Garmin 405 freezing up

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

  • Couple of tips to try:

    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 recently froze and nothing worked on the device - having contacted garmin support I returned the watch under guarantee and received a replacement within 5 days. Have to say that the company were very good and the new 405 is working smoother than the original which makes me think that there was a problem with it from the word go.
  • My 405 froze today after a heavy rainstorm, and I managed to reset it by holding the two buttons down for about 5-10 seconds following the advice on here, many thanks.image
  • 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!  image

     

  • My garmin froze this morning. I was really depressed as I'm going on holiday tomorrow and was planning to do a lot of running with my garmin. I just went on the internet and followed the advice of holding the two buttons down. It took a lot longer than 6 seconds more like 30 seconds but it works again. Phew and thanks for the good advice!
  • 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.

  • I have just started using garmin 405,after using the 305 for several years.Just one problem i was able to turn the 305 power off,but the garmin 405 i can't seem to do this it just shows the time all the time .Is this normal for the 405.
  • Yes- the time shows all the time; hence the limited battery power
  • snake-hipssnake-hips ✭✭✭
    Colin, beyond this problem any major pluses for the 405 over the 305?
  • This is the Garmin UK support number, it is freephone. Option 2 will put your straight through

    Garmin UK # 0808 238 0000

     ____________________________

    Loving Outdoors

  • My Garmin 450 freezes up quite often – a real pain! Seems to happen when the bezel get activated repeatedly by: gloves/sleeves/rain drops/water you pour over yourself during a marathon. I’ve tried holding down the buttons for 6-10 secs – never worked - so my only option was to wait for the battery to go flat. Next time I’ll try “6 Garmin seconds” = 30 secs. Thanks for the tip.

    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). B) 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.
  • KBJ: sounds like this isn't the watch for you. I do all of those things you suggest; locking the bezel, auto scrolling...works like a dream. You don't really want to be fannying around with your watch too much whilst running anyway; you'll run into something. Mine locks onto the gps signal in seconds and if I push the stop button the session ends after which I hold the lap button to save.
  • 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!!!!

  • I have just spent the last hour getting cross and frustrated at my frozen up Garmin. Thank you so much for the advice- it works! Whoop whoop!
  • 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?

  • Had Pretty much the same thing with my 405 DM. Was also looking at  £70. So went looking around for a new Garmin and as they haven't many any great strides with their running watches i.e. still has the same 8 hours running time, so brought a brand new 405 on ebay for $150. Can't go wrong with that and hopefully by the time this one dies, they'll have come out with something that I can use for the Comrades in 2013 image (yes I know the 310xt, has a longer battery life, but is a. expensive and b. can't really be worn as an every day watch)
  • Mrs_M thanks so much for the solution
Sign In or Register to comment.