theory.

For me, the reboot problem disappeared somewhere around the time where I updated from 6.00 to beta 6.51, and I have now run 6.51 for several months without reboots . All the reboot complaints I have seen so far from other users were from users still using 6.00. So until your post, everything seemed to support that 6.00 was the cause. Now I can put that theory to rest (unless Garmin has once again made a regression error and reintroduced the reboot problem in one of the later betas...).

0 OEAGLEO over 6 years ago

We will see, I’m still good on warranty, so if it happens again, I’ll contact Garmin, unless anyone else has an idea.

0 AllanOlesen67 over 6 years ago

By the way, do you have a power meter connected to the watch?

I do, as did one of the others having reboot problems. The rest I don't know about.

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

I’ll contact Garmin,

You should. Now. Not wait until next time.

0 Crispin_Ellisdon over 6 years ago

I’ll contact Garmin, unless anyone else has an idea.

The Garmin Development team (the ones that post the beta software threads) will be extremely interested in your mid activity crashes, especially as you have installed the beta software. Fortunately the Fenix 5+ stores a lot of information about a crash when it happens. Upon a crash the watch typically records an err_log.bat file and a RAM.txt file to the Primary/Garmin/Debug folder in the watch (I assume you know how to navigate to folders on the watch using your PC/Mac, as you've installed the beta software). If you can copy these two files from the watch and compress in a zip file (typically down from 20MB to 4MB), then email them in to the address in the first post in the beta threads ( [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL] as I recall). Also add to the email a description of what you were doing with the watch (activity apps running, sensors connected, phone connected, headphones connected.....etc. etc.). From my experience of sending in bug reports to them, the team get a lot of emails and only respond if they need more data; so don't be offended if they don't reply, the email will be read and acted on.

I trust I'm not proverbially 'teaching you to suck eggs' with the above post, but you make no mention that you've tried to report the issue to the Beta Development folks.

0 OEAGLEO over 6 years ago

Crispin_Ellisdon, WOW, I did not know about the saving ram regions, and, as the first time it happened, I was on the v6.0 software; the reason I updated to the beta to begin with. I will try to remember how to do that should it happen again. Usually, I'm engaged in some heave referencing to the heritage of Garmin, the Fenix, and anyone within earshot bit I will try to remember how to do this.
UPDATE: Looking through the watch, I found the files mentioned, dated the day of the reboot, so have created an E-mail describing as accurately as I could the situation and sent it to Garmin. I'll now wait and see if anything happens with the 6.71 firmware, and now I know how to save this stuff. :-)
Thanks again.
Thanks for the tips!

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Is it advisable to update to the beta from 6.00? I have a 3 day trip planned (hill walking/trekking), and want the watch running smoothly. Have been using it cycling on ver 6.00 and it has been fine.

0 OEAGLEO over 6 years ago

Is it advisable to update to the beta from 6.00? I have a 3 day trip planned (hill walking/trekking), and want the watch running smoothly. Have been using it cycling on ver 6.00 and it has been fine.

I say "Dance with the one that brung ya".. if you're not having troubles with your current situation, why take the risk on changing it. I'm on the newest beta, and haven't had problems, but then, I'm not a heavy user, I say stay where you're at.
Just my 2c worth.