Harmful course file makes Instinct unable to boot.

6619804 over 5 years ago

Hi,
I have unintentionally created course file on the connect.garmin.com, which prevented my Garmin Instinct watch from booting.

At first I had only a suspicion that it was caused by the file, but when I got a new watch - replaced within guarantee period, I thought eventually it was hardware problem and I tried to download the course file again.
And again, Instinct was unable to boot, again 3 weeks in the Garmin local service center, again a new piece, the 3rd one.

So now it's clear that there is a serious bug in the Instinct firmware. So I started communication with garmin support, I send them the file, but no success.
They asked me for some unrelated details and then stopped the communication.

What to do? Is there any other way how to inform Garmin Instinct firmware developers about this bug? Or at the least, if they told what is wrong with the file,
what should we avoid in creating course files, or the web connect.garmin.com should check if course files are O.K.

Only recently I found how to make total reset using 3 buttons:
support.garmin.com/.../
But naturally I have no courage to try block my Instinct again and test it. I suppose that local Garmin guys know this trick and it did not help, so I got a new watch every time.

0 trux over 5 years ago

I saw threads on the Garmin forum, speaking about corrupted FIT files preventing diverse Garmin watch models from booting, and in some cases the problem was the use of diacritics (accented characters) in the name of the activity (or a course, workout, etc.). The master reset should fix the booting issue without any problem. Try looking up the issue on the forum - there are certainly several threads about it here, but not necessarily in the Instinct subforum.