Dakota (and possibly Oregon) Waypoints Disappear

[+ecanderson]

I don't know how long this has been going on - could have just occurred in a recent firmware release or been there for a while...

 

Yesterday it was necessary to hand load 10 waypoints for a demo run for a group of new geocachers. I used the "Mark Waypoint" for each one, and used the "Edit Name" and "Edit Location" to provide a cache number and correct set of coordinates for each waypoint. I then did a trial "Where To?", selected "Waypoints", and all of the 10 I had entered were there and ready if I wanted to navigate to any of them.

 

I then powered the unit down while we got organized. Before we were ready to start, I powered the unit up and found that all of the waypoints were gone. No ability to see them with a "Where To?" and no ability to see them using "Waypoint Manager".

 

I repeated the process and darned if it didn't happen again.

 

When I got home, I took a look in the GPX folder and found a tmp file where there should have been a gpx, and my waypoints weren't in the tmp, either. It appears the Dakota forgot to save the waypoints to a gpx. What gives?

 

Dakota firmware version 3.00.

[+jeepdelfuego]

I just added 5 waypoints, turned off the unit, then turned it back on and my waypoints were still there. I have the latest firmware/software for my Oregon 450. Anybody else having issues?

Edited May 23, 2010 by jeepdelfuego

[+ecanderson]

I say "possibly Oregon" since the firmware changes between Dakota and Oregon often track each other. I have no confirmation that the Oregon is affected by this as yet.

[+ecanderson]

Further to the above: the problem does not occur if I just waypoint the current position or a point on the map and do NOT edit it. However, if I choose to "Mark Waypoint" or select a point on the map and DO edit the point, that is when it is forgotten on the next power up.

 

So the normal "mark a spot" works fine so long as I don't make any edit to the waypoint that is created. Problem is, when you're pre-loading a waypoint for a multi (or 10 of them, as with our geo-event yesterday), it would be nice to be able to turn the unit off without losing them!

[+2Wheel'in]

For what it's worth...I have experienced the exact same thing with my Oregon 400t in the past (but not (as far as I know) with the current software version). I can remember thinking just how bad that could be if I marked a waypoint for my parking spot...and then found out it wasn't saved when I "needed" it. I'll trying marking a waypoint, and then editing it a few times to see if I can replicate what you've experienced. I'll report back.

 

Bill

[Grasscatcher]

Oregon 550 w 3.40 /3.70 works correctly.

 

Added a wpt, Saved and Edited coordinates

Checked Wpt Mgr- OK, it was shown there

Turned unit off and back on

Checked Wpt Mgr----still there, and on map

[+peiguy]

Oregon 550 w 3.40 /3.70 works correctly.

 

Added a wpt, Saved and Edited coordinates

Checked Wpt Mgr- OK, it was shown there

Turned unit off and back on

Checked Wpt Mgr----still there, and on map

I had the same experience with my Dakota 20: The Case of the Disappearing Waypoints.

I reformatted my 4 G microSD card, added a Garmin folder, and all is well now. Curious.

I have already sent an email to Garmin regarding this issue. It will be interesting to see what they say.

[+LauretteBradley]

See here for Amazon review from a while back -- Sept. '09 -- reporting same thing:

 

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2H9SI7KXZDVR...#R2H9SI7KXZDVRU

[+2Wheel'in]

Following up to Post #5. I tested marking 12 waypoints this afternoon...saving 4 and letting the Oregon 400t just assign incremental numbers...then went into the Waypoint Manager and edited 2 of them to change the name. The remaining 8 I edited the name and symbol using the Edit & Save feature. Turned off the unit after each save, and turned it off again after marking the last waypoint. All waypoints were saved successfully, and I could access them through the Where To page. I know it's "lost" waypoints before, hopefully the latest firmware version corrected the issue on the 400t. Good luck with getting the issue resolved on your receiver.

 

Bill

[+ecanderson]

Nuts - Garmin has been running 30~35 minute wait times all day for telephone support. Guess Monday is a bit rough. Will try them again tomorrow to see if they've got any suggestions on this, especially since this problem has evidently cropped up before.

[+ryan3295]

It appears they have come out with an update to fix this issues??

 

Can't test it as I have a Oregon.

 

Change History

Changes made from version 3.00 to 3.10:

Fixed issue with editing waypoints.

 

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4527

[+ecanderson]

It appears they have come out with an update to fix this issues??

 

Can't test it as I have a Oregon.

 

Change History

Changes made from version 3.00 to 3.10:

Fixed issue with editing waypoints.

 

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4527

MANY thanks for pointing this out. Since we just had an update to 3.00 less than two weeks ago, I'm surprised they jumped on this so quickly. Will see if this solves it, but based on the (typical) vague description, there's a fair chance it will.

[+ecanderson]

Yepper --- 3.10 resolves the problem that was evidently introduced on 5/11 in the 3.00 release. Thanks again. That was becoming a real pain in a hurry!

[+dhevans_6]

Yepper --- 3.10 resolves the problem that was evidently introduced on 5/11 in the 3.00 release. Thanks again. That was becoming a real pain in a hurry!

 

Thanks for posting this and the resolution. I tried to use my Dakota 20 to mark where my first cache was hidden today and wondered why it lost it when I switched it off, when I was sure it didn't last time I used it!