Thread: bricked garmin drivesmart 7 (TRASHED due to lack of result feedback)

Ok. So it's had two foreign firmwares flashed to it. Drive 60 and then Drive 40_50 ... and now no preboot.

1. What happened after you flashed Drive 60 then, i.e. how did it behave after D60 but BEFORE flashing with D40_50 fw?
2. Does it read a media card? Try dumping it's non-vol region 154 to test.

Please answer both questions to determine if it's feasible to proceed with recovery efforts.

The problem here is not knowing which HWID's boot.bin data we should use as Ldr.bin to read from or write to a card. I suspect it might possibly now have the D40_50's bootloader in region 5 and its X-loader in region 43. That's due to the 40_50's ramloader (boot.bin/ldr.bin) having been flashed to (virtual) region 12. But rgn5 may not have changed. It's region 12's job to re-write the (physical) regions 5 & 43 on the next successful boot cycle. We know it's booting far enough to allow PC access to internal files in MTP for sure seeing that it's browsable in Windows File Explorer. What we don't know is if rgn5 has been overwritten with data from the foreign fw or not. Nor do we know what's really happened with its HWID, now showing as 0000 in its GarminDevice.xml file, i.e. has it been changed to 2267 or is it still 2588? Or is it genuinely lost and now the device is "0000". So, we don't know which ramloader to use nor do we know for sure what to name the HWID folder in a microSD card. The second quandary can be easily overcome by using 3 individual HWID folders in the kit - 0000, 2267 and 2588 - the device will only read from the folder named the same as its present HWID. However, using the wrong ldr.bin might make things worse and kill it entirely. Region 5 is a Garmin device's equivalent of a PC's BIOS/UEFI firmware, mess with it enough and there is no start-up ever again. If we use the appropriate Ldr.bin and it reads one of the HWID folders, then we'll get a dump of rgn154 but if we use a wrong Ldr.bin it might just die completely.

So, it's got to be solely your decision. I'll make the SD flash kit for you if you want, but you'll need to tell me which ramloader to use. If it was my device i'd use as ldr.bin the boot.bin extracted from Drive 7 firmware, HWID 2588. You can try that if you want and make it yourself or ask me to make the kit - either way the risk's all yours so i won't make that crucial decision for you.

"Extract_to_Card.zip" is attached behind the Spoiler below. I've added "rrgn.14" command to Update.txt as we may as well know for sure which main system fw is there too. The Ldr.bin used is from D7 fw 2588 V6.80 as you've decided.

Spoiler: Click

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Follow this guide:

• Prepare a CLEAN microSD card freshly formatted in FAT32. Use a smallish card between 4GB and 32GB. If you must use a larger card, then you'll need to change it's default format from exFAT to FAT32 but avoid a really large one or it mightn't be recognised by the device. Best to use a small card with native FAT32.
• Extract the ZIP directly to the card and check its contents before use. It should only have a "Garmin" root folder containing a folder "Updater" which in turn contains the 3 HWID folders, each with "Ldr.bin" and "Update.txt" files. There must be nothing else on the card.
• Before inserting the microSD card, ensure the device is fully OFF and not just in standby mode. Force it off by holding the power button for between 10-30 seconds until the light disappears from the screen.
• Connect it to an appropriate external 5V power supply with at least 2A current which will power it on and (hopefully) start the dump of regions 154 & 14. The original Garmin vehicle cable is best for this. DO NOT use a computer USB port to power it on.

Because the screen isn't functioning, you may not see any changes in the screen to indicate whether the flash has started or progressing or even when it's finished. So, you'll need to let it sit for at least 5 minutes before turning it off again and removing the card to examine the content. If it's worked it'll have 2 new files in the card's root alongside the Garmin folder, 14.bin & 154.bin and one of the HWID folders will have two new files named "last_id.bin" and "update.log", indicating its current HWID.

Good luck. Remember, i can't guarantee anything as we're just fumbling in the dark here. Worst case outcome is that it dies completely and will only be good for spare parts if the flash attempt goes wrong.

It now has V6.80 D7 bootloader in region 5 and X-Loader in region 43 as a result of the ramloader we flashed it with.

1. Why do you want an older version V5.30 anyway?
2. Does it fully boot or is it stuck on the GARMIN logo screen?
3. Also, please post a copy of the file "14.bin" and advise which HWID folder was read ... and if it has fully booted with access to internal files then look at GarminDevice.xml and advise what shows now as HWID, hopefully it's got 2588 back.
4. Did anything appear on the screen while the flash was occurring or did the screen only liven up AFTER it finished? In particular did it display "System Software Missing" message at any time?
5. Don't do anything more with this device until we figure out EXACTLY what state it's now in, as in firmware-wise, because there may be a mis-match of ramloader and main system software still. Therefore it could still hard-brick if we're not careful!

Please supply all of the information i've requested above, it's really not safe to proceed otherwise. However, if you're impatient, feeling lucky and prepared to take a sizable risk you could cross your fingers and just flash full original or patched HWID2588 D7 fw to it in preboot, hope it doesn't die and instead boots - then very importantly, clear nonvol memory immediately before it even gets a GPS fix.

OP has not responded despite having visited this thread very recently. Additionally, there's been no response to a PM from me several days ago requesting an update on the device's condition. I guess he's either fixed it or hard-bricked it, but it'd be nice to know which one. It's quite frustrating to put a lot of time and effort into helping solve an unusual problem only to have no feedback as to the result.

If the OP responds soon i'll delete this single post otherwise i'll close and maybe even trash this entire thread.

UPDATE: Still no response as of 25th Feb so thread trashed.