My Garmin 450 has "frozen up" - not responding to anything, and is not locked. I've googled around and it appears to be a fairly frequently reported problem, but I can't find any solution other than contacting Garmin Support.
Has this happened to anyone and if so how have you solved it ? All I can do for now is run it flat and see what happens when I recharge. I've had it since January with no problems at all, and I was quite happy with it.
Comments
Before sending the unit back, try to upload the newest firmware, even if it's already installed (overwrite it).
1. delete any data history on the watch after transferring it to your pc/mac/...
2. re-install the FR405 firmware
The newest versions are 2.30 for watch, 2.10 for the GPS module, link here:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/store/fr405update.jsp
If this did not help, you can only send it back (I assume you're in the guarantee period).
Dont get me started on this one!
mine used to do it all the time. if you press both buttons at the same time it for about 5 seconds it unlocks. Reinstalling software made no difference to mine.
Garmin were incredibly unhelpful on this - i found out this soloution on the internet.
hope it works!
thanks for the advice - I eventually found something about holding the 2 buttons down for 7 seconds to do a soft reset - but it only worked when I held the buttons down for almost 15 seconds. All fine again now. Guess it's just a 450 "thing"
Mike_a - my watch is on version 2.3, and the GPS 2.1 at the moment. I found that out by looking at the garmindevice.xml file while it was still "frozen".
My 405 froze today too, after downloading my run. I followed the instructions about holding down the two buttons for about 6 seconds, but nothing happened. After reading this topic I decided to persevere. In the end I had to hold the buttons down for over a minute, but it did reset itself.
Only hope the watch has a better idea how long 6 seconds is than the manual!
it does mention in the last page of the quick start manual about the reset method.
or you can do that but only release the top one and still hold the bottom one for a few more seconds to do a total factory reset.
This is the Garmin UK support number, it is freephone. Option 2 will put your straight through
Garmin UK # 0808 238 0000
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Loving Outdoors
All in all I’m very disappointed with the watch:
1)Takes forever to locate satellites (up to 5 mins) – and I’m standing still out in the open – freezing my butt off.
2)LapTime info is very hard to read – displayed in a small popup window on top of whatever else is being displayed – you practically have to stop running to be able to read it. Important event based info such as lap-times should be displayed load and clear so you can read it at a glance.
3)There’s no STOP function. The start/stop button works more like a start/pause/continue button. I have yet to find a way to tell the damn watch that I’ve completed my session and want to start a new one. According to the manual holding down the Lap button should do this. But if you do this shortly after completing a session the session is deleted not saved. If you wait till the next day it does work as intended – but often I forget this when I start my run. So if I ran a 10k yesterday and run a 10k today and forget the reset trick the history will show 20k yesterday!!!
4)As mentioned above it freezes up when I run with the bezel unlocked. So I tend to run with the bezel locked – which reduces the watches feature set considerably. Ideally I’d like to configure the three display screens with just one item on each so they’re easy to read (eg Pace/Total Distance/Pace LastLap). Then I’d use the bezel to flip through the pages as needed during my run. But now coz the bezel is locked I have the following options: A) just live with one item displayed (typically Pace). Cram all three items into one screen – but that makes it hard to read especially when you’re running hard with sweat and tears in your eyes. C) Set the watch up to “Auto flip” through the pages – but that’s hard to read too - you have to run with your hand if front of your face for a prolonged period of time till the screen shows what you want – and that’s hard to do during a tempo run where you want to pump your arms to maintain pace.
One positive thing: The back light is really good – illuminates the screen well without killing the battery.
I'm so glad i just found this thread. Thank you so much! My garmin froze whilst out on a run about an hour ago and it did keep being knocked by gloves etc just prior to it locking and a whole lot of weird system info appeared on the screen. After 10seconds of holding both buttons mine reset. Initially just showed the time and remained frozen, then was usable.
I was dreading buying another one so thank you!!!!
My 405 has frozen after uploading my run. I have completed a soft and a hard reset to no avail even holding the buttons for over a minute and watching the screen go black with lines etc. My watch is not under warranty.
The screen after the resets basically says ' do you really want to erase all user data? ENTER for yes and QUIT for no. Unfortunately the bezel doesn't work and i cannot use the buttons unless doing another reset. I then go around in circles.
Any thoughts to assist please? OR am i going to have to sell it on ebay as a faulty item in the hope someone wants to pay £70 odd to Garmin to get it refurbed?
Help please?