Maps loading times

Former Member over 4 years ago

I'm experiencing excessive loading times e.i. 5-10 minutes if the maps decide to load at all.

if/when the maps load, and I try to use the zoom/panoram function, it just shows blank screen, like it shows the display with arrows and functions, but no map. When eventually it is displayed, and I try to zoom, it can't load the off screen map, so it displays a small map (when zooming out) with blank areas around.
If I manage to load a route in a map, and decide to switch to just show the map, it changes to blank screen again, and repeats the long loading time.

This is super frustrating and borderline useless. Any thoughts/ideas? I have the Fenix 5+ Sapphire and it's about 6 months old. I've updated to newest software and turned off/on again.

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0 dxbydy over 4 years ago

One of your maps is corrupt. It has happened to me a few times. I normally delete the maps and reinstall from garmin express. Sometimes I have had to do this a couple of times before it fixes it.

A quick way to test if the maps are okay is to reboot the watch after install and if it takes any more than 30 seconds to boot to the watch screen, you still have an issue.

As an aside - I now keep a copy of the working map files and just delete and transfer via usb which is quicker than using garmin express.

0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to dxbydy

So despite the fact that the map might be corrupt, it's still fine to reinstall afterwards? I've only used MapInstall to install/uninstall though.

I tried your test, first with a software reset. Before uninstalling, it took ~6 minutes to boot. After uninstalling ~4 minutes, so some improvement, but a long way to 30 seconds. It takes 50 seconds to get to the "Loading maps..." and from there another 3 minutes to get to the start screen.

However, the performance with using the default maps is somehow back to normal. But now I'm missing the details of the custom map.

0 dxbydy over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

It should really be booting much quicker than that - if I delete all my map files mine boots in about 12 seconds( it currently takes 23 seconds with garmin maps and one custom map).Something must be corrupt.

Another option is to just delete everything from the Garmin folder and start again. It will manually restore files you need, but then you will need to reinstall any maps you need plus you with lose all data - like a factory reset.

0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to dxbydy

Yeah I was a bit quick to remark that all was back to normal. Using POI just causes a neverending loop and zoom is only a bit better.

I'm trying to reinstall the default maps via Garmin Express and see if that helps. Alternatively I might end up trying to delete the files like you suggest. I'm just a bit nervous to try and start deleting files I'm unsure of will cause greater errors.

0 dxbydy over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

Plenty of info here :https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-5-plus-series/149936/hard-reset-firmware-reinstall-data-location-and-backup

Safe to delete everything in Garmin.

0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to dxbydy

thanks! Just by reinstalling the maps through Garmin Express along with a soft reset did a huge improvement. Boot time is only 38 seconds and zoom and POI works fine. I'm taking it for a 6 day hike tomorrow and if necessary I'll try the factory reset once I get back.

0 dxbydy over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member

Good stuff. Enjoy your hike!