TomTom Via 52 - Won't boot (glitchy cog wheel then red X screen) software corrupted?

[adamnewt]

Hi there,

I have a Tomtom Via 52 model 4AP54 serial EM2099I02321. The model is old and the battery wouldn't hold charge. It just kept turning itself off before it had a chance to really boot up at all. Eventually it would just display a glitchy cog wheel followed by a screen showing a depiction of the device connected to a computer, with a red X on the cable between the two.

I've tried the following so far:

• I'm a tinkerer so I opened it up, located the battery and ordered a new one online. New battery in, put the thing back together, starts up and stays on this time (i.e. new battery working ok). However same glitchy cog wheel and error message coming up. Googled around, found that it could either be the software corrupted by the dead battery, or a hardware issue.
  
  
• Tried "soft reset" (hold down power button for 20 sec or so) multiple times. This caused no change. There's no reset button on the Via 52 that I can see and according to a google search.
  
  
• I downloaded both TomTom Mr Drive Connect and TomTom Home. I get the usual "usb device connected" sound on windows when I connect it to the PC, but neither My Drive Connect or Home were able to recognise the device. I couldn't get past the stage where it tells you to plug in the device and turn it on. In Windows "Device Manger", the TomTom is only coming up as "Remote NDIS compatible device".
  
  
• I found forums with people talking about using clear_flash.exe to try and get it to work. Downloaded clear_flash.exe but again, it's not recognising the device. I can't get past the point where clear_flash asks me to plug in and turn on the device.

I guess you're going to say that it's probably a hardware issue, but I'm convinced it's the software that's been corrupted by the battery being low and running out. It's been like that for so long. For over a year already it would only work at all if it was plugged into the car. Many, many times it'll do the drum sound, immediately run out of bat, realise it's plugged in to the car, immediately turn itself on, drum sound, immediately run out of bat, and repeat and repeat. I'm sure the bat was completely dead and the software got corrupted.

I was wondering if there's anything else at all anyone can suggest I try before I give up and chuck this little guy in the bin? It's not worth the cost of sending it in to TomTom or a third party to fix it. And it's definitely not in warranty any more.

Thanks so much!