Garmin GPS device ( Etrex) is NOT detected

[+gollasgaccan]

I have a Garmin Etrex. Often I have had to re-install the latest plugin from Garmin before it is detected on geocaching.com ( "Send to GPS" ) however now whatever I do I get these messages :

 

"Communicator Plugin is properly installed and up to date, version

>> 2.9.3.0.

>>

>> Garmin GPS device is NOT detected. To complete test, connect device and

>> refresh" Of course this does not work.

 

In Device Manager, Other Devices USB-SER! is shown together with a yellow exclamation mark.

 

One opinion is it is Vista's fault ( " a failed product" ) & advises me to junk it for Windows 7 , another is to reset the firmware in the unit - apparently the manual would show how to do this, if I had it.

 

I will try it with a computer using something other than Vista

 

Others tell me to do exactly what I have already done - ensure plugin and drivers are installed.

 

Anyone any suggestions ? Is it a Vista problem ? It worked ok on XP.

[+Butano]

The computer has detected (or thought it detected) an error on the USB port. What you can do there is to right click on the item that has the yellow exclamation mark and click uninstall. This will remove that port from the list. Then go to the Action menu item and click Scan for hardware changes. This should pick up the port that you just uninstalled and reinstall the drivers for it. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. Good luck!

[+gollasgaccan]

The computer has detected (or thought it detected) an error on the USB port. What you can do there is to right click on the item that has the yellow exclamation mark and click uninstall. This will remove that port from the list. Then go to the Action menu item and click Scan for hardware changes. This should pick up the port that you just uninstalled and reinstall the drivers for it. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. Good luck!

 

Thanks but unfortunately this takes me round in the same circles ! It did connect OK last year, perhaps even as late as Nov.( honest ! )

 

My wife's Windows 7 laptop will be back from repair soon & I will try it on that

[+gollasgaccan]

The computer has detected (or thought it detected) an error on the USB port. What you can do there is to right click on the item that has the yellow exclamation mark and click uninstall. This will remove that port from the list. Then go to the Action menu item and click Scan for hardware changes. This should pick up the port that you just uninstalled and reinstall the drivers for it. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. Good luck!

 

Thanks but unfortunately this takes me round in the same circles ! It did connect OK last year, perhaps even as late as Nov.( honest ! )

 

My wife's Windows 7 laptop will be back from repair soon & I will try it on that

[+gollasgaccan]

going direct to garmin etrex reveals this is now a discontinued, unsupported product ..........

Still trying to solve it, though !

Don't see why garmin would suddenly withdraw drivers for such a successful, if basic product, if they have.

Nobody from Garmin listening ... ?

[+ecanderson]

The eTrex cable you have is one of those USB to Serial types. The eTrex has a serial connector on it, and there's a dongle on the cable that converts serial to USB for the computer - not all that many are being made with serial ports these days.

 

One wonders -- is the cable that you are using a Garmin original cable? There are a number of others out there, and they don't all use the same driver.

 

When you deleted the icon from Device Manager and scanned for new hardware, did Windows create another icon in the same place with the exclamation mark again? See if there is there a comm port associated with it -- e.g., "USB Serial Port (COM8)" -- and the number could be anything. Problem is, there's a possibility that something else is also trying to use that COMM port. Not supposed to happen, but it does. We'll get to that later.

 

If there's not a yellow exclamation, be sure to let us know if that's the case as well.

 

If the exclamation point remains, right click and select Properties. Select "Driver". What is the name of the driver provider at the top of the list there?

Edited February 8, 2011 by ecanderson

[+gollasgaccan]

There is still a yellow exclamation mark & when I click on Properties, I get :

 

" Driver Provider Unknown."

 

"Port_#0003.Hub_#0001

 

The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)

 

There is no driver selected for the device information set or element.

 

To reinstall the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver."

 

I tried to download them from http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=010-00190-00 - "eTrex/eTrex Camo/eTrex Summit, Ver. 3.70, as of Oct 15, 2007, Download

Compatible with versions: 3.00 or greater"

- My Etrex shows Software Version 3.30 in Setup/System.

 

I downloaded TUGZip as the software used by Garmin but nothing happened when I clicked Extract on the supposedly downloaded files . I also have Garmin's Webupdater.

 

The cable has PFRANC.COM on the unit end and the usb converter has no identifier but, as I said, they worked a couple of months ago.

 

Hmmm

 

Thanks for your clear instructions !

[+gollasgaccan]

There is another thread on this problem : Garmin "send to GPS" on page 7 of GPS and Technology

 

one instruction is this :

 

"Garmin has recently updated their software to work with our new schema. You will want to switch your setting in your profile from 1.0 to 1.0.1. We will be fixing this on our side soon.

 

To change these settings, please follow these steps:

 

1) Log into Geocaching.com

2) Select “Your Profile”

3) Select “View Account Details” on the right side of the page

4) Select “Change” under “Your Preferences”

5) Change “GPX Version” from 1.0 to 1.0.1

6) Click “Save Changes”

 

I hope this fixes it!"

 

Done but no joy !

 

Shame, I really liked my Etrex : I can still enter by hand but it's a bit laborious, esp. if copying several !

[+ecanderson]

The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)

Strange. When you delete the device and do the search for new hardware, when Windows finds the device, it should ask about going out to find a driver / ask for a disk, so that it can load the drivers for the device. Are you not seeing any of that activity when you re-search for it?

 

Anyway, the lack of a driver will cause all that you have in the way of problems.

 

pfranc.com isn't the original Garmin cable. They have a DIY site for people building their own, and also sell completed parts. Since these serial/USB bridge cables come from different manufacturers with a couple of different chip sets, we need to assure you've got the right driver available for the next attempt.

The specific serial/USB cable that pfranc was selling was sold by MCT. Problem - seems MCT never got around to releasing 64 bit drivers. So my first and obvious question -- are you running a 64 bit machine? If so, could be a problem. If not:

 

Unplug your Garmin at the PC's USB port

Go to the MCT web site to this page: http://www.mct.com.tw/driver.html

Find the driver for the U232-P9. It's the 5th entry in the second section (don't ask why it says "Video" there...)

Download and save the *.zip file to your desktop

Unzip and execute the file U232-10.2.98.100806.exe

That should correctly install the driver for your cable

Plug in your Garmin and see what happens

[+splashy]

Be sure your cable is still ok, if you use the do it yourself cable, the soldering might be lose.

Edited February 8, 2011 by splashy

[+ecanderson]

Be sure your cable is still ok, if you use the do it yourself cable, the soldering might be lose.

These particular cables weren't DIY - they were bought and sold complete by pfranc that does sell a lot of other DIY repair parts for Garmin cables. Should be OK.

[+gollasgaccan]

It does ask for the disk, which i don't have, and when I get it to search the internet ( after unsuccessfully scanning drive c ) it advises clicking on Nanjing QinHeng Electronics Co. Ltd. but when I do it starts opening multiple copies.

 

I have downloaded the drivers from MCT and have a desktop icon with232-10.2.9.... but scanning for drivers gives " The location you spcified does not contain any driver installation files " i did open the u232-10 file and re-started but still no joy - will try again on Friday

 

I have a 32 bit machine.

 

Thanks again !

[+ecanderson]

I have downloaded the drivers from MCT and have a desktop icon with232-10.2.9.... but scanning for drivers gives " The location you spcified does not contain any driver installation files "

That's because it isn't a driver file - it's an executable that installs the driver components.

i did open the u232-10 file and re-started but still no joy - will try again on Friday

What did it do when you executed it? Did Windows give you any grief about it?

 

One you execute the file, you MAY have to reboot your machine (sounds like you may have done) for the driver to become available. After that, the plugging in the cable and scanning for new hardware (if necessary) should change what you're seeing in Device Manager.

[+gollasgaccan]

I have downloaded the drivers from MCT and have a desktop icon with232-10.2.9.... but scanning for drivers gives " The location you spcified does not contain any driver installation files "

That's because it isn't a driver file - it's an executable that installs the driver components.

i did open the u232-10 file and re-started but still no joy - will try again on Friday

What did it do when you executed it? Did Windows give you any grief about it?

 

One you execute the file, you MAY have to reboot your machine (sounds like you may have done) for the driver to become available. After that, the plugging in the cable and scanning for new hardware (if necessary) should change what you're seeing in Device Manager.

[+ecanderson]

I have downloaded the drivers from MCT and have a desktop icon with232-10.2.9.... but scanning for drivers gives " The location you spcified does not contain any driver installation files "

That's because it isn't a driver file - it's an executable that installs the driver components.

i did open the u232-10 file and re-started but still no joy - will try again on Friday

What did it do when you executed it? Did Windows give you any grief about it?

 

One you execute the file, you MAY have to reboot your machine (sounds like you may have done) for the driver to become available. After that, the plugging in the cable and scanning for new hardware (if necessary) should change what you're seeing in Device Manager.

?????

[+gollasgaccan]

I have downloaded the drivers from MCT and have a desktop icon with232-10.2.9.... but scanning for drivers gives " The location you spcified does not contain any driver installation files "

That's because it isn't a driver file - it's an executable that installs the driver components.

i did open the u232-10 file and re-started but still no joy - will try again on Friday

What did it do when you executed it? Did Windows give you any grief about it?

 

One you execute the file, you MAY have to reboot your machine (sounds like you may have done) for the driver to become available. After that, the plugging in the cable and scanning for new hardware (if necessary) should change what you're seeing in Device Manager.

?????

[+gollasgaccan]

We at last have lift-off ! Windows solution, download drivers from Nanjing QinHeng Electronics Co. Ltd. , worked just now . It had not worked before because the website just opened multiple copies of itself so I had to abort.

The driver is CH341SER and, after reboot, I've just been able to send a waypoint to my etrex !

 

Thanks again for your support !

[+ecanderson]

We at last have lift-off !

Good deal! No idea why your previous copy of the driver 'went south', but glad to know it's back and working again.

[+cgeosite]

I am having the same issue with my Garmin 62st. For a couple of weeks after Christmas it downloaded the caches; for the last 4 weeks I get the 'communicator plug-in is not detected' with instructions to update. The software tech at Garmin confirmed that the GPS device is updated correctly and said the problem is at the geocaching.com website. I emailed geocaching.com, they wrote back saying they are working on it at their end. That was about a week ago, but I still can't get past the 'communicator plug-in is not detected' message. Good luck to both of us.

[+ecanderson]

'communicator plug-in is not detected' with instructions to update. The software tech at Garmin confirmed that the GPS device is updated correctly and said the problem is at the geocaching.com website.

That's quite a different problem than the OP was reporting. OP had no connection to his computer at all. You just don't get good connection to the "Send to gps" button at gc.com. Your problem has also been reported here, and it's true that the problem appears to be on the gc.com end.

[+bluerockrew]

Unplug your Garmin at the PC's USB port

Go to the MCT web site to this page: http://www.mct.com.tw/driver.html

Find the driver for the U232-P9. It's the 5th entry in the second section (don't ask why it says "Video" there...)

Download and save the *.zip file to your desktop

Unzip and execute the file U232-10.2.98.100806.exe

That should correctly install the driver for your cable

Plug in your Garmin and see what happens

 

Old advice, but this did the trick. I have USB to RS2323 cable #U232-P9(2.4) and Windows 7. Many driver attempts failed, but this one did as the post said it would. Downloaded, installed rebooted and plugged in.

 

Thank you.

Edited January 17, 2015 by bluerockrew