joecwell

I have a 2009 Suzuki SX4 Crossover, which came with a Garmin nuvi 760 ... but which has been customized for Suzuki. I actually already own a "real" Garmin nuvi that we've been using in our other vehicles, so the Suzuki customizations are fairly obvious to me.

For the most part, they are welcome value-adds over a standard Garmin nuvi 760, with one very annoying exception ... and that is the mandatory "Safe Mode".

Suzuki has apparently decided for me that I must always have Safe Mode enabled, by removing the enable/disable option for this in the Suzuki version. A "real" nuvi 760 (and for that matter all other real Garmin nuvis with Safe Mode) has a Safe Mode enable/disable toggle button on the Security settings panel; and that has been removed from this panel in the Suzuki version.

While I understand the safety issues involved with a driver trying to use certain features while the car is moving, did Suzuki forget that they also install a passenger seat up front as well; and that maybe me or my wife, while in the passenger seat, might be trying to look up some location information for us while we are driving through an unfamiliar place looking for things? The only way to get out of Safe Mode is to pull the car over somewhere and stop ... very inconvenient, especially in congested city traffic. This has happened to us a number of times now, and is really getting old.

So I'm just wondering if anyone else has found a way to disable Safe Mode on the Suzuki version of the nuvi 760? Or, what I am actually hoping is that the option to turn toggle it on/off really is still there but just hidden, and that maybe there is a way to un-hide it ... anyone know?

I have searched on the internet, and have found I'm not the only person that doesn't like this Suzuki difference, but couldn't find anything that figured out how to fix it ... hopefully a reader here has figured it out. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Joe

HumVee

There must be a physical sensor that goes to the parking brake (or Park position on an automatic transmission)? Maybe cutting the wire (or twisting the wires together to create a loop) will work? You may have to wire in a physical toggle switch that will allow you to fool the device into thinking you're parked so that you can get out of Safe Mode. Some features may not be available in one mode or another. A lot of A/V car stereos have this same annoyance now, and you might be able to talk an install tech into doing the work for you.

If it's merely a firmware issue, then perhaps you could try downloading the generic (non-Suzuki) firmware update for the Garmin nüvi 760 and installing it. If there's any features of the Suzuki specific version you like, you will probably lose them - and the firmware may refuse to load...or may totally lock up your nuvi. Caution is definitely warranted here. I'd suggest copying the contents of your Garmin folder on the nuvi to your computer to back it up. Maybe if things go badly, you will still be able to put the nuvi into mass storage mode and replace the folder on your device....

Andy

Since it lacks the menu option to disable safe mode, it must be done through a firmware change. I was thinking the same as HumVee. Maybe loading the non-Suzuki version of the firmware would revert it back to a "normal" 760. Of course there is no guarantee though. Maybe a call to Garmin first to see what they say. Suzuki probably has some liability issue and forced Garmin to lock down that feature so they may not be generous with advice.

Have you tried running the WebUpdater to see if it identifies it as a "special" model or a regular 760?

I don't think copying the contents off the 760 in mass storage mode would help return it to use if a firmware update went bad. The firmware is written to the devices internal memory and is nowhere visible to the user when in mass storage mode.

HumVee

Drat! I was hoping that they were hidden files stored in the Garmin folder, and simply overwriting them would to the trick....

joecwell

Yes, I too had tried looking in the Garmin folder. First few files I looked at were xml files, so got excited that it was going to be a simple tweak of some configuration option in some xml file. Alas, I looked at every file, and none of them that was human readable had any settings for safe mode, or any settings for hiding and unhiding specific panel options (which is what I was really hoping for).

I also tried calling Garmin tech support, and the guy I got didn't really even know there was a Suzuki version, so he was really no help ... he kept telling me I could turn it off by going to the Security panel and toggling Safe Mode by pressing the button on the screen ... even though I kept telling him there was no button on the screen ... the only thing on that panel is the "Garmin Lock" button. He eventually told me that maybe I should talk to my Suzuki dealer that I bought the car from ... I'm pretty sure that isn't going to do me any good :-).

Oh well, it's not enough of an annoyance where I'm willing to chance turning it to toast by trying overwrite the firmware with something where nobody has successfully done it before me, so if anyone is aware of anyone having successfully reloaded one of the Suzuki Garmins with a plain vanilla firmware, please let me know!

Thanks for the comments so far.

Joe

Andy

Since they are fairly new, I'd keep an eye out on Garmin's site for updates for the Suzuki version. They have updates for other OEM versions of their products. That way if they do update the firmware of the Suzuki version, you could try a non-Suzuki firmware and still be able to reflash it back to the Suzuki's firmware if it bricked it.

jcwilde1

I just bought a 2010 Grand Vitara and it came with the 765T I think, not 100%. But it has the option for turning it off now, but the issue is after 5mph it goes back into the safe mode!

I contacted garmin and they said there is nothing they can do. I really want to remove this option, I too have another garmin and this one is the biggest POS because of this option.

What the heck was Suzuki thinking! I almost want to return my car over this.