Please help with downloading to a garmin etrex20

[+KandDGregory]

Hi, I just bought a new gpsr after taking a break from geocaching for a couple years. I had trouble downloading so I thought it was my gps, come to find out, not so.

OK, so I went through the new procedure of getting the premium membership,  putting my desired geocaches in a list, sending it to my Garmin Express app and then download from there. Problem is, they are not in my geocache file on my etrex20. It says, "No Geocaches". What the heck? So I tried to do it again and Garmin Express tells me "you're all up to date". So garmin express thinks I have the geocaches but I don't!!! We're going up north in 5 days so I'm worried if I send an email to Garmin, I probably wouldn't get an answer in time. Can anybody help me with this?

[+icezebra11]

I'll preface this by saying I have not used an Etrex20 so I'm not familiar with any functional differences from the Oregons that I have.

 

Here are some suggestions.  First, make sure you are using version 6.6 of Garmin Express.  This is a recent release and Lists will no longer transfer when using older versions.  After doing a transfer look in the 20's Garmin/GPX folder.  The file should be there if it was successful.  If you can't get the List transfers to work you can load caches one at a time or with pocket queries for multiple caches.  For a one-at-a-time transfer, go to each cache page and click the GPX File button.  With the 20 connected to your computer, download the file directly to the Garmin/GPX folder on the unit or download it to your PC and then copy/paste or click and drag the file to the GPX folder.  For pocket queries, run the query and when you receive the results via email download it to your computer and unzip it.  You should get two files, one with the caches and one with associated waypoints.  Use the above procedure to move the two files to the GPX folder on the unit.  I hope this helps.

[+Bear and Ragged]

5 hours ago, KandDGregory said:

OK, so I went through the new procedure of getting the premium membership,  putting my desired geocaches in a list, sending it to my Garmin Express app and then download from there.

 

Just a thought...

The older units, if you had any files loaded as a Basic Member, wouldn't show Premium Member files.

Not sure if that is still the case with the newer units?

 

Make sure all files loaded before becoming a Premium Member are deleted.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Bear and Ragged
added extra text!

[+KandDGregory]

IceZebra, thank you so much. I was able to hit the GPX file and 'save as' in my Garmin Etrex20 one by one. Now the ones that I want for our camping trip in Indian River are all in there. It's a little more work than the old way that it used to be when you could just hit the "send to my gps" but at least I got it done. Thanks again 

[+kunarion]

6 hours ago, KandDGregory said:

Hi, I just bought a new gpsr after taking a break from geocaching for a couple years. I had trouble downloading so I thought it was my gps, come to find out, not so.

OK, so I went through the new procedure of getting the premium membership,  putting my desired geocaches in a list, sending it to my Garmin Express app and then download from there. Problem is, they are not in my geocache file on my etrex20. It says, "No Geocaches". What the heck? So I tried to do it again and Garmin Express tells me "you're all up to date". So garmin express thinks I have the geocaches but I don't!!! We're going up north in 5 days so I'm worried if I send an email to Garmin, I probably wouldn't get an answer in time. Can anybody help me with this?

 

I tried it just now and got some strange results. Maybe this will help.

 

Garmin Express may be acting up. On my system, it was producing a “Request Error”, “There is a problem with the content being sent. Try sending the content again”. I had version 6.5.1.0, checked for updates, allowed the update, and there were still errors.  I could not get to the point of "sending" a file.

 

Next I deleted Garmin Express, downloaded and installed version 6.6.0.0, and now it works. That may be the best update plan.   Delete 6.5.1.0, download 6.6.0.0.  Allowing version 6.5.1.0 to do its own update didn't work for me.

 

When it works, sending a List by “Send To Garmin”, Garmin Express opens and says “Content ready to download”. Click “Continue”, and an “Installing” progress bar opens.

 

You can verify that the GPX file arrived. Open the “Garmin/GPX” on the GPS, and you see the named List GPX file, with the recent date and time that it arrived. The file name is distinguishable from the cache files or the Pocket Query files, because it has a ”dash” in the file name, and starts with the List's name.

 

 

 

Some important things:

 

Bear and Ragged brought up a good point. When you become a Premium Member, backup and then delete all downloaded files that appear in the “Garmin/GPX” folder of the GPS. You can keep waypoints that you manually made on the GPS in the field. But any files downloaded from Geocaching.com tend to confuse a Garmin, its database remains in “Basic Member” mode until files are deleted as mentioned. Yeah, it's weird.  I'd assume it may fixed in firmware at some point, but keep it in mind.  And you should be manually removing obsolete files anyway.

 

Garmin Express's note that “You're up to date!” means only that the currently connected GPS has the latest firmware. It does not mean that any “Lists” are up to date, or that any arrived. It also does not mean that you have the most recent version of Garmin Express.  That last part surprised me.  Way to go, Garmin.

 

You can use Pocket Queries, even Pocket Queries of your Lists. By doing so, you don't have to fiddle around with “Garmin Express” just to load some caches. Place (unzipped) GPX files into the “Garmin/GPX” on a Garmin GPS. Try it, you'll like it. 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2018 by kunarion