Etrex20 -Must've dloaded caches to wrong folder!

[+GrapeNutsTburg]

I downloaded and unzipped caches onto my ETrex20 but they're not showing up at all. We're at our campsite now with an iPhone and the Etrex but no cable to the Etrex so I could try looking at the file structure. Anybody know a way to access the files within the ETrex itself? Or to tell it where to look for the caches? I'm sure they're in the GPX folder but they might be in the "Current" sub folder. Thanks!

[+ecanderson]

No way to access the file system directly on the device in the field. Needs a proper connection to a computer.

[+Walts Hunting]

To bad you don't have an android phone and an OTG cable then you would have complete access to the device including the ability to move and download new PQs as needed.

[+jonnycouk]

Appreciate this reply is a little late but I had a similar(ish) problem. To be aware of on an eTrex. I uoloaded the .gpx files correctly, but when learning the device, I went into the Waypoints menu, saw a load listed and for some reason (I hate it when my clients do this too!) I deleted them. This effectively deleted ALL Geocaches stored. The .gpx file was still present, it was valid XML and read OK in the third party tools but from that point on, the Garmin software just wouldn't read the .gpx files. I had rot rename them and re-upload them.

 

They may have been in the right folder, but they may have been corrupted if you did what I did.

 

The only work around I had was to use the Nav menu and navigate using the Coordinates option and navigate with the Lat/Lon listed in the App until I fixed the .gpx issue.

[+geodarts]

No way to access the file system directly on the device in the field. Needs a proper connection to a computer.

 

To bad you don't have an android phone and an OTG cable then you would have complete access to the device including the ability to move and download new PQs as needed.

 

No need to go that far! As an Iphone user I usually stick a small wifi router (I use the Kingston Mobilelite but there are several others) in the same pack as my gpsr. It's about the size of my phone. I have plugged the gpsr into it to get access to the file structure, download caches, or install maps while traveling or in the field. It has allowed me to use the gpsr while camping when our plans changed by creating a gpx file with the Geosphere app and copying it over - or to transfer photos to or from an sd card.

 

I agree that there was nothing to do while camping without either a laptop or the router - although if the caches were downloaded to an sd card, you could try to remove it, start the unit, and reinstall the card in the hope that the problem was just an indexing glitch. A wifi router might come in handy on future trips. I stopped carrying my laptop when traveling quite some time ago and Android OTG cables are not an option at the moment.

Edited August 24, 2016 by geodarts

[+Graculus]

Something else to be careful of. When you transfer the files to the GPS from the computer make sure you 'eject' the GPS before unplugging it. Just right click on it in Windows Explorer and you get the option. If you just unplug the GPS it may not have finished copying the files (though it looks like it has) and no caches will appear on it. Ejecting ensures it's done.

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

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[+on4bam]

Something else to be careful of. When you transfer the files to the GPS from the computer make sure you 'eject' the GPS before unplugging it. Just right click on it in Windows Explorer and you get the option. If you just unplug the GPS it may not have finished copying the files (though it looks like it has) and no caches will appear on it. Ejecting ensures it's done.

 

I have NEVER "ejected" my Colorado 300 or now my Oregon 600 and never had issues with doing so. On the other hand, I never unplug the GPS right away as I'm usually doing other stuff so it may take half an hour before I unplug. Same goes for my Nuvi car GPS after exporting from GSAK and USB memory stick.

[+ecanderson]

Learned the hard way that without a logical disconnect of my 450, I'm likely as not going to see "No geocaches found" when I fire it up and search for one.

Have had this happen twice (got smarter after the 2nd time), and haven't had it happen since I started doing logical disconnect - without fail - each time before physical disconnect if any data at all was added to the unit.