Pocket Queries and GSAK questions

[+OlderNDirt49]

Fairly new to the hobby and hope I got this in the right forum. I have loaded caches into my Nuvi 500 and found most, but am trying to overcome the Nuvi 500 cache name limitation and make loading lots of caches easier then one at a time. I have tried easygps, but it looks like GSAK is the way to go for limiting multiple cache names automatically. So in trying to setup and use PQ's and GSAK, I have (for the time being) 3 problems:

 

1. After generating a PQ and receiving an e-mail with the file, I rename it and save it to my hard drive. When I try to load it into GSAK (by drag and drop or open file), I get the error message "This file does not pass XML validation and will be ignored". Nothing appears in GSAK.

 

2. I can't find the correct place to put the "%smart=20" command that will shorten cache names automatically when loaded into the Nuvi 500.

 

3. I find no option to load the caches onto the micro sd card rather then directly into the Nuvi 500.

 

Hopefully there is a solution to the first problem so I can load PQ's into GSAK to test and fix the other two.

 

Any and all help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thx.

[jholly]

You will probably get better answers and quicker answers over on the GSAK board

 

Jim

[+Chuy!]

1. In your PQ page, make sure the file generated is a .zip with a .gpx file . Keep your pq's in one folder, then direct GSAK to open the zip file. It will automatically open it and read the .gpx file.

 

2. It goes in the "Waypoint name" field. First, uncheck the "Use Defaults" box.

 

3. This, I'm not 100% sure if you can download waypoints onto the card. I know that with POILoader, the caches get placed onto the card as Customized Points of Interest.

 

Good luck.

 

Do you know about Pilotsnipe's macro to use your Nuvi as a PDA for paperless? It creates a macro for GSAK.

[+OlderNDirt49]

1. In your PQ page, make sure the file generated is a .zip with a .gpx file . Keep your pq's in one folder, then direct GSAK to open the zip file. It will automatically open it and read the .gpx file.

 

Do you know about Pilotsnipe's macro to use your Nuvi as a PDA for paperless? It creates a macro for GSAK.

 

Chuy:

 

When I generate the pq, it is a .zip with a .gpx file. In the e-mail, I receive a .zip file. The problem seems to come when I "save" the file to the hard drive. What shows up is an unzipped file that shows as a .efw document and I see no way to alter or change that.

 

I read up a little on Pilotsnipe's info, but figured I need to get the basics working before going to the next level. Thx for your help.

 

jholly:

 

I hear what you are saying, but I tried searching that site to no avail and there seems to be very little activity on that site. But I will look into that if it doesn't go anywhere here. In searching the internet for others having a similar problem, what little I found was all in foreign language and therefor, of no/little use.

[jholly]

the .efw extention is from your security software. You should be able to rename it to .zip and it will work you don't need to unzip it, GSAK will read zip files.

 

Actually there is a fair amount of activity over there. The two moderators and Clyde jump on any questions quite fast and are quite helpful. I remember there was a discussion on the XML verification issue, I just don't remember the resolution. Ask over on the GSAK board.

 

Jim

Edited June 13, 2009 by jholly

[+OlderNDirt49]

Thanks, jholly!

 

I finally found something about .efw files and CA Security, which I unfortunately use (not sure if the problem is only with CA). I tried disabling CA anti-virus, but zip file was still emailed to me as .efw and I see nowhere to change that when "saving" the "zip" file.

 

I'll try the GSAK board and see if there is a solution there.

[+StarBrand]

Just another note - you don't need GSAK at all with the Nuvi 500.

 

Just hook the Nuvi to your PC in mass storage mode and drag and drop the GPX file into the [drive]:\garmin\gpx folder on the Nuvi. Unhook and off you go.

 

Of course you will have to extract the GPX correctly from the zip first......

[+OlderNDirt49]

Thanks for all the help responses. Beetween the information here and posts on the GSAK board, I gleened enough information to lead me to a solution to my main problem item #1 (loading PQ into GSAK). Step by step is in my thread there, but will note here that I went into the firewall settings in CA Security and changed the Email settings NOT to quaranteen .zip files.

 

I now have a small PQ in Gsak so I can work on the other areas of question before going for a 500 cacje PQ, but am confident in accomplishing those.

 

Thanks again for all the help!