Garmin nuvi USB hookup

[targa72]

With the Garmin nuvi 500 connected to my desktop it acts like another hard drive per the manual. The first time it was hookup to my UMPC (ASUS 901) it acted like it was attached to the car, when turned off it went to charge. There are three USB ports on the UMPC, plugged into one of them the GPS would charge plugged into the others it was like another hard drive. This happen for about four or five tries then it did not matter which USB port, it just acted like another hard drive.

What do I have to do to get one of these ports to always charge the GPS? This would allow me to carry one less charger when traveling.

[+qlenfg]

I'm not sure if I exactly understand what you are trying to say, so let me see if I can summarize:

 

Using a USB cable (Factory ??) the GPS will charge and it shows up as a mass storage device on your desktop computer.

 

Using the same cable ?? it may or may not charge, but it always shows up as a mass storage device on your netbook.

 

If the above is correct, I suspect the USB ports on the netbook are not capable of supplying enough power to charge the battery. If the GPS battery is very low and the netbook won't charge it, but it charges when the battery is close to full, this would pretty much prove my theory.

[targa72]

Per Garmin manual to charge the nuvi you either use the vehicle power cable or the optional AC adapter cable.

 

When you connect the optional USB cable between the nuvi and your computer the nuvi and micro card appear as removable drives in My Computer.

 

No were in the manual does it say you can charge the nuvi when connected to your computer.

[targa72]

Per Garmin manual to charge the nuvi you either use the vehicle power cable or the optional AC adapter cable.

 

When you connect the optional USB cable between the nuvi and your computer the nuvi and micro card appear as removable drives in My Computer.

 

No were in the manual does it say you can charge the nuvi when connected to your computer.

[+Nature Kids]

The Garmin 250 I use charges up when plugged into USB. It shows up on the comp as a drive, and a icon shows on it, being connected to a comp. It does charge when left plugged into the USB.

[+tbruihler]

I have a nuvi 500 and have not had this problem before. I HAVE charged my nuvi by plugging it into a computer. I have had an almost dead battery and still charged it to full power using my USB cable connected to my computer. When I have it connected to the computer it shows up as an additional drive.

 

On another note - I recently had to get a new car charger for my GPS. The new charger is not a "Garmin" charger but still works fine to charge the gps. However, when I use the new charger it acts like it is connected to the computer when I first turn it on. (It has that green time bar across the screen showing connection status). The factory charger did not do this.

[+obsidianspider]

To echo what glenfg said, I believe it's that your netbook doesn't have full-powered USB ports.

 

A lot of "normal" laptops don't have all of their USB ports powered, so that feature being missing on a device that's designed to get as much battery life as possible makes sense.

[NordicMan]

Does it make any difference if your NETBOOK is currently plugged into the wall, or if it is running on battery power?

[targa72]

When the nuvi was first plugged into the UMPC it acted just like it was plugged into the car. I could plan a route, view the map etc. When turned off it went to charge, this happened with the UMPC plugged into the AC outlet and when it was unplugged.

 

This happened only on one of the three USB ports (call this port 1). On the other two ports (2 & 3) it was just another drive. I swapped it between the ports a couple of times with the same results. After installing Garmin Communication Plug-in this changed. I still had two ports as a drive (1&3) and one (2) acted like it was plugged into the car but different ports. It was this way a couple of times before it started acting as just another drive in all three USB ports.

 

Nature Kids & thruibler gave me the answers I needed. The nuvi charges even when it is recognized as another removable drive. I will let it discharge for a few hours and try plugging into the UBPC to charge.

 

Thanks everyone for the help.

[sagc]

I've found ways to get my Nuvi 750 (software version 4.60) into normal mode when plugged into a regular USB port. It will likely work with other models as well. This is useful if you want to power the unit from USB but still use it while connected. It also lets you charge the unit without having the backlight on and the "computer to Nuvi" display (you just power the unit off while still connected). When running in normal mode it will not appear as a drive on the computer, just draw power from the USB port.

 

Method 1: This works with Windows XP Professional (and probably other Windows versions). Put the power switch in the "locked" position. Use the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon on the Windows "Start" bar to "Safely remove Mass Storage Device - ...". The Nuvi will reboot and enter normal operation as if connected to a charger.

 

Method 2: This works with any powered USB port, even those AC and 12V USB chargers. With the Nuvi showing the "computer to Nuvi" display, unplug the USB cable. After a short time the unit will start to reboot. When "Loading Maps ..." appears at the bottom, plug the USB cable back in. The Nuvi will continue to boot into normal mode.

Edited April 30, 2009 by sagc

[targa72]

Thank you sagc. Method 2 worked. The nuvi 500 was charging the other way (as a removable drive) but I like your method 2 better.