Magellan GPS Initialization for Dummies

Typical GPS Initialization Screen

Among the most fascinating features of the old Demand Media website, eHow, is that you could often find almost identical topics addressed by different people. What makes it fascinating is that despite the sites' claims that the content was edited for accuracy, it is common to find that "answers" to very similar questions submitted by different "contributors" were themselves different. Ideally, two posts came at a question from different directions, but sometimes both of them were, to be blunt, utter bull. That was the case when Melissa King posted "Magellan GPS Won't Initialize," moved first to Leaf Group's niche site OurEverydayLife.com then to ItStillWorks.com, then deleted¹.

Oddly enough, King's advice for this problem is almost identical to that of Kallie Johnson, which Leaf niched to Techwalla instead. Both concentrate on dead batteries. King, perhaps leveraging the technological training from her AA in Communication, even goes so far as to suggest that the GPS unit isn't placed properly in its charging cradle:

"The Magellan GPS may not start if it isn't properly connected to the vehicle cradle or other cables. Check the connection between the power cable and the bottom of the vehicle cradle."

That's interesting... we note that Melissa referred to the initialization process as some form of "starting" several times, including in her introduction: "The Magellan GPS usually starts within a few seconds after pressing the Power button, but occasionally, the device may not initialize." That sentence suggests that King, like Johnson before her, does not understand what "initialization" means when referring to a GPS. We'll quote ourselves here: "[I]nitialization of a GPS is more than merely powering on -- it includes the all-important step of finding enough of the satellites that it can locate itself in space."

There are several reasons why a GPS wouldn't initialize, but the most common is that the unit cannot "see" sufficient satellites. Perhaps it's indoors, surrounded by tall buildings or mountains, or even in the center of a vehicle away from windows. Less common, the unit's firmware or location database may require updating. Batteries? Not so much – and most people (at least those smarter than King and Johnson) – can see the "low battery" indicator.

Nope, like her fellow eHowian, King had no idea what she was talking about. Instead of useful information, she dumped out 450 words about how to charge a GPS unit, including such useless crapola as a section on aftermarket accessories. Is it any wonder Melissa is our Dumbass of the Day?

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   techin.oureverydaylife.com/magellan-gps-wont-initialize-19111.html

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