Is your Garmin being blocked? This is why and this is how it is fixed

One of the recurring problems with some Garmin cycle computers, with less incidence of noise than is often heard in networks where these problems are maximized, is that the device becomes blocked and enters an endless loop of restarts. However, this problem has a fairly simple solution.

Don't throw your Garmin in the trash, the solution is easier than you think

Although it is not something that happens regularly, in certain cases Garmin devices get stuck and enter a constant restart loop. There is no fixed pattern or affects one cycle computer more than others. However, there is a common pattern and it usually starts to happen after a software update.

The cause of these failures is usually that the download of the update is defective and one of the files, usually the CPE.bin, a file that acts as a cache allowing the cycle computer to locate the satellite positions more easily and, therefore, be ready to start the training as quickly as possible, becomes corrupted and cannot be accessed.

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However, the device in the boot cycle tries to read this file and, unable to do so, restarts and tries again indefinitely.

There are several things we can try to solve the problem and avoid having to send our Garmin to the technical service, which would leave us without a device for several days or even a week. First of all, the simplest thing is to connect it to the computer using a data cable. At that moment, it is normal for a unit corresponding to the Garmin to appear. We will navigate through it to the RemoteSW folder where the CPE.bin file is located. We will delete it so that a new one is created when we disconnect and restart.

This usually solves the problem, however, if the constant restarts continue when connected, we will not be able to access the file system. In that case, the solution would be to reset to factory settings.

To reset our Garmin, we have to press the Lap and Start/Stop buttons simultaneously and, keeping them pressed, press the power button. We will keep Lap and Start/Stop pressed until the device starts to boot, then we will release them. We will know if it has worked because the Garmin will start up and ask us to select language and enter our weight, height, etc. the same configuration we do when we take it out of the box.

After that, we should resynchronize it with Garmin Connect so that all our settings are reloaded and, at that moment, the update that caused the problem will be downloaded again. It should not happen again, but in some cases, Garmin has released corrupt updates that have caused these problems, so if the blockage repeats, we should avoid, for at least a couple of days, Garmin usually provides a quick solution to these failures, synchronize our device so that it does not download the problematic update.

In any case, although all the information about our activities and routes is stored in the cloud, in the Garmin Connect application, it is not a bad idea to occasionally back up the files on our Garmin. Especially if we have manually loaded tracks or from third-party applications that we want to keep or we want to have a backup of our activity files.