Noob needs help

[JacksonCharvelGeo]

Hello, I am a noob and I need some help. What do I have to do to send the coordinates (N 33° 59.889 W 083° 53.584) to my Garmin eTrex Legend? My Garmin did not come with a USB Driver interface CD-ROM, so I tried to download that from the Garmin website. No luck, it keeps telling me to close all IE browsers, which I have. Also, do I need to purchase MapSource software before installing the USB Driver? Any info is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

JCG

[+Miragee]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Do you have the blue Legend, which connects with the Serial Port, or the Legend HCx? If you have the Legend HCx, you can download the USB driver from the Garmin website. You can also download the Garmin Communicator plug-in from there.

[JacksonCharvelGeo]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Do you have the blue Legend, which connects with the Serial Port, or the Legend HCx? If you have the Legend HCx, you can download the USB driver from the Garmin website. You can also download the Garmin Communicator plug-in from there.

 

Thanks for the welcome.

 

Yes, I have the blue Legend. So, with the blue Legend, I can't download the USB driver or the communicator plug-in from Garmin's website?

[+Miragee]

The blue Legend connects to the Serial Port on your computer. If you don't have a Serial Port, you can get a Serial to USB adapter, which should come with a driver for it.

[JacksonCharvelGeo]

The blue Legend connects to the Serial Port on your computer. If you don't have a Serial Port, you can get a Serial to USB adapter, which should come with a driver for it.

 

My computer has a serial port, but when I connect it to the Garmin, it does not recognize the unit. Sorry if I seen computer illeterate.

[jamandam]

The blue Legend connects to the Serial Port on your computer. If you don't have a Serial Port, you can get a Serial to USB adapter, which should come with a driver for it.

 

My computer has a serial port, but when I connect it to the Garmin, it does not recognize the unit. Sorry if I seen computer illeterate.

i have an etrex summit with a usb adapter the only way i can get coords to it is via google maps geocaching site it just wont work off the cache pages.

[+Ed & Julie]

What program are you using to try to send your waypoints?

 

If you are using a program like Geocaching Swiss Army Knife, the program will send the waypoints to your Legend via the Com1 serial port.

 

edit to add: you do not need download and install the USB driver since your legend is not a USB device.

Edited May 18, 2008 by Ed & Julie

[JacksonCharvelGeo]

What program are you using to try to send your waypoints?

 

If you are using a program like Geocaching Swiss Army Knife, the program will send the waypoints to your Legend via the Com1 serial port.

 

edit to add: you do not need download and install the USB driver since your legend is not a USB device.

 

I am using GSAK. But, a pop-up says it can not initiate the Com1 serial port.

Edited May 18, 2008 by JacksonCharvelGeo

[JacksonCharvelGeo]

It looks like I may have to get a Serial to USB converter.

[JacksonCharvelGeo]

I am up-and-running! Thank you all for your help.

 

JCG

[+Bat-Bubba]

I also have an eTrex Legend (the blue) and cannot get it to work on my new laptop. I have a USB to Serial cable and the software with it worked fine on the old laptop (windows xp) but not the new one (windows vista). I know, I hate Vista too, but I have it now and have to use it.

 

Any help?

[+Rattlebars]

I am up-and-running! Thank you all for your help.

 

JCG

 

Help us other dummies out here.... how did you get it to work? Configure the COM1 port properly?

[+Bat-Bubba]

I am up-and-running! Thank you all for your help.

 

JCG

 

Help us other dummies out here.... how did you get it to work? Configure the COM1 port properly?

 

No, I just installed the .exe file came with the USB to Serial cable. I use GSAK so it would only work on COM3.

[+StClairC]

Add me to the list of people who have etrex Legends and cannot get GSAK to load waypoints onto my Garmin. However, when I use EasyGPS configured exactly the same as I have GSAK it works just fine. It's okay with me, as it saves me $25 doing it this way

[+Bat-Bubba]

Everything is now working, here's what I did.

 

Windows Vista & Garmin eTrex Legend

 

How to get Win Vista to work with a Garmin Legend GPSr using a serial/usb cable converter.

 

1) DO NOT PLUG THE CABLE INTO THE USB PORT UNTIL THE PROPER STEP.

2) Go to Start-> Help and Support, and in the search help box type "compatibility wizard."

3) Select "Start the program compatibility wizard."

4) Select "Click to open the Program Compatibility Wizard."

5) At the welcome screen click "Next."

6) Insert the CD/DVD that came with the cable, but do NOT plug cable into the computer yet.

7) Shut down any autorun option that opens, should you see it.

8) Ignore any Explorer windows referring to the Radioshack USB Serial Driver, and close them.

9) Get back to the Compatibility Wizard.

10) Select "I want to locate the program manually" and click "NEXT."

11) Click Browse and navigate to the drive containing the Radioshack driver CD/DVD.

12) Select the program on the CD/DVD, click "Next."

13) Select a compatibility mode for the program.

I had it running previously on Windows XP SP2, so I selected that.

14) Just click "Next" thru the Vista dire warnings and Vista will install the driver correctly.

15) Restart your computer when advised.

16) NOW, Plug in the USB cable with attached device --Vista will detect the USB device, complete the driver installation, and your device should now work.

 

Notes: I use GSAK & nRoute so I had to change the "GPS Settings" to the appropriate COM port.

Also, if you previously installed the software, just hit the "Reinstall" button when prompted during the above instruction.