BaseCamp software version 3.0.6 (Windows)

[+allory]

At this point only via the update menu:

 

Added support for the GB Discoverer series of products.

Added support for the City Navigator Israel series of products.

Improved memory usage when drawing maps.

Improved auto routing calculation speed.

Improved address searching when searching near 'center of map'.

Improved indexing of map products installed on devices or SD cards.

Changed error reporting for imported files.

Change to '&' rendering on map labels.

Fixed startup issue related to diacritics or the German Eszett in the database.

Fixed startup issues related to bad 3d settings.

Fixed errors that could occur when changing filtered route settings in the middle of creating a route.

Fixed errors when editing geotagged photos.

Fixed input of custom grid values.

Fixed issues that could happen when changing the map font.

Fixed issues that would result in sections of the map missing when using an NT map product.

Fixed issues when changing datum and grid.

Fixed the elevation value of created waypoints.

 

Should be at http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4435 eventually.

[Motorcycle_Mama]

Seems to be at the link now.

[savant9]

Seems to start up quite a bit faster than before even with quite a few birdseye images loaded in basecamp.

[yogazoo]

Still slow as molasses in January. BUT I do have over 40 full sized image tiles downloaded which may be the cause for the continuing sluggishness. Even so, this software shouldn't run like as much crap.

 

"Unlimited Downloads" takes on a new meaning (like "Limited") when the software can't handle a multitude of files.

[+myotis]

I downloaded a new birdseye. Then tried to send it to my card. Basecamp locked up about 45 minutes latter. I was able to send the map to my GPS and then move it to my card. But it still took forever to send the map.

[yogazoo]

This newer version of Basecamp (3.0.6) has actually crashed on me more than the last version. That is to say I can't get it to work at all. I'm running it on a pretty fast machine and I can't get it to stop crashing. Oh well, I guess when Garmin said "unlimited downloads" they meant until the software doesn't work any more.

 

Does anyone know where to get the older 3.0.5 version? I'm reverting.

[yogazoo]

Let's say that you, like most, transfer your Birds Eye imagery to your SD card. When you go to plug in your unit, the new version 3.0.6 will not read from that sd card even if it's in the GPS unit. Since most people store their imagery on their sd cards, and Garmin allows you to store them there from a functional standpoint, then why wouldn't BaseCamp see them in that removable disk?

 

Since basecamp crashes if there are too many birdseye files I deleted them from "My Collection" as long as I could still see them from my sd card on the map (so I can select adjacent tiles and expand my coverage). We'll I deleted the imagery from BaseCamps' cache and now I can't read, through Basecamp, the tiles I have. Maybe someday Garmin will refine this program but this iteration doesn't appear to be it.

[+myotis]

The new version locked up on me again. This time I had to turn off the power. Yea yogazoo is right, the $%^$# idiots removed the ability to access the maps you have on your card.

[+Cache Liberation Front]

Shame on you Garmin. BaseCamp is simply horrible code that is not ready for use. Though my system is hardly a monster, it is a fine machine:

 

Operating System:

Windows 2.6.1.7600

 

CPU Type:

Intel® Core™2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz

 

CPU Speed (GHz):

3.18

 

System Memory (GB):

3.37

 

Video Card Model:

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

 

I just installed the new version of BC, and it took over a FULL minute to load. The harddrive just hit and hit and hit. BC seems to have been coded in the BC. As a devout Legend then 60CSx then Oregon 450 user, I'm sorely disappointed the software side of Garmin. Perhaps they should just stick to hardware.

[yogazoo]

I called Garmin this morning and they said that I may want to delete some tiles from "My Collection" to help BaseCamp run better (at all).

 

The problem with this is I have three units with subscriptions and don't want to go through downloading 50 tiles three times over, I want to transfer them all from "My Collection" to my other two units without downloading again and again.

 

Want in one hand and .... in the other I guess.

 

[Motorcycle_Mama]

What about moving some of the tiles to a different folder on your computer so that they won't be read into BaseCamp.

 

I am away from my main computer so I can't test it, but it would seem like that should work rather than deleting them.

[+myotis]

Not sure what you mean about another folder. If they are loaded in basecamp, it grinds to a halt. If you take them out of Basecamp and just had them on a card, prior to this version you could access them in basecamp by clicking on the drive. Now the stupid idiots removed the work around for thier horrible programing!

[Motorcycle_Mama]

Right, but you need need all of them in BaseCamp full-time, right? Once you have copied them to the GPS unit, you don't need them in BaseCamp all the time, right?

 

I'm saying once you have copied them to the GPS unit(s) move the files on the computer containing the images to a different location on the hard drive so that they won't be loaded into BaseCamp, thus they won't slow down.

 

Then if you need to access those images again, you could move the files back into the BaseCamp folder on the computer.

 

Wouldn't that work?

[yogazoo]

Right, I get what your saying. Once all the images are on all of my units just delete the files in "My Collection". This may work, and it may offer a temporary solution. However, the root of the whole problem is a BaseCamp iteration that's junior varsity and not really 100% consumer ready to handle Birdseye. Someday, if Garmin want's more of my money (and they do), I'll want to add to the images and would want, in some cases, to seamlessly append more images to the ones I already have. Without them on the computer I wouldn't be able to do this.

 

It's what I've come to expect from Garmin with almost any release of any product. Whenever something is released from Garmin don't expect it to be trouble free or work correctly for about a year. Their software/firmware engineers are always about 12 months behind the hardware folks

[yogazoo]

Here's part of an email I've received from Garmin support regarding the current issues with BaseCamp v3.0.6. It sounds like the problems are known and they are actively working on a fix. Here's me being hopeful.

 

 

Hi,

 

I've received a number of error reports that you have submitted for BaseCamp, and am trying to determine what is the cause of the problems you've encountered.

 

From the data submitted with your error report, it appears that BaseCamp is using an unusually large amount of memory. Unfortunately, I've not yet been able to determine why BaseCamp is using so much memory - it is not expected and is pretty unusual.

 

You reported having around 50 BirdsEye areas downloaded - are these all large areas? If you use Task Manager to show the memory usage of BaseCamp, how much memory does it appear to be using just after starting up? After running for a while? When it crashes?

 

I appreciate any more information you are able to give me. This is an issue that we are anxious to resolve, and I am grateful for your help in determining the cause of these problems.

 

Edited September 15, 2010 by yogazoo