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Garmin 700 only loads a few caches


hempmage

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Hi, hoping someone has run into the same problem or can offer a solution.

I recently bought a Garmin 700 after a few years of happy eTrex 20 use.  The first few times I used it were great, all pocket queries loaded as normal.  Now I'm running into a problem where I'll load a pocket query (for example, my standard is the closest 1000 unfound/not owned) and I'll get less than a dozen.  I normally download a GPX file to my computer and then transfer it to the Garmin/GPX folder.  (I also read one user who suggested putting it in Garmin/New Folder.  This did nothing.)

On the old eTrex I'd get the same problem sometimes, and the solution seemed to be deleting the "current.gpx" file in Garmin/GPX/Current folder.  This doesn't seem to solve the problem here.

I also tried connecting to Geocaching live and registered the device, and then downloaded a PQ over WIFI.  No luck either.

I don't believe I've set any weird filters that would be interfering.  I did a hard reset as well with no change.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

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There's a limit on the amount of GPX files your GPS can hold, there's also a limit on the amount of caches. You might try to delete all GPX files, reboot and then load a fresh PQ.

Take into account that the newer Garmins will not show caches further away than about 150Km/100miles from your current location (but with 1000 closest that might not be the problem). You can find caches further away if you use spellsearch or "seach near".

BTW, I still think, even for the 7xx series, loading caches as GGZ via GSAK is more reliable than any other method I've tried.

 

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4 hours ago, on4bam said:

There's a limit on the amount of GPX files your GPS can hold, there's also a limit on the amount of caches.

There is no limits on the number of caches and the GPX file limit is 2000.  I doubt that is the problem.

1) Delete all GPX files on the unit and remove the memory card.

2) If you are on a MAC, empty the trash.

3) Go to the Garmin/sql/ and delete the contents.

4) Re-start the GPS.

5) Turn it off and  load you pocket query to Garmin/GPX.

6) Re-start and see if it is fixed.

Make sure you have no filters turned on.

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9 minutes ago, on4bam said:

Here it is. in case you didn't know how to use a search engine.

They (JaVaWa) didn't make the GPSr, and they certainly do not set the limits for the hardware.

I know how to use search engines, but unlike you, I don't believe everything I read on the internet.

I don't care how many "+" likes you have below your name, your attitude is quite poor and not appreciated, not to mention a blemish on the forums integrity and a complete waste of everyone's time....

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16 minutes ago, Atlas Cached said:

Can you direct me to the documentt that indicates the GPX Geocache limit?

Geocaches loaded from GPX files are  always limited (even on GGZ aware units). That is because the firmware had to build the cache index on its own which is a very processor intensive task. Hence the limit.

Hans

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Are we sure of JaVaWa's claim? Have any of you actually loaded a large amount of geocaches via GPX on a GGZ capable GPS?

I have. I just put 22,000 geocaches on my Oregon 600 by way of two gpx files, and the device boots up and shows all of the geocaches - or at least certainly more than 5000. So as far as I'm concerned, if there are geocache limits via gpx, they are much higher than the claimed 5000, and higher than the 12,000 imposed on the Montana units. And that limit seems to be higher than 20,000. So either there really is no limit via GPX, or that limit is set high enough to not be an inconvenience to 99% of users.

So until someone comes forth with some actual evidence to the contrary, I'm of the understanding that these units have no limit, or a 4 million geocache limit, whether loaded via GPX or GGZ.

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3 hours ago, Mineral2 said:

Are we sure of JaVaWa's claim? Have any of you actually loaded a large amount of geocaches via GPX on a GGZ capable GPS?

I have. I just put 22,000 geocaches on my Oregon 600 by way of two gpx files, and the device boots up and shows all of the geocaches - or at least certainly more than 5000. So as far as I'm concerned, if there are geocache limits via gpx, they are much higher than the claimed 5000, and higher than the 12,000 imposed on the Montana units. And that limit seems to be higher than 20,000. So either there really is no limit via GPX, or that limit is set high enough to not be an inconvenience to 99% of users.

So until someone comes forth with some actual evidence to the contrary, I'm of the understanding that these units have no limit, or a 4 million geocache limit, whether loaded via GPX or GGZ.

I also have had in excess of 50K geocaches loaded on my Oregon 6x0 via GPX only without any issues other than being slower to index than GGZ. This is why I was asking for documentation on the subject, of which I have seen none thus far.

 

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In any case I'm nowhere near the load limit for the Oregon, if there is one.  Thanks to all for the replies.

I followed Red90's steps and reloaded the PQ.  (Other than I don't have any external memory to remove.)  The same dozen or so caches are showing up.  I opened the PQ in GSAK and it shows all 1000.  Since I'm loading the closest ones to home there should no issue with them being over 100 miles.

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12 minutes ago, hempmage said:

In any case I'm nowhere near the load limit for the Oregon, if there is one.  Thanks to all for the replies.

I followed Red90's steps and reloaded the PQ.  (Other than I don't have any external memory to remove.)  The same dozen or so caches are showing up.  I opened the PQ in GSAK and it shows all 1000.  Since I'm loading the closest ones to home there should no issue with them being over 100 miles.

Please check your filter settings again.

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That is odd.  It seems like Red90's instructions (deleting all GPX files on device, turning on device so GPSr indexes, turning off device, loading new PQ gpx file, turning on device again) and clearing any filters should fix the problem.

Maybe try creating a different PQ, with different criteria so you get a mostly different pool of caches, and see if that one loads properly?

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I'm going to make one more suggestion. 

We're going to go back up to Red90's post:
 

On 11/26/2017 at 6:50 AM, Red90 said:

1) Delete all GPX files on the unit and remove the memory card.

2) If you are on a MAC, empty the trash.  (do this at the very end before disconnecting and booting back up)

3) Go to the Garmin/sql/ and delete the contents.

But I'm going to add some extra steps.
4) Delete the Geocache_visits.txt and Geocache_logs.xml files (really any files with the name "geocache" in them that are in the main Garmin folder on your device). The GPS also uses this file to determine find status of geocaches.

5.) Empty the trash (mac) and disconnect. Perform a master reset. Note that this will reset all of your settings to factory default. If you've customized your activities/profiles and want to restore those settings without going through and doing them all over again, you'll need to backup your activities/profiles files to your computer. They should be in a folder called activities or profiles. (* note: Profiles changed to activities in the Oregon 700 series, so I'm making some guesses that they are still saved the same way on the device. Perhaps someone who owns one can confirm these details.) I imagine that a master reset will also log you out of geocaching live, and you'll have to set that back up.

6.) Turn on the GPS and let it boot up (before you add any gpx files). It'll take a few minutes as it rebuilds the databases.

7.) Plug into your computer and load your pocket queries as normal.


Speaking of geocaching live, have you used it at all to load geocaches directly to the device? If yes, are the dozen or so geocaches that do display of the caches that you installed directly over Wifi?

I admit that this is quite a vexing problem, made harder in that none of us seem to have experienced a replicate problem. Have you tried loading the same PQ files to your eTrex? This will only help rule out that the problem isn't with the file created by Groundspeak.

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Excellent points Mineral2.

Has the OP gone into Setup > Geocaching > Geocaching Live > and/or Geocaching App > Filters > Geocache Files and selected/deselected appropriate GPX files?

 

Is LIVE data interfering with self made GPX files? I know they can not both exists peacefully together, this is a current bug of the Oregon 7x0 series. 

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On 11/26/2017 at 1:51 PM, Atlas Cached said:

I also have had in excess of 50K geocaches loaded on my Oregon 6x0 via GPX only without any issues other than being slower to index than GGZ. This is why I was asking for documentation on the subject, of which I have seen none thus far.

 

Here is an example of just under 60K geocaches loaded on an Oregon 6x0 via GPX only.

1206.png

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