Own a TomTom? Ever had the Yellow Screen of Death? That no boot-up-screen with the red cross in it, it basically means that until you fix the software on your TomTom it is dead. It’s not bricked, as it is fixable. Here’s how, as I found the Home screen counter intuitive. Follow these steps entirely at your own risk, no responsibility is accepted or implied; I also advise reading this. Using v1.6 of the Home software that comes on with the TomTom, if you have v2.x uninstall it and install v1.6 for these next steps.
Assuming you have the Yellow Screen of Death and Home is installed on your computer:
Reset your TomTom. It’s a small indented button underneath your GO 720.
Start Home, connect the cables.
Turn your TomTom on. It should connect and appear in Home. If not reset again.
Select Delete from TomTom. Now on the right hand side is a list of items you can delete.
Select the TomTom Application (Red round icon) on the right. Then hit the Delete button in the bottom right. You’ll get a warning, ignore it and go ahead.
Disconnect using the software menu, it’s Device then Disconnect. Then unplug your TomTom from the cable/cradle. Now connect it again. It’ll check for an update and see that you need the TomTom application, download and install it. When it is done select Device/Disconnect and BING your TomTom works again.
What was the cause? Well it is not, as many websites are saying, the Home update that you apply. It just seems like it. The cause is not disconnecting the TomTom correctly. Once it’s connected to your computer you need to select Device from the top menu and then select Disconnect. Once your TomTom screen changes back to the normal boot menu then you can remove the cables.
Reading forums this happens a lot, and people return the units thinking they are broken. They aren’t, but it is not clear how to fix them and I’ve not seen any clearly documented method on a website. Well here it is, how to fix your TomTom.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Brando // Aug 13, 2008 at 7:03 AM
Almost same story here, but diferent solution.
I made a copy of the entire internal storage on the TomTom 720 when I first hooked it up… sooooo glad that I did! I’m a tinkerer and tried updating the os without going through the HOME software. NOT good! My 720 ened up with the red x dot and no matter what I could not get it to work. I tried copying the “backup” back onto the internal storage and it didn’t work. I ended up trying this several times and as a last ditch effort, I reformatted the internal storage (fat32 or DOS if you’re on a mac) and then re-copied the “backup” back onto the internal storage… and WALLA! it finally worked. I ended up using the HOME2 software to successfully update to v8.1010 and maps to NA_something_o_rother_720.xxxx.
I am really loving this TomTom720 after adding a bunch of local POI’s, some free voices and color schemes. It’s a huge step up from my Pioneer AVIC S2.
2 CreationRobot // Aug 13, 2008 at 9:33 AM
The TomTom has some major benefits compared to the Garmin I had, and some equally big drawbacks. The Garmin is so damn slick in comparison to the TomTom, the GUI in the latter looks like it was put together by 50 monkeys on acid. I’m actually returning the 720 today, and getting the 920. The extra POIs and map detail is actually worth it.
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