GPS troubleshooting (Magellan or any other)

[Guest Budophylus]

hen changing batteries (which don't last near as long as Magellan says they should) or rebooting, I lose all of the waypoints that I've entered. I know that some of the Garmin's and other higher end GPS's keep way points that persist between outages. Any recommendations for an upgrade that keeps better info between reboots?

 

Third, after six caches in an afternoon, and hiking around Austin all day, it started acting glitchy, locking up, and not re-initializing after reboot, and was palpably hot to the touch. Since it wouldn't get a good reading while under the car roof, we had been holding it out of the window or up in the windshield to get good satellite reception, and that black case sucks up the heat. Any recommendations on other units that may work better while in a car, or are more resistant to temperature, or ways to make this one less susceptible to heatstroke?

 

Thanks for any advice, I'll be basing my upgrade or remedies on the advice from fellow cachers out here.

 

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Budophylus

entilzha@satx.rr.com

[Guest Ron Streeter]

You should not lose your waypoint list when changing batteries. The manual even states that you will only lose time and date if the batteries are out for more than 20 minutes and that those features are reinstated after sattelites are acquired.

 

I once went cache hunting with another cacher who (like I) has a 315. He was losing waypoints after he just turned power off and then back on. He sent his unit to Magellan for fixing and they corrected the problem.

 

No software upgrade will fix your problem.

 

An early warning. Despite what Magellan says about uploading upgrades from computer to gps through the cable, be sure you have saved all your gps landmarks (waypoints) to a mapping program BEFORE you perform the software upgrade. I think each time I have done a software upgrade, I have lost the waypoints. IF you have them in a mapping program it is a simple matter to download them back to your gps.

 

The latest upgrade (3.14) has the great feature of showing you distance to target in FEET once you get to less than .10 miles. At 527 feet you will start to see the countdown as you move along. Seeing it get down to 20 feet or so (or even 6 feet) is neat.

 

[This message has been edited by Ron Streeter (edited 04 June 2001).]

[Guest ericdb1]

quote:

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An early warning. Despite what Magellan says about uploading upgrades from computer to gps through the cable, be sure you have saved all your gps landmarks (waypoints) to a mapping program BEFORE you perform the software upgrade.

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Ron, you are quite correct about this warning. I performed the 3.14 upgrade per the instructions at the Magellan web site and still lost all of my waypoints. Not too major a deal as I have just started at this game. I now use Panterra to store and edit my waypoints.

 

Eric

[Guest ericdb1]

quote:

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An early warning. Despite what Magellan says about uploading upgrades from computer to gps through the cable, be sure you have saved all your gps landmarks (waypoints) to a mapping program BEFORE you perform the software upgrade.

[/b]

---

 

Ron, you are quite correct about this warning. I performed the 3.14 upgrade per the instructions at the Magellan web site and still lost all of my waypoints. Not too major a deal as I have just started at this game. I now use Panterra to store and edit my waypoints.

 

Eric

[Guest ericdb1]

quote:

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Originally posted by Budophylus:

Second, when changing batteries (which don't last near as long as Magellan says they should) or rebooting, I lose all of the waypoints that I've entered. I know that some of the Garmin's and other higher end GPS's keep way points that persist between outages. Any recommendations for an upgrade that keeps better info between reboots?

 

Third, after six caches in an afternoon, and hiking around Austin all day, it started acting glitchy, locking up, and not re-initializing after reboot, and was palpably hot to the touch.

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I have a magellan 320, and have to say that I am quite pleased with the unit so far. It sounds like your unit may have a serious malfunction, one which a software upgrade will unlikely fix. Give Magellan a call. Their tech support is quite good, they even field dumb questions from new users that don't read the manual closely enough.

 

Good Luck,

 

Eric

 

[This message has been edited by ericdb1 (edited 25 May 2001).]

[Guest ericdb1]

quote:

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Originally posted by Budophylus:

Second, when changing batteries (which don't last near as long as Magellan says they should) or rebooting, I lose all of the waypoints that I've entered. I know that some of the Garmin's and other higher end GPS's keep way points that persist between outages. Any recommendations for an upgrade that keeps better info between reboots?

 

Third, after six caches in an afternoon, and hiking around Austin all day, it started acting glitchy, locking up, and not re-initializing after reboot, and was palpably hot to the touch.

---

 

I have a magellan 320, and have to say that I am quite pleased with the unit so far. It sounds like your unit may have a serious malfunction, one which a software upgrade will unlikely fix. Give Magellan a call. Their tech support is quite good, they even field dumb questions from new users that don't read the manual closely enough.

 

Good Luck,

 

Eric

 

[This message has been edited by ericdb1 (edited 25 May 2001).]

[Guest emrldjetta]

Concerning:

#1 Yes. I have noticed this once before with mine.

#2 You almost certainly have a defective unit, waypoints will not be lost with a properly functioning unit when changing batteries. Only when loading new OS software will all your waypoints be scuttled.

#3 Again definitely sounds like a defective unit. Perhaps a firmware problem.

I would advise you to return it to the establishment that you bought it from if they offer a warranty or guarantee. If they do not or it is inconvenient then send it to Magellan for an inspection and repair or replacement. Simply, your unit is not performing normally. GL.........Kyle

 

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It's always something.............

[Guest gwc]

Just wanted to add dittos...I have a GPS 315 version 3.14 and I have never lost my waypoints when changing batteries. You most certainly have a defective unit.

 

Good luck...hope you get it fixed!

[Guest gwc]

Just wanted to add dittos...I have a GPS 315 version 3.14 and I have never lost my waypoints when changing batteries. You most certainly have a defective unit.

 

Good luck...hope you get it fixed!

[Guest JasonW]

The only time my Mag 315 lost waypoints is when I did the firmware upgrades - now I have waypoint/route management software so that's sorted too.

[Guest floatch]

I bought a Mgellan 315 from bestbuy, and right out of the box, it lost landmarks when I turned it on. I returned it for a different one, and this one works fine. On another point... I've posted a question in the "Software" portion of this board about software downloads. I've heard it's quite a pain, and I'm wondering if I should bother updating from v3.07 to v3.14. Any information? p.s.- I don't yet have a $40 cable... and I think it stinks we have to buy one to perform routine upgrades!

 

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Magellan was the MAN!

[Guest Budophylus]

As an update, I've spent significant portions of the last 2 days on hold trying to reach tech support at Magellan, without success. Based on the information you've all given, I suppose that I'm going to take it back to Wal-Mart, and see if they'll exchange it for me, and see if the new one keeps waypoints any better. I'll keep you posted as the story develops.

 

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Budophylus

entilzha@satx.rr.com

[Guest JasonW]

Budophylus

 

Don't know how much success this would meet with in WalMart, but I'd insist on trying it there and then (and certainly no further away than the car park)

[Guest Budophylus]

I did get some resolution to one of my problems!

 

I finally contacted Tech Support at Magellan, and the girl, whose name I wish I'd caught, said that yes, the 3.14 update would fix the lost waypoints, and that she'd get a cable in the mail that day. I got the cable in the mail yesterday, and installed the firmware update, and it is now keeping waypoints between reboots and battery changes, and does provide better close in navigation.

 

As for the getting hot, I'm pretty sure that it was just that we were holding it out in the sun, and will take it out for another day of caching this week, and see how it behaves when shielding it from the sun. I've not had any further problem with it getting hot since that one episode. And besides, I live in South Texas, it's not like it ever really gets hot around here.

 

Thanks for the advice, and keep on caching!

 

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Budophylus

entilzha@satx.rr.com

 

[This message has been edited by Budophylus (edited 04 June 2001).]

[Guest Budophylus]

I did get some resolution to one of my problems!

 

I finally contacted Tech Support at Magellan, and the girl, whose name I wish I'd caught, said that yes, the 3.14 update would fix the lost waypoints, and that she'd get a cable in the mail that day. I got the cable in the mail yesterday, and installed the firmware update, and it is now keeping waypoints between reboots and battery changes, and does provide better close in navigation.

 

As for the getting hot, I'm pretty sure that it was just that we were holding it out in the sun, and will take it out for another day of caching this week, and see how it behaves when shielding it from the sun. I've not had any further problem with it getting hot since that one episode. And besides, I live in South Texas, it's not like it ever really gets hot around here.

 

Thanks for the advice, and keep on caching!

 

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Budophylus

entilzha@satx.rr.com

 

[This message has been edited by Budophylus (edited 04 June 2001).]

[Guest Ron Streeter]

It's amazing to me that the upgrade to 3.14 would solve your problem with losing waypoints (landmarks).

 

When I bought mine in February it worked fine with a version that was two versions older than the 3.14.

 

I only lost waypoints when upgrading, and I had backed them up to mapping programs so that was not a real loss.

 

Will be interested to hear if you have any new experiences with your current unit.

[Guest Budophylus]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ron Streeter:

It's amazing to me that the upgrade to 3.14 would solve your problem with losing waypoints (landmarks).

 

When I bought mine in February it worked fine with a version that was two versions older than the 3.14.

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I think it may have been because it was older than two versions; even though we just bought it in April, it had v3.07 installed. I suspect that it was sitting on the shelf for a while. I'm caching Tuesday and Wedsnesday, will let you know how it's working.

[Guest MadGPS]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ron Streeter:

It's amazing to me that the upgrade to 3.14 would solve your problem with losing waypoints (landmarks).

 

When I bought mine in February it worked fine with a version that was two versions older than the 3.14.

 

I only lost waypoints when upgrading, and I had backed them up to mapping programs so that was not a real loss.

 

Will be interested to hear if you have any new experiences with your current unit.

 

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I too was losing waypoints,but only when I upgraded to VER3.12.Contacted Magellan and they ask to test a version that would correct the situation.The version was VER3.14 and at the same time notice new features on the GPS.

 

MadGPS

[Guest MadGPS]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ron Streeter:

It's amazing to me that the upgrade to 3.14 would solve your problem with losing waypoints (landmarks).

 

When I bought mine in February it worked fine with a version that was two versions older than the 3.14.

 

I only lost waypoints when upgrading, and I had backed them up to mapping programs so that was not a real loss.

 

Will be interested to hear if you have any new experiences with your current unit.

 

---

 

I too was losing waypoints,but only when I upgraded to VER3.12.Contacted Magellan and they ask to test a version that would correct the situation.The version was VER3.14 and at the same time notice new features on the GPS.

 

MadGPS

[Guest Budophylus]

Happy to report that it's working better than ever! Waypoints have been kept through several reboots, and it guided me well today without funny errors, and got me back to within 10 feet of a landmark that I'd set for myself earlier. Distance countdown in feet kicks butt! Update to 3.14 if you've not yet done so.

 

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Budophylus

entilzha@satx.rr.com