Several issues with sensors since last week in Forerunner 945

Hi

I bought the Garmin Forerunner 945 just 3 days ago. I'm facing similar issues. Everything worked well until today I received an update prompt. I'm not sure if it it installed or did I skip it, but after that I noticed that WHR (Wrist Heart Rate) is not showing, blood oxygen is not showing and the wrist sensor has no lights. Everything is turned on from the menu and should be enabled. I tried disabling and enabling + restarts. I also notice a lag / ~1-2s delay in the main menu when moving between screens. Sometimes the small dot moves to the next item but the screen does not update.

These issues were not present before today. The software version right now is 9.60. I'cant say for sure if it was updated today, but I guess it must have updated recently. The notifications also go crazy, everything seems to lag and the vibrations seems to be stacking at times.

Does anyone have any recommendations to get my Garmin Forerunner 945 working again?

S.

I got some help from Garmin support for this and it fixed it. I had only been doing the reset via the settings menu, but they told me I should turn my Forerunner 945 off and then turn it on and then keep pressing the lower right button. That will trigger a full reset. Not sure if you tried that already or not. Hope it helps!

Hi! Turned it off and on again, whilst keeping the lower right button pressed. It asked to reset to defaults. So I did that now, but

 - Wrist Heart Rate (WHR) is still not working, showing "---"

 - I also noticed a message now saying "Pulse oximeter version mismatch. Update software". There are no updates available. I even connected to Garmin Express, but only maps and music apps were available. After a while the error message disappeared, but now I get these "---" readings.

- I did notice that at one time (before the restart) the WHR version was 0.00.00, but now it's returned to 5.00.05

The lagginess seems to be associated with the broken widgets. As soon as I reach a nonworking display, the watch screen becomes laggy (1-4s delay even).

My watch has been connected to the HRM-PRO HR strap a few times, but this connection has disappeared after the reset. It was also turned "off" when I tried to test if the WHR might have been affected by it. I think the strap was not the cause.

The full details from "about" section:

Software version: 9.60 (8bff2e5)

GPS 5.40

Wi-Fi: 4.0.1

CIQ: 3.3.1

BMX: 5.0.5

WHR: 5.00.05

ANT/BLE/BT: 6.15

Sensor Hub: 18.02

It also lists some advanced heartbeat analytics versions, but there is no signal to analyze, so probably irrelevant.

Is there anything else I might try to get this watch working? I really enjoyed the functions until it broke mid day during a lunch, when I was just about to show it to a friend of mine (duh). 

Just to add to the previous post. I joined the BETA program and was able to get the 10.10 software update. Followed the instructions, but besides having a newer version - nothing has changed. WHR still not functioning, menu is still very laggy. I have to keep a mental map after each click to keep the navigation in my head just to know where I will end up once it loads the screen.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried that before doing the default reset. I also tried it again just now with the newer software version. Unfortunately this did not solve the problems. 

As for the list of symptoms - it keeps changing. It's really difficult to describe what is going on with the watch. As if there are some background processes that are trying to do something (causing lag and battery drain). I've read (in different posts) that for some people issues have resolved by their own after some time has passed.

But to add to the list:
- The lag is really frustrating, making navigation in the menus really uncomfortable

- The version info in "about" section keeps changing. Now it's not showing WHR and BMX version.

- The battery seems to be draining. Last night I charged it to 100% and the battery drained to 25% in 13 hours. The watch is idle and WHR sensor (+multiple other) does not work. For a comparison, I used the watch for 2 days with only 30% drain on battery and in that time I did a few hours of running and a few hours of walking.

This is getting frustrating. I don't mind reinstalling firmware if it only were accessible. I contacted the reseller and they advised me to take the device into service for tips and possible repairs. I guess this will mean weeks of troubleshooting without the analytics that I really need for my runs with events coming up.

Pleased I've read this as I've just been onto Garmin about mine today. Noticed WHR wasn't working properly last week. Tried rebooting, cleaning and a reset, as well as the reset mentioned above, with only temporary success.

Opened up a chat with Garmin earlier this afternoon and they've offered me a refurb for £130. I was thinking at that point that it was a hardware issue but this thread makes me think it could be software.... 

I had the luxury of taking my Forerunner 945 back today, because it was still under warranty (it had been 4 days since the purchase). The reseller will send it for diagnostics and I will hopefully get a replacement soon (fingers crossed, can't be sure of anything these days). It's just an awful experience and so much time has been wasted.

I do believe that this is a software issue, but I gave up, because after going through the available support download items I was unable to find the appropriate firmware/software packages online. If you are in contact with the support, maybe they can offer you the installation files for your watch model and maybe you can use the Garmin Express to reinstall the WHR and maybe other sensor software. An example of this is here: https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/vivoactive-3-3-music/280278/sensor-hub-6-64-fix-information 

I went through the 9.60 -> 10.10 upgrade (you might have to join the beta program) which had no positive effect (lost the BMX version too after that). I guess you can try the same. I also found a 10.7 version online: https://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=14933
I did not bother to install this, because enough time was spent already, but if one were desperate, then one could give it a try. Although it's probably not fruitful, if the issue lies in the WHR software (5.00.05 in my case) that is suspect is corrupt and showing as zeroes. I did not go into the device memory to poke around (because warranty), but I guess it could be something really obvious and easily fixable for someone who is into reversing software.

If any of the Garmin employees are here to read this -> please provide the possibility to revert upgrades, make backups of current versions and provide the necessary software versions to revert back to older versions. This will help the community to get to know the devices and sort out things on their own, they will also provide more valuable feedback. I kinda feel like i've been poking in the dark and the solution was just around the corner. I don't think the hardware failed after the software upgrade, it's highly unlikely.

All the best,

S.