+graboots Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 I am thinking about buying an Apple laptop, I’m wondering is it easy to download a PQ and put it in my Garmin, are there extra cables etc that maybe needed. I was hoping an iPad would do the job but apparently not. Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment
+Wacka Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 I have a 10 year iMac. Had to replace the hard drive, but works fine. As long as the Garmin has a USB end in the cable, it will work fine. If you partition part of your hard drive and format that part for windows, you can run GSAK on it. Macs can run windows, Linux ir Mac OS, just have to have parts portioned and formatted for them. Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 You didn't mention which model of Garmin. Older models complicate the process a bit. One detail left out in the answer above. You need to buy and install Windows, not just format the disk for it, to run GSAK. Which may somewhat defeat the purpose of going Mac, no? Quote Link to comment
+graboots Posted July 9, 2020 Author Share Posted July 9, 2020 Thanks guys, I have the Garmin map 64s, so there should be no problem, I’ve never used GSAK before so will have to do a bit of homework. It does seem more complicated than what I’m used to. Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 On 7/9/2020 at 12:21 PM, Wacka said: I have a 10 year iMac. Had to replace the hard drive, but works fine. As long as the Garmin has a USB end in the cable, it will work fine. If you partition part of your hard drive and format that part for windows, you can run GSAK on it. Macs can run windows, Linux ir Mac OS, just have to have parts portioned and formatted for them. A newer macbook owner would probably need to get a USB C to USB adapter (about $20 from the apple store). Partitioning the hard drive just to be able to run a single application seems like an lot of overhead. Running VMWare or Virtual Box is slightly less intrusive and using "Wine" (an application translation tool) even less so. All of them require a significant amount of jumping through hoops. Perhaps not an issue for the technically inclined but probably a bit out the wheelhouse for many. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 It's worth mentioning, GSAK is overkill for simply transferring PQs to a Garmin, as the OP is asking. Sure, it does offer a whole pile of functionality (and complexity) that the OP may find useful, can't deny that. But I don't know the answer to the original question, sorry. Not a Mac guy. Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 On 7/9/2020 at 9:39 AM, graboots said: I am thinking about buying an Apple laptop, I’m wondering is it easy to download a PQ and put it in my Garmin, are there extra cables etc that maybe needed. I was hoping an iPad would do the job but apparently not. Any help would be appreciated. You'll probably need one of these: USB-C to USB Adapter. The new Macbooks use a USB-C port. I don't know what the Garmin 64 uses for a USB cable but I suspect it'll plug into the adapter. The apple store lists them for $19. You'll probably need one if you want to connect other USB devices (like a flash drive) to the Macbook. Rather than try to get GSAK running on the macbook, there are other waypoint managers that you can use such as "iCaching" or Garmin Basecamp. Quote Link to comment
+NanCycle Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 I have a Mac mini desktop and a Garmin Montana GPS. I use a USB cable--I don't know what the other end of the cable is called (the one that goes into the GPS) bu it is a very commonly used one for cameras also). I don't use GSAK, so have no use for Windows. Easy-peasy. Quote Link to comment
+graboots Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 Well that’s a couple of interesting posts, I do already have a USB adapter so no problem there. I am still not sure which way to go for a laptop. I would be interested to know the procedure which you use to download on your Mac Nancy. Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 23 hours ago, NanCycle said: I have a Mac mini desktop and a Garmin Montana GPS. I use a USB cable--I don't know what the other end of the cable is called (the one that goes into the GPS) bu it is a very commonly used one for cameras also). I don't use GSAK, so have no use for Windows. Easy-peasy. Its almost certainly a USB 2.0 (type A) to usb mini-b male cable. My macbook has USB 2.0 (type A) ports but newer Macbooks and most phones are using USB C connections Quote Link to comment
+NanCycle Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, graboots said: Well that’s a couple of interesting posts, I do already have a USB adapter so no problem there. I am still not sure which way to go for a laptop. I would be interested to know the procedure which you use to download on your Mac Nancy. From the PQ Ready for Download, click on the name of the PQ--which sends the PQ files to my Download folder. Plug the GPS into a USB port on the Mac. It doesn't matter which of the above steps you do first, but both must be done before the next step. Open the GPS as a drive (I also use the micro SD card); you can use either or both. Open the downloaded PQ to get the 2 files. Drag and drop the 2 files of the PQ onto the Garmin>GPX folder on the GPS. Done. Edited July 12, 2020 by NanCycle 1 Quote Link to comment
+graboots Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 Thanks for that Nancy, I think you have just about decided me to go for the Mac, as I reckon we can manage that. 1 Quote Link to comment
+NanCycle Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 On 7/13/2020 at 2:45 AM, graboots said: Thanks for that Nancy, I think you have just about decided me to go for the Mac, as I reckon we can manage that. Re using Mac in general, there is definitely a learning curve; it took us 2-3 months to get used to it, but we've had ours now for over 2 years and love it. Quote Link to comment
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