Oregon 300 - occasional problems with computer

[Auntie Helen]

Hi GPS experts.

I've had the same problem twice today with my Oregon and the computer.

This morning I plugged it in to my Mac as I turned the mac on. When everything had booted up, the Oregon wasn't visible as a mounted drive. Consequently I couldn't eject it (although the Garmin itself had the 'synching screen' visible). When I unplugged it it still had the synching screen. I took the batteries out and the display showed a faint version of the synching screen until I put the batteries back in, fired it up and it worked OK. I then re-plugged it and it worked OK.

Was just doing my once-a-month firing up of the PC and I thought I'd plug the Garmin in to clear the trash (the Mac doesn't do that well at all) and I had exactly the same problem - it didn't see to mount the drive. I had to do the battery removal procedure again, which fixed it. I wasn't bothered enough to clear the trash to try again.

So, twice in one day, two different computers. Is this a common problem?

[frankly frankie]

Is this something to do with 'Spanner mode' (I'm only guessing here).

When you connect, the Oregon can be in one of two different modes, in one mode it behaves as an externally powered GPS, in the other mode it is an external USB drive (which I think is what you want).  If you enable 'Spanner' (Setup>System>Interface) it will prompt you as to which mode you want to work in, whenever you connect.
I think.

[Auntie Helen]

Well I haven't changed any settings in months and it was working fine until recently. I'll have a look when I next get a chance though!

[frankly frankie]

But do you always use the same cable to connect with?  (For example - I don't - I have loads of mini-USB cables littered around and just grab the nearest one each time ...)  Its possible for two different cables that are apparently alike, to switch the GPS in different ways.

[Auntie Helen]

Yep, same cable on the Mac. Different cable (but still a Garmin one - from my Edge 205) for the PC.

I suspect the oddity with the Mac was that the Garmin was plugged in before the Mac had booted up, but the PC has no excuse except it's a PC and they always make me want to kick the thing in frustration whenever I have to turn it on.