Garmin 62s lost caches

[+Hougoumont]

Hello, this is my first foray onto this forum, so please be gentle!

I have been caching for a while and happily loading pocket queries to my GPS by creating them, downloading to my laptop and using file manager and a drag and drop system popping .gpx files into the GPX file area of my garmin. ( not too many)

The other day I turned on my trusty GPS, the bar stuck half way and nothing loaded I googled answers and found I could do a reset? by holding down buttons whilst powering up.

Did that - also I decided to connect up the GPS, and delete all my old .gpx files incase one was corrupted.

I have redone my pocket queries only 3, each 500, so I am not trying too much. Load them the usual drag and drop method. Turn on the GPS and it says no caches found. I reconnect the GPS to my computer and it says they are there.

The pocket queries view, so I assume I have done them correctly.

I went on the Garmin website, downloaded the latest software to my GPS 6.2 if memory serves correctly.

Even took out the battery's and put new ones in

Now I am a bit stumped.

I am not a real techy. but feel I am fairly competent computer wise, so any advice is welcome.

Sue

[+ecanderson]

First, be sure to give it a chance. Most of these units will 'half load' on the gas gauge for a while before they start ripping away again.

 

But if it just never restarts, I'd consider taking your PQs ONE at a time and loading them to the unit to see if there is one particular PQ that is hanging things up. Just because a particular cache is successfully viewable on the gc.com site doesn't mean that there isn't something goofball in the content of one or more caches in the resulting *.gpx file. It happens.

[+Mineral2]

Garmin GPS's occasionally have a glitch where they don't index the cache listings correctly, and then they don't show up in the cache list. It's possible that when (if) you shut down the GPS while the bar was still at half loaded, the indexing didn't finish and got corrupted. First thing you should do is just remove all gpx files containing geocaches and then boot up the GPS without the caches loaded. This should create a fresh index file. Then you can reconnect to the computer, load your PQ files and boot up again. The device looks for new data during start-up and makes a new index file, and sometimes this takes a while so be patient. But you should get your geocaches back.

 

Since you have a 62s, it's a good idea to store data on a SD card rather than internal memory whenever possible. This makes performing the above procedure a bit quicker as all you have to do is remove the card in order to generate that fresh index file. It also means you can perform this trick while out in the field if, god forbid, it happens while you're out caching.

 

That's my best guess as to what happened to you. Give the above steps a try and if that doesn't work, we know it's a different problem.

[+Walts Hunting]

mineral12 hit the nail on the head. This is a LONG LONG LONG known problem. Putting the caches on the sdcard means when you are miles into a caxhe day and it happens yu wont have to quit

[+bowiewhist]

Forgive me adding to this thread - maybe inappropriately - I am new to the forum. I also have a Garmin 62s and it is 13 months old and suddenly it won't stay switched on. I have changed batteries to ensure that isn't the problem. It shows the Garmin logo, holds for about 5 seconds and then fades to nothing - so I can't actually load any troubleshooting devices or software. It is just out of warranty, by one month, and until now I was really pleased with it for my geocaching exploits. Any ideas or is it just u/s?

[+Mineral2]

Forgive me adding to this thread - maybe inappropriately - I am new to the forum. I also have a Garmin 62s and it is 13 months old and suddenly it won't stay switched on. I have changed batteries to ensure that isn't the problem. It shows the Garmin logo, holds for about 5 seconds and then fades to nothing - so I can't actually load any troubleshooting devices or software. It is just out of warranty, by one month, and until now I was really pleased with it for my geocaching exploits. Any ideas or is it just u/s?

 

You likely have a corrupt file that's causing the shut-down. If you can connect to your computer and boot up as a mass storage device, you can start removing files and then adding them back one at a time until you figure out which one is the culprit. It's likely a geocache file, but I've had track files do the same to me as well.

[+bowiewhist]

Forgive me adding to this thread - maybe inappropriately - I am new to the forum. I also have a Garmin 62s and it is 13 months old and suddenly it won't stay switched on. I have changed batteries to ensure that isn't the problem. It shows the Garmin logo, holds for about 5 seconds and then fades to nothing - so I can't actually load any troubleshooting devices or software. It is just out of warranty, by one month, and until now I was really pleased with it for my geocaching exploits. Any ideas or is it just u/s?

 

You likely have a corrupt file that's causing the shut-down. If you can connect to your computer and boot up as a mass storage device, you can start removing files and then adding them back one at a time until you figure out which one is the culprit. It's likely a geocache file, but I've had track files do the same to me as well.

 

Forgive me being a numpty mineral2 but I don't understand how I do this - when connected to my PC it still won't stay "on" for more than five seconds. I'm not at all technically minded so I don't know what "boot up as a mass storage device means" nor what a track file is (sorry!) I need addressing as though I am an alien from another planet who knows nothing!!

[+Mineral2]

When you connect a Garmin GPS to a computer, one of two things will happen - either it will continue to boot up normally, using the usb port as a power supply, and you can use the GPS like you would away from the computer, or it will go into mass storage mode where it has the same functionality as a thumb drive. In mass storage mode, you can view and access all of the folders and files on your device, which means you can add or delete files.

 

A "track file" is a .gpx file containing data from a logged track. All GPS data - tracks, routes, waypoints, geocaches - are stored in these gpx files. Sometimes they don't get written properly and these unreadable files cause the unit to shut down before it gets a chance to boot up completely. If you're having trouble booting into mass storage mode, then you might have a system file that is corrupt, in which case you'll have to perform what's called a "hard reset" or a "master reset." If you need to do this, follow the instructions on this link: http://www.taupotrampers.com/garminMasterResets.pdf

[+bowiewhist]

When you connect a Garmin GPS to a computer, one of two things will happen - either it will continue to boot up normally, using the usb port as a power supply, and you can use the GPS like you would away from the computer, or it will go into mass storage mode where it has the same functionality as a thumb drive. In mass storage mode, you can view and access all of the folders and files on your device, which means you can add or delete files.

 

A "track file" is a .gpx file containing data from a logged track. All GPS data - tracks, routes, waypoints, geocaches - are stored in these gpx files. Sometimes they don't get written properly and these unreadable files cause the unit to shut down before it gets a chance to boot up completely. If you're having trouble booting into mass storage mode, then you might have a system file that is corrupt, in which case you'll have to perform what's called a "hard reset" or a "master reset." If you need to do this, follow the instructions on this link: http://www.taupotrampers.com/garminMasterResets.pdf

 

OK - I shall try that last bit and report back on how I get on - I very much appreciate this advice and will keep fingers crossed that the fix works! I've never known it do anything when linked to the computer that isn't like it is on battery power so hence, I guess my not recognising this other mode. UPDATE No joy. I get as far as "do I want to delete etc." and then it powers down again - it won't let me get any further. Pressing enter and page simultaneously does work to get me underway but the actual problem of it powering down within seconds means I can't get to undertake the rest of suggested plan - any other thoughts?

Edited March 1, 2016 by bowiewhist

[Ranger Fox]

I've had part of your issue on both a 62st and 64st. Every now and then--perhaps once every two or three months--I will power on the GPSr and it will get stuck loading from the GPX file. Usually, I'll pull the batteries out, put them back in, hold the down button (I think so), and plug it up to my computer. This tells the GPSr to boot without running its normal operations so it can go directly into USB storage mode. I'll remove the GPX file, unplug the GPSr, and attempt to restart it. If that doesn't work, I'll have to do a soft reset, which usually fixes things when I'm in the field and don't have access to my tablet or computer. I don't remember the soft reset deleting the GPX file. Once the GPSr boots successfully, I copy the same GPX file back onto the GPSr and everything is fine.

 

There is another issue I have as well. That's what I thought this thread was about. After booting, the GPSr will not display some caches in the GPX file on the map. I have to reapply my filter to get them to display. The odd thing is I don't actually have the filter excluding caches. For example, it'll show one event, but not another of the same rating. It's really weird, but it's good there's a workaround--provided I can remember to do that every time.