MK1 starting issue

Hi all
For my first contribution to this forum, here is the issue I have with my MK1:
After a hike with wife and daughter on sunday, the battery showed 20%. I decided to charge the watch during the night. As I did not plan any activity on monday, I disconnected it on monday morning, without noticing any trouble.
I wanted to wear it again today, but it was off (black screen). I tried to push the light button to make it on, the blue traingle appears on the screen, but... nothing else! The screen only shows the garmin blue triangle and the watch does not start.
I tried a reset by pressing the light button for at least 25 seconds. The triangle disappears, but nothing else happens.
Anyone can help me before I call Garmin to send them the watch back?
Regards
Thomas

0 Odie21 over 5 years ago

Have you tried hooking it up to your computer and Garmin Express? If it senses the watch but still nothing, you could always try reinstalling the 4.00 software via WebUpdater.

0 opiffe over 5 years ago

MK1 is not detected by Garmin Express :-(

0 Garmin-Heath over 5 years ago

opiffe, I'm sorry to say it sounds activity file from your hike with your family might be corrupted. Due to that fact, your device can fully load.

To fix this issue, we need to remove that activity file from your Descent Mk1 by forcing it into Mass Storage mode.

To do this:
1. Disconnect the device from the computer
2. Power the device off
3. Press and hold the Start/Stop button (top right)
4. Plug the device into the computer
5. Wait until the device is recognized by computer (may take up to 30 seconds)
6. If prompted, install USB device drivers:
1. Choose, "No, not at this time"
2. Click Next
3. Choose Install USB drivers automatically (Recommended)
4. Click Next and wait for USB driver installation to complete
5. Click Finish
7. Release appropriate button(s)

After the computer sees the device, remove all the activities files from the folder (Garmin Drive -> Garmin -> Activity)

If that doesn't work, reach out to us through our Product Support channels (phone, email, or chat) so that we can work with you directly.

0 rudolf_wessels over 4 years ago in reply to Garmin-Heath

Also startup issue with my MK1. Battery was around 45%. Modified some waypoints through Garmin Basecamp. After this action I left my watch connected to power to fully charge. Next time I looked the screen was black. It did not startup. After a few times connecting and de-connecting and pressing start/ reset button the blue triangle appeared. Unfortunately it kept trying to load FIT files. After some time it shuts down again. During "Loading FIT files..." the device is not recognised by either Garmin Webupdater of Garmin Express. How to solve this issue? Regards, Rudolf

0 Garmin-Nate over 4 years ago in reply to rudolf_wessels

rudolf_wessels Have you tried the troubleshooting steps that Garmin-Heath posted? The files that contain your waypoints may be corrupted and causing the issue with your Descent. Follow the steps in his post and then remove the files from the folder (Garmin Drive > Garmin > Location)

If that doesn't work then please reach out to our Product Support so they can work with you directly.

0 rudolf_wessels over 4 years ago in reply to Garmin-Nate

Thanks. It now works again. It’s however not clear how this happened. I did try to follow the steps as suggested by Garmin-Heath but this was not possible as I did not get the expected responses. On my Apple system there was no recognition of any Garmin. On a Windows system it automatically started to install drivers but afterwards I could not get access to any Garmin.

On IOS (Apple) it took many attempts (and you have to wait until the device shutdown itself to get into a new startup cycle - which takes about 5-10 minutes) to press the start button at the exact time between shutting down and auto startup to get recognized by Garmin Webupdater. The Webupdater suggested software update but when selected, and after download there was a pop-up claiming that the download was corrupt. So this did not resolve the issue, and no new software was installed (I think).

Then I found out that when alternating pressing all buttons but mainly start and back (both at the right side of the device) a pop up appeared asking for removing all user information. It offered to choose YES or NO but unfortunately I could not select YES. In some later attempts I got back at this option and managed to select YES, but still could not click it.

Then a few autoshutdowns later it started loading as a new watch. So I had to go through the full installation again like user profile, putting back waypoints, adding a map etc. but it works again.

Just for clarity, the folder Garmin drive did not appear.

A button combination that forces immediate shutdown and erasing all user data and user profile would have been very useful. In that case I also would have to go through full installation of my profile and data, but it would have skipped hours of trying to get any response that was the effect of my actions.

Hope it helps understanding this device.

Regards, Rudolf