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66i constant crashing

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2026 3:41 am
by steerage250
I am on holiday at the moment, and 3 times in the last 2 days, my 66i has crashed. Each time it was when I pressed a key for the first time in a while (different keys).

It has crashed a few times before, but in those cases, I was able to get it going by a long press on the power button (eg 15-30 seconds), then a short, normal press and it booted-up as normal.

These latest cases, a long press on the power button (up to a minute) have achieved nothing. However, after I had given-up on getting it going again, I connected it to my laptop to see if I could retrieve my tracklog, it booted-up fine. I can then disconnect it from the laptop, and power it up and down like normal. Yesterday, the laptop battery was down to 50% and plugging the 66i in didn't recover it. I had to wait until I could connect a charger and try again - and up came the 66i.

This has shattered my confidence in the 66i.

Re: 66i constant crashing

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2026 4:03 pm
by GPSrChive
Firmware version?

Re: 66i constant crashing

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2026 4:23 pm
by steerage250
Software 10.20

Latest state:
I removed the SD card and did a complete factory reset and clear-out of all user data. I did the very basic setup and re-activated it. It behaved faultlessly all day. I have now installed some custom maps to the internal memory, and waypoints and routes back into it ready for tomorrow.

Re: 66i constant crashing

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2026 5:06 pm
by GPSrChive
Fingers Crossed for you!

Re: 66i constant crashing

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 3:54 pm
by steerage250
nope - died again within a couple of hours.

Again, connecting it to a laptop under charge resurrected it.

I have deleted the custom maps, and will try again tomorrow.

Re: 66i constant crashing

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2026 2:09 pm
by GPSrChive
Do you see a 'debug' or 'diag' folder when connected to the PC? If yes, please make copies of those folders so you can send them to Garmin for troubleshooting.

Re: 66i constant crashing

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2026 11:11 am
by steerage250
yes, there is a Debug folder with an "err_log.txt" file updated 4 days ago - Error Type 8

Latest debugging:
- I deleted the custom maps but it didn't last too long before crashing again
- I realised I had forgotton to delete the custom contours file, and deleted that
- it has now been running about 24 hours without crashing

Re: 66i constant crashing

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2026 8:13 am
by steerage250
Unit has been sent back to Garmin for a swap for a refurbished unit. At approx AU$120 (inc return postage), I reckon it's pretty good deal.