Linking the Garmin 705 to memory map

[hoppy1848]

I'm having a problem connecting the Garmin to the software on the computer.  Neither 'USB' option or 'serial' option does the trick different error messages being shown.  Any suggestions please?

[Sergeant Pluck]

Driver problem?

Did you completely install all the Garmin software before attempting to connect the device?

What happens when you plug the device in, does it say the drivers are found / device installed etc?

[Cyklisten]

Mine won't link to Memory Map either. It will connect to Garmin Training Centre and MotionBased so I assume the drivers are present and suspect the problem is with MM. It doesn't list .tcx as an importable file either.
Workaround:
Upload Track to MotionBased then export as .gpx file and MM will import. If it is a large file >200k (ish) the you might have to use MotionBased Agent to upload to MotionBased. I have had success with 300,400, 500 & 600k rides using this method.
MotionBased is free to use with the limitation: Only the last 10 rides will be accessible. However, after conversion I  have deleted the file from MotionBased (terrible name)

HTH

Andy

[Sergeant Pluck]

I was thinking hoppy1848 was referrring to Garmin's own mapping?

[Cyklisten]

Ah! I just took my cue from the subject line ... and ran with it

[Sergeant Pluck]

Memo to self: read thread titles properly. 

[hoppy1848]

Guys (generic) I am so grateful for your help for which I really hate asking.  So, I am able to connect to the Garmin website and that's fine and so I assume that the 'drivers' are installed.

I have bought Memory Map (MM) however, loaded it etc, got the key.   However I am not able to get either ride records to load from the GPS into MM or indeed MM to download into the Garmin.  I am getting a message on the PC 'GPS Can't open Com 1. Error 2'

Any help welcome and once again many thanks. 

H

[frankly frankie]

I have bought Memory Map (MM) however, loaded it etc, got the key.   However I am not able to get either ride records to load from the GPS into MM or indeed MM to download into the Garmin.  I am getting a message on the PC 'GPS Can't open Com 1. Error 2'

I would be inclined to mess with the port settings in Memory Map under GPS/Setup - maybe switch it to Serial and then alter the Com port number (defaults to 1) and switch it back to USB (assuming thats what you're using) - the 'virtual' Com port in use by USB could be anything up to 5 probably ...

Also most USB Garmins do need to have a driver installed from CD (unlike other USB devices which 'just work').

Also you don't want your Garmin to appear as a 'removable drive' - it should not appear in a File Manager, but MM should be able to identify it.  In Device Manager it just appears as 'Garmin USB GPS'.

[jellied]

I have a problems with a 205 and MM version 4. You really need the latest Garmin USB drivers and they are fragile.

First born only has to move the mini-USB lead to a differnt port on the hub and Training Centre no longer detects the Edge. I have to re-install the drivers which I now keep in a special folder.

MM support forum is pretty good.

[Cyklisten]

I think the problem is that the 605/705 is (are) designed differently, i.e. to operate like FF says, as an external drive. My 305 worked with MM without problems.
I have had a swish around the net and and what I have found seems to back this up:

Garmin Edge 705 review | Velorider musings

The relevant bit!:

"The 705 is partially compatible with Memory Map in that you can export a .gpx file from Memory Map to your 705 manually (the 705 shows up as a mass storage device just like a USB thumb-drive). What you can’t do is export natively from MM to your 705, and you also can’t use the (brilliant) MM maps on the 705 - they are a different format."

I also found a comment to the effect that "Memory Map are working on the compatiblity with the the Edge 705" dated April 2008.

I think Garmin have tried to 'simplify' data management by implementing a drag and drop system but has left the other software manufacturers floundering for a solution. Even Garmin's own Training Centre reports an error when importing directly from the 705. Pressing continue imports the ride anyway. 

I did fish around (in Device Manager) for ports to investigate the number being used by USB, but there weren't any! I guess that's what you get for running XP on an Intel Mac!

I'll stick to my workaround for now

[frankly frankie]

That makes sense.  Garmin are moving over to this method (removable USB drive) on their latest devices such as Colorado, and of course 705 would be part of this generation.  The earlier card-carrying models ('x' models) have a halfway-house where you have to manually switch the GPS to appear as an external drive, by default it appears as a, well, a Garmin.
On some models they default to one mode or the other, upon connection - on some models (Colerado) this default behaviour can be modified in Setup. 
It's all a bit dicey because some 'system' files (eg basemap) that used to be in memory are now on the SD card somewhere, and meddlesome types (like me) have been known to rename a file and lose control of the Garmin altogether ...

Although its confusing, in the longer term I think its the right move - away from a 'GPS standard' way of working, to a 'PC standard' way of working which is more familiar to most of us.  I wish the mapping progs like MM would go the same way - their 'overlays' drive me witless, it's all so non-standard it makes me want to sue.

So you can export a Route or Track from MM as a .gpx file, and then transfer it in a File Manager.  I think the chances are there will be some incompatibility and the .gpx may need to be run through GPSBabel (or its online partner, http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/ ) to make it Garmin-friendly, not forgetting to downsample any tracks to 500 along the way (you can just do this bit in MM).

[andrew_s]

It's not just the comms method that's changing. There's the change from internal memory to card as well.

On mine (60CSx), you can put as many gpx track files as you like on the card using a file manager (with the GPS as a USB removable drive), but you can't use them for navigation or display. They have to be in the internal memory, which means that you have to load them using Mapsource, MemoryMap, GPSBabel or whatever.

I'd imagine that the eTrex HCx is the same, but it would be nice to know how the 705 and Colorado work.

[frankly frankie]

not forgetting to downsample any tracks to 500 along the way

On reflection that bit probably isn't necessary for the 705.  In fact according to other fora the GPX as exported by MM is fully compatible.

Garmin's specs have number of Routes and Tracks on the 705 "limited by available memory" (User Waypoints limit is 100 however) - ie you should be able to follow any Track stored on the card.   If you can find it - there may be an issue with navigating the subdirectory structure, or with having the GPX file you want to navigate stored in a particular directory - I dunno.

[hoppy1848]

Guys, thanks again, but there is a lot here that I don't understand- not your fault at all- it's my age. 

A few comments:

- when you refer to 'drivers' are you writing of the software with which the Garmin came.  If not, then what and where can I get them from?

-  Have gone to 'port 3 and am no longer getting the Com 1 type message.  I am now getting 'Unknown Garmin Timeout Session Packet 10, Timeout Session Packet 254'.  Any clues here?

Finally am I just being an old curmudgeon to expect that after spending over £400 on hardware/software that I cannot just plug in and go or at least have a set of instruction which can take me there.  Oh the simplicity of a Meccano Set, Scalextric, train set or even Mambo Steam Engine!

And finally, finally if anyone lives local to me (near Avebury in Wiltshire) and fancied an afternoon showing me the ropes on this stuff, then reward and salvation is yours!

[frankly frankie]

- when you refer to 'drivers' are you writing of the software with which the Garmin came.  If not, then what and where can I get them from?

I don't have a 705 you understand - just speculating really - but it will have been packaged with a CD and that CD will have the appropriate drivers on it, the installation routine should ideally be fairly automatic (but I must admit I've found Garmin's CDs to be pretty flakey before now).

-  Have gone to 'port 3 and am no longer getting the Com 1 type message.  I am now getting 'Unknown Garmin Timeout Session Packet 10, Timeout Session Packet 254'.  Any clues here?

Well at least its different.  But I now suspect you're barking up the wrong tree by trying for a direct MM/705 dialogue.  The 705 connects via a USB cable, right?  So - according to page 45 of the 605/705 manual - in 'Explorer' or 'File Manager' or 'My Computer' or whatever it's called, you should be able to see a new removable disk drive which represents your 705. 
It seems as though you need to export** your project from Memory Map as a .GPX file, and then copy that file to your 705 via a File Manager.
** say you've drawn a Track - right-click on that track, select 'Save As' and then alter the 'Files of Type' to gpx

Finally am I just being an old curmudgeon to expect that after spending over £400 on hardware/software that I cannot just plug in and go or at least have a set of instruction which can take me there. 

Well the software (Memory Map) is a lot older than the hardware (705) so it's not entirely surprising if  it doesn't understand what's going on ... while Garmin for their part have no interest in giving instructions on how to use a competitors product. 
But it's true that the entire 'maps' sector seems to be completely non-standard, a law unto themselves, so that a new user can't rely on the usual Windows interface (or Mac equivalent) to help out - for example Memory Map doesn't even have a 'File' Menu - so you cannot 'Open', 'Close' or 'Save' a file - its just madness, but MM aren't the only ones.

Once you've found a workflow that does work, it'll be a simple routine, you'll wonder why it seemed so difficult.  And the next time somebody has the problem - you'll be able to tell them all about it, and without all the round-the-houses we've had to do so far.  (And maybe they won't believe you.)

[Cyklisten]

More of what Frankie said.  I'll try and keep it straighforward.

1) Create your route in MM.
2) Open properties (or right click on route & select properties) Name your route e.g. 'FRED' (the default is Route)
3) Save As 'FRED' (to somewhere where you can find it! e.g. desktop) using the dropdown to select .gpx
You should now have a file on your desktop called 'FRED'
Connect the Edge
After a couple of moments and bleeps  Window(s) will open on your PC desktop.
I have 2 ... E: which is the internal memory and F: which is the Memory card
As F: contains your mapping and other files which should be left alone (Frankie - me too ) close the F: Window
4) In the E: Window there is a folder called Garmin. Double click to open revealing several folders & files
5) Drag and Drop 'FRED' onto the folder called GPX
6) Disconnect EDGE and switch on allowing unit to aquire Satellites
7) Press Menu, Select Where to? then Saved Rides
You will now have a list of tracks including 'FRED' from which can select and Navigate.
If you didn't rename the Track as in 2) above, even if you did so in 3) it will show as 'Route' and not 'FRED'

I have just tested this sequence with my 705 and it works! 


There has to be a better way, and I think the ball is in Memory Maps court now! Before the advent of the 705 I was working on a method using Courses with the 305 and successfully loaded (and rode) a 200k+ Audax, one which would have exceeded the 100 waypoint using routes. In the meantime I have reverted to using the good 'ol routesheet using the Edge as a recorder and finder of ATMs (for proof of passage) at which it excels!
All that said, it is an excellent bit of kit (best so far in my experience - Edge 305 and Etrex Vista) and no doubt I shall be wittering on about it for some time to come - epecially the Autorouting, which leave much to be desired!

Hope this helps

Andy


 

   

[hoppy1848]

Hey Cyclisten, thanks for persisting.  am opening the properties box and cannot and each of track, marks route etc is ticked.  However the dialogue box into which you want me to type 'Fred' (or whatever) is not accepting any text- in fact the only interactivity available is to remove and replace the ticks.

Thanks very much for persisting.  I am away now until Sunday evening.  Thanks all and whatever you are doing have agood w/e. 

Gratefully

PS Am taking the Garmin to record data, but have just handwritten the route, albeit using the MM to get the detail, but not on the Garmin

[hoppy1848]

Cyclisten is there any chance at all of calling you on Sunday evening (or an alternative) and talking me through?  No offence at all if it's not?

[Cyklisten]

Hoppy, you have PM