caver456

Hello - has anyone found a way to reduce the boot time on a Garmin 62s (probably the same question for other mass storage Garmins)? The time for the first boot after writing a new gpx to the device over usb seems to be a direct function of how much data is stored on the device, at least in gpx file(s). I tried with a 4+MB gpx and the subsequent boot took somewhere over 45 minutes after turning the power on until it was done booting. I'm not sure of the exact time because it died somewhere in there assumedly due to batteries, but the next boot was fairly quick (10 seconds or so). Basically it would be great to know what happens during the boot sequence - our SAR team would benefit greatly if we knew a reliable way to get the boot time down. Thanks!

When copying files from a Garmin Mass Storage Mode device (which mounts as a USB drive) - 62s in this case - which .gpx files would you need to copy to the computer in order to achieve the same import functionality as Garmin Communicator Plugin? There are a few seemingly trivial answers: 1) all .gpx files anywhere (recursively) under the Garmin/GPX directory or 2) do as the Garmin docs say at http://www.garmindeveloper.com/web-device/garmin-mass-storage-mode-devices/ and parse through GarminDevice.xml to find the right filename, typically Garmin/GPX/Current/Current.gpx The issues with 1): - how do I know I'm not copying duplicate waypoints, tracks, or routes, i.e. files that were previously written to that directory from the computer? - this seems hand-waivey and prone to breaking down - it looks like the device automatically creates Garmin/XML/Waypoints_<date>.gpx and I can just load that - and presumably it would also create Routes_<date>.xml and Tracks_<date>.xml - but without any documentation to more completely spell it out, it still seems hand-waivey and not robust. The issues with 2): - On this particular 62s, the file referenced by GarminDevice.xml (in this case, Garmin/GPX/Current/Current.gpx) is always a 'placeholder' file with a bit of time info and all the normal extension headers, but no waypoint / track / route data. Has anyone out there been dealing with the same question, or maybe even found the rosetta stone?

That does make it sound promising enough to try out. We will plan to try at our monthly meeting on Tues Sept 8 and I'll report the results back here.

Thanks all for the feedback so far. One more question which might be the deciding factor as to whether we even try this: we don't always have to send to 100 units - 20 is more common - but we do always have to send multiple pieces of data, usually around 10 tracks and at least two waypoints. On the 62s(etc) I think you have to press buttons anew on each receiving unit for each individual piece of data (each track and each waypoint) that you want to receive, i.e. pieces of data are sent one-at-a-time with button presses required on both sending and receiving units before each piece of data. Does anyone know if that's the same case on 64s/st, or, can you transfer multiple data objects with just one transfer operation, i.e. without having to press buttons on the sender between each piece of data, and/or without having to press buttons on the receivers between each piece of data?

Yes it all boils down to that. Do you happen to know if one iThing can send simultaneously to many GPS devices?

Yes that would work, but, would probably not as quick or easy as the current method of using the USB cable to the laptop. We have multiple laptops that we can use at the same time to multitask the chore. 100 searchers, each with a GPS that must be loaded, is the general scale we'd be working towards. Anyway, thanks for the replies, it looks like Garmin just does not want to cater to this type of need.

After reading those other posts that talk about the Basecamp Mobile app, it's a bit unclear: can you use that app to upload tracks and waypoints to the Garmins (or an entire gpx file that contains tracks and waypoints), or, only geocache objects? Either way, good to know about the requirement for keys to be pressed on each receiving device. Sigh.

Hello, first post here, apologies in advance... This is not strictly related to geocaching, but there are some very interesting (but not promising) related posts on this forum, so the knowledge base seems to visit here. Our search and rescue team would like to streamline our procedure of sending tracks and waypoints from Windows computers to GPS handhelds. We want to (generally) send out all searchers with the same data. Because this upload procedure has to be repeated for every GPS, when there are a truckload of searchers, there is a LOT of lag time and a LOT of opportunity to streamline the process. Right now, one at a time, we plug in from the USB port of a laptop to the mini USB port of the GPS. Then we transfer the data using one of a few methods: - for Garmin handhelds: Garmin Communicator Plugin from our (offline) web-browser-based mapping program (of course the NPAPI phase-out is forcing us to find alternatives...) - alternative for Garmin mass-storage models (62, 64, etc): generate/export/download the gpx from the mapping program onto the computer, then just copy the gpx file to the right directory on the handheld It would be ideal if we could just tell all searchers to place their GPS device on the table within a few feet of the laptop, then we click one button on the laptop, and everything (selected tracks and waypoints from the mapping program on the laptop) is transferred wirelessly to all of the GPS devices at the same time. Anyone know of a way to do this, or anything approaching this ideal goal, with either ANT on Garmin GPSMap 62s(t/c/tc), or bluetooth on 64s(t)? Posts that I've read through here so far: "Transfer Caches via Bluetooth" http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=318902 "Garmin GPSMAP 64S upload gpx from phone via bluetooth" http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=322429 "Copying caches from iPhone to GPS - An answer, not a question" http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=311111 Thanks in advance.