lakelaxrookie49 Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I recently bought a Garmin Etrex Legend C from someone on craigslist and I can NOT get my computer to recognize it when i plug it into the USB drive. I've used the Mapsource CD and the drivers that came with it and i've spent hours today looking up and trying things online that just won't work. Different guides and USB driver download instructions tell me to hook it up to the USB and when the "Found New Hardware" pop-up is displayed to follow those directions. However, the pop-up alert that's supposed to say "Found New Hardware" never shows up. On my GPSr it says it's not using battery power and is getting the power from the computer but I can not use it other than just a power source for my GPSr. I really wanna get out there geocaching and wanna be able to sync my GPSr with all the cache waypoints i've got downloaded so if anyone could help me let me know!! Quote Link to comment
+S.A.R 29 Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I recently bought a Garmin Etrex Legend C from someone on craigslist and I can NOT get my computer to recognize it when i plug it into the USB drive. I've used the Mapsource CD and the drivers that came with it and i've spent hours today looking up and trying things online that just won't work. Different guides and USB driver download instructions tell me to hook it up to the USB and when the "Found New Hardware" pop-up is displayed to follow those directions. However, the pop-up alert that's supposed to say "Found New Hardware" never shows up. On my GPSr it says it's not using battery power and is getting the power from the computer but I can not use it other than just a power source for my GPSr. I really wanna get out there geocaching and wanna be able to sync my GPSr with all the cache waypoints i've got downloaded so if anyone could help me let me know!! Go to the Garmin site and download the newest drivers for the Legend c. Quote Link to comment
lakelaxrookie49 Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 I recently bought a Garmin Etrex Legend C from someone on craigslist and I can NOT get my computer to recognize it when i plug it into the USB drive. I've used the Mapsource CD and the drivers that came with it and i've spent hours today looking up and trying things online that just won't work. Different guides and USB driver download instructions tell me to hook it up to the USB and when the "Found New Hardware" pop-up is displayed to follow those directions. However, the pop-up alert that's supposed to say "Found New Hardware" never shows up. On my GPSr it says it's not using battery power and is getting the power from the computer but I can not use it other than just a power source for my GPSr. I really wanna get out there geocaching and wanna be able to sync my GPSr with all the cache waypoints i've got downloaded so if anyone could help me let me know!! Go to the Garmin site and download the newest drivers for the Legend c. I have, yet one of the steps is to connect the device to the computer and it won't recognize that it's connected. Quote Link to comment
+luckybobb Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 You may want to try downloading and installing the drivers before connecting the GPS to the computer. This is the way alot of digital cameras work and the Etrex C may work the same way. Quote Link to comment
+NR_Teacher Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I'm having the exact same problem, I'm real tired of entering waypoints manualy, I've downdoaded the latest driver but am unable to install it because the computer fails to even recognize "new hardware found." Ive checked my port settings, my usb settings, I dont know what else to do. Help! Quote Link to comment
+NR_Teacher Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I have solved the problem! Marketers have developed a serial/usb cable and unless you install the software to use it, it may as well be a piece of string. Garmin makes a serial cable 9 point for thirty two dollars or you can buy one of these after market deals for about 10 bucks! Quote Link to comment
lakelaxrookie49 Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 I have solved the problem! Marketers have developed a serial/usb cable and unless you install the software to use it, it may as well be a piece of string. Garmin makes a serial cable 9 point for thirty two dollars or you can buy one of these after market deals for about 10 bucks! I've read about this. However, the Etrex Legend C doesn't use a serial cable. It has a mini USB hook-up on the back of the GPSr and the cable is a mini-usb to usb. I've taken it to Fry's and see if maybe there is something wrong with my computer they could find. They looked at it and tried connecting my unit for about 20 minutes and told me that there was almost certainly something wrong with the connection on the GPSr as it was loose as well. Does Garmin fix their units even if i bought it from someone secondhand? Quote Link to comment
+NR_Teacher Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I have solved the problem! Marketers have developed a serial/usb cable and unless you install the software to use it, it may as well be a piece of string. Garmin makes a serial cable 9 point for thirty two dollars or you can buy one of these after market deals for about 10 bucks! I've read about this. However, the Etrex Legend C doesn't use a serial cable. It has a mini USB hook-up on the back of the GPSr and the cable is a mini-usb to usb. I've taken it to Fry's and see if maybe there is something wrong with my computer they could find. They looked at it and tried connecting my unit for about 20 minutes and told me that there was almost certainly something wrong with the connection on the GPSr as it was loose as well. Does Garmin fix their units even if i bought it from someone secondhand? Im pretty sure that the back of the GPSr is serial and if you have a rectangular hookup to the comp, thats USB. Its a Serial to USB cable that requires software to convert it. Quote Link to comment
segler999 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 The Legend C manual shows a standard USB port on the back of the unit. So, PRIOR TO PLUGGING IN THE CABLE TO THE PC (same for all USB devices), first install the USB driver. You can download this from garmin.com. The current version is 2.2.1. Then, and only then, can you plug in the cable. The PC will recognize the gpsr, which you can verify in the Device Manager to make sure. Now you can run whatever software for communicating between PC and Legend C. Mapsource, for example. If, after doing all this, it still does not work, you can suspect the cable or port or other hardware. Quote Link to comment
tightcoyote Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I am having the same problem except I have a Vista Cx. I have downloaded the latest drivers from garmin and following the instructions to the letter still doesn't solve the problem. I have had the unit for a year and a half with no problems and suddenly my pc won't recognize it. It's not the usb hub since other things like my iPod will work from the same port. The unit is running on external power so it knows it's plugged in but when I try to use MapSource and receive data from the device it can't find a gps connected. Argh!!!! Help? Quote Link to comment
+Maingray Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 It's a mini USB-USB cable connection..nothing fancier than that. I had a Legend C for ages which suddenly stopped talking to the computer.. had to spend ages wiggling the cable to get the PC to recognize it. The port is a weak point of this unit. Quote Link to comment
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