Problem with microSD on Vista HCx

[devonknowles]

I just purchased an eTrex Vista HCx and have no luck whatsoever with the microSD slot - the device hasn't seem to recognize any of the microSD cards I have tried (two Kingston 2GB and one unbranded 1GB). When I insert a card, it seems to be really loose within the slot, and will fall out if I turn the unit over before replacing the battery cover. I can neither save track data to the card nor transfer map data to the card over the USB connection. I called Garmin support and the lady who answered the phone told me that the Vista HCx didn't support reading or writing from the microSD card unless it was a preprogrammed Garmin card.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance - I'm a complete noob when it comes to Garmin devices, if you couldn't tell.

[+intolerable]

Honestly, it sounds like you simply aren't pushing it in all the way. Make sure you have it facing the correct direction and then push it in til it locks in there. Only a wee bit of the top will be sticking out of the slot. To remove it you have to push down on it. If that's what you are doing and its still falling out sounds like it might be damaged.

[+Dolphinjon]

Have you tried pushing in the card until it makes a clicking sound and locks into place? I'm using a Kingston 2GB card, on my Vista HCX and it works fine. That's the only thing I can think of to try. Hope it helps

 

 

 

Oops! Looks like someone beat me to it.

Edited April 26, 2008 by Dolphinjon

[devonknowles]

Following your leads, I tried pushing it in *all* the way - as far as goes when inserting it before it pops it up a bit as it clicks, and now I can at least see the card. I may just have to find a temporary solution with a strip of rubber glued into the little slot on the battery cover.

 

Update: Yep, that little strip of rubber does the trick. I'll send it in to Garmin once I get back from my backpacking trip to Guatemala. Now to load up on some free maps ...

Edited April 26, 2008 by devonknowles

[FiveNines]

Following your leads, I tried pushing it in *all* the way - as far as goes when inserting it before it pops it up a bit as it clicks, and now I can at least see the card. I may just have to find a temporary solution with a strip of rubber glued into the little slot on the battery cover.

 

Update: Yep, that little strip of rubber does the trick. I'll send it in to Garmin once I get back from my backpacking trip to Guatemala. Now to load up on some free maps ...

 

You push it in until it clicks, it will pop back out to where it sticks out about 1mm.

That's the proper way it should be. You should NOT glue anything onto it to hold it

in or to keep it recessed below the surface. To remove it, you push it in again and

it will pop all the way out. To re-insert it, push it back in until it clicks and again

shows about 1mm exposed.

 

 

This shows what it should look like before putting the battery cover back on.

I hope you didn't void your warranty by gluing rubber to the slot!

[devonknowles]

This is what it looks like after it pops out a bit when you insert the card:

 

As you can see, it sticks out about 2.5mm.

The solution I came up with was to tape (not glue) a little strip of foam onto the cover:

 

It's obviously only a temporary solution, but as I'm leaving on Monday for a two-week backpacking trip, it will have to work for the time being.