Dialog message "Need Traffic compatible cable"

I have a DriveSmart 55MT, using the TA20 power cable supplied with it. After a couple of years of use,it's now starting to pop up this dialog informing me that the power cable is not compatible with the traffic feature. My main squawk about this is that the dialog (aside from the fact that it is bogus) covers the entire screen and has to be cleared by a manual button press. GARMIN, if you are listening, this forces me to VIOLATE the hands free driving law in my state, Minnesota, and could open you up to a lawsuit.

Traffic info is not a drop-dead feature, and should not be annunciated this way. Maybe a symbol in one of the bars at the top or bottom of the screen indicating if it's working or not. I mostly use the GPS on road trips through rural areas where there isn't now, and never will be any live traffic info.

I upgraded from my former Nuvi for this very reason. It started happening so often it made the device unusable. This latest round started happening since I my latest update a few weeks ago, so I suspect Garmin has reintroduced a bug or just plain stupid "feature" that is being triggered by low or no signal in rural areas. Or maybe the USB connector is going bad and not providing a good connection to the antenna wire in the cable. Either way GARMIN, it sucks.

Anybody else having this problem?

 

I found a youtube video of a guy resoldering the shell of the USB connector where it meets the PCB. He figures they're using the shield in the USB power cable as the antenna, which makes perfect sense since the inner wires are, well, shielded.

I'm a tech, so I figured "no guts, no glory" and managed to open the unit up without destroying it. Reheated the shell connections with some added flux and solder. Got it back together, but have to say it was another job I wished I hadn't started. At age 72, there is a long list of those.

Haven't used it since but am curious to see if it cures the problem. I stand by my comments about the software. That dialog box should clear itself after a brief appearance without manual interaction if they don't eliminate it entirely.