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Vista HCx lag in "Recent finds"


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I've mentioned this issue with my Vista HCx a couple of times in the last few months, but I've never seen anyone else say that they have the same problem: When I go to "Finds -> Recent finds", there is a very long lag before the "Recent finds" window pops up. (About 5 seconds.) None of the other "Find" options exhibit this lag; if I select "Waypoints", "Geocaches", "All POI", "Addresses", etc., they all switch over immediately.

 

Any button-presses during this 5-second lag are remembered and eventually processed in a quick burst after the lag is over. So if I select "Recent finds", wait a couple of seconds and see nothing happen, I might click on it again, thinking that the first click didn't "take". And then again another second later, when nothing still happens. Those two extra clicks will be remembered, and will be processed as if I had selected the top item in the recent finds" list, and had then selected "Go to".

 

I emailed Garmin's customer support last week (Tuesday or Wednesday), but haven't heard back from them yet. (They said to give them 3 business days... I may have to bite the bullet and actually call on the phone, which I hate doing...)

 

Anyway, while waiting to hear from them, I've been trying to isolate the problem. Here's my setup:

  • Vista HCx
  • SanDisk Micro Secure Digital 2 GB Memory Card (SDSDQ-2048-A10M)
  • City Navigator NT 2008
  • Topo 2008
  • rechargeable NiMH batteries (sometimes Energizer, sometimes Sanyo Eneloop)

The micro SD has 1.378 GB of maps loaded: all of CN NT 2008, and the eastern third of the US Topo 2008.

 

I was trying to think of what might cause the problem:

  • problem GPS
  • problem with the card
  • problem with the maps (type, or amount)
  • problem with the batteries

I tried putting in regular alkaline Duracells, and the lag didn't change. I didn't think it was the batteries anyway :)

 

I took out the micro SD card, and the lag vanished! Okay, looks like the card or the maps...

 

I put the card back in with the same maps as before, just to double-check, and the lag was back.

 

I overwrote the maps with just 1 segment of CN NT 2008 (southern New England, 26 MB), and no Topo maps. The lag was still there.

 

I overwrote the maps with just 1 segment of Topo 2008 (around my home, 370 KB), and no CN NT 2008 maps. The lag was gone!

 

Okay, so maybe it's not the card: now it's looking like it's either CN NT 2008, or just the total map size. I'm currently trying loading the eastern third of the US Topo maps, and no CN NT. (1351 segments, 684.7 MB). It still has a while to go to download; I'm waiiting impatiently... if there's no lag this time, then it seems like CN NT is the culprit; if the lag returns, then maybe it's the size of the mapset.

 

Does anyone who is using a setup similar to mine see this problem?

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I decided to try one more thing: a new microSD card. Different brand, different size, just to mix it up as much as possible (Lexar 1 GB). Same result, unfortunately; the lag is still there. B)

 

I called Garmin customer service today, and this was not an issue that this particular support guy had heard of before. He said he'd have to try and get a hold of a Vista HCx to see if he could replicate the problem -- "But that might take a while," he said. Surprising -- you'd think that the support guys would have ready access to the units that they're supposed to be supporting.

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I used to have the same problem with my Legend H and I solved it. Issue was when I have moved cursor on a map, miniature hourglass would appear and stay there 2-5 sec.

 

I switched to City Navigator NA 2008 NON NT. They are basically the same maps with different compression. Response of my gps is now as it should be. I have wild idea that since NT maps are compressed differently, gps has to uncompress it all the time and eTrex most likely has the slowest CPU, but again it will be kind of dumb?

Of course, if you hear from Garmin about ‘real’ solution, please post it here. I will try City Nav Europe 2008 NT tomorrow so I will let you know is that is NT problem or just NA NT.

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I used to have the same problem with my Legend H and I solved it. Issue was when I have moved cursor on a map, miniature hourglass would appear and stay there 2-5 sec.

 

I switched to City Navigator NA 2008 NON NT. They are basically the same maps with different compression. Response of my gps is now as it should be. I have wild idea that since NT maps are compressed differently, gps has to uncompress it all the time and eTrex most likely has the slowest CPU, but again it will be kind of dumb?

Of course, if you hear from Garmin about ‘real’ solution, please post it here. I will try City Nav Europe 2008 NT tomorrow so I will let you know is that is NT problem or just NA NT.

I was wondering if the "NT" was the issue. If Garmin is unable to come up with a solution, my plan is to ask them to just let me exchange the NT maps for non-NT ones. (Too bad I can't just borrow someone's non-NT maps briefly to try it out, but the one-shot unlock codes make that impossible B) )

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Formating ac SD car my help.

 

If fixed the my problem runing = chkdsk driveleter: /r (there was some corruption).

 

and than defragmenting it. using defrag driveleter: (img file was badly fragmented)

 

no recend find's lag since then! :unsure:

 

(so it works with CN 2008 NT).. Vista Hcx

Edited by TeMpL
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Formating ac SD car my help.

 

If fixed the my problem runing = chkdsk driveleter: /r (there was some corruption).

 

and than defragmenting it. using defrag driveleter: (img file was badly fragmented)

 

no recend find's lag since then! :unsure:

 

(so it works with CN 2008 NT).. Vista Hcx

Forgive my dimness, but how is this done? Do you defragment the card while it is still in the GPS? Or do you need to have a separate card reader and put the card in that? (I don't have one.)

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I have never observed this lag on my eTrex Vista HCx, but I have only ever used it with either (1) no microSD card, (2) a blank microSD card, or (3) a preformatted Garmin Navigator microSD card. It seems odd that this lag would be due to the map on the microSD card (though you have proven it is), since I really don't know why the maps need to be consulted for this information (as far as I know, all POIs and finds are stored in internal memory, not on the microSD card).

 

Good luck

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I have never observed this lag on my eTrex Vista HCx, but I have only ever used it with either (1) no microSD card, (2) a blank microSD card, or (3) a preformatted Garmin Navigator microSD card. It seems odd that this lag would be due to the map on the microSD card (though you have proven it is), since I really don't know why the maps need to be consulted for this information (as far as I know, all POIs and finds are stored in internal memory, not on the microSD card).

 

Good luck

Agreed; I also found this puzzling. If the lag is associated with the CN NT maps on the card, why should the lag occur in "Recent finds" which are stored internally and have nothing to do with the card or with CN NT? And why is there no lag on POIs that are stored on the card with the CN NT maps, such as "Addresses", "Shopping", etc.? No idea, but it certainly is true from what I have seen. :)

 

Garmin emailed me back asking what happens when the maps are loaded but turned off (in the "map setup" menu options). I tried these three combinations:

- Topo on, City Navgator off

- Topo off, City Navigator on

- Both maps off

In all three cases, the lag to get to the “Recent finds” screen is still there.

 

So, even when CN NT the maps are not being used at all, just their very presence on the card seems to cause the lag.

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Do not know about ‘recent finds’ lag since mine pops up instantaneously but I can confirm that there is a lag when NT maps (NA 2008 or Europe 2008) are loaded into Legend H.

 

While moving cursor on a map and pointing at the street or waypoint or whatever it takes 3-5 seconds to display street number/name, waypoint name, etc.

 

This is not happening with NON-NT NA maps. Cannot confirm for Europe 2008 NON-NT since it is not available yet.

 

I do not find it as a big deal since if I need speed I would load non-NT and if I need space then NT will go in.

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I defragmented it in card reader.. but i could be done when in gps unit i has to be in that mode that mounts it to PC)... I tested it it works, but its slow. You should try it, as it really helps..

Dont know it was the problem defragmented *.img or corrupt fat32 file system on SD card... but it works.. now...

 

Ias bafor timre ro load recent find was about 20 seconds and now its about 1-2 sec.

Edited by TeMpL
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A follow-up to this saga:

 

The Garmin tech was not able to reproduce the problem I was seeing, but luckily for me she is allowing me to send in my NT maps in exchange for the non-NT ones. (Yay for Garmin tech support! :smile:) I do think that that will fix the problem; I'll know for sure in a week or so when the non-NT ones get here.

 

Meanwhile, I was trying to think of what differences there could be between my configuration and hers, where mine would produce the lag and hers wouldn't. I looked at my list of "Recent finds", and saw that it was a random collection of different types of points: waypoints I had entered manually; geocaches I had downloaded; addresses that I had looked up; intersections, stores, restaurants, etc.

 

I decided to test it with just user waypoints/geocaches, so I called up 50 of them, one after the other, till all other types of points dropped off the end of the list. I then pressed "Recent finds" -- and there was no lag! Even with CN NT maps loaded!

 

I added just one address to the list, and tried again. This time there was a very brief lag -- so brief that I almost wondered if I was imagining it. I added two more POI-lookups, and tried again. There was a one-second lag this time. I then added three more (an intersection and two more street addresses). Result: a two-second lag when calling up "Recent finds".

 

So, at least this observation gives one more data point for investigating this issue (and possibly a reason why some people never seem to see the lag that I'm seeing): it varies with the types of points stored in the "Recent finds" list.

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